#68: Building YOUR Brand Within a Franchise System

FRANCHISE SYSTEMS PROMOTE THEIR NATIONAL BRAND NAME

The local franchisee is pretty much on their own to promote and advertise locally and this always has to be done with-in the franchisor manadated rules, which are restrictive. This is called, "protecting the brand."

Playing by the Rules

All major franchises have to protect their name and brand identity. Without guidelines and controls the consistency of color themes, type fonts and logo images would be gone within a matter of months. Franchisees along the east coast would soon look different from operators on the Pacific coast. Why is regulation of a national / international franchisor brand so important? Because uniformity in image suggests uniformity in service quality and that is critical from a franchisor’s perspective and in the eyes of many of their major clients. The economic value of any brand would diminish once its’ image becomes compromised.

Right now I’m preaching the “corporate message.” But what about the local franchisee operator who wants to differentiate their shop from a fellow franchise operator who may be as close as down the road or across the street? The franchisor is quick to respond that fellow franchisees are not your competitors, but I have never met a franchisee that agrees with that assessment. Most franchisees want to know how to standout and how to stand apart from fellow franchisees.

You may have personally experienced limited assistance from the franchisor about promoting “your own brand” to the local market. The local franchisee is pretty much on their own to promote and advertise within the franchisor’s mandated rules, which are usually restrictive for the sake of protecting the large brand name and reputation.

How to Be Unique

Owners who have an entrepreneurial spirit and salespeople who are looking for unique advantages to sell will be encouraged to learn there are a number of ways to stand apart from fellow franchisees.

Establishing your uniqueness:

1.     Advertise all unique services (and licenses)                   

2.     Feature your special equipment and techniques                          

3.     Highlight unique work history and experiences                         

4.     Feature your key employees                                              

5.     Promote the owner                                                                    

6.     Develop and sponsor a proprietary community event

When service companies represent themselves to prospects the message they deliver is often mundane… “We’re great people, we do good work and we’ll be there for you when you need us.” A more successful approach is to find out what the prospect really needs and then demonstrate how your company is best equipped to fulfill their specific needs. This is basic-sales. Your message is most effective when you emphasise your unique service, technique or a particular story about a job that sets you apart from your competitors, especially from your fellow franchisees. These kinds of ideas are enumerated in items 1, 2 and 3. However, the ideas that are suggested as 4, 5 and 6 are the ones that will give you even more leverage to differentiate your company, especially by utilizing social media techniques to spread your story. This article will focus on these three strategies.

Strategy 4: Feature your key employees

A service business should be all about the human interaction of employees helping customers. Once again, social media is the ideal platform to promote stories and information about the talented and special employees on your team. You will want to feature employees who have earned certificates, degrees, licenses and awards and the good things they do. Within time your operation can become known as the company that provides the “best” service and the company who employs people that really “care”.

Remember, we fix damaged structures, but we serve people.”

Strategy 5: Promote the owner

This strategy about promoting the owner is similar to featuring your key employees, except the owner is more closely associated with the business than employees who may come and go. Also, an owner is usually the most experienced person in the company who carries the certifications and licenses… owners are often the “top expert”. Even if that is not the case it is usually the perception in the customer’s mind. The owner is where the buck stops. When this strategy is implemented properly, your company can become known as the “the franchise that is owned by…” and that gives you a powerful advantage.

Independent businesses are often named after the founder/owner leaving no question as to which company the consumer is calling or hiring. Once a local franchisee becomes recognized by an owners’ name then that particular franchisee will stand out from fellow franchisees just like an independent stands out from a franchise system. Be warned, the franchisor has rules to hamper this strategy and to restrict or prevent a personal name from being “printed” or included within the approved franchisee name. While the franchisor can dictate the “look” of your company name absent of an owner’s name, they can’t control the public’s perception that “so and so” owns the particular local franchise location.

Don’t get hampered by the rules.

Focus on what you can do instead of what you can’t do.

Create a sales and promotional strategy that emphasizes and features the owner as the figurehead and the face of the business. Have the owner perform public presentations and conduct training classes and the like. Next step is to emphasize the owner’s role and activities on websites, Facebook and other platforms with stories, photos and videos about the owner.

Another way for an owners’ name to become synonymous with the local franchise operation is for the owner to be active in the community by attending chamber of commerce events and other civic activities. It’s also a great idea for the sales team to include the owner in introductions to key prospects and in all sales closing presentations. An owner can’t just sit in their office, they have to be out and about to be seen and heard and to become known by their community.

Strategy 6: Develop and sponsor a proprietary community event

Non-profit activities bring out the best in people and of course they help our communities. There is certainly a wide choice of golf tournaments, food and toy drives, blood drives and many other non-profit events and programs to become involved in. Participating in an event is a wonderful opportunity to meaningfully meet and interact with members and leaders of the community and to do good works at the same time. The key words in the previous sentence are “participating” and “interact” which means being active and building relationships by volunteering and working instead of simply making a donation. Once again it’s the people part of things that’s important and that’s where the good press comes from.

If your business is in a competitive market you may discover that fellow franchisees may participate in the same community events and charities. You may want to be the named sponsor of your own event. This is another way to standalone and it’s a way to invite and build relationships with select targets. This is an excellent B2B strategy. Your owner and company can benefit from publicity and local recognition. While that should not be your sole motivation for doing public events and charitable works, it doesn’t hurt for consumers to become aware of who you are. If you become recognized as a particular, separate entity within a franchise system so much the better.

I suggest you know your franchisor’s marketing rules, be careful not to violate them, but certainly promote your own operation with social media. It's a great place to start. You will stand out. I call this building the brand within the brand.

Clayton A. Barry was a member of a cleaning and mitigation franchise for 14 years, an independent before that and now an author and business development coach with Harben Marketing. Connect on Linkedin  -  www.harbenmarketing.com