Selling the line ...

[Sinifar]

Okay, for those of you like me, who don't have a store front anymore, HOW do you show the products you sell to the end consumer?

Good question. The answer is, first decide on what line(s) you will sell, then take mounted displays along with you on the road. In this case, I chose LSDA and Master Lock door hardware. Both are basically the same lock, right down to the manufacturer's marking in the inside. You will also need to carry some stock, so you can fill orders as you go. It looks like this ---



For stock, you carry at least 4 of each of the following. FIND someplace on your wagon to stuff this -- it is important -- to make the sales. Deadbolts, US3 / US10B (durinotic) / 26D Stainless steel. Knob locks the same, and levers, group 3, residential all three. That LSDA group 3 knob in brass is the cylindrical one, not the tubular. Those locks have been used for apartment entry locks, storeroom function, for ages. We usually get about 5 years out of one before it is junk, which is okay.

ALSO I carry a few group 2 lever locks with clutch, and a couple of group 1 lever locks with clutch in 26D. There are tons of other locks on board, just depending on what I think I will need for the immediate sale.

The rest are down here in the bunker ready to either take along as extra locks, the sale being made over the phone, or just restocking the van.

YES that is the '14 Transit Connect you saw earlier. There is room if you plan the thing right.

You ask how old timers make the gun go bang? Well here is another thing we do to make sales when we don't have a store front.

-- That red case they are sitting on is my "Road Rescue Kit" which has tons of stuff to get you back on the road, from an air compressor to jumper cables, to a tire patch kit, yes I do plug my own tires, it saves having to change the stupid thing, although don't try it in the rain - or extreme cold, this will work - and a couple of hiway flares, nothing stops traffic like a couple of flares burning on the road way. You don't want to be out there changing a tire with traffic whizzing past... and of course the other red thing is a fire extinguisher. Just more of the complete load we carry.

We have been "moving in" for the past month - there are so many things one needs on the road, and it doesn't get all put in at the same time.

Sinifar

[victorylocksmith]

It's depressing as hell to hear that you don't have a brick and mortar shop anymore. There are too few of those these days. I personally have always been a hack-job mobile locksmith and one of the biggest things I have noticed is that, I would rather carry miscellaneous power tools than excess inventory. The issue is, when a client wishes to order a crapload of inventory, they usually let you know in advance so you can adjust your van accordingly. However, now that you do not have a brick and mortar shop (not that those really even make that much money unless you sell safes), it is essential to make every trip count. By that, I mean you have to milk them for everything they got. I don't mean you should try to take advantage of them but look at a reasonable stand point, you are already there and are already charging a service call. Might as well be heavily equipped to do simple repairs so you can make a quick buck here and there, repairs simple enough to not require any real inventory but rather just the tools primarily. That from my point of view, is just making free money at the expense of minor time. You are already at the location, so might as well start pressuring for legitimate repairs that will save them headaches later down the road. For instances, it takes little to no time or effort to adjust an old misaligned strikeplate, you might not even need to throw on a new one! That is at least $10 right there. Maybe their lock is oxidized and needs lubrication? Take it apart and lubricate it for $15 with just a few sprays of lubricant!

Yes, I know this is not all that becoming of an old and storied art such as locksmithing but, in these hard times what other choice do we have? We are at a point now, that we have to make some BIG changes or we are all going to die out. Whether that is with marketing, inventory, or even changing the services we provide. Something has to give, because we are no longer in the 1920s when key duplication and lock sales were king. The big box stores have killed us in that area already.

[cledry]

Most shops don't earn a lot, the goal with many is to at least pay for the shop employees, the rent, utilities etc. Anything more is gravy. Many locksmiths feel a shop is worth having as long as it isn't losing money. It is a convenience for the customer. It shows some local ties to the community, especially if it is an older shop.

What you do to thumb your nose at Home Depot and big box stores is set yourself apart from others, become a specialist. Some guys just do automotive and others just do safes, others concentrate on access control and commercial.

We tend to do mostly commercial and access control. We do X09 and X10 locks which are a good money maker because only two shops in our area are certified in them. The same with the Kaba internet locks. These jobs sell themselves. We are hooked up with about 4 large access control companies who send all of their hardware sales and installs to us. We send any wiring jobs to them. We have automotive locksmiths sending us masterkey jobs and jobs to replace doors, we in turn give them all of our automotive work. We have a deal with a couple of glass companies to handle all door closer, concealed closer, door operator, pivots, hinges and we give them a lot of glass jobs for damaged storefronts.

