TowingBossPro Blog — Accounts & Customers

Dealership Accounts for Tow Companies: Transports, Lot Moves and Service Runs

Dealership work is some of the most predictable work a tow company can get. Customer vehicles going to the service department, units moving between stores, trade-ins headed to the auction, new inventory that needs to get from one lot to another. Much of it is scheduled, much of it repeats and almost all of it involves the same handful of addresses.

Body Shop Accounts: Turning a Tow Company Into the Shop's First Call focused on body shops, where reliability wins the account. Dealerships want reliability too, but they add scheduling, multiple locations and quotes to the mix.

Dealer Groups Are One Account, Many Locations

Most dealer work comes from groups with several rooftops. Set the group up as one account and each store, service center, storage lot or prep facility as a location. Lot-to-lot moves then become a call with two saved locations: pick the pickup, pick the drop-off, done.

Include the dealer's prep facilities, body shop, and any overflow lots. Dealers often store inventory in places that do not show up on their website, and those are exactly the addresses your drivers will struggle to find without a saved location and notes.

If stores bill separately and have their own decision-makers, separate accounts may make more sense. Ask who approves your invoices; that usually answers the question.

Service Runs and Customer Vehicles

When a dealer's service customer breaks down, the dealer may call you to bring the car in. These calls belong to the dealer account, but the vehicle owner is the person standing on the shoulder. Record the owner's name and phone number on the call so the driver app can send them on-the-way and arrival texts, and so the customer is not left wondering.

The vehicle details — year, make, model, color, plate and VIN — matter to the service department. Getting the VIN right means the service advisor can open the repair order before the car arrives.

Estimates for Longer Moves

Not every dealer request is a same-day local tow. A unit going to another state, a vehicle headed to an auction a few hours away or a batch of cars moving between regions usually starts with a price. TowingBossPro supports leads and estimates with online approval and follow-up.

Send the estimate to the dealer contact, let them approve it online, and the approved estimate becomes the job. If the estimate sits, follow-up reminds them so the job does not quietly go to another company.

Scheduling Work That Is Not an Emergency

Dealer moves can often be scheduled for a slower part of the day. Logging them as calls in advance puts them on the Waiting List and dispatch board where dispatchers can fit them around emergency work, rather than living on a note by the phone.

Batches deserve special attention. When a dealer asks you to move eight units from one store to another, log each vehicle as its own call with its own vehicle details. It takes a little longer up front, but it means every unit has its own record, its own photos and its own line on the invoice, and nobody argues later about whether the seventh car was delivered.

Ask the dealer about timing windows and note them on the location. A service drive that is jammed first thing in the morning is a bad place to arrive at opening.

Invoicing Dealer Accounts

Dealers often want invoices that reference their own stock numbers or repair orders. A custom field for the dealer's reference keeps that consistent. Calls and invoices stay under the dealer account, so the office manager who asks for last month's statement gets it quickly.

Watch the account history for patterns. If a dealer calls for the same lot-to-lot move several times a week, there may be room for a standing arrangement that helps both sides plan, and the history gives you the numbers to propose one.

Card on file and auto-billing can simplify payment for dealers that pay regularly, and payment follow-ups handle the ones that do not. Apply sales tax according to your local rules.

Keeping the Dealer Relationship

Dealers change people often — service managers and office staff turn over. When a new contact takes over, a well-kept account record means you are not starting from scratch: their locations, their preferences and their history are all there.

• Update contacts on the account when staff changes
• Introduce yourself to the new service manager
• Confirm their locations and drop-off instructions
• Check reports by account for any drop in volume

Dealers also talk to each other. A service manager who moves to another store in town brings their opinion of your company with them, and a clean, reliable experience is the best reason for them to call you from the new job.

Dealerships fit naturally into towing account management software built around accounts and locations. Next, we take on a more sensitive account type: property managers.