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ifxonline-blog · 11 years ago

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Franchisor Focus: Turn Your Ad Fund into a Win/Win Fund...

How Start-up and Established Franchisors

Can Turn the National Ad Fund into a Win/Win

Back when I was a franchisee, I remember having to write a lot of checks to my vendors, my employees, my landlord and my franchisor each and every month. Some checks were easier to write than others. After a few months, I grew accustomed to ranking certain checks on my own personal PITA Meter:

Check PITA Rank

Rent Moderate

Labor Moderate

Supplies Fair

Alimony High

Royalty Moderate

Ex Mother-in-Law Off Scale!

Insurance Fair

* AD Fund Off Scale

Notice that my monthly royalty check ranked as "Moderate" on the PITA Meter. Whereas, paying my Ex Mother-in-Law and paying into the National Ad Fund far surpassed the pain of paying the regular royalty, ultimately heading off-the-scale!

The lesser of two evils: many franchisees associate the royalty with the amount of support they receive each month. Wrong! As we all know, the "royalty" is for a) rights to the trademarks; b) rights to operate the system; and c) rights to the manuals... all of which can be revoked based on termination and are generally never actually owned by franchisees. Unfortunately, many franchisees often think otherwise.

I remember writing out my royalty check each month and thinking to myself, "Did I receive any support this month?". I knew that, technically, the royalty wasn't actually tied to support. But, I figured "what the heck" and tied it to support anyway. Still... paying the royalty was only a "Moderate" on my PITA Meter.

It wasn't the royalty that broke my PITA Meter. It was a combination of having to pay my Ex Mother-in-Law and the National Ad Fund! In fact, I'd have to say "it was" the National Ad Fund!

Why?... Because I was paying 2% per month for seemingly nothing! No bueno!

Regional or National Ad Fund Tips:

1 - Have your franchisees pay into the Ad Fund even if you are just starting out and have only a few franchisees. If you don't start collecting it now, you'll have to approach your franchisees later and trust me, they will have forgotten about the Ad Fund contribution entirely and think you are pulling a fast one on them.

2 - If you have to... consider rebating back a portion of the ad fund to your franchisees if you're not going to use it to benefit regional or national promotions. In short, get them into the habit of paying it, but rebate it back with the stipulation that they apply it to their local ad spend or promotions on the local level.

3 - Better yet... redirect contributions to the Ad Fund to specific local marketing and promotional programs in each franchisee's area. Consider leveraging a national buy for local benefit by applying a pro-rated portion of the Ad Fund that takes advantage of better group pricing while benefitting franchisees at the local level. Account for the spend and the conversions that it generates and you've go a "win/win" that franchisees will appreciate

More Strategies?...

Find out more about IFX's Franchise Executive ROI Blueprint Series 2.0:

1. 138+ Key Franchise Development, Management and Marketing Strategies outlined in step-by-step format;

2. Three (3) Audio/Visual Recorded Sessions:

a. Franchise Development ROI Strategies

b. Franchisee ROI Strategies

c. Franchisor ROI Strategies

Plus...

3. Special A/V Recorded Session "Milestones & Mindsets: How to Generate Coachable, High Performance Franchisees Who Actually Follow Your System!"

Feel free to contact me personally for information on our newest Franchise ROI Blueprint Series 2.0 for you and your team! We can start with some specific strategies to boost your franchise ROI... now!

Continued Success,

Dan Martin, CFE President/CEO IFX Former Member, IFA Board of Directors Past Chairman, IFA Supplier Forum Board of Directors Former IFA Executive Committee Certified Franchise Executive www.ifxonline.com www.ifxconference.com

About Dan

Dan Martin, CFE began his career in franchising in 1983. After a few years of working with some well known franchise organizations and franchise law firms, Dan decided to move to the next level and start his own Franchise Management & Marketing Firm that would ultimately result in a 300+ franchisor client base servicing 30,000+ franchisees in 23 countries. Dan has always recognized opportunities and capitalized on his knowledge of franchising and his desire to expand his knowledge base, as well as his company's client base. Dan's experience as both franchisee and franchisor is an absolutely invaluable combination that allows him the ability to recognize new opportunities, identify mission critical issues and develop powerful and practical strategies and solutions beneficial to virtually any type or size of franchise organization. For a ny inquiries e-mail Dan directly at [email protected]

About IFX

IFX Online is a Strategic Franchise Management Firm servicing 300+ franchise brands and 30,000+ franchisees in 23 countries since 1996. IFX’s Strategic and Technology Divisions work hand-in-hand to assist franchise organizations in implementing key growth management strategies and web-based applications designed to maximize operations, improve communications, implement compliance initiatives and boost ROI.

