Management 2000 Blog

Marketing In Franchising: Local Store Strategies And Processes

All franchisors understand the importance of and spend a great amount of time marketing their Brand. Brands use a combination of national, regional, and local marketing. Usually the regional and national marketing of a Brand is handled of the franchisor. It is very common for a franchisor to require that their franchisees take local marketing into their own hands. As a result, this often does not get the attention that other aspects of the business get.

 What some franchisors forget is that their franchisees have come from a variety of business backgrounds and may not totally understand how to implement an effective marketing program at the local level.

As part of getting a franchisee “off on the right foot,” marketing plans and ideas are usually included in the Grand Opening materials provided by the franchisor.  Unfortunately, too often, the franchisor takes it for granted that the franchisee will take it from there on their own.  The franchisee gets busy running the business and needs guidance in their marketing efforts.

It is recommended that the franchisor develop a local marketing system and strategies for the franchisee. This creates consistency of the Brand’s marketing efforts throughout all the locations, company operated and franchised.

Having a system in place with the necessary tools, the franchisee will not feel left in the dark and the franchisor will know that the marketing is being handled correctly and that the resources are provided to fulfill the requirements of the franchise agreement.

The systems and processes must be accessible to the franchise locations either in manuals or online in order to guide this process.  All of this marketing will ultimately create a consistent experience for the franchisee and the customers of the Brand.  As the franchisor develops the marketing strategies it is important to document “best practices” along with specific results that a franchisee can expect when a program is implemented. 

Every Brand will have different forms of marketing that typically work in their industry.  It is important that the franchisees understand what the most effective ways of marketing are for their Brand so their efforts and dollars are not spent unwisely. 

In conclusion, make sure your Brand’s marketing efforts are documented for future reference. This will help create a higher rate of Brand recognition, create less frustrated franchisees, and create more customers who will be loyal, frequent user and promoter customers.

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Customer-Centric Branding

Can Any Organization Become Customer-Centric?

Here at Management 2000 we believe that any organization can and should have a Customer-Centric culture. A customer-centric culture will produce increased profits and faster growth for an organization than any other approach to organizational design and organizational dynamics.

The key factor to a customer-centric culture is making sure your brand is a great place to work. Team members who are well trained, committed and engaged with the Brand are much more likely to create engaging experiences for your Brand. Team member’s satisfaction and loyalty affects the value of your product and service offering, which affects customer satisfaction and loyalty, which in turn affects your brand’s profit and growth.

Research Shows:

 15% of Senior Business Leaders Say Their Companies Are Capturing Client’s Emotional Experiences

 88% of Senior Business Leaders Say They Have Emotional Brand Values

 Only 45% Could Name Them

 Only 15% Said They Were Ensuring Their Brand Values Were embedded in Their Customers’ Experiences

 72% of Senior Business Leaders Say the Customer Experience Is the New Competitive Battleground and Is the Source of Competitive Differentiation

 100% of Senior Business Leaders Say Leadership Is Important

 Only 25% Could Give Examples of How Leadership Was Reinforcing a Customer-Centric Experience culture in Their Businesses

 

Are your customers VERY satisfied, loyal, frequent customers, who recommend your Brand

to their friends, family, and professional colleagues?

 Are you achieving the revenue you want in your business?

  Do you know how your customers feel about your Brand?

 Are you confident your internal procedures are producing the right feelings in your customers?

 Are you confident your team members are being selected, oriented, trained, developed, led, managed and motivated to create great customer experiences?

 Are you confident you are doing everything you can to create a great place to work?

When creating a Customer-centric environment, these are the things that you should think about.  Keep in mind that this process is not perfected overnight, nor is it a one step process. When implementing, stay focused and if you have questions, you can call Management 2000 for questions or help at 800-847-5763 or email us at m2000@mgmt2000.com

 

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Philosophy, Process, People, Technology: What Can We Expect in 2012?

