After our review of the Tow-N-Stow™ trailer, Greg Hopper, VP, Marketing and Product Development, Williams Innovations, LLC, extended an invitation to me to visit their Corporate Office & Technology Center in Durham, NC. At this research and development facility, Greg gave me a walking tour of how theTeleSwivel™ hitch became “the fastest, easiest, and safest way to connect a trailer”; he also put together a hands-on demo of their full line of products for military applications.
No sooner had I left my car, the folks at Williams went right to work with a demo trailer of military hitches and landing leg products. The hitch and landing leg combination work like an Erector set, running in high gear. It was like watching a Monster Truck competition – big, powerful, a few bumps and grinds, and fast-moving machinery running a rugged course. Watching their videos made me think about the need for speed and safety when serving in harm’s way.
The trailer stability and support technology of the TeleSwivel™ hitch all work in concert with each other; it reduces the strain of aligning heavy equipment, helps minimize potential injury to the operator(s), and speeds the transfer of trailers from resting state to mobility; release is just as fast and efficient as the hookup. Fewer operators are required to perform the work, and the amount of lift and release is greatly reduced in the task at hand. You can see safety as paramount in the entire operation; both in design, and in the use of the product.
It’s from this foundation of strength, safety, and design that the TeleSwivel™ for consumers and commercial businesses came to be. An evolutionary step of sorts, Williams discovered the same time-consuming task of lining up the vehicle with the trailer existed for businesses and consumers, too. It would be a matter of downsizing the heft of the military hitch to meet the needs of these markets.
The TeleSwivel™ Model 200 (MSRP: $349.00) is rated for consumer and commercial towing up to 10,000 lbs. The Model 300 (MSRP: $799.00) is well-suited to a commercial operation that requires a rating of 14,000 lbs GTW. From the average homeowner towing recreational trailers or boats, to the commercial operation like a rental equipment dealer, the obvious advantages to the TeleSwivel™ is the potential of a one-person operation. Rather than having someone guide the alignment of the ball to the trailer mount, or get in and out of the vehicle a hundred times, you can aim in a general vicinity with your mirrors, then adjust the hitch to the proximity of the trailer. The other benefit is you can avoid the sore back syndrome from feeling perky enough to manhandle the trailer onto the more traditional, rigid mount hitch, only to find yourself bent over or not moving well for weeks to come.
The mechanism for moving the TeleSwivel™, whose movement can be categorized as an articulating or proximity hitch, is simple enough. Assuming you have inserted the adapter into any 2” receiver (the Model 300 will fit a 2 1⁄2-inch receiver with an adapter sleeve), you back up in the general range of your trailer mount, release the hitch’s extension plate by pulling on a lever, telescope and swivel the hitch and ball to the trailer’s connection, then back up your vehicle to ‘lock’ back into the position for your journey.
No more waving of hands, second and third attempts, or yelling and shouting “left, right, or stop” – or the occasional, “Oh, no!” (some other, stronger phrases come to mind, too). If ladies are smiling at this point, I am guessing it’s two-fold: they are either smiling as a reflection of the experience they’ve had with men and boat trailers at the lake, or at the notion that now they have an easier way to hook-up trailers on their own, without having to deal with moving the trailer - or another back-up attempt. The TeleSwivel™ is a great gift idea for both men and women!
The TeleSwivel™ Model 300 is a different market that responds more to Williams’ “TCT – Total Cost of Trailering™”. In this cost and use justification, the emphasis is on Labor, Fuel, and Safety. It’s back to the argument of less people (to hook it up), fuel savings in speed and mobility (we all know the cost of idling vehicle fuel consumption), and the reduction of risk to injury. Any commercial operation, with more than a couple of trailers, should be able to see an immediate return on investment.
Unlike the military and commercial applications, when it comes to consumers, I think Williams may face a similar price to value challenge as that of the Tow-N-Stow™ trailer. In both cases, they are probably tasked with educating the market on the value of superior engineering and efficient use (of the product) over lower cost solutions.
I can also see what could become the strain of serving two distinctly different markets; there is little in the way of similarities or crossover between the military and consumer markets. Sales cycle, engineering, pricing, supply and demand, etc., strike me as being very different – where do you allocate the time and expense when you are a company of Williams’ size? Many larger companies face the same demands between their divisions who serve each market through a range of sales and distribution channels; it’s all about letting someone else do the ‘heavy lifting’ when it comes to getting the business.
That said, where would I like to see Williams and the TeleSwivel™ in the future? One consideration would be more social media marketing. Beyond the trade shows and events they participate in today, I can envision some interactive dialogue with customers and prospects beyond their current Facebook page, or YouTube videos. Be it Twitter or a blog as part of their Website, this is an area that can generate brand awareness, sales, additional market intelligence for new designs, or modifications to the current products, as well as tech support (or customer service) of their current customer base.
What I see as the sweet spot in the market for the TeleSwivel™ Model 200 is probably 45+ years of age (not gender specific), seeks mobility and convenience in hooking up the trailer(s), active in recreational sports, or a weekend warrior with homeowner projects, and most likely has a truck or SUV with a factory installed trailer “towing package”. The equestrian market, or emerging small farm operators that frequent the local farmer’s market, also comes to mind – both of these markets hit the growing trend of the above mentioned age group, too.
Another idea would be partnerships with vehicle manufacturers. Not just the commercial and industrial manufacturers of larger trucks. BMW has launched a campaign titled “JOY HAS PULL.” featuring their BMW trailer hitches with the BMW SAV(R) - X3, X5, and X6. This is the higher end of the market; less of a problem when it comes to price and value. Combine that with the engineering of the TeleSwivel™ and you may have a winning combination of desire and use. A simple add-on to the BMW slogan might read, “We add the SWIVEL.”
Workmanship is excellent, and they seem to have taken into account the ergonomics of use. I would like to see some form of rubberized coating or shock absorbing material around the release lever of the Model 200. Wet hands, bare metal in the winter months, etc. would be a less painful experience, especially if you were slipping around on snow and ice, with a snowmobile and trailer to hook up. Also, where the Model 300 has an “adjustable drop up to 6 inches”, the Model 200 is a fixed height. Like we saw with the Tow-N-Stow™ trailer, some SUVs and light trucks sit high (at the hitch) and may offer a challenge to the TeleSwivel™ and its normal operation of back up and lock.
Some things I could not see during my brief visit was how well the TeleSwivel™ hitches perform under the adverse conditions of weather and lack of use. In my youth I worked as a hired hand on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. The weather and use was hard on equipment, especially anything that sat idle for any length of time. Rust, damage, part loss or breakage from stress and strain (that’s what shear pins are for), etc., was a constant battle. Living in North Carolina, the Coastal weather and saltwater is brutal when it comes to materials and equipment holding up over time. Based on their thoroughness elsewhere, I trust that Williams’ includes some form of care and use instructions in the packaging for the TeleSwivel™ line to help keep your hitch in good working order. Their attention to detail is high, and I believe you will be able to expect the same in performance of their products.
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