How to Leverage Technology in Franchise Operations and Development

For multi-unit franchisees, the right balance of technology and implementation can help improve franchise operations and development, as well as quantify and create a cohesive brand experience, no matter which location a customer visits.

By Cheikh Mboup

At Edible Arrangements, our fruit and chocolate gifts fulfill a gap for our customers. Whether they are looking to purchase a congratulatory gift for a new baby or sending a corporate gift to a trusted partner, we provide emotional connection as a vehicle, to put smiles on our customers’ faces and encourage a long-term relationship. Integral to the magic behind our ability to provide quality products and review-worthy experiences is technology.

Some may argue that technology can be a barrier to great customer service; however, behind the scenes, technology is driving efficiencies in franchise operations — assisting franchisor-franchisee communications, providing ongoing training, managing quality assurance and more. For multi-unit franchisees, the right balance of technology and implementation can help improve franchise operations and development, as well as quantify and create a cohesive brand experience, no matter which location a customer visits. Here is some insight on how to best leverage technology to enhance your franchise’s operations:

The Struggle is Real

Managing a retail/restaurant franchise is tough. According to the National Retail Federation, average retail sales in this environment is about $300 per square foot, making it important that you leverage every square inch within your four walls to increase profit and make the most out of your leased or owned space. With technology, franchises can quantify the customer experience and provide data on what may be missing. Specifically, having an operations management tool can help franchisors communicate with franchisees on clear merchandising steers in order to effectively maximize space, manage staffing needs and provide a best-in-class customer experience.

Flawless Execution Wins Every Time

A successful retail store or restaurant typically becomes a franchise after its first location proves that its way of doing business works and has processes in place that can be duplicated. As a franchise business grows, especially those growing rapidly, it is important to remember that the flawless execution that made the first location so successful is what needs to be repeated in additional locations. Technology helps to ensure that franchise operations are running smoothly and that franchisors can communicate with a franchisee through a centralized platform regarding questions or actions. Flawless execution can be tough to manage for a franchisor that may not be located physically near every single franchise location, and a centralized management platform helps to bridge any communication gaps and set franchisees up for success.

They Don’t Know What They Don’t Know

Often, once franchisees join a system, they get an extensive amount of training leading up to their opening. Once the opening is complete, however, the franchise operator and its staff often don’t receive the ongoing education needed for continued success. For those multi-unit franchisors, finding a secure solution to train employees is important to ensure brand consistency and to aid in ongoing development. Video training enables a brand to provide education that is accessible at any time, on a multitude of devices (including a mobile device), and allows franchisors to assist franchisees in training staff on new products or services, deliver brand updates or simply provide a way to showcase something visually. By providing access to ongoing training using technology, franchisees have the support they need for continued growth.

Reputation is the Name of the Game

For a customer, reputation is everything when it comes to making purchasing decisions. Whether a consumer sees something on social media, goes to your website or hears about your brand through a family member or friend, maintaining brand consistency is imperative so that a brand’s reputation is not tarnished. No matter which franchise location customers visit, they should feel the same connection to the brand and have a similar experience.

To ensure all locations are providing the best brand-consistent experience possible, franchisors should consider an effective field team or solution. If a technology solution is utilized, it should be mobile-centric and include brand-specific surveys with visual documentation capabilities, corporate and franchisee feedback and critical action notification and automated corrective action plans with required follow-up. The most effective review tools will compile historical and trending reports to identify locations heading too strongly off a path of success.

Let Technology Help You Grow Your Business

Similar to managing franchise operations, technology can also be used to capture, qualify and convert franchise leads into sales. Gone are the days where cold calling is what sets you apart. These days, lead generation software can help a development team provide the valuable intelligence that an entrepreneur needs, while capturing contact information and notes on conversations for the team to use for outreach. Technology can help grow a business by reaching new customers through text messaging, digital signage and social media campaigns. Consumers today are savvier than ever before and expect the brands they frequent to make purchasing easy, having systems in place to provide them with everything they need to understand the brand and its offerings.

Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

Many franchises understand the importance of technology and engage multiple technology partners. Others handle operations internally. For most, your current system likely doesn’t work and you are looking for ways to be more efficient with a partner that doesn’t crush your budget. A centralized franchise operations system that can handle everything you need and provides solutions that can interact with one another can help reduce implementation, time and cost woes.

Ultimately the decision on what technology you engage comes down to cost and how it can work with your brand. You do not have to spend millions to get a technology platform; however, it is important to utilize technologies to ensure brand consistency and quality. When it comes to protecting a brand, providing the tools to improve franchise operations and reduce franchise location failures is worth every penny.

As you are making decisions on technology and partners to make your process more efficient, it is important to do your due diligence. Every franchise system has different needs, so discuss with your team internally and decide your priorities and budget. From there, meet with multiple technology providers to determine which works best for your franchise. For Edible Arrangements, technology has been instrumental to our success and the investment has delivered ROI over and over again.

Naranga: Supporting Franchise Development and Ops for Edible Arrangements

Edible Arrangements engages franchise technology company Naranga to support its franchise operations and development needs. Naranga has a number of solutions that support Edible Arrangements, from field auditing and video training to lead generation and operations management. Edible Arrangements has seen increased success due, in part, to Naranga’s centralized platform that allows the company to engage with its franchisees across more than 1200-plus locations.

Cheikh Mboup is vice president of Operations for Edible Arrangements. Find him at fransocial.franchise.org.