Franchise Articles

Negotiation really is an art, and can be a challenge to master for even the most astute business professional. And like any art form, it must be refined and crafted. Getting a "good deal" can result in a feeling of euphoria. So, how does one "negotiate" a good deal? It can be difficult, especially if the other party appears to be holding all the cards. Here are some tips that will help you negotiate great deals.
Know What You Are Willing to Concede. Decide what your minimums are before you enter the negotiations. Knowing your bottom line, as well as what items are "non-negotiable" will help tremendously. It is important to know this before you enter negotiations, simply because all too often, in the excitement of bartering and negotiating a deal, parties will be tempted to make concessions they had not actually intended make, in an effort to close the deal...

Serving The Hottest, Fastest-Growing Niche in Franchising

SAN JOSE, CA, Feb. 23, 2012 - Each month, Niche Media highlights a standout niche magazine. February's pick is Multi-Unit Franchisee magazine because it is the only magazine dedicated exclusively to serving the hottest and fastest-growing niche in franchising: multi-unit and multi-brand franchisees.

"We are thrilled about this recognition by Niche Media. Audiences are in full control of what they watch, read and buy because they only want information they desire. Franchise Update Media Group strives to provide specific segments in franchising with information relevant to them, said Therese Thilgen, Co-founder and CEO. "Multi-unit franchisees are a very specialized group of business owners with their own opportunities and challenges...

In order to excel in your work, in your life, or as a leader, you need to commit to continuous learning. Many leaders know this, but many more are missing the opportunities for powerful learning that could really help them get ahead on their goals.
Leaders are encouraged to learn "on the job." The problem is that many of us don't. Either because we're too busy, we forget, we don't know what we need to learn, or we don't have the resources we think we need, we end up learning by chance or command. Neither one is very powerful.
Learning by chance means you take opportunities to learn whenever they show up, but you don't necessarily go looking for more. A conference brochure arrives; it seems interesting; you go. A friend recommends a book; it looks good; you read it...

How do you promote your franchise to prospective buyers? Is it something like, "We offer an outstanding program, employ highly qualified staff, use state-of-the-art equipment, deliver excellent training, and help you grow your business every step of the way?" Don't feel bad if you are guilty of this!
Many of your competitors also bombard prospects with boring, meaningless content that lacks points of differentiation and noteworthy advantages that stir, attract, and excite buyers. Consequently, today's serious prospects are forced to wade through an ocean of similar opportunities to catch the few that truly speak to their interests.

Don't chase the masses
Most buyers won't find what they want in your franchise concept, so don't try to entice them with your messaging...

Generally speaking, people like to compete. They like to test themselves and be challenged. Most important, people like to win. Being rewarded for it? That's icing on the cake. It doesn't matter where they're from, what language they speak, or what job they do - people like to succeed and be acknowledged for it. Because I consider myself a coach, and I believe in positive energy and positive reinforcement, I believe that incentives are the single greatest tool I have for motivating my workforce...;and they can be for you, too.
Incentives work - whether the person receiving them is the manager of a retail business, an executive at a large corporation, or an entry-level employee making minimum wage. And incentives don't have to be pure cash, although I have yet to find a team member who would ever turn it down...

"Sometimes interesting things happen in a bad economy," says Dawn Lafreeda, CEO and president of Den-Tex Central Inc. in San Antonio. While the economy continued to hammer the restaurant industry, Lafreeda opened 10 Denny's restaurants in 2010 and 14 in 2011. That brings her total to a whopping 70 in six states (Texas, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Arkansas, and Oklahoma).
"That's a lot of growth," admits Lafreeda, who began her Denny's career as a 16-year-old in Orange County, Calif., and bought her first restaurant when she was 23. "But we like to do whatever makes sense, and this made sense for us. In 2012, we're going to focus on fine-tuning our operations, getting acclimated to all our new acquisitions. We're not going to be as aggressive as we have the last couple of years...

What role does franchisee satisfaction play in your overall marketing strategy?
John Dillon,
Denny's Vice President, Marketing
Denny's has nearly 1,700 restaurants worldwide, nearly 90 percent owned by our franchise partners. Our franchisees, composed of a diverse group of men and women who work tirelessly to satisfy our guests on a daily basis, represent the essence of the Denny's brand. They are on the front lines every day speaking directly with our guests, and their input is invaluable in the development of our marketing strategy. We strive to work in a collaborative manner and have developed a brand committee composed of a mix of franchise partners and corporate team members, who work together to determine the best marketing strategy for the brand...

