How Brands Can Survive An Inevitable Slump

When a baseball player is mired in a slump, there is no shortage of superstitious tactics he will employ in order to break out of it. Aside from wearing a lucky rabbit’s foot (and other less orthodox methods), the most common advice is to refocus on the basics to start turning those groundouts into singles.

But what about the franchise business playing field? Like in baseball, slumps are bound to happen to franchisees. It’s important as a franchise business owner to recognize the telltale signs of an oncoming slump and to have methods in place to adjust and overcome it.

Kevin Barrie owns four Which Wich Superior Sandwiches locations in the greater San Diego area, opening his first in 2012 and the fourth in 2014. Noting that two of his locations are in high density areas with a steady flow of traffic, and two are not, he understands the normal ebb and flow of business.

“It’s like hitting a beach ball up in the area. You have to watch to hit it back up if you notice it coming back down,” Barrie said.

One way Barrie and his team bat that business beach ball back up is through old-fashioned local marketing.

“We'll do foot canvassing,” Barrie said. “I'll spend some time and get my crew to blitz an area and hit local businesses. We're a lunch place so we realized the value in bringing coupons and catering menus to highlight our online ordering and delivery options.”

Similarly, Sam Batt – who owns multiple TCBY locations across the Carolinas – knows the importance of keeping things fresh. If you feel a slump coming on, it’s time to shake things up a bit.

“Depending on the cause of the slump, the franchisee can incentivize their customers differently or market to a new customer base,” Batt said. “The franchisee may want to incentivize customers to come in at different times of the day by offering up happy hour-type deals, loyalty programs, or more.”

However, not all slumps are caused by external factors. That’s when the franchisee needs to really take a hard look at the operations and personnel in place to see where improvements can be made.

“Investing in and focusing on hiring and training tactics are always very important, as well as understanding what motivates your employees at the individual level to keep them working at their highest potential,” Batt said.

Slumps can on quickly due to more tangible means—such as a new competitor opening in town, a new construction project hurting visibility or making accessibility difficult, or the closure of a strong shopping center anchor. However, they can also come as the result of longer, slower means, such as changing area demographics or poor word of mouth due to operational or personnel issues.

At the end of the day, focusing on the experience within the four walls of your business while expanding awareness and outreach on the outside is a sound strategy. While pounding the pavement to maximize marketing efforts, Barrie also regularly evaluates his teams’ performance, provides additional training, and incorporates incentives for customers who come in. He also pays special attention to maintaining a clean dining room and looking for additional opportunities to participate in fundraisers with local stores, sports teams, schools and organizations.

However, he also believes you need to look at your success over a broader period of time to best evaluate your strategies.

“I don't get too granular, since a lot can happen day to day. You can have a rainy day—a one-off deal or event from a competitor can throw it off. But it’s important to not get discouraged when those things do happen. I look month over month or quarter over quarter as a true indicator of my long-term success,” Barrie said. “At the end of the day, that’s what matters most.”