From Paper Boy to Multi-Territory Business Owner

By January 2014, Kyle Norcutt, 39, will own the entire Dallas-Fort Worth market for TWO MEN AND A TRUCK*®. Opening his first Dallas location in October 2008, Norcutt will expand his reach from eight to 10 territories, with four to five dispatch locations, and one call center. Serving a uniquely large area and demographic, Norcutt pioneered a customer and sales-focused call center to improve efficiency and service in his Dallas territory. Unlike the typical TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® model of providing a single office for movers and customer service representatives, his call center, which opened in the first week of November, will allow his employees to focus strictly on sales and dispatching trucks across the city. Norcutt officially joined TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® at the age of 23, opening his first location in Raleigh, N.C. in January 1998 before developing locations in Indiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. In addition to his Dallas-Fort Worth territory, Norcutt has retained his two locations in Michigan, one in Colorado, and two in Oklahoma. How did you learn about the brand? I grew up in Grand Rapids, a one-hour drive from one of the first TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® locations in Lansing, Mich. I came across the brand while going to school. Why did you decide to take an opportunity with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®? I have always been an entrepreneur. I had my own paper route when I was 8-years-old. I also started my own lawn mowing service at the age of 10 and kept it running throughout middle school and high school. I had my own employees and learned how to take care of customers at a young age. Then, after working in industrial and retail sales for a few years, I realized I wanted to own my own business and control my destiny. I’ve always liked taking care of customers and giving back to the community, so working in the service industry made sense. It wasn’t out of my comfort zone and it was something that I knew I could do well.  Also, I was young enough at the time to be involved in day-to-day moving. Why did you decide to expand in Dallas? In 2008, the economy was taking a dive, especially in Michigan. However, I went to Dallas and the city seemed to look at recession differently than Michigan — it was continuing to grow. I thought it would be a good way to diversify but still be in the TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® scene. I also had a few good employees who were willing to relocate to Texas and help with my expansion. Why did you decide to open a call center? As we grow, it made more sense for us to develop a way to service the customer better. There are 6.5 million people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, so we have a big territory to cover. With our call center, we are able to pinpoint where our trucks are parked across the city and dispatch them to get to the destination sooner. Also, we don’t have our hands tied with finding real estate for the customer service representatives as well as the trucks. Our trucks are stationed at dispatch locations, where training and hiring also occurs, and movers don’t have to deal with incoming calls, while CSRs at the call center have a better environment to focus on sales. What are the keys to your success? It’s important to find good people that you can trust without you being there. I have really good managers who understand what it takes to take care of customers and treat the business like it’s their own. What is your end goal? I’m always looking for new territories to expand in. We’re adding more TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® locations but we’re not reaching our true market share, so it’s something we have to work on. I envision doubling our size in Dallas within the next five years, creating around 100 more jobs and growing our sales. Are you involved with any charities or do any community outreach with your business? We’re involved with a lot of charities; such as, Toys for Tots and Movers for Moms, and multiple food drives throughout the year.