FranDev Players: Pam Batten, Compliance Director at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK

Pam Batten was working at a local newspaper when her neighbor first approached her about working with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK*, the nation’s first and largest moving company franchise. 

Over the next 13 years, Batten climbed the ranks to become the brand’s compliance director as the franchise ballooned to about 380 locations across 44 states and three countries.

Since Batten started, she’s seen the company, its franchisees and her own career take off. 

1851 caught up with Batten to talk about how TWO MEN AND A TRUCK continues to sell franchises off of the referrals of satisfied franchisees and partners. 

1851 Franchise: How did you get into franchising?

Pam Batten: Actually, one of those weird coincidences: My neighbor worked for TWO MEN AND A TRUCK and I'd worked for her husband at a local newspaper, back when newspapers weren’t having much happening. He said, “Hey, my wife has a job opening at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK.” So that was my first experience working in the franchise industry. 

When I first started, it was a franchise sales coordinator, so I was the first point of contact when leads came in. I managed the lead flows. We had no email campaigns back then, we just made a lot of phone calls. Now I’ve been here 13 years and a lot of franchisees in the system say I'm the first person they ever talked to at the franchise. It’s great seeing their growth and hearing them comment on the changes we’ve made. 

1851: Are there any keys to consistent franchise growth?

Batten: I think the biggest thing for us is we always get good referrals with our franchisees and our business review surveys always show we have existing franchisees looking for expansion. We get a lot of growth with franchisees who are partnering with managers now that we have a mini-market concept, which means we get franchisees who are partnering with their managers to put them into that franchising role. 

1851: What are the biggest hurdles to successful franchise growth right now?

Batten: I think the biggest thing right now is uncertainty in what's happening. A lot of people are transitioning out of their jobs, which I think in 2021 is actually going to be a good thing for franchising. But there’s just a lot of uncertainty. A lot of people we started working with near the pandemic are only now finishing the signing process because there was so much uncertainty, but most people have come around and are looking forward to finishing the process. 

We’re a little bit different, too, because we never closed down. We’re an essential-service franchise, so there were moments that we were slower, but we didn't lose any franchises or have to close down. For our concept, we probably come out of this a little bit stronger versus the food industry concepts. 

1851: How did the COVID crisis affect franchise growth opportunities?

Batten: It’s hard enough to make that financial decision to franchise in good times. To make that big investment in times of uncertainty, I can understand people’s hesitancy. 

Our concept has done well, but as a whole it, the uncertainty doesn’t help franchising growth. Even though it’s always going to fluctuate, you never want certain sectors in franchising to struggle while others prosper. 

1851: Are there any common mistakes you see franchisors making when trying to grow?

Batten: In terms of adding franchisees, we’re very particular.  We’re not about to add 40 franchisees a year. We always ask: does this person fit our core values, are we a good fit for them? We don’t want to just add people to add people, we want to make sure it’s going to be a long-term strategic partner with the same goals and ideals we have as a company. 

1851: What are your biggest goals and plans for 2021?

Batten: Well, we’ve got a lot of new services that we introduced in 2020, including an option for junk removal and interstate moving options for franchisees. We’re really focused on the customer experience, the franchisee experience and the employee experience. 

Diversifying revenue and maximizing their markets with other sources of revenue — that’s what we’re looking forward to.