TWO MEN AND A TRUCK Franchise Develops Unified Lead Flow Technology to Increase Efficiencies and Maximize Sales for Franchisees

As the world has evolved to rely heavily on digital communication, most people no longer want to talk on the phone, even to do something as simple as order a pizza. When preparing for a move, one of the most stressful life events, the last thing many people want to do is pick up the phone to call a moving company for an estimate. To stay competitive, moving companies need to meet people at their preferred communication point, whether that’s by phone or online.

In February 2018, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK* launched its new online estimate module to meet customers’ changing communication needs and improve efficiencies and grow revenue for the franchisees. Instead of spending 10 to 12 minutes on the phone with a customer service representative (CSR), the customer can answer a series of questions online about their home and belongings and whether the move is local or long-distance. Depending on the size of the home and the franchisee’s preference, the customer will either receive a customized estimate with a range of prices via email immediately, or after it is reviewed by the franchisee. In either case, the CSR makes a follow-up call to the customer to provide a personalized overview of the TWO MEN AND A TRUCK value proposition, answer questions and book the move.

“We are taking the much-needed step to allow our customers to choose their path to communicate with us. In the past, our customers couldn’t get any information online related to cost, they would have to spend time on the phone talking to a CSR,” said Ashley Skaggs, Director of Sales for TWO MEN AND A TRUCK. “We are still available by phone, but want to provide additional options to make sure we meet the needs of all potential customers. Now that our technology automates the calculation of the estimate, we save our customers and franchisees time, and our CSRs are able to focus on getting people through the funnel.”

Since the launch, the percentage of leads submitted online across TWO MEN AND A TRUCK’s more than 350 territories and the conversion rate on those web leads have both improved dramatically. 

“Before, 72 percent of our leads were phone leads. Now, 31 percent are web leads and 69 percent are phone leads,” said Skaggs. “Our conversion rate for web leads has remained steady at 15 percent after the release of Unified Lead Flow. However revenue from web leads has grown 20 percent.[1] Most of the customers that use the online module would never have picked up the phone to call for an estimate, so we are capturing more and higher quality leads for our franchisees. We anticipate these numbers to continue to increase, with a goal of 16 percent by  January 2019.”

In addition to the online estimate module, movers and drivers also utilize tablets to be able to give the customer the exact cost at the end of the move and send it to the customer via email. This eliminates paperwork for the movers and drivers, which not only eliminates the financial and environmental costs of paper, but also saves the team time on site.

Alan Oversmith, a Michigan TWO MEN AND A TRUCK franchisee, notes the brand’s technology allows franchisees to more closely control expenses.

“TWO MEN AND A TRUCK provides technology solutions for specific areas of operating or improving the business that give real-time, or close to real-time, data. This data allows us to quickly make changes as needed and compare our operation to similar units in the system and identify our strengths and weaknesses,” Oversmith said. “In addition to maintaining better control of our expenses, our technology creates efficiencies and accountability with our frontline that benefit the customer experience. Plus, the GPS in our fleet has allowed us to maintain accountability, ensure efficient routing and reduce costly wasted fuel while the mobile technology allows our movers and drivers to capture credit card payments at the best possible processing rates.”

Skaggs adds the technological advancements made by TWO MEN AND A TRUCK are just one of the ways the brand is continuing to improve the value proposition for its customers, and the business offering to current and potential franchisees.

“We are looking at competitors every day and analyzing what they do to make sure our consumer and franchise offering are compelling,” Skaggs said. “Even with these advances in technology, our singular focus is our exceptional service, which we will always remain true to, and which will always set us apart from competitors.”