Customers play a vital role in the strength and longevity of a business. As a business owner, you need to understand their importance and how you can keep them coming back. The reputation you have with your customers can make or break your business.
This blog will explore how displaying your values, opening yourself up to feedback and improving customer service practices can increase customer loyalty for your business.
Displaying Your Values
While your products and services will draw your customers to your business, you can get them to become loyal customers by having values in common. These values aren’t political but could simply be about how much you value community, family and doing things in an ethical manner.
By displaying these values through your actions, customers who value the same things will want to become repeat customers. Not only that, but they will also share with other potential customers how they appreciate your products, services and your values. This will help widen your audience and create more loyal customers.
Ask for Feedback
Receiving customer feedback can be worrisome, but it is necessary! If you are a business that wants to create loyal customers, then you need to provide ways that your customers can give you feedback on your services and products. More than that, you should be seeking out feedback from customers. This will help show them how serious you are about addressing any problems.
This feedback can be done through your social media accounts, surveys via e-mail or on your website. The easier it is for your customers to give you feedback, the better. This will go a long way to helping you and your business find loyal customers.
Prioritize Customer Service
There may not be anything more important to building customer loyalty than exceptional customer service. Training your employees to make sure that your customers feel welcomed and valued can make customers want to stick with your business.
Doing what you can to make each experience at your business a pleasant and memorable one will leave a good impression on customers. Customers who feel valued are more likely to return to your business, and they’ll also tell others about the experiences they have had with your store.
If you are ready to begin your career as a franchisee, get in touch today!
Choosing a franchise is an exciting time for an aspiring franchisee. There is so much to learn and take away from this new opportunity that has been presented to you. But before you begin your franchising journey, it can be helpful to speak with franchisees of the franchise you are interested in to get a better idea of how it operates.
This blog will offer up the questions you should ask your fellow franchisees about the franchisor, costs and the daily operation of the franchise.
Questions About the Franchisor
There is no relationship in franchising more valuable than the one between a franchisee and a franchisor. When speaking to your fellow franchisees, you should ask questions that focus on the dynamic between the two. It can be helpful to know how involved the franchisor is in the decision-making process and whether they offer training and support to their franchisees.
It would be best if you also asked about the franchisor’s background. Try to get an idea of their level of experience. These questions can help you understand how the franchisor works and what you should expect if you join that franchise system.
Questions About Costs
You will want to know everything you can about the costs and fees for the franchise you are interested in. When speaking with fellow franchisees, it may be helpful to ask questions about the initial investment for the franchise and how fees are structured.
You should also ask about any hidden fees or unexpected costs that they may have encountered. And while it may be an uncomfortable conversation, you should ask about the return on investment. This is information that can be helpful to you.
Questions About the Day-to-Day Operation
To get a sense of what you will be doing from day to day, you should ask questions about the daily operation of your franchise. You can ask questions about customer relations, managing staff and any common challenges they face. It may be helpful to ask about their daily schedule and how many hours they work.
Don’t hesitate to ask what they like and dislike about owning a franchise. Finding out all you can about the franchise will help you to be more prepared!
If you are ready to start your career as a franchisee, get in touch today to get started with a free consultation.
Increasing revenue is something that all franchisees want to do. Their franchise may be experiencing financial difficulties, or they are simply interested in growing their franchise. Whatever the reason, there are many methods to increase a franchise’s revenue.
This blog will discuss how upgrading your customer experience, integrating different and newer payment methods and strengthening your marketing strategy can bring in more revenue for your franchise!
Customer Experience
The customer experience is vital to a franchise’s longevity, reputation and revenue. Without a strong customer experience, you risk giving yourself a bad reputation and scaring away loyal and potential customers. But changing your customer experience is easier than you may think.
Your staff plays an essential role in the customer experience. Training your team to be more attentive when caring for customers will help create a more pleasant experience.
Likewise, a seamless online experience for customers can also help to bolster your reputation and lead to more customers visiting your site. Creating a space for feedback can help you address customers’ concerns and show that you value their input.
Additional Payment Methods
Another way to increase your franchise’s revenue is to offer multiple payment methods. Today’s customers want transactions to be quick, and they expect to be able to pay through mobile wallets and other electronic methods.
The more payment methods you offer, the more potential customers you are opening your business up to.
Technology can be overwhelming, but you will benefit from embracing it. If customers know that there won’t be a hassle when it comes to paying, then they are more likely to visit your business. They may even spread the word about how easy it is to pay for your services!
Marketing Strategy
A successful marketing strategy can make all the difference for a franchise. It can help you reach new customers and maintain relationships with those you already have.
With the growth of social media and email marketing, creating engaging content for your audience has become easier. You can keep your customers up to date about sales, changes in your store and new products.
In addition to those options, you can engage in community events to spread the word about your franchise! Hosting a booth at an event allows you to meet potential customers face to face.
If you are ready to begin your career as a franchisee, get in touch today to get started with a free consultation.
