Franchisor Stories
SPONSORED
The swim school franchise combines proprietary cloud-based enterprise technology and exceptional customer service to create an unparalleled swim school experience.
Since its first location opened in 2009, Big Blue Swim School has operated as “both a swim lesson company and a software company,” says the brand’s founder, Chris DeJong. Big Blue Swim School balances this dual focus by combining innovative technology with personalized human touchpoints to provide the best experience for parents and franchise partners alike.
Big Blue’s proprietary enterprise system, LessonBuddy™, is a sophisticated self-service solution, providing parents with easy access to scheduling and immediate feedback on their children’s progress.
“Our team controls the pool deck with tablets in hand, and on those tablets, our LessonBuddy software makes it very easy to send detailed progress updates to parents in just a couple of taps,” DeJong said. “The software makes it quick and easy for managers to record updates and then move to the next swimmer. And parents appreciate easy-to-access and detailed feedback.”
Big Blue also harnesses the power of LessonBuddy to create an optimized customer experience at every pool.
“When a family is at the pool and waiting for their lesson to start, they are able to check in for their lesson through our mobile app, similar to how you would check into a flight,” DeJong said. “This creates operational efficiency for our staff and allows for an easy, socially-distanced check-in process for customers.”
Outside of the pool, parents can hop on the app from anywhere and schedule or reschedule lessons with the tap of a finger on their mobile device or tablet.
“The user interface was made intentionally simple so parents can use it anywhere - even in line at the grocery store,” DeJong said.
LessonBuddy allows Big Blue to optimize operations and nurture long-lasting customer relationships by building a bridge between the sales team and operations team.
“When a Big Blue representative signs a family up over the phone, they can record personalized notes, such as whether the family has a vacation coming up, and those notes are saved on the account so pool managers can pick up seamlessly where the representative left off,” DeJong said. “The end result is a streamlined customer experience which allows our teams to build better relationships with our customers.”
With its integrated customer feedback portal, franchise partners can use LessonBuddy to see the customer reviews that are sent out on a regular basis and adapt accordingly. The customer relationship management tool gives onsite team members the information they need to build trust with customers.
Beyond servicing customers, LessonBuddy creates easy and efficient management of day-to-day business operations for franchise partners. LessonBuddy is cloud-hosted, allowing franchise partners to access the platform anywhere, helping them scale their businesses, easily manage operations, and ensure all team members have the best experience possible.
“After nearly a decade of software development on LessonBuddy, it has evolved into an enterprise resource platform that allows business owners to quickly get a snapshot of the health of their business,” said Big Blue’s CEO Scott Sanders.
With LessonBuddy, franchise partners have access to KPIs and can track spending and ROIs to promote a healthy business.
“The software makes resource allocation, capacity planning, billing, and staffing optimization a much easier process for franchise partners,” Sanders said.
LessonBuddy’s cloud-based technology is also one of the many reasons Big Blue has proven ideal for multi-unit and semi-absentee franchise partners looking to maximize their time and capital, enabling franchise partners to operate successful pools without being on-site every day.
“If a franchise partner is a semi-absentee owner, the technology helps them be as close to the pool as possible, even if they aren’t on site on a regular basis,” Sanders said. “For example, they can see customer feedback down to the unit-level and the instructor level to determine the health of the business. The platform even provides real-time updates on the pH and chlorine levels in the water and can help if anything goes wrong at the pool.”
Big Blue’s technology offering isn’t the only factor that sets the brand apart. With a strong board of directors, a best-in-class product, a targeted growth model and data-driven real estate selection, Big Blue is well on its way of meeting its goal of 240 sold units by the end of 2022.
Multi-unit franchise opportunities are available for qualified candidates looking for their next big opportunity, and veterans can receive a 10% discount on the $80,000 franchise fee. The total investment necessary to begin operation of a new Big Blue Swim School is $2,334,223 to $3,641,998 (refer to item 7 in FDD) To learn more or inquire about Big Blue Swim School, visit https://www.bigblueswimschool.com/franchising/.
Sign up for the 1851 Franchise newsletter to get our biggest stories before everyone else
By signing up, you agree to our user agreement (including class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and acknowledge our privacy policy.
