How can you ensure your franchisees provide a personalized shopping experience?

The very purpose of franchisee operations is to have a standardized product / service offered. While training is one way to impart these skills, the franchisee need to imbibe these offerings in their DNA. Refer to the F&B retail or even apparels, while product consistency can be achieved with stringent processes in place, service and managing customer expectations can make or break the brand's expansion. Many a times you see a local player is able to do better than MNC chains or big box retailers. The devil is in the details. The local player is able to understand the consumer requirements and hence the service, if offered, by franchisees can be achieved, maintained and constantly upgraded as per expectations, success can be achieved.

Absolutely, customer service plays a pivotal role in personalization. It's crucial for franchisees to be trained on greeting customers, actively listening to their needs, providing relevant suggestions, and effectively addressing any complaints. Moreover, proficiency in utilizing the customer relationship management (CRM) system is essential. Accessing customer data, including purchase history, preferences, and feedback, enables franchisees to personalize interactions and recommendations according to each customer's unique profile and behavior. This tailored approach enhances customer satisfaction and fosters long-term loyalty.

Training is essential, but don't overlook franchisee independence. Over-stamping can remove the personal touch that is frequently associated with exceptional customer service. In my experience, franchises succeed when they strike a balance between maintaining brand consistency and showcasing the distinct individuality of each franchisee.

Franchises have suffered, in my experience, when each location gets too unique and confuses consumers. For a brand to remain cohesive while accommodating regional tastes, autonomy and brand consistency must coexist in harmony.

It is possible to use different metrics to understand the performance of the franchise. But a technique that is essential to use is the mystery shopper, because it is an objective evaluation of the customer's experience. But it is very important to plan the evaluation because you must know what characteristics, behaviors, protocols, etc. Franchises must do to provide the customer with the ideal experience that you have determined.

The very first step is to measure where you are now. Only then can you create realistic, measurable, and date driven goals for the future. Rinse and repeat quarterly, the whole while creating fun/new incentives for your employees to help you reach those goals.

Email your receipts. Over 50% higher open rate for emailed receipts. On them create clickable links to your loyalty program. Use your initial messages to educate customers on their existing purchases. Wait until at least the 3rd email before you mention a sale of any kind. You’ll have engaged customers in no time.

In my past I used to work for a very large technology firm. My division specialized in creating technology for small to medium size businesses that needed to get to the next level. When I was done, it was never a question of “Do I need this software?” instead it was, “Can his competitors do the same for less.” The avg home computer can run simple arithmetic at 10 BILLION operations per second. You’ve done a great job getting your business here, but to truly run a successful franchise, you need to leverage technology.