Reply To: UPHOLSTERY OPPORTUNITIES WITH LOGAN'S ROADHOUSE
I have spoken with some Dr. Vinyl techs in the field who have not dealt with Logan’s yet or at least not for a while. Instead of relaying what little I know over the phone to individuals I thought it might be helpful to do so on this forum. If you are a more experienced tech this information may seem trivial and repetitive. Read at your own risk. The following are my thoughts and experiences over the last 5 years of working with them. This is not a handbook to work from nor the end all of instruction by any means. What follows is a rambling dialogue on a number of subjects which I have tried to put in order of importance.
Corporate Policy
All stores currently have a $1,000.00 per month spending limit on upholstery work. Any more than that amount must be approved by the restaurant’s D.O. or Corporate Logan’s directly. Neither the G.M. nor any other restaurant managers have the authority to approve higher amounts regardless of what they tell you. Billing for higher than corporate approved amounts can and will jeopardize work with Logan’s nationwide.
No invoices are to be left at the restaurant regardless of what any manager tells you. Invoices are sent directly to corporate via email, fax, or hard copy. Any invoice approval corporate needs from the store location they will get by sending your invoice to the G.M. directly from corporate.
Corporate Logan’s issues checks the Friday after 30 days past your invoice date. They have been very diligent about this as long as they receive the invoice.
Statements
We send a statement at the first of each month to Corporate Logan’s to aid accounts payable. This helps them to double check that they have received all invoices you have billed. If they are missing an invoice they will email you and request that another copy be sent them.
Normal Operating and Working Hours for Upholstery
The stores are typically open from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. to the public. They are typically on site at 8:00 a.m. and normally prefer for you to work in the mornings prior to opening rather than after close. While the normal working hours are typically 8:00 – 11:00 a.m. the exceptions to that would be the inventory/delivery days. These days may be on the same day of the week. Normally, the stores have one delivery day per week. Busier stores may have up to 2 per week. On these days there will be someone there sometime between 4 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. There is not a set time for this. It is dependent on each particular store’s needs. These days give you the opportunity to work there earlier, longer, and get more than one store done per morning.
Order of Importance of Upholstery Work
Work is typically done Worst, First, of course. The Priority List that follows has been what most managers have wanted when we have worked at their stores.
Priority List
1.Booth Bottoms or Backs with foam showing through holes, cuts, tears, etc.
2.Booth Bottoms with less severe damage than listed in 1.
a. Dining Area – Working from Front Door to Back of the Store.
b. Bar Area – front to back.
3.Booth Backs
a. Dining Area – front to back
b. Bar Area – front to back
4.Chairs, Barstools, and Barchairs
Locations and Maximizing Installation Trips
At first you may find the Logan’s locations near you are not that close to you. They may even be outside of your territory. As long as they are not in someone’s else’s territory I would encourage you to go after the work. $1,000 a month is a pretty good customer. If you are not interested in making the longer drives please give me a call. I have made a fortune installing at their stores that were hours away for the last several years. The following are 4 ways of maximizing installation trips.
Maximizing Installs
1.A Route or Round Robin for Logan’s and/or other restaurants that are closer together.
Start early on store 1’s delivery day and get done before 8 a.m. so you can work 1 or 2 more stores that are close together. I have personally worked up to 4 stores in one morning. This is a great start to a work week and it is only 11:00 a.m. I still have the rest of the day to work at car lots, etc!
2.Working at a Restaurant that is only available to you at night or that is open 24 hours a day and then going to Logan’s first thing in the morning.
3.Combining an installation at one store with a trip to another store in the area for Measuring, their Quarterly checkup, or even a cold call. You never know where that next upholstery lead will come from.
4.If all else fails and there is only one Logan’s in the area that you can work at a time, then your last option to maximize your trip is a Double Tap. A Double Tap is when you go to a store on the last day or the first day of the month and do 2 months of work at the same time. You bill half the work on the 31st of one month and the other half of the work on the 1st of the next month (ex.Oct.31/Nov.1). This keeps the corporate powers that be at Logan’s happy because you are only billing $1,000 per month. This should also make you happier because you have done 2 months work in one trip and in essence billed them only 24 hours apart. Doesn’t seem like a huge gain but that cuts your trips down from 12 to 6 a year and you still make the same amount!
I hope this information has been helpful. If you have any questions or need clarification on anything above please enter it into this Forum so that others can see and give their input as well.
Sincerely,
The Wandering Upholstery