Could you please briefly introduce yourself and tell us what the business is about?
My name is Vicki Setches and I own USA Horse Floats Australia with my husband Jamie and my two business partners and friends, Karen and Carlo Visser. All four of us have owned and shown our own horses for many years.
We all live in the quiet little Victorian town of Darnum and we import the best quality steel horse and stock trailers from Titan Trailers in the USA.
What’s the story behind how you ended up being in your current role?
Carlo visited the USA many years ago and told us about the beautiful American trailers he saw. We all loved the look of them and decided to find a good manufacturer and, bring out a couple of trailers. At that stage we weren’t sure if anyone but us would be interested in them and thought that the worst thing that could happen would be that we would keep them for ourselves. After many months of research we found Titan Trailers. They agreed to make two to our specifications and once the trailers arrived, we were blown away by the strength and quality of them. We sold them as soon as we took them to a show and put them on display. We knew, after seeing the trailers and using them, that it was definitely a viable proposition to start a business. We sent Carlo to the USA to meet the Titan people. He arrived on their doorstep and asked them if we could be their Australian distributor. They couldn’t believe someone would fly halfway around the world to speak to them in person and said yes straight away. They’ve been incredibly loyal to us and we haven’t looked back.
What makes the business unique?
Our product! Our trailers are beautifully made, extremely strong and durable and the horses love them. We also install a unique, permanent flooring system called Polylast Livestock flooring which makes the floor non slip and extremely comfortable for all stock to stand on for long periods of time. We can supply both horse and livestock trailers and offer a huge range of optional extras. We can also offer different internal set ups depending on the clients requirements. The team at Titan are open to all sorts of suggestions and are wizards at building a trailer to suit our requests. We also use the trailers ourselves and bring in new demo models so we can test tow them and put our own horses in them which enables us to give prospective customers a true evaluation of each trailer.
What’s your favourite thing about your work?
I love the initial customer contact. I enjoy sharing our customers excitement when their new trailer is ready to land on Australian shores and the look of delight on their faces when they finally see their trailer. That is something that none of us ever get sick of. I also get to use a Titan trailer every time I take
my horse somewhere.
How do you envision success?
Sell a good product and believe in it to the core! Don’t be afraid to go the extra mile and be honest. Look after your customers and listen to them. Don’t sell something to someone just because you want or need the sale. Make sure the product is going to suit the customer and they will be happy for years to come. That’s how you build a good reputation and increase your client base.
Tell us about one of the good experiences you’ve had as an Australian Credit Acceptance Finance Referral Partner?
My dealings with Matthew have all been very positive. I love his enthusiasm and supportiveness and that reflects on the whole business. We’re fussy about who we recommend to our valued customers but we have no hesitation in recommending Australian Credit Acceptance for Finance. We’re so happy they’ve taken us on board and look forward to sending customers their way.
How do you find that we help your business?
It takes the pressure off of us. People often ask us to recommend a company to help with their finance but we never knew anyone. To have a finance company who specialises in Horse Floats is a bonus and they’re only a click away on our website.
What would you tell your friends about Australian Credit Acceptance?
That they’re lovely to deal with, friendly, enthusiastic and really know what they’re talking about.