Cash calls can be a big help to your profits, as you can set your own rates, and many people stuck roadside will not spend a lot of time shopping.  However, it is important to understand their true cost. You typically add in more/longer contacts and touch points for a cash call as you have to establish the basic call info that the motor club/insurance company usually provides. Chances for error and fraud are higher as well. 

Cash callers typically are without a roadside assistance plan because they can’t afford one and their cars are older. These folks can probably least afford an expensive tow. They will do their best to find another solution (GOA) and are more likely to have payment issues. 

With that said, how do you get more cash calls? Advertise. That generally means Google or Facebook/Instagram ads these days. These can be much more cost-effective than other ads, but they are not necessarily a silver bullet. Google ads really require your company to have a website, or at least a domain name, which many small operators don’t have. 

Google Ads

When someone Googles “tow truck near me” Google ads determine who shows up in the “sponsored” section of the screen. People pay for that screen real estate and finding the balance of dollars to exposure is tricky.  

SEO

This is getting your company to come up at the top without ads. It is even more tricky and expensive and is hard to pencil out unless you are a pretty big operator. 

Facebook/Instagram Ads

These ads suppose that you can put your name in a customer’s head so that he looks you up when he needs a tow. Again this can be done but the investment is not short term and success is harder to measure. 

Getting Help

There are many companies out there who say they can do this for you and they will do the legwork. They are right, but figuring out what works for you is still trial and error to a large extent, and that educated guesswork still requires your cooperation/intervention. Anyone who tells you that they have “figured out the algorithm” and can be sure their ads will work, has not.  Be prepared to drop some cash into those ads until you see results. That said you need to be directly involved in their decision making or you can possibly spend money with no results at all.

Make sure you understand the actual Customer Acquisition Cost of those cash calls and make sure they are really helping your bottom line. Below is an example of how to calculate this cost. Call us if you need to know how to calculate these numbers. 

Monthly customer acquisition costs. 

Google ads cost $1000

Your time in working with ads to optimize. $350

Increased dispatcher time – Late/no payments $500

Increased GOA’s $350

Total customer acquisition cost $2,200

Number of cash calls 55

Customer acquisition cost/Call $40

You need to get at least $40 per call, or at least $2,200/month in profit for you to break even on this adventure. Please note that Google changes its search algorithm frequently so ads that work this month may not work next month, so your time never really goes away. 

We wish you the best with your cash call project to increase your profits. We can probably help to increase your profits by outsourcing your dispatch. Let us know how we can help with either one.