Tired of getting your delivery pizza two hours after you place the order? Or have you tried the local food delivery service only to get food that arrived cold and unrecognizable?
Well, not if you try Doorstep Delivery. At least that's the goal, according to regional franchise owners and Florida natives Kyle Sorel and Jacqui Avello.
The duo were recently given the rights to operate a Doorstep Delivery service in Broward County, one of nearly 100 Doorstep Delivery models available nationwide.
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The first Doorstep Delivery was established in 2008 by William Moore and Andrew Brown, who partnered with industry veterans Daniel Sinor and Tom Colangelo, founders of Gatorfood.com. Since then, Doorstep Delivery has established branches across the country, including Palm Beach County and Miami-Dade. The service specializes in large group orders and delivering to niche locations including the beach, hotels, office buildings, and hospitals.
Avello says she and fiancé Sorel never saw themselves owning their own food-delivery service. What began as a job helping the company build its business model, however, turned into a full-time passion. After meeting the company's partners, the couple -- in addition to business partner Jason Mercier -- decided to start their own operation managing the first Doorstep Delivery territory in Fort Lauderdale.
Since January, the operation has grown from just a few restaurant partners to more than 20 accounts. They've also shown explosive growth over the past several months, Sorel told Clean Plate Charlie.
"The number of deliveries we've done has grown as much as 350 percent since the start of the year," said Sorel.
He says this growth was possible through a combination of strategic marketing, online interfacing, cutting-edge technology, and topnotch customer service.
"I came from working in an industry where customer service is all that matters, and I really wanted to take use that background to make this business model better," said Avello. "And our partners have confirmed that we've gone above and beyond to make the business relationship successful."
According to the couple, one of the unique characteristics about Doorstep Delivery is its marketing techniques.
"We're not just another delivery service piggy-backing off a successful restaurant to get our orders. We take an active role bringing business to our restaurant partners by working with hotels, office buildings, pharmaceutical reps, and more to build the business," he said. "In that aspect, we are leaps and bounds beyond our competitors."
The Doorstep Delivery service is also integrated with Yelp, GrubHub, and Eat24 -- websites foodies often frequent.
"Naturally, people aren't going to be familiar with our business, especially if they are from out of town," said Sorel. "But they do visit sites like Yelp to find out where to eat, and they can place an order with us directly from [those sites] with just the click of a button."
For Avello, customer service is another factor that sets them apart from the competition. That means your food is always on time, delivered just the way you'd get it from the restaurant. Whether it's $15 worth of food or $200 worth, your order is guaranteed to arrive within 45 to 50 minutes. Special dispatching technology allows the order to be executed immediately, and a single driver is sent to pick up and deliver each order using oversized, thermal-insulated delivery bags with hot and cold dividers in various sizes.
"To save on manpower, a lot of delivery services will have a driver picking up at multiple restaurants and bringing food to multiple customers," said Sorel, who hopes to expand services west into Plantation and Sunrise in the coming months. "Our drivers only make one trip."
Interested in placing an order? You can do so online, over the phone, or by downloading the Doorstep Delivery app. Delivery fees run you $4.49, and there is a set required minimum order starting at $15 to $25.
If you're out of Broward County, however, you're out of luck -- for now. Doorstep Delivery currently operates in east Fort Lauderdale and works with restaurants including Mai-Kai, American Social, Cheesecake Factory, Duffy's, Outback Steakhouse, and Bokamper's.
Find Doorstep Delivery online at doorstepdelivery.com, or call 954-957-3667.
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