IFX offers proven franchise development, training, management, marketing and compliance strategies to both start-up and established franchise organizations. IFX’s Strategic Franchise Blueprint outlines 138+ Actionable Items that franchisors and franchisees can implement to immediately improve operations and their bottom line.

IFX’s SaaS applications include Intranet Support Systems; CRMs for franchise development, unit build-out tracking and local store customer acquisition; Learning Management Systems; Mobile Platform Development; Sales & Royalty Reporting with benchmarking and more. All of IFX’s modular applications are both powerful and affordable and can be up and running in 2-6 weeks as fully-hosted solutions. Perfect for small and large franchise organizations on a budget that would like to have IFX host, support and co-administrate their applications.

As both a strategic firm and a technology firm, IFX is mostly known for its Best in Class Service, Hands-on Franchise Experience and Leading-Edge “Gravity Free Thinking”®.

IFX’s CEO, Dan Martin, has 30 years of franchise management experience serving in the roles of franchisee, Area Developer and Advisor. Mr. Martin has served on the IFA’s Board of Directors, Executive Committee, Membership Committee and Technology Committee. Mr. Martin was also Chairman of the IFA’s Supplier Forum Advisory Board and is a Certified Franchise Executive.

#franchising #frantips #startup

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ifxonline-blog · 11 years ago

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Franchisor Social: 6 Steps to Boosting Social for Franchisees & Franchise Social Webinar

6 Steps to Boosting Social for Franchisees

Launching a cohesive social initiative... made easy! That's the dream of most franchise organizations. It's time to make that dream a reality. Consider following these simple steps and sign up for IFX's 6 Steps Social Webinar set for Wednesday, September 24th:

1 - Create a Macro, Sub-Macro and Micro approach that allows subsets to manage their areas in terms of content and analytics. Single or Multi-Brands, Master Franchisees, Area Developers, Multi-Unit Franchisees and Single Unit Franchisees should have their own dashboard "views" that roll-up at higher levels.

2 - Consider implementing a social media policy that address the engagement of potential and existing customers, as well as potential franchisees (Customer Acquisition, as well as Candidate Acquisition). Bring in your Franchise Development Department to engage the program and periodically promote the franchise opportunity to your customer base.

3 - Pre-Target territories by promoting new locations and/or territory availability across all franchisee social media channels. Build a base of followers before a specific territory has been granted and promote it to targeted franchisee candidates.

4 - Create engaging, informative and entertaining content that promotes the brand. Localize that content to each specific unit's social media channels. Remember, franchisees have zero time to spare when it comes to creating and managing content.

5 - Provide analytics that allow you and your franchisees to view and respond to reviews. Provide for an approval component that required your advance authorization if necessary.

6 - Establish incremental expectations and channel them down to each franchisee so that they have a relative understanding of the gains and ROI that this application generates.

IFX NEW APPLICATION FREE PREVIEW WEBINAR

Announcing the launch of IFX's latest platform designed to maximize social media content, engagements and ROI for both start-up and established franchise organizations:

IFX eMedia Centralized Social Media Publishing & Analytics Platform

What: 6 Steps to Boosting Social for Franchisees & Franchise Social Webinar

When: Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Time: 11am PT (2pm ET)

Duration: 40 Minutes

Who Should Attend: Franchise Management Team Members responsible for managing corporate, franchise opportunity and franchisee social media content and analytics.

Goal: Show you how ONE dashboard can be utilized to publish, manage and analyze social media campaigns and metrics to help you:

1. Sell more franchises

2. Drive new customers to your franchised and company-owned locations

3. Engage and convert existing customers

4. Maintain your brand integrity across multiple social media channels

Now you can pull-the-trigger on powerful and affordable* social media campaigns that produce tangible results!

