Mandie Hagan would have made her father very proud. In the seven years since Dickie Rowell’s untimely death, Hagan, her husband, Ian, and mother, Debbie Rowell, have taken the 26-year-old family business to new levels with business technology and sophisticated marketing approaches. Today, Franklin, N.H.-based Rowell’s Sewer & Drain is poised to break the $1 million mark in sales, and the family just acquired what would have been Hagan’s father’s dream vacuum service truck.
DESTINED TO PUMP
Life is a journey that often takes unexpected twists and turns. Such was the case with Hagan’s path to the family business. In September 2001, Hagan was living happily in Vail, Colo., and working as the assistant vice president of a bank, when she received devastating news: her father had died in his sleep of a heart attack while on a hunting trip in Alaska. He was just 46.
He left behind not only a broken-hearted family, but also a growing business that couldn’t be ignored. Debbie Rowell, who had worked with her husband all along, was left to run the business solo — and quickly realized that going it alone wasn’t going to be easy.
Life goes on, and mortgage payments continue to come due. Although Rowell says she had to force herself to get out of bed some days, she did what she had to do to keep things running smoothly. “There was no pulling the pillow over your head,” she says.
Rowell was successful in maintaining seamless service for customers, but she also ran into roadblocks. Her breaking point came when a key employee left to start a competing pumping business in a neighboring town. Rowell eventually gave her daughter a call and asked her to come home. She had been running the company for a year without her husband.
Newly married, Hagan consulted with Ian, a plumber by trade. He was open to making the move, and Hagan had always wanted to raise a family near her parents. (The couple now has two young daughters.)
The Hagans joined Rowell in October 2002 and the trio have been running the business ever since.
GROWING PAINS AND GAINS
Initially, there was some butting of heads in the new partnership — each trying to figure out the other’s strengths, weaknesses and personality traits. Trust needed to be established, too.
“How do you mesh these two families together now? I had experience, and they didn’t have any,” Rowell says. “They were ambitious and so willing to learn. Ian came with so much experience, and he’s so multi-talented,” she adds. “We wish we could clone him.”
With his plumbing background — and knowledge of sewer and drain-line cleaning — Ian Hagan became the lead technician. He now manages the employees and provides bids for customers. He’s also a licensed installer.
“We keep him busy,” Hagan says. “He’s on the truck every day.”
Hagan turned her attention to operations, employing her business management, finance and economics backgrounds to the septic pumping company.
“Regardless of what type of business you run, you’re always looking out for the customers’ interests, so the basics are all the same,” Hagan explains. “Keeping the customers happy, watching the bottom line and trying to be profitable and successful — that’s the core, so from that aspect it wasn’t that much of a transition.”
Hagan mimics her father’s business philosophy: that everything is about making the customer happy. The company prides itself in round-the-clock emergency service and attaining high satisfaction among its customers.
A consistent approach to customer relationships has increased word-of-mouth business. Hagan follows up each service trip with a phone call to check on the quality of the service. She asks customers whether the company’s service met expectations — if nobody answers the phone, she leaves a message. She makes sure they’re happy, and knows that if they are, they’ll tell their neighbors and friends.
Complaints are rare, and resolved quickly. Once, a customer reported a broken tank lid. Rowell quickly had it replaced, no questions asked.
“(The customer) called me right up that night, and said, ‘I’m impressed, you didn’t give me any grief, you didn’t question anything, and you just got me a cover,’” Rowell recalls.
HEY, GOOD LOOKIN’
The appearance of trucks and equipment is a high priority for Hagan, as well. “Our trucks are always clean,” she says. “We have nice equipment. We’re proud of what we have and we want everything to look good.”
Besides the company’s flashy 2007 Peterbilt, (read about the latest addition to the garage in the accompanying story), the fleet includes: 2001 Peterbilt 357 with a 4,000-gallon steel tank, Masport HXL400 pump, refurbished in 2007 by Dyna-Vac Equipment; 1999 International 8100 with a 1,500 gallon steel tank built by family friend Ray St. Laurent; 1999 Freightliner FL60 with a 19-foot box truck equipped with Mi-T-M Corp. pressure washer, RIDGID video camera and locating equipment, confined space equipment and an inventory of sewer and sump pumps and drain cleaning tools; a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 1-ton dual pickup with a dump body pulling a 2005 12-foot Haulmark trailer with Mi-T-M Corp. pressure washer.
In the winter, the trailer’s wheels are replaced with a set of skis. The trailer is pulled up the mountain by a Bombardier Snowcat to access the frozen snowmaking lines.
MARKETING MASTERY
Since 2003, after the Hagans joined Rowell’s, the company’s annual sales have grown more than $300,000 and are set to crack the $1 million mark this year. Hagan attributes some of that growth to the company’s attention to tech-based solutions and its use of innovative marketing methods.
“I love marketing. I love having a great Web site, and sending postcards and looking for unique ways to advertise,” Hagan explains. “I’m always looking for that one thing my competitor doesn’t have.”
Over the past three months, Hagan focused on search engine optimization, or SEO. Advertising with a popular search engine ensures the Rowell’s name comes up sooner in customer Internet search results — she has seen a substantial increase in business through the company Web site.
Another recently added feature: The Web site allows customers to schedule service appointments online or e-mail questions. Hagan worked with a graphic designer and the Internet service provider to make the site more attractive and user-friendly.
Rowell’s customer database also is set up to generate maintenance reports so Hagan can alert customers when service is due. The automated system takes the onus off customers — they don’t need to remember to call when they’re past due or have an emergency.
“It works for us because I can schedule it when we can do it, and it’s easier for them,” she says.
Technology, in Hagan’s view, is all about improving the customers’ interactions with the company, and she’s constantly looking to the future. “I’m a little behind compared to the 21-year-olds of the world, but (technology is) only going to make us better and more efficient.”
ON TOP OF TRENDS
Staying on top of what’s new in the industry is another of Hagan’s goals — and one way to stay a step ahead of competitors. The company continues to reinvest earnings in computers (Rowell’s oldest are two years old) and equipment. The family attends the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo at least every other year to research the latest technologies. Hagan keeps an eye open for “that one marketing idea that you hadn’t thought of that was really kind of simple and easy, and doesn’t cost much money to do.”
Rowell’s continues to expand its service offerings in an effort to become a “one-stop shop,” says Hagan, providing repairs, cleaning or drain and sewer service. This “careful” growth has netted the company a current customer list of 10,000, 60 percent residential and 40 percent commercial. A higher capacity, brand-new vacuum truck, just like dad would have wanted, has also helped business grow.
“Even though the economy is down, we’re growing,” Hagan says.
Hagan describes her customer-focused business philosophy and values as being identical to her father’s. “He was exactly like I am; the customer is always No. 1. My dad always had the biggest smile on his face.”
And Dickie Rowell lives on, his smiling image emblazoned on the company’s trucks.
“The little man pictured on our service trucks is a cartoon character of my dad,” says Hagan. “My dad was known as the ‘happy pumper’ and was most likely seen wearing shorts and work boots with a beautiful big smile.” And, no doubt, Hagan says, he’s smiling down on his family every day.
