Working Locally By Don Archer Recently we received a call from a motor club asking us to provide service for their member who was some 20 miles away. We declined since it was a 2-mile tow and there was no mileage reimbursement offered. Not 30 minutes later, a call came in from the person needing the tow. The question to us was, do we work for “nameless” motor club? They were upset because the roadside assistance insurance they had purchased was useless, and the 800 number they called couldn’t find anyone to do the work. It didn’t help that they were located in a rural area. I explained to the customer exactly what happened. I told him that we couldn’t provide service because the motor club would only pay as much as an in-town tow and that we couldn’t do it for that and still make money. Although unsure how it all worked, he understood that we couldn’t work for nothing and asked us to tow the truck anyway and said he’d pay cash. This transaction got me to thinking about why the towing industry needs a middleman at all. Are there other industries where the customer would prefer to deal with someone other than the person or company providing service? Say personal grooming: Do you contact a personal grooming broker when you need a haircut? No you just walk into the local barbershop. If you need your lawn cared for, you don’t call an 800 number that directs you to a clearing house located in another country. For the best service, you call someone local right? Then why is it that your neighbor would make a call to somebody they don’t know to set up an appointment to have their car towed when your tow truck is parked in the driveway next door? The answers are many: fear of the unknown, unsure of the costs, perceived value, hassle free, easy complaint resolution, and dealing with someone who’s already been scrutinized by their insurance company. But how did we get here in the first place? The reason motor clubs are in existence, other than the fact that Americans love to travel and don’t have relationships with towing companies nationwide, is because we want to control our lives. We want to know that, should we have car problems, there’s always going to be someone available to help out. Now you and I both know that one of the local towing companies is going to get that inbound call from the motor club. And when the customer calls the 800 number because they need to have their car towed from home to the shop, they’re going to dip into their “free tows.” So when they go on vacation or must make an unexpected trip out of state to visit a sick relative, he may not have any towing left. Maybe there’s an opportunity there to develop trust or strengthen a relationship that already exists. Rather than push back against motor clubs, we could use them to our advantage and give customers the control they desire.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 20:06:18 +0000
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