Letter to the Editor
Column demeaned consultants
To the Editor:
This is in reply to the article titled “How should you build a route” by Harvey Gershenson in the April issue. I want to congratulate Harvey for
demeaning the many drycleaning business owners and professional consultants who
have worked together for countless hours to develop route delivery business
throughout the country. Harvey seems to think that since he has had success
through door knocking, then door knocking is the only way to go and grow. To do
try to grow in another manner would be foolish and a waste of money, especially
if you hire a consultant.
Harvey went out of his way to belittle Mr. Greg Colosi, who he preferred to call
Mr. NDK. He questioned the validity of his system because he only operates one
route while he, the real expert, developed five routes in five years.
Well I take my hat off to him. Not only is Harvey located in the Los Angeles
market that can easily support five routes, Harvey had the sales talent and
perseverance to accomplish that by knocking on doors. I am sure it wasn’t easy. I know because I have personally knocked on many doors over the years
trying to build my own routes. Mr. Colosi, by contrast, is located in the
metropolis of Pittsford, New York, a suburb of Rochester. He decided to grow by
his bag drop system at a rate that fit his market, budget and lifestyle. His
choice.
It is no secret that door-to-door sales is the number one way to grow your
routes. It takes a unique individual who will go out in late afternoons, early
evenings and weekends to make the pitch, handle the rejection and eventually
make a sale. Does “every no is one closer to a yes” sound familiar? These individuals who can do this job are few and far between.
And when you get one, he/she usually doesn’t last too long because they move on to higher paying positions with better
working conditions. At least, this has been my experience.
Don’t get me wrong. I am a firm believer in door knocking. When you get the right
individual, it provides opportunity for strong growth. The late, great Rex
Carrigan and now James Peuster believe that a good salesperson can pick up 20
new customers per week. This will lead to terrific growth. The problem is
finding and keeping that individual. John Olmstead rejuvenated pick-up and
delivery by having his route salesmen deliver and sell. The goals for these
salesmen were five new customers per week. Not the explosive growth of the
full-time salesperson but good steady growth if the sales goals are met. Again,
finding someone to sell and service is almost as hard as finding a reliable
full-time salesperson.
The beauty of the No Door Knocking System is that it is a system. You are going
to experience growth in relation to the number of bags distributed and the
acceptance rate of the target area. On average you can expect six percent of
your bags dropped to be converted into customers. During a rough New England
winter we did not come close to hitting our goals but a door to door
salesperson wouldn’t be soliciting in this weather. Now that the weather has warmed back up, so are
our results. Depending on how many bags that are distributed, you can factor
your growth.
I like to consider the No Door Knocking system as a piece to the customer
acquisition puzzle. In my business I have my two route drivers distribute 50
bags each per week. They do this while delivering their routes. It only adds a
couple of hours for each driver each week. It allows for growth in the
neighborhoods we are currently serving. Best of all, you do not need any sales
talent to drop off a bag and do the subsequent follow up. It can be done by a
high school or college student. The cost of customer is minimal. If I can find
a salesman, I’ll put him on the road to also add on sale.
None of the benefits of a bag drop system were noted in Mr. Gershenson article.
He was too busy citing the complaints of a disgruntled 1-800-Dryclean franchise
owner. I am not familiar with the details of their system, but that is a
different animal from Colosi’s No Door Knocking system. One costs $1,500 to $2,000 and the other starts with
a franchise fee of $45,000. Slight difference of only 225 percent. My cost of
acquisition for the month of March for my door-knocking new customers was under
$25 per new customer. I think that is a good deal.
The paragraph in Harvey’s article I found to be most demeaning was this. “Apparently, there are plenty of people who need to be taken by the hand and led
through the process of building a route. They would rather part with their
money instead of using their own time and capabilities to build a business.”
Do you share the same disdain for the drycleaners who call you seeking advice?
How about when you cash their checks? Because we are busy working in our
businesses we need outside help, or as Harvey said, “to be led by the hand.” And what does this say about the consultants who work in this industry? This
roster of consultants includes but is not limited to those mentioned above plus
gentlemen as Stu Crane and Jason Loeb who have found different ways to develop
successful routes. Other industry consultants like Don Desrsosiers, Bill Bishop
and Dennis McCory, to name, a few had added value to numerous drycleaners
throughout the country.
Looks to me that you do not think consultants provide value for their advice. Do
you really think we all should just call up another successful cleaner, mooch
off them, and go back to our businesses and automatically duplicate their
success. Sounds like a plan.
Harvey, there is more than one way to skin a cat. I believe that every
drycleaner should use the method or, most likely, combination of methods that
work best for that individual owner in their respective markets. It is up to
us, as business owners, to find the right methods that mesh with our market,
personal, and lifestyle goals. This may mean going out on our own, hiring a
consultant or buying into a franchise. Our businesses, our money, our
decisions. It is the consultant’s role to present options in an honest and unbiased fashion. It looks to me that
you let your bias get in the way on this topic.
Thanks for trying to save us from ourselves and the dreaded Mr. NDK. Your advice
was worth every penny I paid for it.
Terry Dermody
Dermody Cleaners
Taunton, MA
