CEO Q&A: How Do You See the Future of Your Brand After Covid-19?

As part of our ongoing special coverage of Covid-19 and its impact on franchising, we’re asking franchise leaders how they’re responding to Covid-19 at all levels of their business. Below 4 franchise brand leaders speculate on a post-pandemic world. If you have a story to tell about what you’re doing to support your brand, franchisees, customers, or suppliers please email us at stories@franchising.com.

Bryan Bennett, President, AdvantaClean

1) Brand – We will emerge stronger than ever by virtue of how we have responded to the pandemic. We are meeting and rolling up our collective sleeves with potential long-term partners, establishing a solid foundation that we can build on over time. Just like a lot of materials, relationships that are forged under the pressure of an emergency/disaster are stronger as a result.

2) Relationships with franchisees – We think our relationships with franchisees will be as strong as they have ever been. Our corporate team launched a completely new service line in the span of a week’s time, unprecedented in our history. We completely revamped our national accounts program in a similar time frame. We’ve set a high performance standard to start my tenure as president. We intend to put in place what we need to continue to live up to that standard.

3) Operations – There will likely be lasting changes to our in-home inspections in terms of safety precautions we build in for prospects. Where we did obvious things to protect property, we will likely add things to show that we are sensitive to their ongoing safety. 

4) What we have been leveraging in the way of technology and digital communication to social distance may enhance the way we present proposals to prospective clients and update existing clients on the progress of their projects.

Susan Boresow, President, Title Boxing Club

I believe this situation has made us smarter, stronger, and more innovative than ever. We are thinking outside the box to meet our consumer needs. The collaboration of our team has reached a new level. I am proud of how we have navigated through this situation together. 

People are ready to get back to working out – and we will be there waiting!

Jonathan Barnett, CEO and Founder, Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning

We are going to take off. We currently have people all across the country wanting to get their spring cleaning done. When the situation clears, we know we’ll have a serious demand to get back in these homes and businesses to create clean environments. From a franchise development perspective, we were able to navigate this crisis and not shut down or furlough employees. That puts us in a position of strength among those looking to start their own business or grow their current Oxi Fresh location. We have quite a few leads lining up who are interested in buying a franchise once things settle down. We always talk about being recession-resistant, and that is evident even during these tough times as we are still booking hundreds of jobs a day.

Brandon Solano, CEO, Rave Restaurant Group (Pie Five Pizza, Pizza Inn)

We’ll come out stronger. We will have weathered the storm as individuals, and as stronger brands, which I believe will strengthen our foundation. Our job at that point will be to build on the momentum, which we will be well-positioned to do because of the better understanding we’ll have of our guests and their preferences. Our marketing messages and operational procedures will adapt to be relevant in the environment, but I believe our best assets will be the grit and resilience of the team to explore new ways to add value to both franchisees and guests.