Franchise Articles

Brand Champion: Veteran Supercuts Franchisee Reflects on 35 Years

By Eddy Goldberg

Gary Grace's life in franchising has been marked by several major achievements and milestones, including the following:

How To Choose a Great Link Builder
Link building is one of the hard, useful parts of Internet marketing. Much of traditional SEO has lost its mojo since Google's various algorithm updates of the past couple of years. Poor quality links have gone from being marginally useful to downright dangerous, as they attract penalties from Google. To build a strong set of external links that builds your site's authority and brings useful traffic with them, it pays to find a good link builder. Writing on Search Engine Land, Jon Ball, vice president of business development at Page One Power, highlights some key traits to look for when searching for a high-quality contractor to build links for you.

Checking Up On the Competition
It's always good to know what your competitors are up to - especially if you can do it without tipping them off...

Hopefully, you've heard that the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) has changed... again. In November 2013, the PCI Council released PCI DSS version 3.0 and set the compliance deadline for January 2015. With only a few busy months remaining, many businesses (including franchisees) aren't even close to compliance with the new standard.
Why change the standard? Changing technologies often improve business efficiency, but aren't bulletproof to the weaknesses consistently found and exploited by hackers. New security regulations like PCI 3.0 are released to protect new technologies against recent hacking trends.
In my opinion, Requirement 4.1 is the biggest PCI 3.0 change for franchisees. Many franchises and chains use satellite communications to connect locations...

There's a new franchise funding alternative in town: ApplePie Capital, which announced its presence as a franchise lender and unveiled its website last week. The idea behind the company is to provide a franchise loan marketplace that connects franchisees in need of capital with investors seeking fixed-income returns, in this case by investing in operators of proven franchise brands. The marketplace will launch in Q1 2015 and offer loans ranging from $100,000 to $1 million.

ApplePie will work exclusively with franchises, says co-founder and CEO Denise Thomas. The company's founding brands are Marco's Pizza, Fast-Fix Jewelry and Watch Repairs, Nothing Bundt Cakes, AdvantaClean, Sola Salon Studios, and RNR Custom Wheels and Tire Express...

There are two Checkers franchisees who believe that operating a business means being involved and giving back to the community. That's what partners Bruce Keehn and Andrew Lynn have been doing for years.
In 1996, when race riots ensued after a white police officer shot a 28-year-old black man in Paterson, N.J., news footage showed Checkers bags atop police cars, where Keehn and his people had placed them. In 2012, when Hurricane Sandy struck New Jersey, their staff could be found everywhere giving away free Checkers food, even though one of their own restaurants had been hit hard.
"Everything that has happened in this area in the past 20 years, we've been there," says Keehn, who spent years at Burger King corporate before becoming a Checkers franchisee...

"Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader it's all about growing others." --Jack Welch

Everyone who has a job has a boss or manager, but does everyone have a leader? You never hear people complain about leaders, but every day someone somewhere complains about their boss or manager. First, leadership is action, not position. Just because someone is in a role of control does not mean they are a leader.

All managers have to do some leading, and all leaders have to do some managing. The best leaders are typically poor managers, and the best managers are typically poor leaders. Finding the right balance for the job is what is really important. Every enterprise needs a mix of leaders and managers...

"Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become
a leader it's all about growing others."-- Jack Welch.

Everyone who has a job has a boss or manager, but does everyone have a leader? You never hear people complain about leaders, but every day someone somewhere complains about their boss or manager. Firstly, leadership is action, not position. Just because someone is in a role of control does not mean the person is a leader. According to John Tschohl, best-selling author and customer service strategist, "the best leaders are typically poor managers and the best managers are typically poor leaders. All managers have to do some leading and all leaders have to do some managing. Finding the right balance for the job is what is really important...

To celebrate and recognize the achievements of multi-unit and multi-brand franchisees, we again turn our annual focus to multi-unit franchisees we like to call "Dominators." They are determined to succeed and know how to get it done. They take on markets, competition, and the economy and keep on growing. They are fiercely competitive, want to be the best at what they do, and want the same for their management team and employees.
We've identified some great, savvy operators and are excited to bring their stories to you. We asked what drives them, what makes them tick, and what ticks them off. Each shares a unique tale of how they've traveled the rocky road to success, but all are united by hard work, hard knocks, and ultimate triumph.
This year's behind-the-scenes look at a group of thriving franchise owners tells us how--and why--they've made their business choices, how they've adapted to growth, and where they see themselves headed...

Editor's note: This is part 4 of a serialized version of a recent e-book from Franchise Performance Group called Why Your Franchise Sales Process Is a Disaster: What a breakthrough franchise sales process looks like. Click here for part 1, here for part 2, and here for part 3.

Phase Five: FDD review
A franchise attorney once told me that their franchise sales people use the FDD as a sales tool, but I don't think the FDD adds any emotional engagement to the buyer's process. In 30 years I have never had a franchise buyer say: "I was on the fence, but then I got your FDD. Now I'm ready to move forward."

In this phase, the franchise salesperson needs to take the "one-sided sting" out of the FDD and ferret out and resolve potential deal-killers...

Sam Anabi's time as a police officer in La Verne, Calif., laid the foundation for his business focus of helping those in need. He bought his first gas station in 1991, while still in training at the L.A. Sheriff's Academy. Injured in the line of duty, in 2001 Anabi left the force to focus on his gasoline retailing business. Today he operates more than 200 Shell stations in California, along with 10 Del Tacos and 13 Subways.
Anabi says his experience as a police officer has greatly influenced how he operates his business. "Being a police officer for so many years allowed me to become very keen and intuitive toward different circumstances of people," he says. "I believe that it is our responsibility to reach out and help those around us in need...

