or a dead man, Rex
Carrigan looks and feels just fine. In fact, he’s busier
than he’s ever been, though you’ll never hear any
complaints from him. After all, he hasn’t forgotten a
memorable October afternoon that disrupted his life a few short
years ago.
Rex’s leisurely lunch at
Murray’s Barbecue in Raleigh, North Carolina, was
interrupted quite abruptly when his heart decided to stop
beating.
“I had a heart attack and actually
died. It was just age and time that got me,” he recalled.
“It was really scary when I woke up and there were 17
doctors standing over me and calling me ‘John Doe.’
They did heart surgery on me that day. I got a second chance
and made good of it.”
After recovering during a four-week
hiatus, Rex eagerly resumed work with his company Carrigan
Consulting, which has helped cleaners learn ways to increase
sales with delivery routes for the past few years.
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“On average, only one-half of one
percent of people slam the door in my face,” he said.
“I know that the key to it is if I’m smiling when I
walk up that sidewalk — and I teach people that.
Don’t ever walk across their yard. We walk up the
driveway, over the sidewalk and up to the front door. We knock
on the door. We don’t ring the bell. Strangers ring
bells. Friends knock. When a door opens, I’m smiling and
they smile back. It’s a mirror.”
About 95% of the time, Rex can determine
within the first 30 seconds if he’ll close the deal, and,
more times than not, he’ll earn the trust of the
potential customer and add their name to the delivery
route.
“It hard for them to say
‘no’ when my foot’s stuck in the door,”
he laughed. “I just warm up with people. I talk kind of
slow. I use pictures to help explain what I’m talking
about and I believe enthusiasm sells more than anything else.
What are the last four letters of enthusiasm? I-A-S-M. What
does that stand for? I Am Sold Myself. I just know that if I
can get the person to agree to try it that I can make their
life easier.”
Rex’s first foray into sales dates
back to when he was 12 years old, growing up in his hometown of
Nashville, Tennessee. After his father passed away, the family
needed some extra income and he obliged.
“The Grand Ole Opry had shows on
Saturday night. They hired vendors to go out into the crowd
selling,” he explained. “I started out selling
peanuts, popcorn, Coca-Cola and all that, and they paid me ten
cents for every dollar’s worth I sold.”
Rex soon moved up to selling programs and
souvenirs until 1965 — a total of eight years.
“The last night I worked there I
made $137 on commission,” he said.
At the time, he also worked five days a
week — earning a buck an hour — at Nashville
Surgical Supply.
“I sold a guy that owned the
business an ad in the school’s annual after three tries.
He told me based on my persistence he was going to put me to
work,” he said.
Rex worked his way up from the warehouse
into a sales position, staying with the company until 1979. He
earned a 25% commission of the profits, but it occurred to him
that he could make 100% on his own so he launched Shiloh
Medical Supply. Five years later, he sold the company,
reasoning that it was a bad time to be in the medical supply
field.
“For the next couple of years, I
didn’t do a whole lot,” Rex noted. “I dabbled
in direct sales with water conditioning equipment. Then, I met
Wade Elam of White Way Cleaners in 1989.”
When Rex joined White Way, the company had
only one delivery route. It didn’t take long for that to
change.
“We started selling home delivery
route customers,” he said. “After about a month of
me going out and selling — and being on straight
commission — he [Elam] told me I was affecting his cash
flow, that I was selling more customers than he could afford.
So, we made a deal to take the routes over and manage and grow
them.”
ex worked for White Way for 11 years before the
business was sold in 1999. In that time, the company expanded
to include eight delivery routes that brought in an extra
income of “a couple of million dollars a year.”
The strategy of selling door-to-door was
successful with Rex at the helm.
“There are only two reasons that
people won’t buy from you: they don’t hear or
understand what you say,” he said. “That’s
why when you go door-to-door, you can answer all of the
customers’ questions. You can’t put all that in
writing and have people understand it. You got to be able to
explain it to them and show it in a way that they can hear and
understand it.”
He believes there are four keys to being
an effective persuader.
