Joel Libava
There’s an advantage of franchising that’s so obvious. To me, anyway.
And, to many franchisees who earn good money because of it. How?
Let me tell you a little story.
My Area Of The Country
First off, I need to tell you that our Castle has a rather long, two-car driveway. Why does that matter?
Because we live in the snowbelt, east of Cleveland, Ohio. That means we get something called Lake Effect snow. And if you don’t know what that is…
Fun! (For dogs, little kids and skiers.) Anyway…
Since I’m not a fan of snow and cold weather, I have no desire to spend an hour and a half shoveling out from a big snow event. Nor do I want to buy a gasoline-powered snowblower to clear our driveway off several times a year. That means, we need to hire a residential snow removal company.
Check this out.
The Search. The Results.
Two weeks ago, I signed-on to my computer and started a search for “snow removal near me.” Or, “snow plow removal near 44143.”
When the search results appeared, I mostly ignored the ads*, and went right to “local results.”
15 minutes later I started contacting snow removal companies that looked promising.
The first one I contacted was a local outfit with an address about a mile and half away. I filled out their “request services” form and received an automated reply stating they’d pop-by to look at our driveway and send an estimate.
Later that day, I got a phone call from someone at that company who told me he’d “call back tomorrow with an estimate.” He never did. What?
The company calls me…yes, no email-they actually called me the same day to tell me they’d look at our driveway and give me a quote. And this local, independent company never did. They never sent me a quote. Ridiculous.
As to ads, a lot of people looking for services click on them. And, since they appear on the top of the page, they’re difficult to ignore. Plus, they work! Just ask any franchisee in the services sector of franchising.
A Franchise!
Next, I found a franchise near me that offered snow removal services. The name? U.S. Lawns.
Again, I filled out their “request information” form and waited for a follow-up call or email. And I got a call a couple hours later. That’s pretty fast.
“Hi, Mr. Libava. U.S. Lawns here. Unfortunately, we only do commercial plowing. We don’t plow residential driveways.”
“Oh. It said snow removal on your web ad and on your website.”
“I’m sorry. we keep telling them about that, but it still says that.”
Great. So, I contacted two more snow removal companies.
Great Follow-Up Said No One Ever. Hint: Here Comes The Advantage of Franchising!
The other two local companies I filled out forms for never followed up.
I think one may have sent an automated email to my inbox with a “Glad you contacted us. We’ll get back to you soon,” message. But, they never did.
So here’s what I got.
Out of the 4 “snow plow removal companies near 44143,” I contacted, two of them followed up.
One, U.S. lawns…a franchise operation, called back the quickest. Yay franchising!
But, unfortunately they couldn’t provide the service because they only do snow removal for businesses. And know this. I wanted to hire them… because franchising. And the franchisee would’ve earned instant money.
That said, I never would’ve spent my time filling out their online form to request information if their national website was updated to say “Commercial Plowing Only.” It’s an easy fix.
And as I wrote above, the other company emailed me back, and even called later that day. And never gave me an estimate.
Franchising Wins. Kind Of.
For the purpose of this post, when it came to speed of following up, the franchise operation won, hands down. It’s the advantage of franchising I’m referring to. And it’s so darn simple!
They followed up by phone within a couple of hours. The lady who called was nice to me and sounded professional. Heck, for all I know, she was the local franchise owner.
And if U.S. Lawns could have provided the service I needed as a consumer, at a fair price, I would’ve signed with them that day. Easy-peasy.
Furthermore, since I’m in franchising, I know that franchisees are trained on how to quickly respond to inquiries. How to follow-up. And that’s a serious advantage in today’s fast-paced world.
Here’s a franchisor that provides amazing customer service training.
The Obvious Advantage of Franchising
I want you to think back to a time you were searching for a service you needed for your home or office.
How was the follow-up?
Do you remember if the independent businesses in your area followed up with you?
My bet? Most didn’t. I have a lot of personal history searching for services to prove it.
Next question. Did you reach out to franchise businesses?
If so, did they follow-up with you?
I bet they did. And I bet their calls and/or emails back to you happened quickly.
And doing that. Following up quickly and professionally is a huge advantage of franchising.
An advantage all franchisees have.
An advantage that earns them money in an instant.
A Challenge For You
Finally, I challenge you to remember what I wrote about here the next time you need to have your home cleaned, windows cleaned, lawn care handled, plumbing done or whatever type of service you’re willing to pay for.
And see if it’s the local franchise owners who are the ones to follow-up with you the quickest. And earn your business because of it.
A Reminder To Franchisees
Franchisees: you have one hell of an advantage; fast follow-up.
Make sure you leverage it, so you can earn the business.
And make money.
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