Building a successful company doesn’t have to be overly complicated. For proof, look no further than Arizona Portables, a fairly new Phoenix-based company that has enjoyed solid growth by emphasizing some basic customer service and pricing principles as well as offering customers a complementary product: roll-off containers.
Owner Marc Segel says a Phoenix-area construction boom also has fueled the company’s growth. But overall, providing great service — which tends to minimize price objections and, in turn, allows the company to maximize profit margins — has been a real difference-maker, he says.
“We really sell on our service more than anything,” he explains. “We’re not the cheapest company in town by a long shot. But we can charge a bit of a premium because our customers appreciate that when we tell them we’ll be there to service restrooms at a certain time, we’ll be there.
“We also stand behind our service,” he continues. “Price is important to construction companies, but service is just as important, if not more so.”
So far, the company’s strategies are working. After just two full years of operation, Arizona Portables owns nearly 1,000 restrooms. It also runs seven service vehicles and three hoist-equipped trucks that transport roll-off containers.
“We’ve been able to scale up pretty quick,” Segel says.
About 80% of its restroom business stems from construction-related rentals and the remainder from special events, he reports.
The acquisition of a roll-off container business in July 2021 also spurred growth.
“It’s been great because it allows us to offer two complementary services,” says Segel, who also has eight years of experience on the roll-off container industry and also owns LDR Site Services, a roll-off container business based in Atlanta. “We were thinking about getting into that market anyway, but then I heard this company was for sale, so it was just one of those lucky things.”
The takeaway here? The business landscape is always in flux so it’s a good idea for portable restroom operators to keep an eye out for opportunities to expand into complementary services, he says.
RESPECTFUL SERVICES
So what does good customer service look like at Arizona Portables? For starters, ensuring a live person answers customer phone calls is critical.
“Sometimes just answering the phone — and doing it with a positive attitude — is all it takes to beat the competition,” Segel says.
The company strives to have a real person answer every phone call. And if calls can’t be answered live, customers get return calls right away, Segel says.
“If a customer has a unit that needs to be serviced because too many people have been using it or we missed a service call, being able to speak to someone who can resolve the issue is very important,” says Segel, who established the company in fall 2019. “I’d say our phone call answer rate is in the mid-to-high 90% level.”
“For whatever reason, if you simply answer the phone and do what say you’re going to do, you’re way ahead of the game,” he adds. “We’re very customer-driven and that’s been one of the keys to our success.”
Segel also says it’s crucial to build a company culture based on respect for customers, whether it’s answering phones or cleaning restrooms. “You have to treat customers the way you’d want to be treated and talk to them respectfully,” he says. “Being respectful pays dividends every time.”
THE PRICE IS RIGHT
The company’s pricing policy also has been integral to the company’s growth. Larger companies often have the financial resources to cut prices and make up losses on volume, but Arizona Portables is not one of them, says Brock Mathews, general manager.
“We could’ve grown a lot more and faster if we gave away our restrooms, but it’s not in our plan to decrease our profit margins like that,” he explains. “I always tell people we’re not a Target or a Walmart. … Instead, we’re a little nicer and a little more expensive.
“But we never want to be the biggest company, either, because bigger operations usually mean bigger problems,” he adds. “We just want to be great and treat everyone like they’re important.
“We’d much rather have quality customers and quality employees instead of doing things cheap and trying to get by and running around like chickens with our heads cut off.”
In addition, Arizona Portables strategically concentrates on smaller homebuilders as well as concrete companies and residential pool installers instead of larger construction contractors.
“It seems like everyone wants to get job sites with 20 to 25 restrooms, but we’ve done extremely well with renting just one or two restrooms per job site for four- to six-month projects,” he says. “That way we get restrooms back quicker and earn better margins because bigger companies always want discounts, since they’re renting more restrooms.”
The ability to charge higher prices also provides another benefit: The company can pay employees higher wages, which in turn promotes employee retention. And providing good-paying jobs is part of the company’s business model, Mathews says.
“The portable sanitation industry has a lot to offer that can change people’s lives,” he says. “I always tell employees that I want them to leave me for a better job or grow with us forever. … I’ve seen their fortunes and lives change for the better.”
CAPITAL INVESTMENTS
To serve customers, the company relies on seven service trucks; all are equipped with Masport vacuum pumps. Three of them are built on Hino 268 chassis with 1,500-gallon waste/500-gallon freshwater aluminum tanks from Tank World and KeeVac Industries.
The company also owns an International CV515 with a 1,500-gallon waste/500-gallon freshwater aluminum tank from Tank World; and two International 607 trucks that carry a 500-gallon waste/200-gallon freshwater aluminum tank from Tank World and a 450-gallon waste/200-gallon freshwater slide-in tank from Satellite Vacuum Trucks.
The company also relies on a Ford F-250 with a Satellite slide-in aluminum 200-gallon waste/100-gallon freshwater tank and Masport pump. “Sometimes our routes get heavy and we can’t complete all of them, so our slide-in unit helps alleviate some of that pressure,” Mathews says. “Also, the slide-in truck can maneuver in tight places.”
In addition, the company owns about 950 Axxis standard restrooms, 20 accessible restrooms, 70 TAG 4 hand-wash stations, 20 containment trays and 10 250-gallon holding tanks, all from Satellite Industries.
The company also owns about 100 roll-off containers. Most of them are 40-cubic-yard units, but some have 20- and 30-cubic-yard capacities, too. Most of the containers are from Roll Offs USA, with the rest from Hambicki’s Truck & Container Sales. They’re transported by two Peterbilt trucks and one Mack truck; the trucks are outfitted with roll-off hoists made by G&H Truck Equipment.
“We prefer to use brand-new vehicles,” Mathews says. “We try to book a lot of stops on our routes, so vehicle uptime is very important. We’ve purchased used trucks in the past, but at the end of the day, even one day of truck downtime can kill us.”
As for what the future holds, Segel envisions further growth for Arizona Portables.
“Brock and I are very growth-motivated,” he says. “We want to get much deeper into the Phoenix market and eventually expand down (southeast) to Tucson and in between.
“We plan to keep our foot on the gas.”