“Number one, you’ve got to be
a good storyteller. If I can tell you a story about how
somebody else feels that’s already using my service, that
will make you feel better about joining it,” he
explained.
“Number two, you’ve got to
quote true and accurate facts,” he continued.
“Number three, you’ve got to use passion and
emotion when you talk to people. If you can talk with emotion
and passion, you’ll get people’s attention.
You’ve got to learn to use testimonials and third party
endorsements. And, the last thing — and the key to it
— is you’ve got to challenge the customers.
Let’s get signed up and let’s get the benefits of
home delivery.”
As he sells door-to-door, Rex likes to
focus on the sizzle, not the steak. In other words, he
doesn’t sell drycleaning; he sells value. He understands
the different types of drycleaning customers and what makes
them tick.
“Thirty-three percent of
anybody’s customers are loyal. You’ll really have
to mess them over for them to leave you,” he said.
“Thirty-three percent are what I call emerging —
they’re trying different areas of your business. They
would change for a better price, more convenience, or if a
friend or relative got into the business.
“The other thirty-three percent are
what I call ‘status quo’ — never had a good
experience, never had a bad experience. They just do it,”
he added. “So, 66% of anybody’s business is really
movable. There are two ways to look at it. If you’re not
protecting your 66%, then somebody can take yours. Or, you can
go out and get somebody else’s.”
n order to accomplish that goal, Rex surmises
that cleaners have their work cut out for them. A successful
route requires self-motivation and discipline on the part of
the driver, and the company also has to prove that its services
are invaluable to the customer.
“When are the only two times people
talk about drycleaners?” he asked. “When cleaners
have failed them or when cleaners have exceeded their
expectations. When you start putting your customers’
needs in front of your wants, then you start to exceed their
expectations. Satisfied customers are worthless. If
you’re just satisfied, you’re movable. But, if
you’re loyal, you’re priceless.”
Of course, getting the customers to say
‘yes’ is only part of the battle.
“When somebody says
‘yes’ that doesn’t really mean
‘yes,’” Rex said. “‘Yes’ in
any of it just means ‘Maybe. I’ll try you and if
you’re as good or better than what I’m doing, then
I’ll stay with you.’”
In 1999, Rex began freelance consulting
when Deborah Rechnitz of Methods For Management asked him if he
wanted to work with some of her clients.
“Opportunity knocked and I just so
happened to be the old fat man that was standing there,”
he laughed. “I tell people I’m no smarter than
anybody else. I’ve just heard more no’s and
I’ve seen more than most of the people in the route
business.”
During his first year, he helped about 40
cleaners. By 2000, he officially formed Carrigan Consulting and
helped another 44. Then, he had his heart attack and died, only
to follow that up by working 46 weeks in 2001. The traumatic
experience didn’t teach him to slow down; instead, he
learned to appreciate every day.
“I cherish yesterday. I love today
and I dream for the ‘morrow,” he explained.
“I just enjoy life. I have a good time. I tell people
that if I’m good at what I do, it’s because
I’ve walked the walk that it takes to do it. I’ve
driven the truck. I’ve sold it. I’ve managed it.
Most of the people who own drycleaners and have successful
routes have never ridden on them. They don’t know what
it’s like from that lefthand side of the
truck.”
Consulting on a full-time capacity has
certainly kept Rex busy behind the wheel these days. He logs a
lot of time on the road away from his wife, Yvonne, and their
home in Nashville. The couple have been married for 35 years
and have a daughter, Jennifer, a C.P.A. who graduated from
Bellmont University.
Rex and his wife make their marriage work
by following a simple philosophy. “When I’m there,
we have quality time,” he noted. “She gets my
undivided attention.”
Still, he is the first to admit that his
life — both professionally and personally —
hasn’t always been smooth. “Everybody’s had
bad times,” he said. “Everybody has peaks and
valleys. If you don’t, then you’re like I was on
October the 17th — you’re not living. You’ve
got to learn to take your frustrations and turn them into
fascinations. You’ve just got to have a smile on your
face, a song in your heart and a pep in your step.”
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