Question

Topic: Strategy

Marketing In Towing

Posted by Anonymous on 7/30/2010 at 9:30 PM ET 250 Points
We've been in the towing business for 5 years now and it has been getting really tough. I would like to get some marketing tips. I've tried knocking on doors to calling from the yellow pages. Any creative and cost effective ideas?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 7/31/2010 at 6:46 AM Accepted
    Real marketing starts with an understanding of your target audience. Who purchases your services? Is it the driver of a vehicle that breaks down, or is it a dispatch service? Where are they located? How do they decide who to call when they need a towing service? What criteria do they use to make a decision among the alternatives? What does it take to even be in their consideration set?

    Is the whole industry in decline, or are you losing market share to someone else? That could make a big difference. If the market is down, then there's going to be some rationalization and you may have no choice other than to wait it out. If you're losing share, then you need to understand why and to whom.

    Before you take action, make sure you understand what's happening in the world (or at least in your service area) that's making things so tough. What's changing that's causing the pain? Does this headache call for aspirin or do you need brain surgery? You don't want to invest your time and money "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic."
  • Posted by telemoxie on 7/31/2010 at 10:19 AM Accepted
    good advice above.

    Are you selling your services primarily to individuals, or are you selling it to and or through other organizations, such as auto dealerships, auto repair facilities, and so forth?

    If you are promoting and selling your services through other organizations, you may find it helpful to make a list of people who have stopped buying from you, and go see them. (Notice that I did not say, "call them on the phone"). Let them know that you respect their decision to work with other sources, but you would like to understand why they are no longer working with you. Let them know that you are interested in finding and correcting any problems people may have had with your service.

    If you do this, you will learn more about your competition, about the state of the current market, about the perspectives of those in your target market, and about any complaints or issues people had about your service.
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 7/31/2010 at 4:13 PM Member
    I am not a towing expert, but it seem like a lot of business comes from referrals from other businesses or organizations. Examples being AAA calling you when one of their clients has a problem in your territory. Or the local police department calling you when they need an illegally parked car towed. Seems that over the years these types of referrals are more common than when I first started driving some 25 years ago - now it seems that most insurance companies and car makes offer roadside assistance. Do you have these agreements in place? if not, are there agreements you can make?

    To get consumers directly who need towing service, you need to be where they go to get information. Having a good yellow page ad comes to mind. But also being someone that police or others suggest to when they find a broken down person who isn't part of AAA or similar.

  • Posted on 7/31/2010 at 5:50 PM Author
    This was very helpful. Your advices was well.recieved and I will make the neccessary corrections by first taking a solid look at my business and deffinately the competition. Once again. Thank you for your time.
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