More franchisor strategies?... register to attend IFX's Annual Strategic Franchise Conference for Emerging Franchisors, Dec. 11-12 in San Diego www.ifxConference.com

Continued Success,

#franchising #technology #frantips

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ifxonline-blog · 11 years ago

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Franchisor Focus: P&L Benchmarking Made Easy

Proactive Franchisee Benchmarking

P&L: The Three Letter Word - The bottom line is that you (the franchisor) need to know the bottom line of each and every one of your franchisees. You likely have a clause in your Franchise Agreement that states you can request Profit and Loss (P&L) statements from franchisees. Some companies mandate submission of P&L statements on a regular basis. However, whereas generally all franchisors have the clause, only about 20% enforce regular submission of P&L statements.

If you can format your P&L statements so they are uniform, even if you have to sacrifice a few line items that are generally not associated with the business, you will be ahead of the game. If you have an application that tracks business activity daily and/or imports from your franchisees’ accounting program or CRM, you are way ahead of the game.

Automate the process of receiving your franchisees’ P&L statements and automate the reporting of what they “mean” at the franchisor level (macro) and the franchisee level (micro). You can even accommodate sub-macro reporting for Area Developers or Master Franchisees. This provides franchisees with reports THEY can generate that display their information as baseline data against the average unit and/or the goal established for their unit.

Expenses are just as important as revenues. It’s all part of The New Franchise ROI, but you need to get the data and you need to put it into a format where it makes sense to you and your franchisees. In today’s economy, there’s a very positive spin to requiring P&L statements. It’s all about being proactively reactive and ultimately proactively proactive.

More franchisor strategies?... register to attend IFX's Annual Strategic Franchise Conference for Emerging Franchisors, Dec. 11-12 in San Diego www.ifxConference.com

Continued Success,

#franchising #p&l #frantips

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ifxonline-blog · 11 years ago

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Franchisor Focus: How to Sell Franchises Using Social - 4 Tips for the price of a Margarita!

4 Simple Tips:

Leveraging Social to Engage Your Franchisees and Sell More Franchises!

"When they work for you... just send me a Margarita!" - Dan Martin, CFE

Social Media: A Franchisor’s Perspective: Franchisors have a unique perspective when it comes to social media that necessitate a slightly different approach than non-franchised companies. The key is to increase exposure AND protect the brand. This is in addition to engaging customers and driving revenues. Franchisors are finally recognizing social media’s impact and they’re asking the following areas:

a. Generate revenues for franchisees

b. Generate potential franchisee candidates

c. Address customer feedback (positive and negative)

d. Address franchisee feedback (positive and negative)

Franchisors need to develop a uniform social media policy. “Who” handles complaints about a particular franchise location that are posted on the web? Who handles complaints about the franchisor’s brand or system from the franchisor’s OWN franchisees? You can bet that every franchisee will want to know the franchisor’s position on these issues.

The key is to understand what's happening on individual franchisee social media pages and recognize patterns. In doing so, the franchisor can map out strategies that grow exposure, track feedback and ultimately protect the brand starting with a base foundation based on current activity.

Can social media benefit Franchise Development? YES!

1 - showing how the franchisor has designed a uniform approach to engaging potential and existing customers on various franchisee social media channels is a big plus at Discovery Day.

2 - showing how the franchisor can develop pre-approved, engaging posts that franchisees can "borrow" from manually or automatically in order to copy down to their own social media pages means that potential franchises won't have to worry about writing content themselves when/if they are approved.

3 - building a social media presence for a territory before you actually have a franchisee for the territory allows you to start building the business before you have the franchisee in place. Impressive to show a potential franchisee how their potential territory's social media is already engaging customers!

4 - if the franchisor owns/controls their franchisee's social media channels, then, if the franchisee moves on, the social media channels are simply transferred along with the franchise. In a sense, the followers, or "likes" or engagements stay with the franchise and not the franchisee (or ex-franchisee). They become an asset of the franchisor and an asset of the franchised unit.

