TIM O'REILEY DAILY RECORD
November 15, 2006
DENVILLE -- While many small and mid-sized business owners live or die off word-of-mouth advertising, Amy Birnbaum was one of those rare ones who managed to work her own voice into the mix.
Knowing certain executives at American Express eventually helped land her a starring role, along with three others in the series of radio and TV commercials pushing the credit card company's small business services.
The result for Birnbaum was hitting the mother lode: Sales at Royal Coachman Worldwide, the limo company where Birnbaum is CEO and part-owner, have jumped 20 percent since the ad campaign began in mid-August.
"It's exciting. It's scary," said Birnbaum, who continues to field calls not only for people wanting to book a limo ride, but also for interviews and personal speaking engagements.
"We are picking up market share from clients where we and other people were working for (the same) client, and seeing new people, too."
Post 9/11 rebound
Beyond the commercials, Royal has ridden the strong travel market that restored the industry to an even keel after it nearly sank following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The pain was particularly acute in New Jersey, said industry consultant Tom Mazza, because about 70 percent of all rides begin or end at an airport.
Birnbaum said Royal took about 18 months to rebound from the steep loss of business after 9/11. In the three years since then, she said, revenues have climbed 70 percent to $12 million a year, spurred by obtaining a woman-owned business certification and assembling a global network of affiliates that now numbers 450.
Although saying Royal will continue to push sales growth, the focus had intensified on avoiding overdoing it, a trap that has ensnared many rapidly growing companies. As part of trying to keep a grip on the reins, Royal moved to a new office in Denville in July, with a much larger parking lot than it had in Orange and room for more people. In addition, what has always been a family-run business, where the division of labor was understood if not written down, has taken on a more corporate look with the hiring of a chief financial officer, human resources and training managers for the first time.
"With growth comes risk,"said Birnbaum. "You need to control your growth or you will fail."
No. 17 in nation
At this point, Royal Coachman stands tied as the 17th largest livery company in the country in an annual survey by Ford Motor Co. that measures fleet size. Its 179 vehicles rank it well behind industry leader Washington, D.C-based Carey International, with 1,651 vehicles, or New Jersey's largest Empire CLS in Norwood at 802, and it has firmly entrenched itself in the middle tier. Industrywide, said Barry Lefkowitz, the executive director of the New Jersey Limousine Association, 85 percent of the companies operate one to three cars generally out of the owner's home, while 44 percent gross less than $200,000 a year.
Size and affiliate networks have grown in importance to win or hold business as corporate clients have increasingly hired limo companies through formal, written bids instead of auctions or calling whichever card is in the Rolodex. The networks allow companies to drive an executive to Newark Liberty International Airport, then have him picked up at stops in London and Berlin through one reservation, much as airlines do through flight code sharing. In each location, the driver will have a Royal Coachman sign even though the local company will retain a different name and separate ownership.
"In order to provide the full service clients want, you have to be able to go beyond New Jersey," Lefkowitz said.
Although the major companies continue to grow, Mazza is not ready to write the epitaphs for the hundreds of mom-and-pop services. "After 9/11, everyone said they would disappear but they are still around," he said. "There will always be a place for the little guy in the neighborhood."
But the larger companies can better afford the sophisticated reservation technology needed to run a network, he added.
In addition, it played a major role in landing Birnbaum the American Express role.
Through her role as the public face of the company -- brother and co-owner Jon Epstein oversees operations and the third owner, senior vice president Ed Walch, takes charge of all customer issues -- she had come to know American Express executives who invited her last year to go through the audition process. The ongoing ad campaign has featured a series of actual clients for its small business billing services, with the current rotation including three others besides Birnbaum.
One aspect that the company wanted to highlight was Royal's use of a small business billing system that allows her to write one check to cover payments to the affiliates, letting American Express divvy up the funds and transfer the money to the right bank accounts in different continents.
A long process
Once she cleared the selection process that ran through autumn of last year, production was still a long process even though the net result was only one radio spot and two for TV, one-minute and 30-second versions. She began recording and massaging the script in conjunction with the outside ad agency, Ogilvy & Mather, in June and work didn't finish until early August, one week before the initial broadcasts. "I remember that first session was very, very long," she said. "But I really wanted it to be me. If a line didn't sound right, if it weren't something I would say, I would ask to change it."
This meant taking a revised script back to American Express for their approval before trying again and going through another cycle of changes.
The end product reflected much of what she wanted in the spots, although the quaint Main Street setting in a New England village that was shown as Royal's home looks nothing like the actual office, a nondescript office park just off Route 80.
In some ways, the commercials have capped the recovery that Royal, started by her father, Robert Epstein, as an adjunct to a travel agency, has experienced since 9/11.
Both Birnbaum and her brother grew up in the company, starting as children when she would sort type by her mother by white, pink and yellow copies while Jon Epstein stuffed envelopes. The siblings eventually worked their way through most of the other jobs in the company, taking over in 1999.
But when the planes hit the World Trade Center, when the company was still in Orange, Birnbaum recalled that all the employees gathered around the TV sets, which happened in so many offices. After a while it occurred to her that no one was answering the phones, but later she realized none of them were ringing.
On Sept. 12, Birnbaum and Epstein, the two owners at the time, realized that about 80 percent of their business had suddenly vaporized after what had been good years. They immediately moved to cut staff and reduce the car fleet from about 100 to 25 by selling some into a market with few buyers, or just parked the others.
Rebuilding sales included becoming instantly serious about ideas to seek woman-owned business status, to try to gain work through corporate diversity programs and forming the network. The first affiliate, in Washington, D.C., was signed in December 2001.
But not everything panned out as planned. Two years ago, Royal bought six mini-buses for what was then billed as "one of the fastest growing segments of our business -- relocation transportation." With several companies moving at least some of their operations from Manhattan to New Jersey, the idea was to find companies interested in transporting employees living in New York from Manhattan or a New Jersey train station to the new office. Group transportation of various types accounts for about 10 percent of revenues, but Walch said that the relation part has flattened out.
Still, this fits in with a broader trend toward "fleet diversity" and relying less on limos, according to the trade publication Limousine and Chauffeured Transportation.
In addition, Royal will solicit leisure rides, but still earns about 90 percent of its sales from corporate clients.
Tim O'Reiley can be reached at (973) 428-6651 or toreiley@gannett.com.
What company does: Operates fleet of limousines mainly for transporting employees of corporate clients. Also has small number of shuttle buses for companies wanting to ferry people between the office and a remote parking lot in the process of relocation. Bottom line: Revenues of $12 million. Net income not disclosed. Owned by CEO Amy Birnbaum, brother and president Jon Epstein, and vice president Ed Walch. Location: Denville. Staff: 150 people. History: Started in 1969 by Robert Epstein to drive to the airport clients of his small travel agency, Dudley Travel. Landed sizable contract with Faberge for limo service shortly thereafter. In 1971, sold travel agency after growth of limo service. Landed other corporate accounts, such as shuttle service for AT&T Corp., when it had various offices along Route 287. Moved from Verona to Orange in 1992. Robert Epstein retired, turning over business to daughter Amy Birnbaum and son Jon Epstein. Signed up first affiliate in now-international network in December 2001. Certified as woman-owned business in 2002. Revamped Web site two years later, including online booking. Moved to Denville in July to gain added space, particularly for parking. Web site: www.royalcoachman.com