Many franchise owners will choose to work with a partner to operate their franchise. It’s common for franchise owners to partner with people they know, be it a spouse, sibling or a long-time friend.
In this blog, I will explore the upsides to working with friends or family members, how you both can use your skills to find success and how to keep your working and personal relationships with your business partner healthy!
The Pros of Working With Friends or Family
One of the upsides to partnering with a friend or family member is the familiarity that you have with one another. So much of the success behind a franchise is based on communication, and if you are working with someone you are related to or someone you have been friends with for decades, then communication will not be a problem!
On top of that, the two of you likely share similar values. This can reduce the amount of head-butting as you will more than likely agree on how you want your business to operate, and what you want it to stand for.
How You Can Work Well Together
To avoid any arguments or feuds, you and your partner should define the duties and responsibilities that each of you will have. Each of you brings different strengths to the franchise and your partnership, and it’s up to you to figure out how to use them to grow your franchise.
You should also consider creating a detailed business plan to follow. This will help keep both of you on track with your goals and responsibilities.
The Cons of Working With Friends or Family
One of the first things that needs to be done when working with a friend or family member is the setting of boundaries. You should make it clear that your personal relationship takes a pause when work starts for the day, and your working relationship ends when you are done for the day.
Any problems at work should stay at work, and any grievances in your personal life should remain there.
Finances are another area where there may be problems. If you or your partner feels as though you are contributing more time and money to the business than the other, this could cause disagreements. In this situation, it is important to communicate to your partner how you feel.
If you are ready to start your career as a franchisee, get in touch today to get started with a free consultation.
As a franchisee, you won’t form too many relationships as meaningful as the one with your franchisor. Your franchisor can help you understand all the different aspects of franchising as you begin your career. But like any relationship, the one between you and your franchisor needs to be nurtured to benefit both of you.
In this blog, we will discuss how communication, enthusiasm and teamwork can help to build a fruitful relationship between you and your franchisor.
Communicating Effectively
When it comes to any relationship, communication is one of the most important factors. When two people can openly communicate with one another, it helps build trust. For franchisees and franchisors, there are plenty of reasons why open communication is important.
If you as the franchisee have questions or concerns or want feedback about your performance, you should feel safe in asking your franchisor. The same goes for franchisors being able to speak with you about these things without worrying about your reaction.
Being Enthusiastic About Your Work
As a franchisee, showing enthusiasm for your work can have a positive effect on your franchise and help you to stick out to your franchisor. When a franchisor sees this enthusiasm, he or she will see that you not only enjoy what you do but that you take it seriously. This is important as it can help to build a strong connection between the two of you.
While the enthusiasm may come from you, the franchisor plays a role in fostering that enthusiasm. The training, support and constant communication he or she offers can help a franchisee continue to feel motivated about work!
Working as a Team
It is important to remember that while your titles may differ, you and your franchisor share the same goal of building a strong franchise to continue the brand’s growth. As a franchisee, you have insight into what happens daily in your franchise that may be helpful for your franchisor, and your franchisor has the experience of handling various situations that may help you!
Coming together as a team to implement marketing strategies, focusing on continued growth and how to stay true to the brand’s visions, takes work from the both of you. By working side-by-side, communicating and trusting one another, you can find success for your franchise.
Are you ready to start your franchising journey? Get in touch to learn how I can help.
Taking on a leadership role is a big deal. Whether you’ve worked up to the position from an entry-level job or become the owner of a new franchise, you’ve likely put in years of hard work to get where you are now.
But with a new title comes new responsibilities.
Luckily, there are ways you can prepare yourself for your new leadership position. Below are three tips to help you adjust to life as a first-time leader.
Focus on Communication
When it comes to being in a leadership role, your ability to communicate with your employees is the most important aspect of your job. You want to create an environment where your employees feel free to ask for help, give feedback or suggest solutions to a problem.
As the leader, you will want to learn how to communicate in a way that motivates your employees and reassures your employees that you are in firm control. The power of communication in your workplace can not be overstated.
Develop Time Management Skills
There never seems to be enough time in the day. This becomes even more apparent when you are in a leadership role. But how do you address this problem as a new leader?
One option is to create a plan to help tackle the tasks that you need to get done. As a leader, you should feel confident delegating different tasks to your employees. This will not only help you, but it will show your employees that you trust them.
Learning to be decisive is also part of developing time management skills. Once you’ve made a decision on something, stick with it and see it out. Flipping back and forth will only cause more problems for you and your employees.
Don’t Fear Making Mistakes
Everyone expects those in leadership positions to be perfect. But leaders are still humans, which means that they are more than capable of making mistakes. But these mistakes do not have to be a moment for you to beat yourself up.
Not only can you learn from them and do better next time, but they can be an opportunity to show your employees what accountability looks like. If they see you owning your mistakes and working to improve, there is a good chance they will do the same thing.
If you’re ready to start your franchising journey, contact me today!