Recognizing the challenges of today's retail markets, most franchisors are creating strategic solutions for their franchise systems. All systems are bound to encounter distressed units as they grow in number. Legal solutions, already complex given the unique relationship between franchisor and franchisee, are further complicated by third parties connected to the franchise business, such as landlords, banks, vendors, and others doing business with a franchisee.
With the continuing stranglehold on the credit markets, many chains have shrunk or flatlined their growth. But simply closing distressed units without evaluating the circumstances may be shortsighted. Instead, preparing a rescue plan for distressed units will serve both franchisor and franchisee...

Local store marketing (LSM) strategies can go a long way in boosting a brand's growth and nationwide image, says Sandy Lechner, president and CEO of Boca Raton, Fla.-based Synergy Brand Management, which provides turnkey branding solutions for franchises. "The real focus in marketing has to be on the local level," he says. "What we talk to our customers about is the 'war zone'--that one- to three-mile radius around their location. They have to win that battle every day." Here are six strategic areas Lechner says will help build your brand at the local level.

1) Direct mail. It's not as sexy as social media, but direct mail still delivers. Lechner considers direct mail to be the best, most cost-effective, and traceable way to reach prospective and existing customers - and says it should be the largest component of an LSM campaign...

Real estate brokers and franchise consultants have repeated the phrase "location, location, location" for nearly 100 years. Last century, the phrase meant the corner of Main and Main, the well-anchored strip mall, the most affluent ZIP Code. This century, the definition of "location" is less distinct. Thanks to the Internet, the coveted address has moved from 1234 Main Street to ".com."

Restaurants by their very nature are bound to a physical location, but smart restaurateurs are expanding the boundaries of their ordering systems beyond their four walls into the computers and smartphones of customers, through self-service ordering. The larger trend to self-service already has fundamentally altered customer and consumer behavior: ATM banking, pay-at-the-pump gas, airline self check-in, and online movie tickets, for example...

When great front-line hourly employees quit, most managers take it personally--and with good reason. For more than 20 years, employee exit interview research has been telling us that the #1 reason the best people leave is because they feel they are being poorly managed. In other words, these folks joined the company and then quit the manager.
Just imagine how frustrated you would have to be with your job to decide to go elsewhere. That's how dissatisfied all the outstanding people who have left your organization have felt. If your people truly are your greatest assets, then the way your managers and supervisors manage those assets is the crucial key to your organization's success.
Whether you're recruiting field and area managers or hourly employees, there are five specific things everyone wants from their job, no matter what their position...

In this complex world of advertising choices, it is important to know which ad programs are working. This can be challenging for franchisors driving consumer response across a network of franchisees. To address these complexities and meaningfully evaluate system-wide ad performance, many franchise companies are turning to call measurement.

Consumers like to connect with businesses by phone, and calls are the preferred response among advertisers. By assigning unique phone numbers (local or toll-free) to any direct-response media, call measurement programs track the number of calls generated by ad, media type, campaign, or market. Results include cross-media lead generation and lead quality data. Franchisors can use these actionable insights - ranging from total number of calls received (both answered and unanswered) and caller demographics to call duration and customer service performance - to maximize their marketing and advertising dollars and improve their overall advertising program to drive more qualified leads to their franchisees...

Employees on social networks
Determining social media policies for the workplace is especially difficult for franchisors, who have both corporate employees and independent operators to consider. On the one hand, allowing employees and/or franchisees to use social media can provide great word-of-mouth, build online relationships, keep people at all levels of the organization up to date, and show that a company is progressive. On the other hand, it's hard to control what people talk about online, thus difficult to tell if employees' or franchisees' time spent on social media affects the system and brand positively or negatively. This piece is a good rundown of the pros and cons of social media use inside a businees and may help you decide on best practices...

Research based on confidential interviews with franchisees

Lots of lists rank the "best" franchise brands. But what about compiling a list of best franchises by going straight to the franchisees and asking them? That's just what the Franchise Research Institute has done with its new list of "25 World-Class Franchises for 2012."

The group has been doing the survey annually for the past decade. Researchers contact franchisees, interview them, and guarantee confidentiality. The results are published at the beginning of each year.