IFX NEW APPLICATION FREE PREVIEW WEBINAR

Announcing the launch of IFX's latest platform designed to maximize social media content, engagements and ROI for both start-up and established franchise organizations:

IFX eMedia Centralized Social Media Publishing & Analytics Platform

What: Preview Launch Webinar: IFX eMedia Social for Franchise Organizations

When: Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Time: 11am PT (2pm ET)

Duration: 40 Minutes

Who Should Attend: Franchise Management Team Members responsible for managing corporate, franchise opportunity and franchisee social media content and analytics.

Goal: Show you how ONE dashboard can be utilized to publish, manage and analyze social media campaigns and metrics to help you:

1. Sell more franchises

2. Drive new customers to your franchised and company-owned locations

3. Engage and convert existing customers

4. Maintain your brand integrity across multiple social media channels

Now you can pull-the-trigger on powerful and affordable* social media campaigns that produce tangible results!

Questions: Contact Dan Martin, CFE at 858-724-1024 or email [email protected]

Continued Success,

About Dan

About IFX

As both a strategic firm and a technology firm, IFX is mostly known for its Best in Class Service, Hands-on Franchise Experience and Leading-Edge “Gravity Free Thinking”®.

#socialmedia #franchising #frantips #ifx

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ifxonline-blog · 11 years ago

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Franchise Supplier: How being a "Go To" can lead to more franchisor business...

"That Will Cost You A Margarita!"

How Being a 'Go To' Can Lead to More Franchisor Business

Simply put, franchisors and franchisees are looking for a singular point-of-contact (or as few contacts as possible) for leveraged products and services from a franchise savvy supplier. It's all about maintaining close relationships with key suppliers... suppliers who can deliver and make the franchisor look good... something every franchisor needs more of.

Suppliers should promote the singular point-of-contact approach in all of their promotional materials and programs. With each program, product or service, the franchise supplier ties their company into the needs and mindset of franchisors and/or franchisees depending on the ideal customer profile for that supplier. That leads to the supplier being sought after for more than just their products and services. That leads to suppliers being sought after by franchisors and franchisees (customers and non-customers alike) for “strategic advice” as well.

It's all about leveraging more than just what you do... it's about leveraging your experience and the advice that you can provide to a franchisor on how to better run their franchise organization.

The prime directive of a franchise supplier is to become a “go to” for anything related to franchising. This leads to greater exposure, greater credibility, increased revenues and the ability to leverage a wide variety of leveraged strategies applicable to the franchise channel.

One company - One solution - Full accountability... that's the key. A "set and forget... we'll provide the infrastructure" is what franchisors want to hear from suppliers who march in the door looking to make a pitch. Franchisors have needs. They have pain points. They don't care 'how' your solution works. They just care 'that' it works and that it addresses their pain points and the pain points of their franchisees.

Everything you do and everyone you recommend needs to operate on this premise... it's all about relationships and it's all about leveraging your expertise. That's what brings franchisors onboard. You are selling yourself.

_________________________________________________________________

IFX Franchise Supplier Advisory Services: IFX offers Franchise Suppliers opportunities to capitalize on its growth in the domestic and international franchise channels. If you're interested in maximizing exposure, contacts and revenues, you should consider becoming an IFX Advisory Services Client. We'll teach you everything we know and everything we didn't know so YOU TOO can grow your business startingNOW. Contact: Dan Martin, CFE @ 858-724-1024 or via email at [email protected] for more information on IFX's Franchise Supplier Advisory Services. FREE Franchise Supplier Strategic Advice? Contact Dan Martin, CFE at [email protected] for a Complimentary Strategy Session for your supplier organization.

Continued Success,

About Dan

About IFX

As both a strategic firm and a technology firm, IFX is mostly known for its Best in Class Service, Hands-on Franchise Experience and Leading-Edge “Gravity Free Thinking”®.

#franchising #supplier #frantips

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ifxonline-blog · 11 years ago

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3 'Must Have' Words for Franchise Supplier Growth...

