3 Franchise Brands Leveraging Tech to Support Franchisees

In today’s tech-driven world, nearly every industry is finding ways to optimize through the use of innovative technology, and the franchise industry is no exception. There are franchisors across every segment who utilize technology to not only perfect the end-user experience, but also, crucially, to add in-depth support to the franchisees behind the scenes.

Here are three franchise brands utilizing technology to support franchisees.

Big Blue Swim School*

Since its founding in 2009, Big Blue Swim School has touted itself as a “software company first, swim school brand second.” With a data-driven approach, Big Blue’s combination of innovative technology and a best-in-class swim school model has helped make the brand a leader in the $3 billion swim school industry.

Perhaps Big Blue’s most impressive tech feature is its proprietary LessonBuddy software. LessonBuddy is dynamic, cloud-based software that allows franchise partners to seamlessly manage their back-of-house operations and parents to easily schedule or reschedule lessons with just the tap of a finger, while receiving in-depth updates on their child’s progress. In terms of franchise support, the platform is designed to provide owners with access to valuable customers that can be used to optimize the business and provide an enjoyable swim school experience for both children and families.

“We’re constantly self-evaluating,” said Casey Morford, Big Blue’s chief technology officer. “We use a lot of our data to evaluate how we're doing and manage KPIs. Often, the right data to make meaningful changes to your business quickly is not readily available or easily accessible through a third-party vendor. We don’t have to worry about that.”

Lightbridge Academy*

Innovation and education have always gone hand-in-hand. That is why the early education and child care franchise Lightbridge Academy® aims to prioritize the utilization of cutting-edge technology to create higher levels of health and safety, security and communication with the families in their care. In recent years, Lightbridge Academy’s technology applications have become central to its offering, and the team works hard to provide franchisees with the kinds of industry-leading tools that allow them to stand out from the competitors.

“Transparency and communication help to create trust, and that is what is needed in order for parents to place their young children in our care,” said Benjamin Blake, CIO at Lightbridge Academy. “And we use technology to help create an ongoing flow of information — whenever it's needed and in a manner most comfortable for the parent.”

Through the Lightbridge Journey proprietary app, for example, parents are able to check in their children and directly communicate with teachers through in-app messaging. Lightbridge also offers its ParentView® internet monitoring system, which enables parents to login to view cameras in their child’s classroom through a secure internet connection throughout the day. 

One of Lightbridge Academy’s more recent and exciting technological implementations, Blake says, is an on-site facial recognition tool that increases the level of security at centers while also creating fast and easy pick-ups and drop-offs for parents. 

These tech-forward tools not only make the Lightbridge Academy experience more enjoyable for families, but also aim to optimize efficiency for franchise owners and their staff.

Fresh Coat* Painters

Although the home services industry is traditionally about experts working with their hands, technology has come to play an essential role over recent years. Fresh Coat Painters, for example, is a residential and commercial painting franchise that offers franchisees a state-of-the-art technology suite, which the team has continued to build out over the past few years. Earlier this year, for example, Fresh Coat held a soft launch for a brand-new, custom-developed estimating software Smart Quote. 

“We are committed to staying on the cutting edge of technology, and we are always thinking about the future,” said Fresh Coat Senior VP of Commercial/National Accounts Greg Platz. “When someone filled out a quote request form on the website in the past, the franchisee would have to enter that info into another database. Now, that process is all handled in one place — customers can book a quote online through a website without having to call someone. We also now have geo-tracking, so the customer knows where the crews are at all times.” 

Platz says the team analyzed existing software used by competitors and decided that building a new, Fresh Coat-specific platform was the right choice. The new tech is integrated into every aspect of the Fresh Coat business, including a CRM that seamlessly interacts with the brand’s website. This results in stronger marketing automation, helping owners work their sales pipeline, Platz says.

“We had the success of our owners in mind when we built this platform,” said Platz. “They provided us with feedback, and we leveraged that to include all their wants and needs into the system. The development of Smart Quote was truly a team effort. The new platform will significantly streamline operations.”