The biggest part of our business though comes from NSPs. For example 2 companies give us an average of 4 jobs a day each and we have another handful of NSPs who probably account for another 5 or 6 jobs a day between them. Many of these are very simple but because we have a set minimum they can be lucrative.

Home Depot and the like have hurt the residential market a lot, so we don't do much of that. We have a few HOAs, COAs, and a few foreclosure companies. So we have moved a bit upmarket with the residential stuff. More Emtek, Medeco, Baldwin, less Kwikset and Schlage.

You can't compete with the prices at Home Depot or on Amazon, so try to sell brands that aren't available through those markets. If they cannot find what you are selling they cannot buy it for less.

[billdeserthills]

My shop rarely makes enough money to pay for itself, I keep it open because it produces service call work. People in my town feel safer calling on a locksmith with a shop in the community. I have found stocking kwikset pin tumbler locks and schlage still makes me money. I also stock some emtek, baldwin, weiser, anything that I see on my client's homes is something that will need to be replaced and if it's kwikset, likely in the next 5 years too. Also I have a home depot, lowes, true value, ace hdwr and a walmart--All within a 10 mile radius of my shop. One thing I can count on are lotsa calls where the home owner wants to rekey their locks, because the crummy keys they currently have don't seem to work in the locks very well. Far as selling the line goes, I bring the locks I want to sell into a client's home to show them, I generally prefer them to stay away from my messy truck.

[Sinifar]

My shop rarely makes enough money to pay for itself, I keep it open because it produces service call work. People in my town feel safer calling on a locksmith with a shop in the community. I have found stocking kwikset pin tumbler locks and schlage still makes me money. I also stock some emtek, baldwin, weiser, anything that I see on my client's homes is something that will need to be replaced and if it's kwikset, likely in the next 5 years too. Also I have a home depot, lowes, true value, ace hdwr and a walmart--All within a 10 mile radius of my shop. One thing I can count on are lotsa calls where the home owner wants to rekey their locks, because the crummy keys they currently have don't seem to work in the locks very well. Far as selling the line goes, I bring the locks I want to sell into a client's home to show them, I generally prefer them to stay away from my messy truck.

Ya. the "messy truck" - THAT has been a major issue with us as well. Ours used to look like a bomb went off in there with all the old lock parts, excess parts from installations, and just junk all over the place. I found that once a month I had to shovel out the truck, and be done with it.

The Focus wagon we were using for 12 years also got into quite a messy state from time to time, and it as well needed a good junking out. This unit is smaller, so junk gets tossed as I go now. If I need "parts" for D line, or even A line for that matter I have a small box of those parts stashed for repairs.

AS far as brick and mortar - we in three shops were not making enough to pay the utilities, let alone rent. The road work was carrying the whole load. The public rarely came by our shops. We tried "2 free keys" - you would not believe the number of people who came in foaming at the mouth, demanding their "free keys" looking like a scalded cat, then AFTER getting their free stuff ran like mad. They were afraid of some high pressure sales tactic, and all I really wanted the public to do was to come in, see our well stocked and neat shop, and maybe after having a look around perhaps BUY SOMETHING - maybe in the FUTURE?

The decision was made back in 89 to just forget trying to serve the public and concentrate on what we were making cash on - our commercial accounts. If we can snag a job with the public they get the same attention to detail and well crafted work which our commercials accounts get.

Once we tamed the messy truck, the next thing was to take some of our mounted displays out with us and show people what we had in stock. I still take a mount with me when I go out and do a quote, last one was with a Kaba E-plex, and demonstrated the thing for them. I do the same when people ask for somebody to come out and do a quote for just regular locks. The ones in the truck now, are there for people to look at when they drift out to see how locks are rekeyed. I do get some interest when I have the locks just "sitting" inside the door.

Down here in the bunker I have mounts from all three stores, on display behind me in the small showroom we build in the area just below the stairs. You want a Weiser Bolt mount? How about all those old Kwikset displays right down to a handle set? Corbin mortise lock, mounted, a push pull hospital door set, and the list goes on right down to Alarm Lock T-2 / t_3 locks and Kaba Simplex both mechanical and E-plex. Yup, got them all! Take some out with me when I go out and quote.

