{{title}}
{{byline}}
{{byline}}
Franchise CEOs and leaders gathered at the Franchise Customer Experience Conference (FCXC) for the “CEO Summit: The Future of Loyalty–Innovating for Sustained Business Excellence,” which brought together visionaries to share how they embraced innovation to solve problems for their brands, franchisees, and customers.
The summit kicked off with a powerful message: Loyalty isn’t a program; it’s a strategic advantage. As Therese Thilgen, co-founder of Franchise Update Media and the session’s moderator, noted, “The pace of change, especially in technology, is relentless. We’re here to understand how leaders are turning that into an advantage.”
CEOs and leaders shared why they embraced change at their brands.
For Justin Waltz, brand president at The Junkluggers, it was about standing out in a crowded space. “Differentiation and franchisee profitability were our North Stars,” Waltz said. “We needed to win market share and fast.”
Richard Huffman, CEO of Celebree Schools, said, “Parents want to know if our school is the right fit for their child. We realized we weren’t fully utilizing our existing technology to answer that question. Engaged franchisees translate directly to better parent and student experiences and profitability.”
Jennifer Dodd, CEO of Main Squeeze Juice, pointed to overcoming operational hurdles. “Juice has a seven-day shelf life. Wraps? Two days. We had to build a system that could manage freshness, reduce waste, and ensure consistency. So, we built our own tech stack,” she explained.
For Doug Flaig, CEO of Stratus Building Solutions, the trigger was Covid. “People became hyperaware of cleanliness, and we saw an opportunity to reframe our brand not just as cleaners, but as health protectors,” he said. “But we didn’t have a central CRM. That had to change.”
Todd Houghton, president of Homewatch CareGivers, said the brand had introduced “an AI-powered avatar that monitors patients through their TVs and was developed in partnership with Apple.”
The takeaway: Innovation isn’t just about flashy tech; it’s about solving real problems.