 

With the increasing number of businesses using franchising as a strategy for profit and growth, companies must ensure that the systems and structures the business follows are replicable, up to date and reflective of the best practices of world class Brands.  Management 2000 understands the systems and structures that world class Brands use to win in an increasingly competitive marketplace.  We stand ready to assist you in implementing these systems and structures to increase your profits and growth and those of your franchisees.
Action Point #1: Philosophy

• Philosophy is the cornerstone and foundation of every Brand.  Today’s successful Brands believe the first cornerstone is to create a culture where team members love to come to work and who believe their company is a great place to work.
• The second cornerstone of a successful Brand is a culture where the result of the business is creating and keeping very satisfied, loyal, frequent user, promoter customers.

Action Point #2: Processes

The processes are the ways the products and services are made and delivered to the customers and the environment within which they are delivered. These processes make up the experiences the customers have of the Brand.  The customers’ experiences include:

• The research they do before doing business with your Brand
• The expectations set by marketing
• The pre-purchase interaction
• The purchase interaction
• The consumption of the product/service,
• The post experience review 

Processes and systems are among the main factors in a successful franchise system. If a business does not maintain processes and systems from within, it can expect to experience the negative effects of the absence of processes, which can be very costly to fix.  Successful Franchise Brands understand that having strong processes and systems in place, attracts new, qualified franchisees into the organization resulting in very satisfied, loyal, frequent user customers.  As well as having robust processes and systems in place, a successful franchise organization will ensure that all of the franchisees and their employees implement these processes to the fullest.
 
Action Point #3: People

• The people who execute the processes will have a significant influence on how the customers feel when their experience of your Brand is concluded. 
• Your Product/Service Experience is your sustainable differentiation from your competitors and will determine the success of your Brand and of your future profits and growth.  Attention must be paid to how team members are selected, oriented, trained, developed, led, managed, and compensated.

 
All businesses are, or should be, people organizations. With the move from a manufacturing mentality to an experience mentality, there are many aspects that are often over looked when strategizing for the future. It is important to understand that people in the 21^st century are always looking for a better opportunity to meet their personal goals. This is especially true of the “knowledge worker”, the type of professional who is looking for commitment from the organization, adequate responsibility, and a job that satisfies his or her personal and business goals.
Action Point #4: Technology

Find a new technology that is an innovation for one of your organizations processes. Beta test it within your company; you may be surprised how quickly the use of technology can help you gain efficiencies in systems and processes.

• Embrace the knowledge of technology of the younger generations and implement software and procedures to boost your organizations reputation, profit, and growth.
• Do not be afraid of change.  “The only constant in life, is change.”

Today’s World Class Brands use technology to their advantage. The quicker an organization can understand that these new avenues of technology are not just fads, but the next step to maintaining a World Class Brand the sooner it can use that knowledge to its competitive advantage. As a business and community we can use these new innovations to better understand our clients, just as Google now tracks their customers‘ activities and uses the information to direct the customer in a more focused way, in future searches. A successful Brand will continually review technology innovations and brainstorm which of them could be implemented to gain a competitive advantage over competitors. Brands use technology for SEO, Reputation Management, marketing, communicating with customers through social media and for getting real-time feedback and measurements of how the customers feel after experiencing the Brand.  Technology can be used in predicting future growth and profits, correlating customer feedback with frequency and loyalty.  It has been proved that VERY satisfied customers are six times more likely to do business with a Brand than merely satisfied customers.

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Franchise Development

Franchise development can be complex. It is a critical part of franchising a business. We know everything changes and so must we change when it comes to how we approach the generation, qualification and granting of franchises to qualified individuals and entities. If you are to be VERY successful at granting franchises and you want to be a successful franchisor in the 21^st century we must discard the 20^th Century ways of generating qualifying and granting franchises.  

Today  we need to reevaluate our strategies and  understand we need to grant franchises to qualified individuals and entities who will fully, completely, and consistently implement your system resulting in the acquisition and retention of VERY satisfied, loyal, frequent user Promoter customers who will build your Brand.

