The changing economy is creating more price-shoppers. Even after pumping the tank for a set fee, our customers want to renegotiate the price. The country’s mindset seems to be, make a stink and the service provider will discount something. We’re still working on a policy to counter that mentality. Meanwhile, I’m stuck with different prices for different customers, similar to the analogy of passengers paying 60 different prices for coach seats on the same commercial flight. I can’t understand that approach to business.
I believe in consistent pricing governed by the market. Our company is seeing two groups of customers. The first are regulars who are happy with our service and pay the asking rate without question. The second group calls to ask about our daily discounts. We have a 20-percent-off introductory offer for new customers and a $20 discount for senior citizens. Period. The caller can choose which one to accept, but we won’t combine them.
The biggest trend we’re seeing, though, is customers postponing scheduled pump-outs for another year. We’re not worried about the economy turning customers into deadbeats. We collect payment on probably half our jobs and invoice the rest. Our books always show some bad debt, about 3 percent, which is part of doing business. Companies without it are losing work because the owners are too cautious. We send reminder notices on accounts overdue, then follow up with an in-house sales force that calls homeowners.
Our company has always been the price leader in our market. We’re probably 20- to 30-percent higher than many competitors. The impulse from so many pumpers to lower prices to keep their trucks on the road is disappointing. Think about it for a moment. If the number of service calls drops, shouldn’t the charge per unit increase to cover operating costs? Those expenses always continue to rise. It’s basic supply and demand. If you haven’t enrolled in a seminar on how to evaluate the health of your business, now is the time.
Some companies pump a tank for a lowball price to get a foot in the door, then try to upsell the homeowner the world. That’s poor business ethics, similar to bait and switch. Proper business ethics is to explain to the customer what is wrong with the system and what solutions are available to fix it. This is legitimate upselling. It’s an opportunity to install risers, replace baffles or discuss more frequent pump-outs because the tank is too dirty. A proper service call involves explaining all the things that would make the system easier to maintain or function better. Look beyond the septic tank, too. Does the yard need regrading because water is running onto the drainfield or into the septic tank?
PUMP WHEN IT RAINS
“Pump and run” was the old way of doing business. We never thought about explaining what could be wrong to customers. For example, I pumped a customer’s tank five times in seven days during a rainy spell. We’d saved time in the schedule for him whenever it rained, knowing it was simply a matter of waiting for his call. In those days, pumping was our only solution, while homeowners waited for sewers to arrive.
When my company started doing buy-sell agreement inspections, I felt awful informing customers I had serviced for 10 to 20 years that their systems were in failure. “How can that be?” they’d reply. “You’ve pumped the tank religiously and never said that my system was bad.”
I’d think, “You call every time it rains, yet can’t imagine something is wrong with your system?”
I learned that yes, service providers have a responsibility to tell customers when their systems are ailing. It’s the ethical thing to do, as is helping them find a solution. Today, so many options are available that we can repair most systems.
SEPTAGE MANAGEMENT ORDINANCES
The National Association of Wastewater Transporters sees a legislative trend toward septage management ordinances. The disappointing ones mandate pump-outs every two or three years. This one-size-fits-all approach is easy from regulatory and enforcement standpoints. NAWT believes that good legislation requires a compliance inspection of onsite systems every three years with the tank pumped as needed.
The ideal solution is operating permits. Management with operating permits work like this: A certified inspector checks a system, sends the report to the regulatory authority, and that body issues a three-year operating permit. Before permits are reissued, systems must be inspected again and problems resolved.
Homeowners would have 90 days to bring their systems into compliance. The legislation also would set pumping standards based on when the bottom solids and scum layer equal 25 or 30 percent of the tank’s capacity. This management approach is financially sound because compliance inspections are less expensive than pump-outs.
Many times, it isn’t science but politics that determines ordinances. To see politics prevent sound legislation is disgraceful. Ohio is an example. Legislators proposed to update their antiquated septic code. Rather than developing a payment method, opposing politicians argued that people couldn’t afford replacing or repairing their systems and killed the bill.
WASTE TREATMENT WORKSHOP
NAWT retained Dave Gustafson and Jim Anderson from the University of Minnesota to turn the classroom portion of the Waste Treatment Symposium into a one-day traveling workshop that state associations can book for their annual meeting. The program addresses how to determine whether to build a treatment facility and what kind. Topics include disposal resources, treatment processes, evaluating costs, Part 503 requirements, developing a business plan, and business opportunities. Contact the NAWT office at 800/236-6298 to schedule a workshop. We have the same traveling program available for our vacuum truck technician, operation and maintenance, and inspector training courses.
DATES TO REMEMBER
Don’t forget that the NAWT Waste Treatment Symposium is Oct. 9-10 at the Renaissance Orlando Resort SeaWorld (www.renaissanceseaworldorlando.com). To qualify for the discounted hotel rate of $150 per night double occupancy plus 12.5 percent taxes, register for your room by calling NAWT at 800/236-6298. These rates apply only for Oct. 8-9, after which the rate is $217.
The deadline for high school seniors or full-time college students to submit applications for the William Hapchuk Memorial Scholarship Fund is Feb. 1, 2010. Applicants must write a 500-word essay answering the question: What roles can pumpers play in your community to ensure that onsite systems are operated and maintained properly, thereby protecting public health and the environment? Application forms are at www.nawt.org.
