In 1981, William ‘Bill’ McKinley founded a farm and ranch supply
business that would, eventually, be known as Triple M Trailers of
Texas. After moving through a few locations, the business landed
in Canton, Texas in 1991. You may know Canton, a relatively small
town of 5,400 people, for its “world famous” First Monday Trade
Days, an event that brings over 300,000 to the area.
“It’s known as the world’s largest flea market,” says Matt McKinley,
Bill’s son and current owner of the dealership. “It’s an interesting
place on the map.”
Though Matt was active in his father’s industry since the age of
seven, he found work as a General Manger with Olive Garden
before, eventually, choosing to return to the dealership. After
taking the reins five years ago and purchasing it three years ago,
Matt’s experience in the food industry has paid off in unexpected
ways.
“The biggest difference is who I’ve become on this journey,”
Matt says. “I didn’t know what I was doing when it comes to
understanding leadership versus management. Today, I’m a student
of those areas.”
28
Matt has noticed striking similarities between his former industry
and the one he works in now.
“In the restaurant industry, what’s more important – the front of
house or the back of house? Servers take care of their guests, but
the kitchen staff has a whole restaurant to feed. The same dynamic
exists within service, parts and sales departments. Everyone must
understand that not one job is more important than the other.
The departments must work together for a common mission,”
Matt explains.
While building upon an already cohesive staff, Matt became
acutely aware of importance of individual development within
his employee pool. A self-proclaimed student of Zig Ziglar and a
Ziglar Legacy Certified Trainer, Matt acknowledges that it all starts
with the hiring process. His process focuses on people that have
the right attitude. He even puts them through Zig Ziglar’s goal-
setting workshop and personality insights training, of which he is a
certified instructor, to understand how his team ticks.
“Then, we determine how we identify those traits in a customer,”
Matt explains of the process. “We can’t change a customer, but
NATDA Magazine www.natda.org