Celebrating 20 Years in the FBR Hall of Fame: How Wild Birds Unlimited Stands Out
We’re celebrating 20 years of FBR Insights by featuring some of our long-time brand partners that continue to stand out in their franchisee satisfaction results, like Wild Birds Unlimited!
Franchise Business Review is celebrating 20 years of reliable, third-party surveys and insights, helping companies improve franchisee, consumer, and team experience to make the franchise industry a better place to be.
This is a major growth milestone, and we couldn’t be more proud and excited to showcase the brands that have trusted us with their franchisee feedback since the beginning of this journey.
We sat down with Paul Pickett, CDO & Exec VP of Franchising for Wild Birds Unlimited, to discuss how they started working with FBR, what they’ve learned through the years, and what the partnership with FBR has meant for the brand since 2006.
Meet the Brand: Wild Birds Unlimited
The Wild Birds Unlimited Franchise has been around for more than 40 years as the only retail franchise in the $12.5 billion bird watching industry. They have ranked in the FBR Hall of Fame for 20 years, and are a brand rooted in purpose and community.
Pickett recalls what first got them involved with the team at FBR:
“I remember Michelle Rowan and I got in touch, and we had just finished a different survey, so I was dubious about doing another. But then she brought up all the ways we could leverage the benchmark and results for franchise development and sales, and that really sold me.”
Pickett chuckles, thinking about all the ways Wild Bird Unlimited has worked with FBR since then, including the franchisee satisfaction survey, lead generation, validation program, and custom video.
“It’s funny to think now that I was dubious about it then. Now I say if you’re not using FBR, you’re stupid!”
Pickett suggested we leave out that last part, but his passion for reliable feedback and evidence-based data is clear.
“Gathering data consistently allows you to understand what you’re doing well so you can cement it into your operations. You’ll have data to prove what’s not working and what can be improved. You’ll also understand what people don’t like and have a better idea as to WHY,” explains Pickett.
The Greatest Lessons From 20 Years of Surveys
After 20 years of working with FBR for franchisee feedback surveys, lead generation, and validation programs, Wild Birds Unlimited has a lot of great lessons to share.
The Timing of Franchisee Feedback Matters
Pickett emphasized the importance of knowing your cash flow seasons, sales seasons, major holidays, elections, and conferences when it comes to sending out feedback and survey requests. Once you know the right time of year for your brand, be consistent with sending annual surveys out at the same time each year.
Be Clear on the Purpose of Your Surveys and Feedback
Years ago, a Wild Birds Unlimited franchisee was feeling unhappy in his business, and he used the FBR surveys to complain instead of offering feedback. Shortly after, he ended up struggling to sell his location because of what he had written in his survey.
“These days we’re very clear on the WHY behind the surveys,” shares Pickett. “In that situation, we could have saved everyone a hassle by communicating more clearly with that franchisee about how the surveys are used and the value of focusing on constructive feedback so we could still help him sell in the future.”
Choose Your Battles Carefully
Wild Birds Unlimited has ranked very highly on franchisee satisfaction over the years. When asked why, Pickett explained:
“We’re very intentional with our culture and communication. We explain the WHY and the WHY NOT continuously. We try to be patient and decide carefully what hills we want to die on for the sake of growing a great business.”
One example of choosing when to hold firm and when to be flexible came when Wild Birds Unlimited changed brand colors. For a while, they were flexible on whether locations repainted the interiors of their stores, and then eventually it became a compliance requirement.
Pickett recounts: “I remember one of our owners asked us, ‘Will you really take away my franchise agreement if I don’t paint my walls a different color?’ to which our team replied, ‘Would you really rather give up your business rather than repaint your walls?’”
What the FBR Hall of Fame Means to Wild Birds Unlimited
The FBR Franchise Hall of Fame is a list of brands that have been on the Top 200 list 10+ times. Not only do they score well on the FBR annual surveys, but they also prioritize franchisee satisfaction and success to model excellence in the industry.
When asked about the value of being on the FBR Hall of Fame list, Pickett replies: “It’s such a huge sign for our team and owners. It’s the validation that we can back up what we say about our brand.”
Validation and data-backed survey results are important to the Wild Birds Unlimited team. They view improvement and growth as a key part of a successful business and have modeled their culture continuously over the years.
A good example of relying on hard data as opposed to general feelings came in 2020 when the WBU leadership team expected to get clobbered in the survey feedback.
The survey results told a different story that year. “Turns out we had pivoted well, and our franchisees ended up making more money than they had in several years,” shares Pickett.
However, the following year, the WBU team implemented a new POS and made changes to their loyalty program requirements. The technology and operations changes were more difficult than expected, and Wild Birds Unlimited dropped from the top 10 to 44th on the list.
“That was a tough one!” shares Pickett.
“We should have communicated more about how hard those changes were going to be. That’s why metrics and data points are so important in your feedback process, you want to know objectively when things are going well AND when they’re not.”
The Wild Birds Unlimited Survey Results
Wild Birds Unlimited continues to succeed with survey results that land them above the industry benchmark across many categories. We’re beyond grateful for our continued work and partnership with this inspiring franchise company.
These are just some of the highlights from the Wild Birds Unlimited Franchisee Satisfaction Results:
- Honesty & Integrity: 94% franchisees agree; 17% higher than benchmark
- Respect the franchisor: 93% agree; 13% higher than benchmark
- Enjoy being part of WBU and enjoy operating their business: 93% and 94% agree, respectively; both 10% higher than benchmark
- Would recommend WBU to others: 97% are likely to recommend WBU; 19% higher than benchmark
Interested in getting results like these for your own system? Franchise Business Review helps franchise brands at all phases of growth to understand franchisee satisfaction, lead generation, and validation. Contact us to get started!
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