Key #3: Effective Closing Skills, Part 2

In the three previous newsletters, I discussed the Three Key Selling Skills:
#1: Follow a successful sales process
#2: Strong relationship-building skills
#3: Effective closing skills

This time I complete the discussion of Selling Skill #3. These three skills, essential for making new franchise sales, are part of my book, "Grow to Greatness: How to build a world-class franchise system faster" - and are appropriate for both new and emerging franchisors, as well as experienced sales pros seeking to brush up on their skills and/or improve the performance of their sales staff.

"How are you using technology to identify, reach, and track prospects?"

James R. Walker
Chief Development Officer
The Johnny Rockets Group

At Johnny Rockets we use technology not only to drive leads for prospective franchise candidates, but also to ensure that we are spending our franchise recruitment dollars in the most efficacious way possible.
We have found that online franchise lead portals are one of our most effective methods for securing new candidates. We also like the traceability these sites provide us. We use as many as six different online lead portals to drive leads to our sales management system, which immediately segments the lead by a number of qualifiers that include available liquid capital, as well as the candidate's targeted geography...

Tariq Farid is an amazing guy. He's passionate about his employees, his community, his family, and his religion, and based on a 2½-hour visit with him at his Wallingford, Conn., headquarters, if there were an award for the Nicest Guy in the World, he'd be on the list.
His family moved to the U.S. from Pakistan in 1981, when he was 12. From humble beginnings, including his father working multiple jobs and the family not having enough to eat, today Edible Arrangements--the company he founded with his brother in 1999--has more than 1,200 locations, $510 million in system-wide sales, and employs close to 10,000 people in 14 countries.
Great numbers, to be sure, and an immigrant success story well chronicled since Edible first took the franchising world by storm...

I met David Buckley, chief marketing officer for Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores at a workshop on franchise consumer marketing I moderated recently.

Bobby and Lori Forrest came well-prepared for their second careers as multi-unit franchisees for Sport Clips. The couple grew up in Texas and met at Texas A&M University, where he graduated with a degree in engineering technology and she earned her master's in land economics and real estate.
As they approached 50 and decided to begin building their own business, they looked no further than the place where he gets his haircuts. "I was a customer and I liked the concept," he says. "We also liked their conservative approach of having franchisees continue to work their regular jobs until the shop was up and running. It took the pressure off the first couple of years while we were learning."
So after 27 years in sales and management with electronic components distributor, Bobby retired and joined forces with Lori, a commercial real estate appraiser, to buy two corporate Sport Clips salons and open a third...

We asked Amy Olson, vice president of customer experience/marketing for The Maids about the role that the brand's culture plays in creating, framing, and developing its brand message/image to customers. Here's what she had to say.

The Maids has more than 30 years of experience in the highly competitive residential cleaning industry. We know well the importance and challenges of differentiating our brand in the market, and how important culture is in conveying and creating a positive overall brand experience. Personifying the brand culture starts at the top through executive and franchisee leadership.

The personalities of the brand we strive to convey through our culture are professionalism and being detail-oriented, friendly, and considerate...

The Roman philosopher Epictetus once said, "Books are the training weights of the mind." Seneca, Roman statesman and philosopher, opined that, "The most important knowledge is that which guides the way you lead your life."

Combine these two pieces of wisdom and you have an undeniable truth: reading is an exercise that enriches our minds and our lives and the way we think, feel, and behave. It allows us to gather an assortment of dots, but more important, to connect those dots to expand our knowledge.

It's easy to gravitate toward the comfortable, familiar reads. Reading is an exercise in thinking and to get better at it, it's important we go beyond our comfort zone and tackle more difficult subjects that seemingly have no relevance...

Coworkers must work together to be as productive as possible. It can be difficult at times. Here, Geoffrey James, author of Business Without the Bullsh*t: 49 Secrets and Shortcuts You Need to Know, outlines 10 different types of coworkers and explains how they can keep the peace and work better together "It's not difficult once you've spotted the behaviors," he explains.
Here are 10 of the most difficult coworkers and how to deal with them:

Ello!
Ello is the hot new, invitation-only social media network that went public in August. It's free for now, but will eventually adopt a freemium model, adding new features that users will find useful and fun enough to pay for upgrades. Ello has no advertising, no suggested posts, doesn't track your every move, and won't spam your address book. As with Twitter, once you've joined Ello, it may not be immediately obvious what you should do. You'll need to follow some people and post some content to get started. Ello has been getting 34,000 requests an hour for invitations, so you won't lack company for long.

LinkedIn: No More Connecting through Groups
A useful feature of Group membership on LinkedIn has been dropped by the business social media giant...

Craig Joy, who works side by side with employees on the sandwich line at his Checkers restaurants in Florida, is known for his people-driven approach to business and the high retention rate of what he calls his "incredible team."
"We're lucky to have him," says Checkers Vice President for Franchise Development Jennifer Durham. "Crew members look to him as an inspirational leader. He gives them an opportunity to grow more than the average fast-food job. He cares about his people and really gives them an opportunity to grow professionally."
And it's clear that Joy, Checkers' 2013 Franchisee of the Year, takes pleasure in new, more efficient ways to operate his six restaurants in the Tampa area. For example, Checkers has a "Peak 150" strategy, meaning the time between order and food delivery is 150 seconds...