Projections for 2019: What’s on Deck for Franchise Development in the New Year

Expansion and technology will remain major focuses for brands in 2019. 2018 was quite the year for franchising, and businesses would do well to make sure they have the right technology in place to meet with consumer and franchisee concerns, experts say.

Joseph Berger, the vice president of corporate strategy for You’ve Got Maids, said the cleaning service company is very excited for 2019.  

“2018 has been a great year for us both on the unit level as well as the franchise level,” Berger said. “It’s pretty common in our industry that somewhere in the 50 to 100 mark you’re really just prepped for rapid expansion and we put a lot of effort into basically making sure that all of our internal operations are ready for it. And now I think we’re at that point.”

He added that the brand has updated the operational software they use, as well as their internal educational resources.

“There really isn’t much that we haven’t upgraded from marketing to operations to training and we’re ready to really put the pedal to the medal on growth,” he said. He added that “When we run the numbers we’re realizing that we’re growing just as much as the big guys and kind of putting a lot less effort into it to do so which I think says a lot to the value-add that we’re already offering. So for us 2019 I think is going to be the beginning of some years of rapid expansion. I think it’s a really exciting time to be a part of our brand and to get in kind of on a ground floor while our prices are still relatively low.”

In terms of technology, Tehsin Daya, the vice president of business development at Uberall, said that "Near Me" searches have exploded, especially on mobile devices, marking another trend in the industry for the new year.

“In fact, more than 80 percent of consumers have done a “near me” search on their mobile device,” Daya told 1851 Franchise. “This number is staggering, and it’s likely to grow in 2019. It also means that ‘near me’ search is a key factor that franchisees and QSRs should pay extra close attention to moving forward. The reason is that consumers now find more stock in proximity and convenience -- even more than brand loyalty.”

Daya also believes that voice adoption will grow in 2019 and provide “a boon” for QSRs and franchisees.

“Voice search is changing the game for SEO by taking the need for screens out of the equation,” Daya said. “Since digital assistants only tend to relay a single answer to voice search requests, the QSRs that fulfill that top answer could feasibly multiply the number of consumers visiting their locations. In the New Year, expect more brands to optimize their website’s keywords for voice search, to be present across more business listings and multiple search engines, maps, and apps, and to optimize search relevance with positive reviews. These three tactics will maximize findability among voice searches.”

And brands should not ignore online customer reviews. What’s more, companies need to make sure they provide thoughtful, non-generic responses, Daya said.  

“Almost one-third of consumers believe that online reviews are important,” Daya said in an email. “And as people keep spending more time on their mobile devices, it’s easy for them to look at reviews before deciding to spend money somewhere. Further, 65 percent of consumers believe that stores should respond directly to customer reviews. This means that QSRs and franchisees will have to spend more time checking them and responding if they want to win over potential customers. But it doesn’t stop there. Customers aren’t going to be satisfied with a generic response from an establishment. They’re also looking for personalization to show that they really care about them. So QSRs and franchisees will have to keep providing thoughtful responses to online customer reviews if they want to win over new customers and keep the existing ones happy.”

Franchises should also be aware of best practices when it comes to technology.

Justin M. Reese, who leads the hospitality risk management group at Hub International, frequently stays in hotels as part of his job. He noted that it’s great when hotels make it easy for guests to do things like log into their Netflix accounts easily from their rooms and do many other things with the touch of a button. He also looks at such services from a risk management standpoint and noted that hotels need to make sure they are properly insured in the unfortunate event of a data breach.

Best practices for brands in 2019, Reese said, include making sure that “in the event that something does happen they have a good insurance policy that’s going to cover that potential data breach, whether it’s a cyber insurance policy or something more specific.”

By ensuring that preparations are in place for potential events and embracing new technology, franchise brands have the ability to experience growth in 2019. And with an economy that's expected to experience a recession over the course of the new year, the industry is predicting that 2019 will be stronger for franchise development.