$10,000 Wakeup call

Sometimes the most valuable business lessons come from moments that initially feel like failures. This is the story of how TDR Way was born – from a $10,000 monthly investment that seemed to be going nowhere but ended up changing everything.

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The Wake-Up Call

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Back in 2010, like many tow company owners, I believed that getting more calls was the key to growing our business. We invested heavily in SEO – $10,000 a month, to be exact. A hefty price tag that promised to flood our dispatch with new opportunities.

 

Month after month, we received reports showing increasing call volumes. But something wasn't adding up. Our sales weren't growing. Frustrated and ready to cut our losses, I called our SEO company to cancel.

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The Moment of Truth

What happened next changed everything. Our SEO representative made an unusual offer: "Listen to ten random calls we've recorded. If the leads are bad, we'll cancel your contract and refund your money."

 

It seemed like a no-lose situation. I couldn't have been more wrong.

 

The Horror of Call #1

The very first call left me horrified. There it was – my dispatcher literally giving business away, telling potential customers they could "probably find someone closer and cheaper" and suggesting they "continue to call around."

 

By the fifth call, I was literally banging my head on my desk.

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The Real Problem

After regaining my composure, the truth hit hard: This wasn't an SEO problem. It wasn't a lead generation problem. And it certainly wasn't my dispatchers' fault.

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It was my fault.

I had never taught my team how to make a sale. More importantly, I had never shown them how to create meaningful connections with customers in those crucial first moments of a call.

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The Birth of STEEP

This realization sparked a two-year journey of developing and refining what would become the STEEP process. We didn't just want a script – we wanted a complete system that would:

• Transform how dispatchers handle calls

• Build genuine relationships in under 4 minutes

• Convert more calls into actual sales

• Help our team manage the daily stress of dispatch work

 

The Results

What started as a painful $10,000 lesson evolved into something extraordinary. Today, after 12 years of refinement and over 30 years of industry experience, the STEEP process has helped countless tow companies achieve:

• 20-40% increase in cash call conversions

• Minimum 25% increase in COD calls

• 95% success rate with in-person training

• Transformed dispatcher confidence and performance.

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A Question for You

 

Before you judge our initial mistake too harshly, ask yourself: Are you absolutely certain your dispatchers aren't giving away calls right now? Our industry research shows that 85% of towing companies discover their dispatch is inadvertently turning away business.

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Your Next Step

Don't wait for your own $10,000 wake-up call. Let us help you transform your dispatch team with the proven STEEP process – the industry's only specialized dispatch training program built from real-world experience and success.

Ready to stop losing calls and start building a stronger business? Contact us today to learn more about STEEP training options:

• In-person Training

• Virtual Training via Zoom

• Monthly Subscription Programs

• Association Training