Identifying and Leveraging Your Wins to Promote Franchise Growth

When franchisors win at franchising, they are helping people follow their business dreams. That achievement is the basis of an incredible story, and one that should be utilized in the franchise development process. Therefore, it is important that franchisors understand their wins and own their story in order to leverage franchisee success to create further growth. 

“When it comes to winning, step one needs to be understanding who the brand is and staying authentic to that,” said Brenda Febbo, chief marketing officer at Lightbridge Academy*. “From there, it is about reinforcing winning stories that franchisors want to have replicated throughout their system. It isn’t just telling that story, it is about showing it. Franchisors can discuss their core values all day, but when they show how those core values manifest into wins with franchisees and customers, it becomes an authentic way to leverage that messaging and bring more people into the brand.”

As the world emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the brands that are able to show franchise candidates these winning stories will have a major advantage. “The challenge for brands coming out of COVID-19 is to not forget the moments that made them great during this time,” said 1851 Publisher and Mainland* CEO Nick Powills. “By leveraging winning stories and ways that the brand gave back to the community during this crisis, they can find a valuable way to engage new franchise owners.” 

For example, Amy Przywara, Sylvan Learning* CMO, notes how important it has been for their brand to share success stories during this difficult time. “Sylvan has access to hundreds of great teachers across the country, and we were able to leverage their voices during this crisis to appeal to those who may be looking to help their communities,” she said. 

In addition to leveraging the brand’s success story, franchisors need to keep a close eye on what is working and reinforce those practices. “Our team has a weekly traction meeting in which we go over key metrics and share them with the whole team,” said Charles Internicola, managing partner at The Internicola Law* Firm. “One thing we discuss is winning moments in which we went above and beyond for our clients. With this consistent communication, we are able to leverage our wins and focus on our goals.”

When it comes to franchise development, understanding these types of metrics is essential in understanding how to leverage wins. “The lead report is incredibly important,” said Thomas Flaherty, chief development officer of Buffalo Wings & Rings. “It tells us what we are doing right and allows us to adjust if needed. By understanding their wins and where leads are coming from, brands can know where they should invest more time and dollars moving forward.”

As Febbo points out, metrics are often a way to reinforce what is most important for a brand. “When you look at KPIs and determine which franchisees are performing highest, it is always the ones who have their core values aligned with the brand,” said Febbo. “Understanding your wins is key in that it reinforces the importance of aligning candidates with a brand’s core values. In terms of winning long-term, it is all about bringing the right people onto the brand.”

In order to create transparency when it comes to these types of KPIs, Powills notes that there are several ways to gather data about where the brand is winning. “Having a scorecard can be a great way to evaluate franchisees,” said Powills. “Franchisors can see which franchisees are winning and can utilize that information to help them grow or decide best practices that can be shared throughout the network.”

Franchise growth is a journey. At the end of the day, it is important to remember that brands are only as good as their last deal, so understanding and leveraging those wins is an important part of the growth process.