We did not personally know Steve Cardinale but after reading the message sent by the California Tow Truck Association we were moved to include it here. Imagine the industry we would have if every tower was a bit more like Steve. Below is the message from the CTTA in its entirety.

It is with a saddened heart I must share with you the loss of a great friend, teacher and mentor to so many throughout the Towing and Recovery world.  Steve Cardinale, The Godfather of Towing, passed away Monday April 23, 2012 and will be missed by many.

Steve ran Atlas Towing in the Bay Area throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s. He earned his nickname “The Godfather of San Francisco” during this time because he was so well liked by customers and competitors. Steve helped start the Greater Bay Area Chapter of CTTA, was awarded “Member of the Year” in 1982 and served as Chapter President in 1987. It was during his stint as President that he began some early tow truck training and safety instruction. Also in 1987, the Towing and Recovery Association of America honored him with the Distinguished Service Award. In 1989 Steve was inducted into the Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame in Chattanooga, TN and in 1993 he received the CTTA Life Achievement Award. In 2005 CTTA awarded him with the CTTA Humanitarian Award. These are just a few of the many awards and achievements bestowed upon Steve.

Soon after selling Atlas Towing, Steve was asked to begin development of the CTTA education program. He eagerly accepted and served as Training Director for the CTTA for 20 years, developing, improving and teaching towing professionals throughout California and across the country. Steve was soon dubbed The Godfather of Towing.  

Steve officially retired in April 2008, but was still known to attend classes, train our instructors and serve as a consultant for the industry.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Steve’s family in this time of loss. The family has asked for some family time over the next few days and we will forward information regarding the memorial service when the arrangements have been completed.

Respectfully,

Glenn Neal

The TowProgram team had a great time at the Florida Tow Show. Dennis delivered a seminar on Web Marketing for Towing Companies to a packed, standing room only crowd. We met all sorts of towers and had several conversations with towers looking for web advertising for their towing companies.

Some of our highlights for the show:

- Our jam-packed seminar on Towing Company Marketing. Great questions, great sharing and many good ideas to help improve online marketing efforts for towers.

- Meeting with the Towers. We has a chance to have several in-depth conversations with towers about the challenges they have faced with their online situations.

- Seeing the New Products. At every show I always take some time to check out the new products and the FL Tow Show did not disappoint. Keep an eye out in my Black Book column in T&R Footnotes for notes on what impressed me at the show.

- The amazing team of volunteers from the Professional Wrecker Operators of Florida for a job well done. Just a great show all around.

Below is a photo from the balcony of the Beacon Software Hospitality Party Friday night. The guys from Beacon Software always throw a fun party.

With the year coming to an end I thought it would be a good time to talk about the 2012 Tow Show Schedule. Many changes are afoot on the schedule this year with a few location changes and some date changes as well.

2012 Tow Show Schedule

What a great weekend in Baltimore. We had a chance to meet with several of our current clients and were able to talk to many people interested in our online advertising solutions for towing companies. Our seminar was well attended and we had great questions and discussions.

I know it was a bit crowded after the seminar so if we didn’t get a chance to speak feel free to give me a call any time at 888-834-1123.

The Baltimore Tow Show floor was packed with service and product suppliers offering just about everything a tower could ask for. And even through the nice weather drew attendees outdoors for the last glimpses of mild weather before old man winter takes over we were able to speak with any towers from across the US and even in Canada and Mexico!

Thanks to all who attended our Baltimore Tow Show seminar and stopped by our booth. We look forward to speaking with you in the coming weeks.

Dennis

The team from TowProgram are gearing up for the Baltimore Tow Show. We have the “Hard to Find, Tough to Beat” location on the West wall of the show. We will be at the tow show promoting our online advertising plans for towers as well as the Black Book of Towing.

Booth Location

So check us out on the floor of the Baltimore tow show and also

attend our seminar on online advertising for towers on Sunday morning.
See you in Baltimore.

TowProgram

The Western States Tow Show is On The Move both in location and season! After over a week of playful banter on the Facebook page the CTTA board has announced the new home for the show. San Diego is the new show location and the first weekend in October is the new time.

The 2012 Western States Tow Show will in San Diego October 4-6
Location: Town & Country Resort

It looks like a great location just West of I-5 on I-8.

We look forward to the official release from the CTTA soon.

See you in October!

As originally reported at mlive.com Northern Michigan tower Tim Baller, owner of Tim’s Towing & Body Shop has painted one of his wreckers pink in an effort to both honor his mother who recently lost her battle with breast cancer and to raise awareness of and funds to fight the disease.

Ballor said when customers specifically request the pink tow truck, he plans to donate a portion of the sale toward cancer research.

“We’re going to be using it throughout, but when they request it, a portion of (the towing cost) goes to the American Cancer Society,” Ballor said.

What a great way for a towing company to get some positive publicity about our industry. So often its the negative side of towing that gets all of the credit. Thanks Tim.

D

Another reason I love tow411.net!

