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A Conversation with Toledo Ticket Technologies’ Tom Carter

May, 2021

John Van Horn

Tell us about Toledo Ticket Technologies.


It’s most important that I keep Toledo Ticket running for the next generation and beyond. I am following in the footsteps of my grandfather and father, and my goal is to make them proud and keep their wishes and keep the company going. It’s a family tradition.


My parents have taught me that treating people properly
is the best way to go.


That tradition is caring. Caring for our employees and our customers as if they were family. We have had very little turn over during the 30 years that I have been here. We have sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, entire families working at Toledo Ticket. It is truly a family business in every sense of the word.


How does this affect your customers?


And it’s the same with our customers. We are a relationship company. If you look at our customer base, they are often multigenerational. We have developed relationships with the parents and the children. They have become part of our family, too. The owners of many of the companies that are our customers are my customers now, but their parents were the customers of my parents and grandparents. 


What did you learn from
your parents?


My father, my parents, have taught me that treating people properly is the best way to go. We need to remember that not everyone is going to be your customer, but you need to treat everyone with respect and as you would like to be treated. 


Aren’t you in a commodity business?


There is no doubt that we are in the commodity business, but we have customers who tell us that they can get the product for less, but they pay a bit more because they like the service, because they like the relationship that has been built over the years. 


Tell us about the Future.


The parking industry will come back stronger than ever before. We are going to see new companies popping up, perhaps the result of good people being laid off and going out on their own. All of us are going to have to be more creative and flexible. The pandemic may be taking opportunities away, but may create new opportunities, as well.


Perhaps operators will have to add charging stations and transform garages so that part of it will generate income in other ways, create mobility hubs, so to speak. I know of people who have bought their first car, ever. 


Are tickets here to stay? 


It depends on what you mean by ‘tickets’. Take the airline industry. Years ago, they said they would be doing away with boarding passes. Now, decades later they are still in use. Some sort of credential will be needed to enter and pay in a garage. It may be a ticket, it may be on your phone, it may be built into your car. We have pivoted a bit, printed tickets are still our main business, but with the purchase of OOBEO we are moving to an electronic ticket.


What now? 


We are a five-generation company, I have two sons working with us now. Trevor is in sales and works with our bindery operation; Mitch is in sales and actually was instrumental in bringing OOBEO to us. They are the future. They are doing a phenomenal job. They are learning from me, learning from their grandfather, and will take over the business. 



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