A college degree in anthropology and a career in the liquid waste industry seem about as compatible as a septic pumper and wingtip shoes. But it makes perfect sense to Steve Stevens, part owner of Kimble Septic Tank Cleaning and Porta-Pot Portable Toilets in Mansfield, Ohio.
When you hear Stevens explain how he runs Kimble Septic, an unlikely symmetry does emerge. For starters, studying anthropology made him a keen student of human nature, which informs many of his notions about customer relations and service, as well as innovative marketing. And knowing the value of an education fuels Stevens’ desire to make his customers as knowledgeable about septic tanks as he is about archaeological digs.
“Educating customers is a big deal to me,” Stevens emphasizes. “We couldn’t have established the customer base we have without first educating our customers.”
Take Kimble’s approach to pumping septic tanks, for example. The majority of Kimble’s customers live in Richland County in north-central Ohio, which does not require regular septic tank pumping. As a result, Stevens encounters on a daily basis tanks that haven’t been cleaned for decades.
“When a tank hasn’t been pumped for 25 or 30 years, it’s like pumping concrete,” Stevens notes. “So we pump as much as we can into the truck, then back-flush it into the tank to break up the solids and turn it into a slurry. We had one the other day that we had to back-flush four times.”
Inevitably, customers notice and ask Stevens what’s going on, and that’s where the education begins.
“I hand out a brochure that explains the concept that a septic tank is designed to retain solids — that the pumping restores the tank’s treatment capacity,” Stevens notes. “That’s why it gets pumped, not because it’s ‘full.’
“Once customers understand what we’re doing, you can bet they’ll keep coming back,” he continues. “We can’t compete on just price alone, because there’s always someone who’ll do it for less. I’m a firm believer that you get what you pay for. We’re able to command a slightly higher price than our competitors, but that’s because the customers know what they’re getting for their money.”
FAMILY TRADITION
Kimble Septic has deep roots in the Mansfield area. It was originally known as Berry Septic, established around 1948. In the early 1960s, Stevens’ great-uncle Kelley Kimble bought the business and renamed it Kimble Septic. Stevens’ father, Willis, then bought the business in 1968 and retained the name.
After graduating from Miami University of Ohio in 1990, Stevens went on to graduate school, eyeing a career as an archaeologist. But he quickly realized grad school didn’t suit him — and an ensuing taste of the corporate world was no better.
“There was too much back-stabbing and social cliques, sort of like high school,” he laments. “I’m a pretty no-frills, get-the-job-done kind of guy … I don’t like red tape and I like making my own decisions and being accountable to myself. So I decided to switch gears and come home and join the family business.
“Now a septic tank is clean only when I see the tank is clean,” continues Stevens, who co-owns Kimble with his father. “As long as we do the job right for each and every customer, they’ll keep coming back.”
IN THE YARD
Kimble’s business mix is about 55 percent portable sanitation and 45 percent septic tank pumping. On the restroom side of the business, the breakdown is fairly evenly divided between special events, year-round rentals and seasonal rentals, Stevens says.
The company owns 330 standard restrooms, mostly made by Olympia Fiberglass Industries Inc., Satellite Industries Inc. and Synergy World Inc., plus another 20 handicapped-accessible units from Olympia and 10 flush-and-wash units from Satellite. Other equipment includes a 34-foot Olympia restroom trailer.
For portable sanitation, Kimble depends on a 1998 International 4700, built out by Best Enterprises Inc. with a 1,000-gallon waste/ 250-gallon freshwater stainless-steel tank, as well as a Conde 12 vacuum pump, manufactured by Westmoor Ltd.; a 2000 International 4700, also built by Best Enterprises with a 1,000-gallon waste/250-gallon freshwater stainless-steel tank and a Conde 12 pump; and a 2003 GMC 3500 flat tank truck, outfitted by Crescent Tank Mfg. with a 500-gallon waste/250-gallon freshwater aluminum tank and a Conde 6 pump.
All three vac trucks are equipped with Burks DC-10 freshwater pumps from Crane Pump and Systems, and Giant pressure washers from Giant Industries. For deliveries, Kimble uses two GMC 3500 one-ton flatbed trucks with liftgates.