Here at Management 2000 we know there are four areas to focus on that will bring  your business into the 21^st Century.  These four areas are:

• Philosophy

• Process

• Technology

• People

To be a competing force in its  industry a business must form and live Customer-Centric philosophies. Customer-Centric philosophies give your entire organization a way to think and act..

Processes must be in place to maintain integrity, be cost effective, create great customer experiences, and must be efficient.

Technology refers to the technology the company uses and to the technology available to its customers to spread ether a good or bad word regarding the Brand. The new age of technology and a large percentage of consumers using social media and sites like yelp.com to express their feelings and experiences, ultimately leading consumers to look up a business before they even take a chance at visiting the business, this is called the “ZERO MOMENT OF TRUTH” and virtually 100% either do or will, in the future, determine their feelings about a business before they go there to try it.  What this means is that even new customers are already customers with perceptions already formed.

The first  three components lead up to the last one  PEOPLE. People must be selected, oriented, trained, developed, lead, managed, engaged, empowered and committed to implementing the processes, with the philosophies, using the technology resulting in the promoter customers referred to earlier. If you feel you could improve your franchise development system in any of these four areas then there is a seminar waiting for you to attend.  The franchise development seminar “FRANDEV2012” is right around the corner.

FRANDEV 2012 is an annual Conference held in Tucson, Arizona at the Ritz Carlton.  Never in franchise history, has there been an opportunity for a VERY few select brands (franchise companies), to spend such a concentrated period of time focusing on ways to improve: their brand, their process and every aspect of their franchise “sales” process and system. This will be accomplished with the most experienced franchising experts/leaders in the areas that impact these results the most. Today’s candidates are more sophisticated and intelligent. To meet their needs, every Brand needs to have state-of-the art marketing strategies and tactics utilizing the optimization of websites and the use of social networking. They must employ the most recent proven technologies to interact with the candidates.  And, all processes for handling the candidates from first contact through signing the franchise agreement and area development agreement must be streamlined.” 

 

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Developing a Successful Franchise in the Technology Era

Technology is the new age of business and society. I find through many aspects of my life, business or personal, that they all have something in common, technology; it is a part of everything I do. Whether I like it or not it is reality, and as a business community we need to embrace the change.

It is amazing how many of our tasks in business today are accomplished with technology, whether you are talking to someone on your cell phone, emailing a coworker or just shopping for office supplies on your computer. All of these tasks have been changed and improved by technology. I remember not even 17 years ago that most travel reservations were handled by a travel agent. That is not the case anymore; technology has freed the traveler from having to rely on others to accomplish their tasks.

Today the management and operation of business has become more streamlined with the processes and tasks available through technology.  One can book travel online, rent a car, talk with clients, network, build rapport via blogs and social media, and even advertise to a specific market all because technology has given us the ability to do so.

So if you are a company ready to take the technology plunge, now is the time to dive into the water. You do not want to be left hesitating on the edge of the pool.  I watched a video today regarding Quick Response or QR codes and how they have revolutionized marketing strategies and the way consumers shop. A grocery store in Korea that was number two in its industry, wanted to know how they could become number one. Through their research they found the tasks their customers dreaded most were the weekly trips to the store. Their solution was Virtual Shopping. They posted advertising of all the products in the grocery store in subway stations, newspapers and other media. Each product had a QR code on the advertisement. These advertisements looked just the same as a grocery aisle lined with products, with a QR code next to the price. It allowed the grocery store customer to order products using their phone while waiting for the subway train. Once the customer has ordered the produce or product, it is delivered to the customer’s house when they return home.

Technology has given companies the power to meet and exceed the expectations of the consumer. Not that all companies use this to their advantage, YET.  However, within the next few years companies which employ technology to satisfy the demands of the consumer will greatly outperform their competitors who are reluctant to embrace technology.

With that said, in the future of your life as a business professional always look for the next big opportunity. As Harvey Mackay said (he wrote the famous business best-seller, Swim With The Sharks) “If you’re looking for a big opportunity, look for a big challenge." That is what the companies that use technology to their advantage have always done. Enjoy and look for a new piece of technology that could make your company the leader in its industry.

