A Winning Smile

Florida’s Total Septic uses a happy face logo and television advertising to drive home the company message of do-it-all customer service

Never underestimate the power of a distinctive, eye-catching business name and logo. For proof, look no further than the smiley faces on the vacuum trucks operated by Total Septic Service in Orlando, Fla.

The trademark smiley face, a play on an iconic 1970s pop culture symbol, appears on the rear of the Total Septic fleet. The vehicles also feature a simple, yet bold color scheme that includes the company’s name in large block letters. The graphics all come together to help the company build brand recognition.

Owner Jimmy Lapin says a milk truck inspired the smiley face concept.

“On a miserable, hot August day, I was sitting behind a milk truck with a smiley face on the back — no name, just a smiley face,” he says. “It made my day to see that face. I couldn’t wait to get even with the truck to see the name of the company.”

“People call all the time and ask if we’re the company with the smiley face on the back of our trucks,” says Lapin’s daughter, Nichole Margeson, the company’s office manager. “It works — people really remember us. Those trucks are moving billboards.”

Lapin almost ran into legal issues with a large retailer, which asked him to “cease and desist” using his original logo because it was too similar to the retailer’s own “falling prices’’ logo. So Lapin made the smiley faces’ eyes look downward to the right, which appeased the mega-corporation.

As for the company name, Lapin wanted something that would simply and clearly state what the company was all about. A small epiphany occurred one day at his kitchen table.

“We do anything that has to do with water,” Lapin says of his company, established in 1992. “Our motto is, 'If water flows thru it, we do it.'

“One morning, I was eating Total cereal for breakfast,” he says. “I immediately thought of our company … the name says it all.”

TELEVISION ADVERTISING

Recognizable trucks are just one way Total Septic gets the word out about its services, which include septic pumping, drain cleaning and drainfield installations. The company’s multimedia marketing campaign also includes television commercials, which Lapin estimates generate about 12 percent of his business volume (about 60 percent septic pumping, 20 percent stormwater drain cleaning, 10 percent commercial and home drain cleaning and 10 percent drainfield installations).

Lapin writes the commercial scripts and a local television station produces them. Although he has no formal marketing or scriptwriting experience, Lapin says he understands promotion.

“It just comes naturally,” he says. “You just tell people what they need to know — how our company can upgrade customers to today’s operating standards.”

So far, Lapin has developed three 30-second commercials, all aimed at the residential and commercial pumping market. Each one costs about $20,000 to produce and $130,000 to broadcast about seven or eight times daily for a year.

“I saw a plumber running commercials and felt we should give it a try,” he says. “We were told the commercials made a 10 percent difference in the plumber’s business.”

Because of the economic downturn, Total Septic is cutting back to running spots twice a day. But Lapin is still bullish on television advertising, noting that the company’s telephones “started ringing off the hook” after the commercials started running.

Lapin believes the commercials augment a word-of-mouth reputation established by his more-than-30-years-experience in the industry.

“We do little things, like hand-rake after every (installation) job,” he says. “And we don’t leave tractor ruts everywhere. When we leave, the ground is ready for sod. A landscaper might charge you big bucks to rake out and level your yard.”

BIGGER NOT ALWAYS BETTER

Over the years, Lapin has learned one important business lesson: Growth isn’t always good. In fact, when it comes to generating a profit, less is sometimes more, as the saying goes.

“Bigger isn’t always better, believe me,” Lapin says. “The best (sales) year I ever had, I didn’t even make a profit because I had such a high payroll. When you’re running a large business, you’ve got to have a serious infrastructure of good supervisors in place, otherwise you have one guy running 65 men. After a while, it gets to be too hard to handle.”

Difficulty in collecting payment from customers further complicated the situation. Sobered by the lack of profits and overwhelmed by the logistics, Lapin did some serious downsizing, concentrating on septage pumping services and turning down work related to new construction. The move paid dividends: Compared to five years ago, Total Septic’s sales volume is about half of what it used to be — but the company now turns a profit, and Lapin is a saner man.

“Not being able to collect money was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Lapin says. “Now I ask for half payment upfront, so that at least pays for materials. If you can’t pay for materials, you won’t survive very long.”

DISPOSAL ISSUES

Lapin also has learned to keep a sharp eye on waste disposal costs, and he changes disposal methods when it makes sense financially. For example, he land-applied septage for years because it was cheaper than taking it to treatment facilities. Now, taking advantage of transportation savings, he relies on the nearby Orange County sewage treatment plant for waste disposal.

One of the biggest challenges Total Septic faces is grease trap waste disposal. The Orlando area is densely populated with restaurants, which creates high demand for grease trap cleaning. But Orange County doesn’t accept grease trap waste, a situation Lapin is actively lobbying with county officials to change.

At present, Lapin disposes grease trap waste at a private processor he views as a business competitor.

A FLEET FOR DIVERSIFIED SERVICE

Lapin believes business diversity is critical to his company’s success. The company offers a full array of septic services, including installations and certified inspections. Its services also include handling industrial waste, cleaning industrial plants, cleaning and repairing sewer lines and lift stations, video drain line inspections, and commercial and residential drain cleaning. Lapin estimates the company’s sales volume is split 50/50 between commercial and residential work.

Geographic expansion has also keyed company growth. Total Septic operates locations in West Palm Beach and Jupiter, as well as Charlotte, N.C.

A wide array of services demands a large stable of equipment. On the pumping side, Lapin builds out his own trucks, using steel tanks from Modern Welding Company Inc. Total Septic runs four Mack R trucks (1979, 1989, 1994 and 1998) with 3,500-gallon tanks; a 1997 Mack R truck with a 4,000-gallon tank; and a 1990 Mack R pump truck with a 4,500-gallon tank. For commercial drain cleaning, Total Septic owns a 1991 Vactor truck with a 2,000-gallon waste tank and a 1,200-gallon freshwater tank, built by Jack Doheny Companies; and a 1998 Vactor truck with a 2,000-gallon waste tank and a 2,200-gallon freshwater tank, built by Environmental Products of Florida.

DEEP ROOTS IN THE INDUSTRY

Lapin comes from a long line of pumpers. His grandfather, George Lapin, started AAA Septic in 1959. His uncle, Dennis Lapin, established Lapin Septic Tank Service Inc.

Jimmy worked for his grandfather then worked for his uncle for about 11 years, establishing a pumping division for the company, which before had focused on installations. Then he split off to start Total Septic.

“I never looked back and he never looked back, and we’re the best of friends,” Jimmy Lapin says.

Nichole Margeson represents the fourth generation of Lapins to work in the septic industry, which underscores Total Septic’s standing as a family-run company guided by family principles.

“We just treat people good — like we’d want to be treated,” Lapin says.

And, of course, make them smile.



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