Like you, we are a Franchise Supplier. We design applications that revolve around the real-world needs (pain points) of franchise organizations. Everything we write incorporates 3 Words. Always. Always. Always! 1 - Political: is your product or service designed to address the real-world needs of real-world franchisees (Mom and Pops who are totally slammed, under financed and who don't know what they don't know... in some cases)? Is your product or service perceived as ultimately beneficial to franchisees by franchisees? Is it obvious? Your answers should be, "YES!". 2 - Practical: is your product or service easy-to-use? Is it user friendly? Is it franchisee friendly? There is a difference! Do you require special hardware or software or certification or anything that could make signing with you a bit too complex? Can you keep in simple both in terms of signing up and in terms of pricing levels? 3 - Legal: let's face it, franchising sometimes involves litigation. Franchisees sometimes look for legitimate loopholes or questionable loopholes. Does your product or system provide for some kind of compliance or accountability tracking? Do you maintain access and/or use records? Can your client document their franchisees' use of your product or service so franchisees cannot come back and say they never received support?

These 3 Words relate to franchising because franchisees are most often considered as independent contractors. Sometimes they follow the franchisor's system and sometimes they don't. Franchise Suppliers cannot assume that their product or service will actually be used by franchisees. Just because the franchisor endorses your company doesn't mean that franchisees will automatically buy-in. Everything you do to generate and support business with franchise organizations should incorporate these 3 Words. Everything! A huge advantage and a huge card to play when you're working with franchisors and especially their franchisees.

_________________________________________________________________

IFX Franchise Supplier Advisory Services:

IFX offers Franchise Suppliers opportunities to capitalize on its growth in the domestic and international franchise channels. If you're interested in maximizing exposure, contacts and revenues, you should consider becoming an IFX Advisory Services Client. We'll teach you everything we know and everything we didn't know so YOU TOO can grow your business starting NOW.

Contact: Dan Martin, CFE @ 858-724-1024 or via email at [email protected] for more information on IFX's Franchise Supplier Advisory Services.

IFX Annual Franchise Supplier Summit - Aug. 1, 2014 in San Diego, CA

In addition to our Franchise Supplier Advisory Services, IFX hosts its own summit each year in San Diego designed to provide suppliers with a leg up on how to truly leverage the franchise channel. 1.5 days on how to generate more exposure, generate more contacts, increase revenues and leverage each deal to grow your business.

Check out IFX's Annual Franchise Supplier Summit at www.ifxsuppliersummit.com

We know we can help your company to generate more business. We've done it... so can you!

IFA Opening General Session Video: http://www.ifxonline.com/videos/2014IFA/

FREE Franchise Supplier Strategic Advice? Contact Dan Martin, CFE at [email protected] for a Complimentary Strategy Session for your supplier organization and mark your calendar for IFX's 3rd Annual Franchise Supplier Summit set for August 1, 2014 in San Diego (see www.ifxsuppliersummit.com).

IFX Supplier Advisory Services - What Clients Say:

"Cadence9 has been a client of IFX since January 2013. Cadence9 is a hosted software platform that helps marketing teams plan, publish, engage and measure their social media and content marketing activities. Prior to our engagement with IFX, the company played in a much more horizontal space. As a result of some early projects, we concluded that we should consider focusing our resources on the franchise industry.

To start this shift, we decided it was critical to find a “trail guide”. Being new to the world of franchises, we didn’t have the time nor budget to explore and develop lessons learned. Rather we wanted to work with someone that knew the industry, was also a supplier and could relate to our technology.

By calling around it didn’t take long to see that IFX and Dan Martin were repeated references. After a couple of meetings, we started our relationship. IFX has been instrumental in helping us “cut-to-the-chase”. In hind sight, we have pretty much adopted the recommendations Dan made to us. In the year we have been working with Dan, we have made a 100% shift toward the franchise industry, modified our technologies and messaging, and participated in numerous events including sponsorship participation in Dan’s own conference and the most recent IFA 2014 event in New Orleans. Equally as important is that we have signed on franchisors as customers."

Martin van der Roest

President

Cadence9

Continued Success,

About Dan

Dan Martin, CFE began his career in franchising in 1983. After a few years of working with some well known franchise organizations and franchise law firms, Dan decided to move to the next level and start his own Franchise Management & Marketing Firm that would ultimately result in a 300+ franchisor client base servicing 30,000+ franchisees in 23 countries. Dan has always recognized opportunities and capitalized on his knowledge of franchising and his desire to expand his knowledge base, as well as his company's client base. Dan's experience as both franchisee and franchisor is an absolutely invaluable combination that allows him the ability to recognize new opportunities, identify mission critical issues and develop powerful and practical strategies and solutions beneficial to virtually any type or size of franchise organization. For any inquiries e-mail Dan directly at [email protected]

About IFX

As both a strategic firm and a technology firm, IFX is mostly known for its Best in Class Service, Hands-on Franchise Experience and Leading-Edge “Gravity Free Thinking”®.