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Franchise Sales, Strategies, Tactics and Tools That Maximize Results

Do you want to finish 2012 with results that go Over The Top of your goals?

Are your franchise sales what you expected for 2012 so far?

Are your technology processes out of date?

 “Over The Top” workshop is designed to help you in all these areas. Our presenters are the experts in franchising at helping Brands implement a “World Class” franchise recruitment system.

Come learn from Bob Gappa, CEO - Management 2000, Amit Pamecha, CEO - FranConnect and Martin Greenbaum – President, Greenbaum Marketing for an "OVER THE TOP" Interactive Workshop.

This workshop provides you with “take –aways ” that include best practices, strategies, tactics, and tools that can immediately be implemented to improve your closing ratio.

Even if you believe your existing system is good, there is always room for improvement. And if you have not started an automated process yet, now is the time to come and learn how it can increase the results of your current process.

“Over The Top” workshops provide  you with what is necessary for your company to have the World Class system that includes: positioning of the franchise, promotion strategies and timing recommendations for promoting your brand(s).

You will leave the workshop with 10-20 ideas on "How To Improve Your Results And Sign More Franchise Agreements!" In addition to improving your results by using a "systems" approach your results will be increased even more using the strategies, tactics, and tools discussed during the Interactive Workshop. Attending this interactive workshop could yield you a 300% increase, or more, in the next 12 months in signed franchise agreements.

 

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Personal Goals Drive Business Goals

It is imperative to the success of any business to have defined goals in mind.  Where do you see yourself in one year?  Where do you see yourself in five years?  In twenty years?  How do you envision your retirement?  We at Management 2000 know that  personal goals drive business goals. Have you identified your personal goals?  Perhaps you would like to increase your income?  Maybe you would like to own a luxury car, or buy a larger house?  By establishing  short and long term goals, you will be able to plot a timeline with measurable accomplishments moving you towards your long term goals of financial security and financial independence.

Having goals will allow you to manage your efforts and resources. You will establish goals that are easily attainable, in a short time, leading to your eventual long term goals of maybe 20 years ahead.  Although all goals are important you should always remember that the main goals are those of the long term.

Short term goals should be gradual steps toward your long term goals. When considering your short and long term goals remember that “personal goals drive business goals.”

Personal goals are the inspiration for business goals. The reason for someone to start a business is to accomplish personal goals such as: to become debt free, to become financially stable or perhaps to spend more time with family,

 Management 2000 has identified a list of areas to help you align your personal goals with your business goals in order to achieve success. This concept is called ILWED TM: Income, lifestyle, wealth, equity and debt elimination.

Income: your re-occurring short-term earnings through employment and investments.

What do you envision your income to be in the next 3 to 5 years?

 Lifestyle: a manner of living that reflects your values and attitudes.

What do you envision your lifestyle to be in the next 3 to 5 years? 

Wealth (Building): the state of being financially self-sufficient and having a plan in place ensuring you have taken care of your short and long term financial needs.

How do you envision your wealth portfolio in the next 15 to 20 years? 

Equity: the interest in assets you have acquired and built up.

What assets will you own that will provide you and your family with long-term equity over the next 10 to 20 years?   

Debt Elimination: the ability to live comfortably without being indebted.

Wouldn't it be nice to live without credit or loan payments? 

We hope that we have given you a better understanding of how your personal goals play into your business goals. Defining goals that are important to you and designing a plan to achieve them, will result in your success.

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Have You Looked For Professional Help? What You Need To Know

In business there are many people and companies out there that promote themselves as experts in advising companies how to succeed. How can you know if they are competent or not?  Now that we are in the technology age it is much easier to find a professional company that has an excellent reputation that can help you and your brand reach your goals.

Some of the things to look for in a consulting company: how long have they been in business, are they a respected company with an impressive portfolio of satisfied clients, are they keeping up with the times, do they use social media to give you actionable insights,  do they have a  web presence with constantly updated information?  Consulting companies which use the latest technology to share their expertise and experience with you can add enormous value to your brand. The best consulting companies will show you how to  include the latest ways of marketing and advertising, to grow your business.

