It’s been several years since I’ve been to a Tow Show. This past weekend there was a tow show in Dallas, so I decided to go. Since I was one of the founders of Southwest Tow Association and this association played a big part of the show I thought it I would go and see old friends and see all the changes over the past few years.
It was great to see old friends and see new products that are in the industry. I’ll tell you what I did not see, and I’ve been going to show for years and never saw what is really needed for industry. Things that are important for a tow company are the following:
Finding Drivers – I have been in the industry for over 35 years and finding drivers is still the number one problem for tow companies. Leaving companies for your children is be coming a thing of the past because the younger generation has new priorities. Todays employees are into the following
- Being on the phone
- Making more money and doing less work
- They would rather have a computer than a tow truck
- They want to work less hours
- They want to work from home
- Not wanting to get their hands dirty.
This is nothing against this generation, it’s just the way it is. I want to show you a few things you can do to attract drivers.
- Explain why they should work for your company. Make it sound exciting, and the potential money to be made.
- Good pay, with bonuses. When I ran my company, I had drivers that made 6 figures, I trained all my drivers. I dressed them up in uniforms and gave them incentives that let them drive their own truck and decorate it and way they wanted.
- I let my drivers help me make decisions for the company and made them feel important. I worked hard to get good accounts that gave them plenty of towing opportunities. Some of my drivers had their own accounts that no one could tow from. I let the driver build the relationship with the customers and they could spend money on them to make them happy.
- They could always count on getting paid on certain days
- I gave them time off so they did not get burned out.
- I trained them and gave them the newest and greatest in equipment.
- If I could offer insurance for their family, or other family benefits would be attractive.
- I made the hiring process easy with details of the job and follow up while trying to hire them.
- Let them talk to other successful drivers and get testimonial from their peers.
- I offered a good referral program paying cash or letting them bring on a friend.
- I paid for all their training programs, and I made sure we had safety procedures in place to make them feel safe.
- I always had a salesperson, so my drivers saw me going after new accounts.
- Offer them pilot programs and give them a chance to learn.
- Used the latest technology to make sure we could offer our customers what they need to run their companies.
I had 36 employees when I sold my company and over the seven years no one quit. I always had a line of people at my door wanting to work for me and my employees knew they could be replaced if they would not follow the policies.
Branding your Company – I played a lot of sports in my career and I always build the best teams. I wanted to intimidate my competition, so we all wore uniforms and had the best equipment available. Whether it was a softball team, my basketball team, or my flag football team, when we went to a tournament, we would walk on the field and they already knew who we were, and how good we were. The same works in business. I always made sure my customers, or potential customers knew what I was offering with my service or knew how good we were. Here are a few things why a good brand is important:
- A good brand build recognition. If you look good, and offer a great service everyone will want to be your customer. When customers mention towing you want them to automatically think of you company. When they see you, they remember you.
- A good brand builds trust, You want to know you potential customers to know your professional, you are reliable, and they will have confidence in you.
- My customers felt like they were partners with my company because they knew me and how I built my company.
- A strong brand will help market the services you offer. If a potential customer needs a towing service they automictically thought of my company.
- When the time comes to sell you company a good brand will bring a better price. When I sold my company, I had 2 buyers fighting to buy it.
- A good brand will attract the best talent in the industry.
Branding is not just a logo it’s a perception people will have about your company.
Marketing your company – You want to market to your audience. Apartment complexes were my best customer base, so I found a police department that had meeting monthly with apartment managers to discuss crime in the area. I offered to buy them lunch if they gave me a 15-minute pitch on my company. This is how I built my company.
- Know the audience. Identify who will provide you the most tow and go after them.
- Focus on bebefits. I let them know I had all the proper insurance to protect them. I showed them a problem, and how I will fix it.
- Use testimonials from their peers. Keep it simple and persuasive.
- Measure your success and adjust as needed.
These are the three things I focused on that made me successful. I can help give me a call.
