If someone said they could show you a way to add at least 25% more sales for very little investment, would you say yes? Would you at least explore the option? Let’s review some facts from the first article, Dear Hauler, Meet the On Demand Customer.

From that article, you will see some key facts (sources cited within): 1) 80% of customers EXPECT to be able to buy your products/service on demand, 24/7/365, RIGHT NOW. 2) 77% of the U.S. population have smartphones, 3) Over 50% of all commerce is online, and 4) over 50% of online commerce is via mobile device/smartphone.

Do the math. Over 25% of all commerce is via a smartphone (you might be reading this article on yours!).

As stated in the Dear Hauler, Meet the On Demand Customer article, Convenience is a Competitive Advantage! All other things equal, customers will buy based on convenience. Of course, right? But, more importantly, 63% of respondents stated that convenience of purchasing (via an online portal) is the reason they bought from a company. This is, in summary, The Amazon Effect.

What is your company’s response to these facts? A website with a “fill out this form and we’ll get back to you” page? Not good enough. Not even close. Your inferior competitor can…well…kick your (…) with a mobile enabled website and an online payment portal. Their price, compared to yours, may not matter even a little. Why? The customer never crossed shopped you in the first place.

WITHOUT A MOBILE ENABLED WEBSITE AND AN ONLINE SALES PORTAL YOU ARE IGNORING AT LEAST 25% OF THE MARKET. 1 out of 4 buyers never bothered to contact you. For better or worse, they bought from one of the Big Nationals who do have online sales portals.

The TrashBolt System fixes this.

Ignoring the mobile buyer is to your company’s peril. First, you’re simply ignoring the facts. Second, you’re ignoring the trends. Third, you’re giving your competition, the one who does serve the mobile customer, an advantage. The first and second elements are covered in the Dear Hauler, Meet the On Demand Customer article. Let’s dig into the 3rd element here a little.

As haulers, you know that greater route density, maximized truck capacity, and lowered cost of sale are key metrics for a hauler to measure and manage (See “Master Your Density to the Best of Your Capacity (on the cheap)” article above). But what happens if you don’t? More importantly, what happens if you don’t and your competition does? With a proper online system, a mobile enabled website with high SEO ranking, and an online sales portal that closes sales with very low costs of sale, a competitor could easily open your routes with a mailer, a promo-code, and their online sales portal.

“But we have a great local reputation!” you exclaim.

Doesn’t matter. Online buyers seek other elements that exude quality and reputation. The lack of an online/mobile buying platform is interpreted by today’s On Demand Mobile buyers as “low quality organization”.

“But Competitor A sucks!” you rebut.

See above.

The Bottom Line: if you’re website isn’t mobile enabled, you’re ceding 25% of the market right off the bat. Ask yourself: what will that do to your route density if your competition is mobile? Looks bleak.

Imagine: You’ve just moved in to your new home. Boxes are piling up. Last night’s chinese take out containers and your newborn’s diapers are just a few hours from ruining the ambience of your new garage. And the Mrs’ just ain’t happy about the stink.

You notice a brightly colored label on the waste cart the previous homeowner left behind. On it, you see a QR code (a 3 dimensional bar code). You’ve seen these before! Below it, you read the following message:

“Congratulations on your new home! Go ahead and use this cart for the next 30 days; it’s on us! Just hover your cell phone over the QR code and in a few short steps, you have waste service!”

The TrashBolt system receives a message from the QR code and texts the customer with a link to a contract. The customer enters their payment info, and ….done. The customer is happy. Internally, you decide is you want to deliver a fresh cart (or a bigger/smaller based on customer choice).

This level of service is what today’s On Demand and Mobile customers expect.

If you don’t do it, your competition will.

Many hauling organizations have multiple products, and multiple ways to sell. Let’s explore a few: 1) Internal resources, External Sales, 2) External Resource, External Sales (door knockers), 3) The Neighborhood Champion, 4) Lobby/Face-to-Face sales, 5) trade shows

What looks better? The rep who approaches you with a clipboard and a pen (here’s your carbon copy sir…), or a rep with an iPad? Are you comfortable writing your 16 digit card number (and security code) on a piece of paper, or entering it into a tokenized (PCI compliant) payment portal? What’s easier to manage? Transcribing paper copy info into your billing and operations software (Oh! The Error!), or the field data captured at the point of sale (export/api)?

Did you expect a long explanation of the 5 elements above? There’s no need. The answers to “what looks better” and “what’s easier to manage?” are self evident as to why a mobile sales platform is critical to today’s selling environment.

TrashBolt is a mobile sales platform useable in any way you can conceive.

It’s 7:12am, you’re making lunch for your school-aged kiddos, and you just can’t remember if it’s recycling week or not. But you’re too busy to dig out the paper schedule you printed 6 months ago and jammed into the junk drawer. Then, your phone dings.

A message appears “it’s recycling week”.

Good to know!

A map outlining the whereabouts of the truck appears with a message “your pickup is approximately 20 minutes from now”

Better get the trash AND recycling to the curb!

A third message appears “next week Yard Waste service begins. You haven’t signed up for Yard Waste. Click here to sign up for Yard Waste”. A contract is texted. You click, sign. Done.

This is what today’s On Demand Mobile customer expects. If you don’t do it, your competition will!

It takes a lot of time and resources to meet the demands of today’s On Demand Mobile customer. TrashBolt was designed to do just that at a fraction of what it would cost a hauler to develop the software natively. Using TrashBolt to meet the demands of the On Demand Mobile customer can set you apart from your competition. In today’s “Mobile or Die” customer climate, if you’re not mobile, your competition will be. And you will lose that battle. Not because you’re inferior. But because you unwisely chose to not show up to the fight!

TrashBolt. For Haulers Ready to Win!