National Clothesline

I hope all of you had a great holiday season. John Wooden, a legend in his own time said, “It’s the little details that are vital…. Little things make big things happen.”

I have had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Coach Wooden a number of times. You will not meet a finer gentleman. Since we are into the college basketball season and UCLA is the team I cheer for, I couldn’t forget the greatest collegiate basketball coach.

In my discourse on routes I have tried to bring in details that are often forgotten by the

person who is starting from scratch.

That is the reason for the quote by Coach Wooden. Even those who are currently operating a route or routes need help along the way, not because they are ignorant, but because they have not really explored all of the available options. They have not visited various companies and, for that reason and others, their route information is limited.

Last month I wrapped up with a discussion about hiring a route driver or route salesperson. This month I will deal with all the little things that make big things happen.

Which vehicle do you choose?

What vehicle do you purchase or lease? Check with your CPA about the lease versus purchase decision. There are other points to ponder. Will your driver load up in the morning and not return until late afternoon or will the driver return at noon, load up and go out again? The capacity you need will help you determine the vehicle. If you are just starting a route, a smaller vehicle will work, but route growth will soon make that vehicle obsolescent.

The streets and buildings you service can also be determining factors when it comes to the decision of what vehicle to obtain.

Are the streets in your area narrow? Are there hills to climb? Do you have to deal with snow in the winter? Do you call on office or apartment buildings with height restrictions when you pull into their garages? If not immediately, down the road (no pun intended), you may decide you want to call on those buildings. Are you in a large city where you have extreme population density or are you in a suburban area where everything is spread out?

Plan ahead and assume you will experience growth. Remember what I wrote previously, your truck is a moving billboard, so take advantage of it.

Investigate insurance companies. Be certain you get coverage for goods in transit. If someone breaks into your vehicle, while your driver is taking a lunch break, you can experience a huge loss.

If at all possible, get three insurance quotes. Call some of your friends who belong to the same association you do and find out who they insure with.

Not all policies are the same. Farmers Insurance for drycleaners in California is priced right but does not currently cover mysterious disappearance or processing damage. You must be very careful about the product you buy.

Your employee’s driving record will be part of the determining factor when it comes to the amount of your premium. Be certain to get a Department of Motor Vehicles’ report for the driver. This can be done automatically when you do a background check on the person.

The insurance company you select should provide a blank accident report that you will keep in your vehicle. In addition to the accident report, you will want a disposable camera in your truck, just in case of trouble.

How is your driver going to pay for gas? There are many companies that provide gasoline cards. You need to look around and find out if there are any special deals for volume or businesses.

While you are getting a gas card for the driver, don’t forget one for yourself and your wife.

Speaking of cards, remember to order business cards.

Another consideration is a door hanger for when your driver calls on a customer and the customer is not at home.

Of course if you are using the latest technology the customer will have received a telephone call the day before your visit.

Your communication system has to be researched. Do you want push-button instant communication or will a conventional cell phone work for you? Do you want your cell phone to scan customer’s credit cards?

With the ongoing development of new technology, investigate what each telephone company has to offer. T Mobile has a 3000 Anytime minute plan that is relatively inexpensive when compared to others.

One cell phone company can track your driver with a GPS built into the phone. Speaking of GPS, if you buy it, use it.

Don’t put it into the truck and not track what your driver is doing. The opportunity to take an afternoon siesta is always there, especially after a nice cheeseburger at lunch.

I love sports and without a football team in Los Angeles I miss the NFL season. If you are Packer fan you won’t mind me quoting Vince, and if you pull for another team I hope you understand.

Vince Lombardi said, “If winning isn’t everything, why do they keep score?”

Nobody enjoys record keeping, but as a businessperson you have to. The question is: what records should you keep for routes?

Start with a spreadsheet. In the first column is the daily truck mileage, line 1 starting mileage, and line 2 ending mileage. You want to know the total dollars that are delivered daily, so that goes into column two.

Now you know how many dollars are delivered per mile driven.

The third column shows how many stops are made daily, so then you learn the number of stops per mile.

These three measurements are good indicators of your driver’s activity. Population density will have a great affect on the numbers.

This report shows that when you have multiple routes it is necessary to keep them in well defined geographic areas.

Your cost of labor as a percentage of your route sales is important. If you are paying hourly, your labor for your drivers will be low. However, if you have an outside salesperson knocking on doors, and building routes, that cost has to be charged to the route department.

When you pay drivers on a commission basis your costs go up, but they may not be any higher than the combined cost of a driver and that door knocking salesperson.

Sit down and pencil it out. Remember, any good salesperson will need to have incentives, so don’t forget to add them in.

You might consider an incentive program for drivers who are paid hourly. A bonus could be given for new customers, 100 percent correct deliveries or some other kind of performance that exceeds company standards.

The number of new customers and customer retention has to be measured. A good goal for starting a route is 150 customers in the route’s database. One hundred and fifty will be a minimum number, with 300+ as the final goal.

Don’t forget to send out a “thank you” note to your new route customers.

It is very hard to lose a route customer unless you have done something very wrong. The driver must inform management anytime a route customer stops giving the company work. Because route customers spend more than counter customers, their loss can be very costly.

As you can see, if you have read about routes this month and the previous two months, routes are like starting a whole new business. You cannot hire anybody, buy a truck and then be in the route business. If that is how you plan on operating, you won’t last long.

Planning is a tedious process. It is like putting all the pieces together of a route jigsaw puzzle and turning them into a picture you will enjoy looking at.

Have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!