After posting a link to my cc processing article on tow411.net another forum member posted this link. Its to a company called Fee Fighters. They are committed to helping merchants lower their credit card processing fees and have several tools you can use to get the best rate for your credit card processing.

They also have a cool little tool to tell you if Square, the nifty credit card reader that works with your smart phone is right for you. Check it out at http://feefighters.ca/square-calculator. Its a great tool and completely free!

Happy savings!

D

So what is the right tool for how to best market your towing company? The answer is it takes several tools. The biggest thing to keep in mind when spending money on marketing for your tow company is two fold: Who is your primary audience and what matters to them.

I was recently pursuing the forum posts at tow411.net and came across this thread discussing brochure marketing for towing companies.

I added this post to the discussion:

This is a great discussion about a valuable and effective marketing tool and it could also be a good idea to consider your audience for these brochures. As towers we have many sources of work: Account/Fleet, Cash Customers, Auction, Municipal/Government, Private Property & Motor Clubs to name a few. The goal is to apply the correct marketing tactic to the audience that would most likely be responsive to that form of message. In my book, The Black Book of Towing, I recommend using brochures for Accounts/Fleet and for Private Property prospects. Obviously these two groups of people would get different brochures as they are motivated to choose a towing company for different reasons (Accounts want a tow partner that will get the job done, no excuses, and be professional to their customers, Private Property prospects may be concerned mainly with no damage statements and help in communicating with their residents/tenants for example). It is important for the brochure to be professional looking and well designed but it is as important that you’re talking about something that specific business prospect cares about. Talking to a repair shop owner about how good you are at private property towing is less interesting to him than hearing that you understand you are viewed as an extension of his business and will treat his customers with respect and professionalism and you guarantee to complete most tows in under an hour. Most of the time a shop will partner with a new tower after his current tower screwed up. So have your message and your brochure written with that in mind and you may find greater success with your marketing efforts.
Good Luck
Dennis

The truth is there are so many ways to successfully market your towing company it is all a matter of good targeting and good execution.
Dennis

Accepting credit cards is a necessity for any towing and recovery company looking to maintain or grow their share of cash calls performed. And given the fact that cash calls are the most scalable and profitable source of business for towers, unwinding the mess that is effective credit card processing into your company is worth it.

One of the biggest benefits of smart phone technology advancements to small towers across the country is affordable and effective mobile credit card processing. There are options available for everyone from the single truck operator to the large fleet provider.

Here are two products that stick out as good matches for tow industry credit card processing.

Square Credit Card Reader

From the people that brought the world Twitter comes a product that is actually useful. The Square CC Reader is a simple smart phone application that allows the user to process credit cards immediately and from anywhere with phone signal. The product comes with a free tiny (1.5” X 1.5”) magnetic card reader attachment that plugs into the phone’s headphone jack. Swipe the card, enter in the details have the customer sign the touchscreen with their finger, and you are good to go. The system can be used on either iPhones (Apple iOS) or any phone with the Google Android operating system. A single account can be linked to several phones for processing, and all user activity can be tracked with each transaction’s CSV file.

Another great benefit is the Square Reader accepts American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa—all with the same flat rate of 2.75% if the card is swiped or 3.5% plus 15¢ per transaction when card number is manually entered. These rates are a bit higher than what you may be able to negotiate with your local bank, but the fees are fully loaded. There are no other processing, transaction or monthly fees at all. Linking Square to your checking account is easy and payments show up in a few days.

One potential downside is the plastic card reader’s durability. Towers are notoriously tough on phone equipment, and this cute little accessory very well may meet its match in the rough world of towing. The good news is, replacement readers are currently free from the manufacturer.

Overall Square Credit Card Reader represents the future of mobile credit card processing, and is a great resource for the tow industry.  Details at http://www.squareup.com.

Existing Merchant Accounts

If you’d like to make a one-time equipment investment and link mobile CC processing to your current merchant account to take advantage of your existing rates, Payware Mobile may be the right product for you. For $79 you get an iPhone plug in swipe accessory and application that allows for mobile processing by a fleet of operators. The Mobile Gateway Admin feature allows you to monitor all transactions in real time and immediately deactivate any device as needed.

Payware Mobile is VeriFone’s version of mobile processing, but most processors are private branding similar technology. The swipe accessory seems more durable than other products, but is currently only available for iPhone. Check out Paywaremobile.com for more information.

The reality of all of these products is they require operators to have access to smart phones. And weather you provide employees with phones or compensate then for the use of their personal phone, upgrading to this technology definitely has its benefits. Considering the costs of just one unpaid call from a bad credit card each month or the time required by office staff to run the cards for operators in real time and you’ll be cutting the cord on credit card processing in no time.

Dennis Wencel developed “The Black Book of Towing” and accompanying DVD set to help independent towers be more profitable. The book and DVD set detail simple and proven ways to run a towing company from the business end. You can order them on his website at www.towprogram.com or by calling 888-834-1123. TowProgram.com also provides affordable online advertising solutions for the towing industry. Wencel has divided his time over the past 20 years running his own tow company and working in marketing.