On the septic side, Kimble owns a 1996 International 4900 with a 2,300-gallon, steel tank and a Masport HXL400WV pump; and a 2005 International 4300 outfitted by Best Enterprises Inc. with a 2,300-gallon, stainless-steel tank and a Masport HXL400WV pump.
STEADY SERVICE
Stevens doesn’t aspire to make Kimble bigger; he’s content with the niche the company currently occupies.
“Bigger isn’t always better,” he notes. “I always heard you have to keep growing or you’ll go out of business, but I’ve been bucking that philosophy for 12 years.” Instead, Stevens prefers to focus on providing the best service possible for his existing customers.
“I once had a bank loan officer ask me what my business model was,” Stevens chuckles. “I told him it’s this: I’ve never known a customer who wanted a dirty portable toilet. People want clean toilets, and if you keep yours cleaner than the competition’s, everything will work out fine. It’s the same philosophy my dad had. It’s the crux of our entire business — doing things better than anyone else.”
But just because Stevens isn’t interested in double-digit growth doesn’t mean he isn’t concerned about running an efficient, profitable business. He keeps close track of expenses and raises prices when needed. And because he effectively communicates the reason for price increases, customers don’t seem to mind.
“When we raise prices, we send out a letter to customers or put a notice on our invoices that explains why — that we’re only offsetting higher business costs, not making more money,” he explains. For example, Kimble recently raised its restroom rates $5 a month to compensate for higher fuel costs.
“It’s a struggle,” Stevens admits, referring to how he maintains fair pricing. “When a customer goes to a competitor on the basis of price, they usually will first ask if we’ll match the lower price. I always tell them no — it wouldn’t be fair to the other customers, or to me and my employees. It’s a cost of doing business properly.”
CULLING CUSTOMERS
Stevens has no patience for customers who don’t pay their bills and isn’t afraid to part ways with them. Stevens has also learned to pay close attention to profit margins on various accounts, observing that there are some customers you just can’t afford to keep. The best example of that came, oddly enough, when Kimble lost a customer — a large international race car course that was a portable restroom customer for years.
“Right after I joined the business, the race course decided to use a competitor of ours,” Stevens recalls. The loss of such a big account was a huge blow, and it was hard for Stevens to accept. But he also saw an opportunity to cut back and make the business more efficient.
“As a result, we scaled down our business — sold off all our older restrooms,” he explains. “When it all shook out, I had a lot more free time and much less stress, and we made the same amount of money as we’d made in prior years.
“That told me we weren’t making a cent on servicing that race course,” he continues. “We were beating ourselves up servicing this huge customer and weren’t making any money. Not every customer is worth having. It was a tough lesson to learn. But now, we don’t even submit bids when they ask us to come back. I’m not going to try and underbid somebody — they know what our prices are.”
SMART MARKETING
On the septic tank cleaning side of the business, Stevens keeps a database of all Kimble’s customers on a computer. To determine how often a customer’s tank needs to be cleaned, he notes how many people are in each household and the size of the septic tank. He also notes if the customer has a garbage disposal, because using one cuts the service interval in half, as well as what the tank is made of.
Then he puts each customer on a service schedule and sends out notices when they’re due for a tank cleaning. This is especially important because of the local governments’ hands-off approach to septic tank regulation.
“It’s just like a dentist sending out a postcard that tells you it’s time for a check-up,” he says. “We get a 90-percent response rate to those cards, because we’ve taken the time to educate our customers.”
Stevens also uses the Yellow Pages to advertise his business, but like everything else, he doesn’t do it without periodic analysis.
“For the Yellow Pages ad, we use a different phone number than our regular number, so we can track how many new customers the ad generates. If you’re only getting two or three a month, it’s time to shrink the ad,’’ he says.
But Stevens contends that the best advertising of all is a clean restroom on a jobsite.
“It’s got our name and phone number on it,” he notes. “When they open the door, you want them to see a clean toilet. I always tell my drivers that if it’s clean enough that they’d feel comfortable sitting on it, then they’re finished and can move on.”