In analyzing your needs you need to consider: does the consulting company offer a wide array of services to allow you to select those most beneficial to your needs? Does the consulting company have experience to help you explore further opportunities to increase your income, improve your lifestyle, increase your wealth and advise you on debt elimination? Here is a list of some, but not all, of the essential things to look for when considering engaging a consulting company:

1. Does the consulting company promote their client recommendations and testimonials, and are these clients/brands you can search and find on Google?

2. How long has the consulting company been in business?

3. Does the consulting company have the expertise and resources necessary to help you and your brand achieve the desired results?

4. Can the consulting company give you deliverable insights on what business strategy would best help you achieve your brands’ goals?

5. Does the consulting company have the resources to help you accomplish the results you expect for your brand(s)?

6. Is the consulting company customer-centric, focusing on how you can make your brand “all about the customer”?

To contact us

 

 

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Franchising A Company

 

The common conception of franchising is that it is an industry or a segment of the economy. This is not the true definition of the concept. Franchising is a business growth strategy; one that encompasses marketing and distribution systems that have been proven to be very effective at enabling companies to capture an overwhelmingly disproportionate percentage of the market share.

Management 2000 has established five aspects of any business that must be executed very well to succeed as a franchise system.  They are:

1. Attract new customers

2. Retain current customers

3. Get customers to purchase more products or services, more often

4. Continually increase market share

5. Maintain a sufficient profit margin

Along with executing these essential aspects, there are other things you and your brand must do to become a successful franchise system.

1. Can you successfully replicate the business model (is the business model documented correctly)?

2. What are the dynamics of the business (philosophies, principles, mission, core values and vision)?

3. What are the mechanics of the business (policies, processes, procedures and programs)?

These are some of the many areas you must focus on when thinking about franchising your business. Management 2000 has the experience and expertise to help you and your business succeed.  Some of Management 2000’s team, including the founder Bob Gappa, have themselves been franchisees.  Bob has worked with over 1,300 franchisors in his thirty plus years in the business.  He understands completely, what it takes to operate a successful franchise system and how to use the system to increase your profit and wealth.

Here is the list of some (but not all) of our process that can help you and your brand achieve a superior customer experience and become a successful franchise system:

1. Writing Franchise Legal Documents

2. Prepare a Franchise Business Plan & Financial Model

3. Write Franchise Operations Manual(s)

4. Write a Pre-Opening Manual

5. Prepare a Franchise Training Program

6. Prepare a Franchise Development System

7. Prepare the Franchisor-Franchisee Relations/ Field Consultant System

 
Have you planned on increasing profit and growth for your brand?
Do you want to grow your business?
How do you grow your business within a set budget?
Do you want your brand to be known as a leader in the industry?
If you have answered “yes” to any of these questions, franchising might be an opportunity for you. Franchising has been a strategy for business growth for centuries.  It is a proven approach and has become an increasingly popular and trusted way to grow your business.

When you are thinking of franchising your brand there are some things to consider.

1. How many locations do I have?

2. Does my brand have a replicable service or product?

3. Is the profit and growth sufficient to attract others into the business?

4. Do the mission, vision, and core values drive the brand?

When you have decided to select franchising as a strategy for profit and growth for your company we strongly recommend that your first step is to hire a professional franchise consulting company.  Management 2000, with over 30 years experience in franchise consulting, can guide you through the process to insure you do everything right, the first time, saving yourself valuable time and money.

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7 HABITS OF A TRULY CUSTOMER-CENTRIC COMPANY

 

In March 2000, Harvey Thompson of IBM published a book, "The Customer-Centered Enterprise, How IBM and Other World-Class Companies Achieve Extraordinary Results By Putting Customers First" (McGraw-Hill).