AS far as pricing, you do what you think best. I know what the box is selling locks for, and both LSDA and the Master line are good quality locks which are priced below whatever they are selling. At least they are not "plastic" inside like the current Kwikset locks are - or those electronic deadbolts which don't last very long.

AND I KNOW other locksmiths in the area are selling LSDA, as I run into them on rekeys all the time.

Sinifar

[billdeserthills]

I have a few things in stock from US Lock & lsda but my Dad used to stock Ferum deadbolts, which are by far the cheapest, junkiest locks available. He also stocked lots of cheap crap from UHP, which sounds like VictoryLocksmith's dream manufacturer. I noticed the junky stuff doesn't hold up for long, and it doesn't make me feel like I did a good job when I notice the lock I installed last year looks like crap & works like a pos too. Some folks don't care about the price and those folks get schlage a-series knobs & levers, some are ok with the price of kwikset, which likely outlasts lsda hardware. I do have import tylo locks in stock for the cheapest folks out there but I do prefer to sell a quality lock, one I can feel good about that lasts and lasts. Folks forget that there is a difference between the $185 schlage A series that can easily last for 25 years or even longer with a bit of maintenance and the import crap out there.

[somenewguy]

Okay, for those of you like me, who don't have a store front anymore, HOW do you show the products you sell to the end consumer?

Good question. The answer is, first decide on what line(s) you will sell, then take mounted displays along with you on the road. In this case, I chose LSDA and Master Lock door hardware. Both are basically the same lock, right down to the manufacturer's marking in the inside. You will also need to carry some stock, so you can fill orders as you go. It looks like this ---


For stock, you carry at least 4 of each of the following. FIND someplace on your wagon to stuff this -- it is important -- to make the sales. Deadbolts, US3 / US10B (durinotic) / 26D Stainless steel. Knob locks the same, and levers, group 3, residential all three. That LSDA group 3 knob in brass is the cylindrical one, not the tubular. Those locks have been used for apartment entry locks, storeroom function, for ages. We usually get about 5 years out of one before it is junk, which is okay.

ALSO I carry a few group 2 lever locks with clutch, and a couple of group 1 lever locks with clutch in 26D. There are tons of other locks on board, just depending on what I think I will need for the immediate sale.

The rest are down here in the bunker ready to either take along as extra locks, the sale being made over the phone, or just restocking the van.

YES that is the '14 Transit Connect you saw earlier. There is room if you plan the thing right.

You ask how old timers make the gun go bang? Well here is another thing we do to make sales when we don't have a store front.

-- That red case they are sitting on is my "Road Rescue Kit" which has tons of stuff to get you back on the road, from an air compressor to jumper cables, to a tire patch kit, yes I do plug my own tires, it saves having to change the stupid thing, although don't try it in the rain - or extreme cold, this will work - and a couple of hiway flares, nothing stops traffic like a couple of flares burning on the road way. You don't want to be out there changing a tire with traffic whizzing past... and of course the other red thing is a fire extinguisher. Just more of the complete load we carry.

We have been "moving in" for the past month - there are so many things one needs on the road, and it doesn't get all put in at the same time.

Sinifar

That is a very clean truck, which I think would help with sales, especially to the average Joe (residential job). For the stock that you carry with you, how do you keep it from getting all scuffed up (esp. polished finishes) sliding around in the box all those miles?

Do you carry auto lockout tools in the emergency kit?

PS I plug my own tires too; there was a mobile tire patch service that used to come around and he had one of his truck tires poked with about 30 holes and then filled with patches just to prove how well they hold up.

[billdeserthills]

Somenewguy has a valid point, None of those locks will last for long, sliding around--Not unless you wrap something around the lock to save it's finish.
I usually have plenty of packing materials, but even a piece of newspaper wrapped around the parts you don't want scraped-up will protect your investment.
I notice that prices change pretty regularly as well, and it's not funny when you sell something and don't get enough money to replace it.

[dll932]

I used to carry a few catalogs if I had to show a customer what something looked like. I just didn't have the room for displays. If I were on the road today, I would show people stuff on my phone. It's also nice to show vids of how things work.

[Sinifar]

Basically, I keep the locks in their original boxes and they have enough protective packaging around them to keep from being scuffed up. The stock is packed tight together. You would not believe all the stock I carry in the small truck - but it helps when I don't have to run for something and I can turn the job, install the stuff off the wagon bill, and move on to the next one.

Boxes are another thing, some of thpose look like they went thru a major battle. One cannot stop this, so. just accept it.