Starting a repo business is difficult. Maintaining a repo business is difficult. Growing a repo business is difficult. No successful business is built overnight, but if you want your repo business to be a success, you must keep looking for new ways to do better work, be more efficient, and continue to grow your contracts and client base.
This work will require your constant attention and dedication, as you find out which ideas work for your business and what practices to leave behind — to continually refine and grow your repo business until it is working exactly the way you want. To help you get rolling on this journey, here are 5 ways you can grow your repo business into a profitable, efficient, well-oiled machine.
Invest in Your Own Equipment
If you want to grow your repo business, it’s essential to invest in your own lightweight, durable, efficient towing equipment. Investing in a wheel lift attachment for your truck, like the Minute Man XD, is a great idea for anyone looking to grow their repo business, and because of its lower upfront cost, it’s ideal for those just getting their foothold in the industry.
With your own towing equipment, you can not only attract more clients, you’ll be able to complete jobs faster and more efficiently with reliable, safe tools. The better quality work and the shorter the lead time for the client, the bigger and better the paycheck from a completed contract.
Also, make sure to maintain your existing equipment. Budget upgrades and routine service on a yearly basis to make sure you are fully prepared for any job that comes your way. A truck with a failing muffler could make it impossible for you to repossess your target item without attracting attention — which could hurt your business’s reputation and make it difficult to earn new contracts.
Develop Your Brand
Establishing your brand is essential to growing your repo business. Branded materials can help you stand out from the crowd, and help people associate your work quality with your brand name, building trust with your clients.
The more you grow your repo business, the more your brand will age and adapt with you, but there are several things you can do while you’re still small to get your brand off the ground. This could include creating a website for your company with clear messaging and information about what you do and how to reach you. Develop branded materials you can give to prospective clients: brochures and business cards, but also branded merchandise like pens and coffee mugs. That way, when they need a repo business, they won’t have to search the yellow pages because you’ll be top of mind.
Reach Out to New Clients
If you want to grow your repo business, you can’t just wait for customers to find you. Instead, you have to be proactive about getting your name out there by reaching out to potential clients. To get more repo contracts, you can cold-call businesses that routinely hire repo contracts, drop off brochures with your brand information, and continue to wow your existing clients with above-average service and communication.
Present prospective clients with all the information they need to make a decision. This includes a name and number they can use to reach you, vital information about your capabilities and availability, as well as referrals from past clients.
Reduce Extraneous Costs
Are you spending more on equipment you don’t need? Are there repairs you could make to save costly future replacement? Do you need to invest in quality equipment that you won’t have to replace soon? To grow your repo business, it’s crucial to assess where your repo business is burning funds unnecessarily, where you can redirect money toward areas of growth in the company, and places in the business where a little investment will pay off in the long run. Focus your repo business on lean operating strategies to produce the best quality work with the most profit while cutting unnecessary costs.
Once you identify and remove extraneous costs, you will start to spot areas to grow, until you can expand your fleet, which will allow you to take on more contracts and serve more clients. With a repo business, it’s important not to put the cart before the horse, because work can come and go, and hiring a large team before there are contracts to support it could sink any repo business fast. Instead, make smart economic decisions, run a lean budget, and expand if and when the business can support expenses and wages for a number of months on its own.
Collect Testimonials and Reviews
If you’re trying to grow your repo business, client testimonials and reviews will be your best friend. Honest reviews from peers are more effective advertising than any cocktail of flyers and billboards. Make it part of your process to ask each client for feedback once the job is complete. Their glowing compliments will be what separates you from your competitors. You can even include them with your brand materials when seeking new contracts.
You can send clients a questionnaire with a couple questions about their satisfaction, or ask them why they chose your business initially, and why they continue to work with you. Or, ask them to write reviews on popular reviewing sites like google and yelp. Some businesses offer a dollar amount off the service in exchange for an honest review.
This feedback will not only be used as leverage to gain future clients, but can also inform you about the status of your work and give you valuable insight into what’s working really well and what you should try to improve — whether that’s new equipment, a wider service area, or better customer communication. Do your best work with every job, large or small, then reap the true reward for your efforts: positive feedback from clients, which will translate into dollar signs as you start to grow your repo business.
Ready to expand your repo company’s fleet? The Minute Man XD is a great investment. Much more affordable than a wrecker, the Minute Man can handle any light-duty towing, while offering the additional benefits of being exceptionally durable, long-lasting, and quiet — a must for any repo company.
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