Thompson suggests that a company like Amazon.com is one of the best examples of a Customer-Centered company. At the other end of the scale, he puts Microsoft as an example of a Product-Driven company. We can all relate to what Thompson is saying. The book provides excellent advice on how being customer-centered can produce much better business results than the product-driven approach.

In some ways, Thompson did not go far enough. The real key is to try to relate to how the customer sees our company. How will our typical customer feel when he or she contacts our company? We should try to stand in the shoes of our customers. Doing that, how does our company rate?

The following 7 Habits distinguish the truly Customer-Centric Company from a company that merely thinks a lot about its customers.

 

Why not score your own company and see how you rate.

1. WE HAVE A PROMISE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS, NOT JUST A MISSION FOR OURSELVES

We have a Mission statement for the company, which is like this:

Does not mention customers	Mostly about the company	50/50 company / customer	Mostly about what we will provide to our customers	A clear commitment to our customers of what we will provide them
Score 0	Score 1	Score 2	Score 3	Score 4

 

2.WE BUNDLE SERVICES IN WITH OUR PRODUCTS

We only provide products	We provide minimal services with our products	Our services are as good as our average competitor	Our services are as good as the best of the competition	We provide the full services that any customer might want
Score 0	Score 1	Score 2	Score 3	Score 4

 

3. OUR WEBSITE IS A WELCOMING DOOR, NOT A MAGNIFICENT EDIFICE

Our website is like this:

An impressive view of all that the company represents	Our customers can find what they want if they are persistent	50/50 for general visitors and for customers	Mostly for the customer	Our customers can easily see how to get the information they need
Score 0	Score 1	Score 2	Score 3	Score 4

 

4. THE CUSTOMER FINDS IT EASY TO CONTACT US, BY WHATEVER METHOD IS CONVENIENT

There are four usual ways of contacting any company - telephone, fax, email message, website form.

How many of these can the customer easily find from your website?

We don't have a website	One way	Two ways	Three ways	All four ways
Score 0	Score 1	Score 2	Score 3	Score 4

 

5. OUR TELEPHONE SYSTEM IS "CUSTOMER-FRIENDLY" AND NOT JUST COST-EFFECTIVE

Most calls are greeted by a gruff human being	Most customers wait until they then talk to a machine	Most customers talk to a machine but can get a human being	We have a rapid automatic call reception system	Most calls are greeted by a friendly human being
Score 0	Score 1	Score 2	Score 3	Score 4

6. OUR CUSTOMER HAS ONE MAIN CONTACT WHO MAKES EVERYTHING HAPPEN

 

No designated contact and no information kept about customers	Several contacts but little information kept about customers	Several contacts but with a good logging system	Two main contacts with a good logging system	There is one main contact for each customer
Score 0	Score 1	Score 2	Score 3	Score 4

  7. OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE GIVES THE SERVICE THE CUSTOMER REALLY WANTS

A stress-relief process for complaints - no results	Sympathetic hearing - minor results	Tries to correct the problem	Corrects the problem and minor compensation for trouble	Really impresses customer as they "Make it right"
Score 0	Score 1	Score 2	Score 3	Score 4

So add up your scores for the 7 habits and see how you rate.

Total score
0 - 14 You probably turn off a large proportion of potential customers
15 - 20 You probably irritate some of your potential customers
21 - 25 You're doing pretty well but the competition may do better
26 - 28 Now you're a company I would like to deal with.

So how did you do? Perhaps you feel the rating is too critical. However with the Internet, the customer is now in the driving seat. Some companies are really giving incredible service and that is setting the standard for what customers expect. This is not rocket science. All it takes is a little more thinking and a little more attention to detail. So why not join the winners. Look at each of the questions where you scored less than 4 and see whether you should be doing more to make your customer feel valued.

With this short rating system you will be able to see how you can help your brand(s) become more Customer-Centric. Focusing on your customer in all of these aspects will ultimately help your brand(s) in retaining more VERY satisfied frequent user customers, resulting in increased profit and growth for you and your brand(s).

To obtain guidance to help your company become more Customer-Centric, send us a Message today.  We provide conversation without obligation.

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