Marketing in a competitive market ?

[Tow411]

Topic Originally Created by wyomingtowpro in September of 2015:

 

I wondering if anyone out there has a diverse marketing strategy for going after new customers in the heavy duty market? I know that in my service area I hear the competition say things like.. We're the Best, We're the biggest, We have the most rotators, we can do it cheaper.. I have even heard one company make it know they are going to do what ever takes to keep the "other large" company from making payments by cutting prices. I know some will buy the business by paying off those who are responsible for assigning the calls to the towing service with a cash kick back. Sales people will cater to the customers with gifts, hats/shirts and food ect....

I have spend a lot of time praying and thinking about how I am going to present my services in this very competitive market in my city. I know most of you would not want to post here in a public  forum some of your marketing ideas but would love to discuss in private messages or phone calls new ideas. I have developed a potential marketing tactic for dealers, trucking companies, and repair service. my customer loyalty plan has incentives in hopes that customers will like a new approach to the way their account is handled beside the normal idea of just give me the business and pay me....  my business email is [url=mailto:cwsoftnllc@gmail.com]cwsoftnllc@gmail.com[/url] or message me here of post to this tread, what ever is more comfortable for you. what ever is shared in private will stay in private... Jeff Chapman... Nashville, Tennessee  

 

goodmichael said:

You become the best by showing, not telling. Talk is cheap, but developing a stellar reputation is an investment in integrity, teaching, and giving back to the community. I would suggest that you attend the Wreckmaster certification programs and then host a certification program in your area. Ask the fire and police departments to cross train. School is back in session; get with some of the insurance providers and see if you can get a few wrecked cars and place them at the high school as well as the community college to hammer home the effects and results of stupid choices in driving drunk or chemically impaired. Sponsor a food drive, Christmas is less than 110 days away, sponsor a toy and clothing drive. Pass out business cards. Pass out business cards. Pass out business cards. Contact trucking companies and let them know that you will allow their drivers to park in your lot that is secure if they need to go to the doctor or dentist, and that you will assist the driver in getting to the appointment. Throw some meat on the grill and have an open house.
Be thankful and gracious for what you have, and remember that if you do not take care of your customers, someone else will.

 

Tow Chef said:

it is a dog eat dog world. I seem to be the second dog. I wish I could figure out how to gain business from the larger companies. I don't have a rotaror. I could not afford one in my wildest dreams. 8-10k a month. it seems you have to have a rotator anymore or you are a nobuddy. we have a 9055 and a 5030t35. we can do most any recovery a rotator can do. remember how it was done before rotators? it is hard out there. we have done the calanders, mailed out promotional flyers, gone door to door. word of mouth seems to work the best but it takes too long. I would love to hear some ideas on how others have increased business without buying some one that may or may not call you. south carolina

 

 

In Memory of NationalAutow who said:

Your best bet is to find YOUR niche and work it. Do not start challenging your competition on price, service, size or anything. Let their products and services speak for themselves. Let your products and services speak for themselves.

Certainly your pricing needs to be competitive however not necessarily the cheapest. Would you rather do 100 $100 tows or 80 $125 tows? Assuming all are equal, you have less cost in doing 80 tows.

Also, remember that there is only one number 1 position and EVERYBODY is looking to knock number 1 off the top of the pile. You do not have to do all of the tows to make the most money and that is why we are here isn't it?

 

Occupant272 said:

Nationally contracted roadside providers accept every call that comes in with a short ETA to keep their performance numbers up.  ETA acceptance, ETA times met, and customer reviews may very well be considered in who gets called first and/or most often.  So if the local roadside provider accepts every call and cancels a majority of them, they get the "points" for their scores with the motor clubs, get GOAs issued on trucks that never moved an inch towards the customer, and people get left out on the road for hours while they wait for a company that is NOT coming to rescue them.

I like cleaning up other companies' messes.  Many of the calls we do (probably MORE than half) are calls that had a previous cancellation by the nationally contracted roadside companies in the area.  Typical example:


Customer calls their motor club and gets told a provider will arrive in 45 minutes.  Motor club calls the first company on the list, national roadside service company, and offers the call.  National company dispatcher knows he/she has three drivers out there and all are booked up for the next two hours, but accepts the call anyway with a 30 or 45 minute ETA.  15 minutes later they call back and cancel the call with the motor club and get to bill for a GOA.  Customer is NOT notified of this and assumes national company is still coming.  At an hour they call the national company and find out their call was cancelled for an untrue reason such as, customer did not answer phone, customer was not found at location, customer was not at their vehicle, whatever.  The national company dispatcher tells them to call their motor club and get the call redispatched.  Customer calls the motor club, waits on hold while motor club calls national company to verify service was not provided, then tells the customer the untrue reason why, and the customer gets angry and wants another provider.  Motor club starts calling around to other providers who are a) too busy b) can't give a 45 minute or less ETA c) have prices too high or demand CC up front or d) are out of business.  When they finally get around to calling us, the customer is fuming, the dispatcher is frazzled, and we give a decent ETA and show up on time, complete the service, and leave.  National company did no work other than three phone calls and gets a GOA fee, and because they aren't the provider who showed up, don't get any sort of feedback from the customer review.  We did all the work, get a poor review from the customer who waited forever, and lose points on our customer service scoring.  Motor club is out extra money and time for all this.  Customer has to wait forever and probably cancels their roadside when it comes up for renewal.


I wish I could get the good review for actually showing up and doing the work.  But this is how it is, I suppose.