Growing Mr. John & Russell Reid by 5x – 1997 to 2006
I joined Mr. John and Russell Reid on April Fools Day in 1997 as their third outside salesperson. Within the first six months, I initiated and led the development of the company’s first-ever “Playbook” standardizing the systems and procedures necessary to achieve 99.98% accuracy (the FedEx standard). We engaged the entire staff in the process. We conducted numerous off-site visits and focused sessions to discuss, debate, and clarify our desired outcomes. The Playbook then enabled us to grow from 2 branches to 6, and to grow revenues from $8M in 1997 to $42.5M in 2006.
Within my first year at the company, I was promoted to Vice President of Business Development & Marketing as a player/coach, as I continued to grow my personal book of business to $8.5M. Under my leadership, we added 1,000 Satellite Tufway units each summer for 7 consecutive summers, sold off a frac-tank business to BakerCorp (now part of United Rentals), added roll off service, bought many new 7,000-gallon trailers and 35+ 5,000-gallon straight trucks, acquired 6 septic and toilet companies, grew septic pumping to 900 services per month, expanded grease customers from a few hundred to thousands, rebuilt the websites, and expanded to 6 branches—all supported by my sales and marketing team of 26. I loved every part of rolling rocks up hills to achieve previously unimaginable growth.
I was fortunate to have been designated as the single point of contact for NYC’s Office of Emergency Management as Mr. John responded to the World Trade Center disaster and clean up. By September 13 (two days after that tragic day), we had deployed 750 toilets and put them on daily service that continued for years. By showing up with boots on the ground, we ended up providing sanitation services to every contractor at Ground Zero, including Tully Construction, Bovis Lend Lease, Turner, Tishman, Sugrue Contracting and many others.
Mr. John at Ground Zero – September 2001
In this capacity, I fulfilled dozens of customer needs in real time with immediate solutions that led to raving-fan customer satisfaction. From adding a winterized fresh water line to the FDNY Command Center (from a fire hydrant 110 feet away, on a weekend), to setting up 2 restroom trailers at the Victims Assistance Center across from City Hall (again over a weekend, on short notice), to adding 8 restroom trailers to the 24/7 food tent, to delivering a 1,000-gallon fresh water tank to the Staten Island Landfill as a service to people who were searching through debris to find artifacts, remains, watches, wallets, files, etc. to return to family members, to managing security access that changed every week—I lobbied for and obtained passes for our drivers that did not expire. You can listen to my story on the Get Flushed podcast released on the occasion of the 20-year anniversary of 9/11.
Under my vision, leadership and grinding, Mr. John was the first PRO to handle all sanitation for the USGA’s US Open, beginning with Bethpage Black in 2002. I approached the opportunity intending to close a 1-year deal, and walked out with a 3-year deal that included Olympia Fields (Chicago) in 2003 and Shinnecock in 2004. In Chicago, we partnered with Rich Vegter and his amazing team at Service Sanitation, Inc. for set-up toilets and three-times-per-week service for 12 weeks before play began, then 600 toilets with sinks and holding tanks, as well as valets during the event. We deployed 14 trucks and drivers from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania to perform daily service. Mr. John went on to complete two more 3-year contracts through 2009. There is a fun article from 2004 in the New York Times Sports section about the “most important person” at the US Open that week.
Largely due to my insistence in maintaining ample inventory of equipment, trucks, and drivers at all times, we were immediately able to support Rollin Kay at United Site Services, Inc. with 12 service trucks in Biloxi, Mississippi, in response to Hurricane Katrina. We also sent 2 – 5,000-gallon straight trucks and 2 Jet-Vacs. Because each of our branches had a project manager on staff, we were able to send one of them to set up camp and to coordinate food, laundry, paperwork, housing and more. Project managers are essential for meeting customer needs in the context of rapid growth. They float in a PRO business and can turn on a dime to put out fires, coach, train, mentor and respond to large disasters and special events. Over time we added 6 project manager positions, which has proven to be one of the best staffing strategies that I have ever been a part of. Again Rich Vegter and his team at Service Sanitation, Inc., along with Tom Stange of C&L Sanitation, Inc. joined the Katrina response team in support of the United Site Services contract with FEMA.
As a consultant, I have recommended project managers to many PROs and continue to do so. Roy Baring at Tex-San Site Services, LLC recently added a project manager who ensures route QA/QC, and has managed the Valero Texas Open, added AirVote stickers to hundreds of deployed toilets, and much more, all of which has transformed the business.
During my tenure, we established standard operating procedures (SOPs) for every activity—part of the “Playbook” mentioned above—and re-wrote every job description informed by the SOPs. Without clear objectives and lines of responsibility, growth and strong EBITDA are tough to achieve. With them, everyone can row the boat at the same pace without “oar dragging,” direction changes, or distracting and inefficient water splashing.
I also introduced all-jobs purchase order contracts and multiyear agreements for special events, which help to block competition and are more efficient for both sales teams and customers. I accomplished this simply by asking customers for them and explaining their value for the customer.
I believe strongly in building company cultures in which ALL internal departments are each other’s customers, and all strive to communicate and respond to EVERYONE in ways that lead to raving-fan customer satisfaction. There are many reasons for this. For one, it greatly reduces the natural and continuous tension between a hard-charging sales team bringing in new customers and the operations team tasked with keeping the promises made during the sales process through efficient order entry, route dispatch, work order confirmation, accurate invoicing, etc.—AKA “making the sausage.”
At Mr. John and Russell Reid, I set the expectation of treating colleagues as customers among my sales and marketing team of 26. When there were challenges or disagreements, peers worked together to solve the problem. If after making a good-faith effort, this was not successful, both would take the issue to their supervisor and the two managers would then seek to find a solution. If the managers couldn’t solve it, the issue would eventually be presented to two Vice Presidents to solve. If they couldn’t solve it, they asked the President to make a Solomon decision and solve the issue. This chosen and deliberate process enabled much greater teamwork that resulted in great customer experiences—not only for our figurative customers, but also our actual customers!
Prior to adopting this approach, there were arguments, misgivings, and frustrations among the members of my team. They were all great advocates for their respective points of view, but as a group they lacked the cohesiveness and effectiveness that comes from working together to arrive at agreed-upon solutions. After we started treating each other as customers, I can count on one hand how many times we needed the President to resolve an issue. Teamwork makes the dream work!
One of the critical success factors behind the rapid and consistent growth we achieved at Mr. John and Russell Reid was our world-class team of drivers and field service technicians. As part of a comprehensive program to thank and reward these key employees, we sponsored regular recreational outings for them and their families. The annual fishing trip—we gathered early in the morning and fished until mid afternoon—was an employee favorite. Since then, I have always encouraged my clients to sponsor appreciation events for their teams at least once per quarter, as well as a memorable holiday party at the end of every year.
These are some of the strategies and tactics that I personally advocated for and implemented in the course of growing our business by 5x over 9 years.
