A while back I had a conversation with a towing company owner who started off the call by telling me he was doing quite well.
But less than 10 minutes into it, he admitted that there were some areas that needed work.
One was that the motor clubs he was contracted with didn’t pay very well. Sometimes paying as little as $75 dollars for a tow that might rack up more than 20 miles on his truck.
Undeterred, he decided to supplement that revenue by doing long distance towing for some of the high-end dealerships in the area.
And that paid pretty well.
Problem was…they paid really slow.
Like, 120 to 180 days slow.
And when he would press them for payment, they’d send him a nominal check, as well as another cross country tow.
Strangely though, the bill for that tow would amount to nearly the same amount of money as the check he’d received.
Which he would invoice them for and undoubtedly wait an extended period for payment.
He was spinning his wheels.
In economics, Gresham’s Law states that “bad money drives out good.”
It basically says that if there are two types of money in circulation, people will tend to use the less valuable one (bad money) and hoard the more valuable one (good money).
It’s why you never see silver coins in your change any more.
Well, just as bad money drives out good money, bad customers can drive away good customers if you don’t take steps to distinguish between the two quickly.
Because your resources and efforts will be disproportionately spent on fulfilling, chasing payments and dealing with other issues related to these yahoos.
Besides, when you’re overly dependent on any one source of revenue, your business is at risk. Especially if they are bad customers.
Rather than hoping and praying that a big fat check will arrive in the mail, you need a strong online presence that attracts cash-paying customers.
People who pay COD today.
For that, you’re going to need a properly optimized website and a strong online presence.
Otherwise, you’re going to continue to struggle and be dependent on these people.
Think about it this way.
Imagine you’re a fisherman sitting on the shore trying to catch fish in a lake.
And there’s another guy out in a well-equipped boat trying to catch fish, too.
He’s got a fish finder, high-quality bait, and four poles in the water.
He uses a boat to reach the best fishing spots, a fish finder to locate where the fish are, and high-quality bait to attract them.
He’s got the right tools.
But you? All you got is a $29 dollar pole from WalMart with last year’s line on it.
Which is sure to break if, on the off chance, you get a bite.
You’re just randomly casting and hoping for the best.
While he’s reeling them in one after the other.
Because, again, he’s using the right tools.
It’s the same with your business.
A properly optimized website and ongoing search engine optimization are the tools you need to you attract the attention of cash-paying customers.
And, without these tools, you’re susceptible to being taken advantage of by people who can smell your desperation.
Dealership owners who play games as described know what they’re doing. They’ve gotten away with it before.
But they can only do it if you allow them.
Don’t allow them. Take back control of your business by dialing in your marketing with a properly optimized online presence.
If you need help in this area, schedule a call.
In the meantime, if you want more help growing your business both online and off, I want to remind you about our membership site that will soon be available.
It’s to help you stay ahead of the curve and make more sales, improve profitability, and attract and retain good people.
We’ve settled on a name.
We’re calling it the Tow Academy Insider. Pretty simple, huh? As it’s delivered inside my new App.
When you subscribe, you’ll get fresh new business-building content you can’t get anywhere else, plus access to a ton of other videos, audios, courses, articles, and PDFs.
You can listen to them while you’re in your truck, hooking up a car, or whenever. You can even watch or listen on a desktop or laptop.
But a word of warning…
My teachings do not include any underhanded dealings, crazy hacks, or Craigslist shenanigans. So, if that’s what you’re looking for, please go elsewhere.
But if you have a good business already and the ability to commit to what you find inside, it has the potential to substantially increase your business.
So if this is something of interest to you, you’ll want to keep your eye out for future emails as there will be some pretty sweet bonuses for early adopters.
More on that later.
Don Archer
Physical Address:
Don Archer
P.O. Box 104432
Jefferson City, MO 65110
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