TowingBossPro Blog — Running a Towing Business

Building Commercial Accounts for Your Towing Business

Individual drivers who break down call once and might never call again. Commercial accounts call every week. A body shop that sends you its tows, a dealership that needs cars moved, a property manager who needs vehicles removed, a fleet that needs its trucks hauled when they break down. These accounts are the backbone of a stable tow company.

Building accounts takes more effort than answering the phone, but it pays off in steady work that is not at the mercy of the weather.

Why Accounts Matter

Managing cash flow, as covered in Managing Cash Flow in a Towing Business When Calls Come in Waves, is much easier when part of your work is predictable. Commercial accounts give you that. They send regular calls, they often need transports that can be scheduled, and a good relationship can last for years.

Accounts also tend to bring more accounts. A body shop owner who likes your service will mention you to the dealership down the road.

Accounts also change how you plan. With a few steady accounts, you know roughly how many calls to expect each week. That makes decisions like adding a truck or hiring a driver much less of a gamble.

Who to Go After

Start by listing businesses in your area that move or deal with vehicles.

• Body shops and collision centers that need vehicles brought in.
• Repair shops that need customer vehicles towed to them.
• Car dealerships that move inventory or need service tows.
• Property managers and businesses that need vehicles removed from their lots, where your local rules allow it.
• Fleets, like delivery companies, rental companies, or contractors with trucks.

Pick a few that fit your trucks and your service area. It is better to win and keep three good accounts than to chase twenty and serve none of them well.

How to Win Them

Most accounts already have a tow company. You win them by being better at what they care about: showing up fast, treating vehicles carefully, communicating clearly, and billing cleanly.

Stop in and introduce yourself. Ask what frustrates them about their current towing. Often it is slow response, damaged vehicles, or messy invoices. Offer to take a few calls so they can see the difference. Then make those first few calls perfect.

Bring something with you when you visit. A card, a simple sheet with your services and service area, and a direct number that gets answered. Make it easy for the person at the front desk to call you the next time a vehicle needs moving.

Set Them Up Right

Once you win an account, set it up properly from the start. In TowingBossPro, commercial accounts have their calls and invoices grouped under the account. When the account calls, you know who they are. When they ask for last month's invoices, you can pull them up in seconds.

Add notes about how they like things done: which entrance to use, who to call on arrival, where vehicles should be dropped. Set up a card on file or auto-billing if that suits them.

Make sure your dispatcher knows who your accounts are and how to recognize their calls. An account calling in should never get the same treatment as a stranger. Recognizing them by name and knowing their preferences makes them feel like a priority.

Make Billing Easy for Them

Commercial accounts care a lot about billing. They want clear invoices with the vehicle details, pickup and drop-off, and the date. They want to see everything they owe in one place. They do not want surprises.

Every call in TowingBossPro carries the vehicle's year, make, model, color, plate and VIN, and every invoice can include storage charges and sales tax. Clean invoices are one of the easiest ways to stand out from a competitor whose bills are a mess.

Ask each account how they prefer to be billed. Some want an invoice per call. Some want everything at once. Some want a card charged automatically. Matching their process makes life easier for their office staff, and those staff often influence who gets the work.

Grow Each Account

Once an account trusts you, look for ways to do more for them. A body shop using you for light-duty tows might need transports to a specialty shop. A dealership might have heavy vehicles that need moving. A fleet might need roadside help.

Ask regularly whether there is more you can do. Keeping and growing accounts is its own skill, covered in the next guide. More on accounts is on the towing business software page.

Do not neglect the small accounts either. A small repair shop that sends a call every week or two is worth keeping, and small accounts sometimes grow. Treat every account like it might become your biggest one.