Drake and Cindy Whitney operate Cowboy Septic and Straight Flush Rentals from their farm in Airdrie, Alberta, about 25 miles north of Calgary. Trading in an active career in rodeo for a career in septic service and portable restrooms, Drake realized that exceptional service would carry him a lot further than name recognition.
He was raised in the small town of Hanna about 150 miles east of Calgary. Although his family lived in town, all of his peers were into rodeo.
“I was about 11 years old and got into steer riding,” Whitney recalls. “I moved up to the amateurs, to the novice bareback, onto the amateur bareback and then onto the professional ranks as a bareback rider in the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association.”
He went on to competitions in Canada and the U.S. and was one of the final four qualifiers in the $50,000 round at the Calgary Stampede.
But realizing that rodeo is a young man’s sport, Whitney sold a successful trophy and engraving business he had also been operating to launch Straight Flush Rentals in 2005. Many of his initial contacts for portable restroom rental and service were the result of his work in rodeo.
“Because of my rodeo background and where we live in the country, people were asking me to pump out their septic tanks as well,” he says. “We launched our septic business in 2009 and even the name Cowboy Septic was a bit of a nod to my rodeo career.”
But name recognition doesn’t last forever, and Whitney committed to maintaining a high level of customer service for both businesses.
“You have to give customers what they ask for and then give them a little bit more,” he says. “We work as hard as we can to provide service as soon as possible. We’re also committed to having a person in our office answer the phone whenever possible. Customers tell us this is a simple courtesy they appreciate. I believe having Cindy answer the phone, even after hours, helped form the backbone of our business.”
Whitney also notes that providing exceptional customer service begins with treating employees well and paying them competitively. All workers are guaranteed eight hours per day of pay, even if work has slowed down. Break rooms are stocked with enough food to make a simple breakfast, and refrigerators are filled with water bottles and Gatorade.
“Every so often, we buy a 4-H steer from a neighboring farm,” Whitney says. “At the end of the week we hand our people a couple of steaks for grilling, a roast, or a few pounds of hamburger for the barbecue. Our theory is that if you expect your staff to care for your customers, you also need to show them you care about them.”
To learn more about Cowboy Septic, read the contractor profile story in the December issue of Pumper magazine.
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