#frantips #franchisemanagement #ifx #suppliergrowth #gravityfreethinking

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ifxonline-blog · 11 years ago

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FranTips: Suppliers Can Pick Up Your Support Tab!

Generating Additional Revenues by Leveraging Your Approved

Supplier Relationships: Tagging Your Approved Suppliers to Help Pick Up the Tab

Do you host a convention for your franchisees? Do you invite your approved suppliers to exhibit in front of your franchisees? Do you charge your approved suppliers to exhibit in front of your franchisees? Do your approved suppliers pay you to attend (plus, cover their own travel and lodging costs)? Do they actually get the opportunity to promote their respective products/services in front of your franchisees? Do they transact business as a function of the direct exposure? Do they pay you for all of this? Do your approved suppliers complain that they didn’t get enough “face time” with your franchisees? If the answer is “yes” to any/all of the above, keep reading... Develop a Year Round Approved Supplier Sponsorship Program to promote approved suppliers in front of all your franchisees on a regular basis and structure it so that it increases revenues for your franchise organization in return. For example, when you roll-out a new technology application (Extranet, POS System, Accounting System, Online Training Module, CRM, etc.) brand it with your brand and ALSO the brand of one of your participating approved supplier(s). For example: “Powered by Quickbooks” or “Sponsored by U.S. Foods”. Incorporate the supplier’s logo on the application and link it to the supplier’s website (or, even better to a tracking page and then to the supplier’s website and/or social media pages). This approach works for virtually any major application or informational campaign you direct to your franchisees. “Feature” selected approved suppliers using an infotorial approach in your electronic news updates. Dedicate a blog, bulletin board or online chat forum to a particular supplier and let them field questions about their particular products and services directly in front of your franchisees. IFX has clients that have incorporated this strategy into their technology applications that franchisees use everyday, as well as into notices and information exchange forums that franchisees depend on to help each other. Most clients generate between $50 and $500 per supplier per month to be affiliated with a daily exposure program in front of all of their franchisees. That’s 30 straight days of exposure to all franchisees for $50 to $500. A typical franchise convention costs suppliers $2,500 and more, plus travel and lodging for only two days of exposure. Imagine how this form of sponsorship revenue could increase a franchisor’s bottom line. Imagine if the franchisor offered to direct revenues from Supplier Sponsorships into the National Advertising Fund? A great marketing/PR tool for both existing and potential franchisees... and something you could formally disclose and promote in your FDD.

______________________________________________________________

IFA Opening General Session Video: http://www.ifxonline.com/videos/2014IFA/

Free Franchise Strategic Advice? Contact Dan Martin, CFE at [email protected] for a Complimentary Strategy Session for your franchise organization and mark your calendar for IFX's 17th Annual Strategic Franchise Conference set for December 11, 2014 in San Diego (see www.ifxConference.com).

IFX Technology Sampling:

IFX's Online Training Module (OTM) - IFX’s Online Training Module (OTM) provides a web-based interface for developing and conducting courses and scoring associated tests online based on user access levels. The administrative interface is designed to provide administrative personnel with the ability to build their own courses and tests online using a variety of formats. Administrators can "assign" courses and associated tests to individuals and/or groups based on levels achieved within the system. Courses and tests can be programmed to automatically flag certain test results, as well as record which users have accessed specific courses and completed certain tests. Course advancement can be programmed to allow users to move on to secondary courses and tests based on achieving pre-set test result benchmarks as outlined by the administrator. Courses and tests can be archived for future access and/or reactivation. Passed, Failed, Taken, Not Taken status reports can be accessed along with pre-set notification templates. Use for profiling prospective franchisee candidates; franchisee training; franchisee employee training and corporate employee training. Unlimited storage space. Unlimited courses. Unlimited user accounts. One low monthly cost.

Ask IFX about our NEW Online Training Module specifically designed for franchise organizations!

Continued Success,

#frantips #franchisemanagement #keyapplications #franchisefocus #ifxonline

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