Customer Service

By Brian J. Riker We think of ourselves as towers, yet we would never have the opportunity to be tower without first being customer service agents. Without providing excellence in all that we do, our business will flounder and eventually fail. Everyone in our company, from the call-taker to the driver, even the porter that cleans the yard and restrooms, is a customer service agent. We all must work toward one goal, providing excellence. Customer service excellence means more than simply meeting your ETAs, having clean trucks and competent operators. Excellence in customer service includes managing expectations from the first point of contact through completion of the job and invoicing. We as towers must be careful not to speak down to our clients; even those that really do not know much about their own vehicle or the service they actually require. I suffered an example of poor customer service recently when I broke down in a new truck with 250 miles on it. It took the third-party dispatch service three attempts to dispatch a qualified tow service, and that only happened after they asked who I would request since I was being “so picky.” My problem wasn’t being picky; I simply wanted them to respond with the correct truck to tow what I was driving instead of dispatching something inappropriate. Had I not known any better (I refused to allow service), the first provider that responded would have overloaded his truck with my truck and tried to handle the job. (He really thought loading a 32’ truck weighing 18,000 lbs. onto a 25,000-lbs. GVWR carrier with a 10,000-lbs. rated 21’ deck was OK!) I am not bashing him; he didn’t know any better and had bad info from the motor club. Worse yet, the second company to respond came with an even smaller truck! How this plays into customer service is simple: I had clearly explained to the call center who I was, my needs and how I expected them to respond. They agreed empathetically, yet dismissively, and chose to respond how they thought I needed to be responded to, disregarding the fact that I was the one on scene and they were not even able to properly identify the class of vehicle I was in. Further adding to the poor experience was the fact that once the responding tower was made known to me, I called them directly to make sure they brought the correct equipment and was brushed off. This was in my local area, so I knew the company dispatched could not handle the call. The third-party dispatch service insisted they could and would not switch providers until this company came out to say they couldn’t complete the service. This whole fiasco, which resulted in me sitting on the side of I-81 for 3.5 hours, could have been avoided by exercising clear communication principles and actually listening to the customer. I know it is frustrating because many times our customers really do not know what they actually need; however, we should never allow that to cloud our judgement and turn off our listening skills to the point where we discount every word out of a customer’s mouth as nonsense. Brian J Riker is a third generation towman and President of Fleet Compliance Solutions, LLC and is a contributing writer to American Towman Magazine and Tow Industry Week. He specializes in helping non-traditional fleets such as towing, repossession, and construction companies navigate the complex world of Federal and State transportation regulatory compliance. With 25 years of experience in the ditch as a tow operator Brian truly understands the unique needs and challenges faced by towing companies today. He can be reached at brian.riker@fleetcompliancesolutions.net