The goal of the Institute is to identify and recognize excellence in franchising. Jeff Johnson, Franchise Research Institute's founder says, "There are a number of 'Best Franchise' lists published each year, but we recognize excellence by asking current franchisees to rate their experience as franchise owners, using solid, scientific research methodology...

Franchisors recognize the best performers in their system each year with a Franchisee of the Year award. We spoke with four recent winners--different-sized, in different industries, and in different parts of the country.

Common denominators among these winners include excelling in the following areas: 1) financial (sales/revenue volume, profitability), 2) adherence to system and operational standards, 3) client/customer satisfaction, 4) HR (employee training, customer service), 5) contributions to and participation in the system (mentoring and leading), and 6) community involvement and service. And one important trait they all share is their passion--for their business, their brand, and their people.


Alan and Harriet Bleiweiss
Signs Now

"Re-peat" Winners
It's two years in a row now for Alan and Harriet Bleiweiss, owners of the Signs Now center in Hollywood, Fla...

EarthFruits Yogurt pursues its dream

Welcome to the final installment of "Anatomy of a Franchise Start-Up." EarthFruits Yogurt, which began its journey in mid-2010, now has one and a half years under its belt. Over the course of this series, I've done my best to give you a transparent glimpse into our new system. In this last article, you might begin to draw your own conclusion as to whether or not we have any chance of achieving our lofty vision of becoming the "Starbucks of the Frozen Yogurt Industry."

Franchising sounds great: you go first
Few of us would disagree that franchise sales in today's economy is challenging at best. But how much more so for a new and emerging brand that few have ever heard of? I believe the economy is definitely creating challenges for those looking for franchise financing, but it also has created unprecedented levels of interest for those looking to break their reliance on the job market by being in business for oneself...

SAN JOSE, CA, Feb. 8, 2012 - Proven Match has teamed up with Franchise Update Media Group (FUMG) to give results-driven franchisors a cost-saving profiling service that delivers pre-qualified candidates. Proven Match has received interest from additional franchise portals to provide this initial candidate pre-matching service. Designed for franchise seekers to "self-profile," candidates and are given the ability to discover their business-building personality and find the franchise opportunities for which they are best suited. Franchisors receive matches based on the comprehensive 7-point Proven Match system that gives both parties a view of compatibility in the earliest stage of the discovery process.

"One of the biggest challenges franchisors face is spending time and money developing a franchisee that isn't a good fit for either party," says Gary Gardner, Chairman of FUMG...

Sam Covelli says he grew up in the restaurant business working in his father's McDonald's. Under his father's leadership, Covelli Enterprises eventually grew to 26 locations, one of the largest McDonald's franchisees in the country. But after the senior Covelli handed over the company reins to his son, you could say that Covelli Enterprises grew up with Sam Covelli.
Under his leadership, the company's McDonald's holdings grew to 43 restaurants, keeping Covelli Enterprises among McDonald's top franchisees, and an award-winning one at that. Covelli sold off those restaurants and shifted the family business into Panera Bread--and how.
Today, Covelli Enterprises owns a 198 Panera Bread locations, with 20 under construction, making it Panera's single largest franchisee and the fifth-largest restaurant franchisee in the country...

This April will mark the third year in a row that Al Coelho has run the 26-mile Boston Marathon. That's a significant achievement. But it's only a part of what Coelho will do that day.

The Providence, RI, ColorTyme franchisee will once again partner with a patient at Children's Hospital Boston to raise money and awareness for the hospital. This year it will be Nathaniel Giannandrea, a patient since he was just nine days old.

Nathaniel's mom, Lia, learned that her son had cystic fibrosis when he was seven days old. Now two and a half years old, Nathaniel is no stranger to the hospital, as it has played an enormous role in his care, says Lia.

"Children's has always been fantastic to us," says Giannandrea...

Irate customers. No matter how good you are at what you do, what business you are in, or where it is located, you will at some point find yourself facing an irate customer. Maybe a product was flawed, a delivery was late, or a charge was inaccurate. How you deal with that customer not only will determine how he or she feels about your organization, but how you feel about yourself.
When you are able to turn an irate customer into a satisfied customer, you will gain confidence in your ability to diffuse a volatile situation and to evoke a positive outcome.
When most people come in contact with an irate customer, their first instinct is to turn and run. Dealing with a customer who has a problem and is upset about it, can be more than a little daunting...