Horizon

Most towing company owners would like to make more money. That’s an understatement of epic proportions.

The reality is towers face so many challenges it’s a wonder there’s anyone left to drag wrecked cars off the highway.  And over the last few years things have gotten a little tighter. Cities’ budgets are shrinking causing them to dip further into towers pockets for “needed” revenue while the pool of cash paying customers grows smaller due to the increase in rate-cutting motor clubs and… there’s less and less employed folks driving to work.

But there is good news. Business is slowly starting to pick back up in places as people realize that it’s up to them to make their own way.  We’re beginning to see a sparkling light way off on the horizon that says, in the words of Kevin Costner in the 1997 movie, “The Postman”; “Stuff’s getting better every day”.

To make stuff better for you and your business you need to take the focus off yourself and place it on your customer.  The days of buying an ad in the yellow pages that says “I Tow” and having so much business you’re forced to turn customers away, are over.

Now there’s a 3 headed snake that must be dealt with in order to survive and thrive in this new economy.

  • The first is the fact that there’s more competition than ever before.  As if fleeing a burning building throngs of new entrepreneurs have found out there’s no such thing as security working for corporate America.  They’ve traded in their suits and ties for chains and snatch-blocks.
  • Second motor clubs have carved a huge chunk out of the cash call market turning towing into a faceless commodity to be traded like so much corn or soybeans.
  • And third customers have greater access to information than ever before which means they can compare prices in a matter of minutes.

But as they say “every wreck has a silver lining” instead of fighting these problems head on you should embrace the opportunity that has shown itself.

With the proliferation of motor clubs more customers than ever before have been exposed to the towing industry.  They’ve become accustomed to making the call to roadside assistance when they need help.

In some respects, we have motor clubs to thank for cultivating a new generation of customer. Although somewhat entitlement minded and less patient, their numbers are great which opens the door for opportunity down the road.

When the economy starts to turn around and ‘stuff gets better’ these customers will demand better service and will have the money to pay for it.  They’ll want a higher quality service-provider that motor clubs just can’t produce because of their low-budget business models.  And with the availability of information, the need for motor clubs will decline.  This will send the nouveau riche crowd seeking towers on their own who can cater to their needs.  And cater you must…

But to cater to their needs you need to compete but not in the traditional sense.  You can no longer compete solely on price you’ve got to get that out of your head right now.  There are those who will say different but the future will flesh them out as either in another line of work or small operations whose trucks are in considerable disrepair.  You don’t want that.  If this is the business you want to thrive in you need to be able to make a profit and to do that you need to properly market your services.