As part of our ongoing series highlighting our Top Franchises, FBR asked Pet Supplies Plus Franchise Development Specialist Christine Schultz some questions to uncover what it is that makes Pet Supplies Plus a best-in-category brand.
Franchisors often ask us how they can encourage their franchisees to participate and boost survey participation rates. We recently unearthed this 2019 video of Charles Watson, CEO of Tropical Smoothie Cafe, inviting his franchisees to take our survey, and we couldn’t help but share!
Dennis Maple, president and CEO of Goddard Systems, Inc., explains how they use their annual FBR franchisee satisfaction survey to baseline against competitors as well as their own goals for success.
Christian Brothers Automotive president Donnie Carr shares how their FBR survey results inform strategic planning throughout the organization from operations to development to franchisee support and franchise culture.
Download this free eBook to learn why employee engagement matters, how to measure and benchmark your team's engagement, and how to recruit & retain top franchise employees.
These are the five key areas that separate the very best brands from the competition and lead to high franchisee satisfaction and performance.
Most franchise companies have a crystal clear vision of where they want to go. But the mistake many franchisors make is not requiring their franchisees to have their own vision. Implementing a franchisee vision plan program is the most effective way to set expectations and align franchisees’ goals with the goals of the organization. Learn how to start putting vision plans to work in your organization with these free resources.
Learn how The Learning Experience franchise system measures feedback from customers and how they were able to increase customer satisfaction dramatically during the pandemic despite the formidable challenges facing the education and child services sectors.
We talk with Maddi Park of MaidPro as part of our ongoing series highlighting the 2021 Franchisee Satisfaction Award winners. Maddi discusses how they make franchisee satisfaction data an integral part of their franchise marketing strategy.
What can franchise leaders do to keep employees engaged while the workplace and workspace continue to evolve through the pandemic? Learn the four things franchise franchise organizations should be doing for their employees to increase engagement in the COVID-19 world.
Justin Bredeman, CEO of Soccer Shots, talks with FBR about why they were committed to surveying franchisees amidst the challenges of the pandemic, how they used the survey data to identify areas for improvement and measure performance, and the post-pandemic outlook.
Jeff Bevis takes a deep dive into the latest Franchise Business Review Top 200 Franchise Owner Satisfaction Report and breaks down what aspiring franchise owners need to know about franchise ratings and franchisee satisfaction.
As part of FBR’s ongoing series spotlighting 2021 Franchisee Satisfaction Award Winners, FBR talked with Team Logic IT’s president Dan Shapero about strengthening franchisee relationships, adapting franchisee support during the pandemic, and how they have continued to generate demand for the brand in terms of new store sales, new store awards, and territory expansion.
In our continuing series spotlighting our 2021 Best-in-Category Franchisee Satisfaction Award Winners, Payroll Vault president & CEO Sean Manning talks with Nicole Dudley, Director of Client Relations at Franchise Business Review, about the “hypertransformation” in business over the past year, as well as how they use their survey data to drive goal-setting and measure success.
FASTSIGNS' Mark Jameson talks with FBR about why franchisee satisfaction is one of the four key pillars of FASTSIGNS mission, how they use FBR’s data to bring in high quality candidates who are aligned with their culture, and how the pandemic drove rapid innovation in their business.
In most companies, employees have an annual performance review. When done properly, it creates a powerful feedback loop and an opportunity for positive change. In franchising, an annual satisfaction survey offers similar benefits. If you're using on of these common excuses not to survey your franchisees on a regular basis, find out why you could be putting your system at risk.
CASE STUDY: Learn how Any Lab Test Now implemented FBR's survey to increase response rates and, in turn, used the data to improve communication and franchisee engagement.
Nicole Dudley, former Client Operations Manager, has been promoted to Director of Client Relations. In her newly expanded role, Nicole will continue to work to ensure clients’ research needs are met, as well as be responsible for helping to grow and oversee our customer service team and efforts, and support our clients and products as we grow.
Being named a 2021 Top Franchise is an objective, third-party endorsement of the franchise brands that have stepped up to provide EXCEPTIONAL support and leadership during the crises this year. Watch now to see what it means to be an FBR Franchisee Satisfaction Award Winner.
What does the future hold for franchising? We asked some of the thought leaders in franchising to look into their crystal balls and reveal their predictions for 2021.
Sponsored content can be a highly effective tactic to capture the attention and build awareness of your brand - when crafted effectively. If you’re thinking about adding it to your marketing strategy, follow these do’s and don’ts for writing sponsored content that performs well.
Download key takeaways from the session, Enforcing Compliance with System Standards While Maintaining Franchise Relations, at the IFA's Emerging Franchisors Virtual Conference.
Franchisees typically tend to disengage somewhere around five years into the business. Follow these 10 tips to keep your franchisees satisfied and engaged long term, and drive growth for your system.
All franchise buyers do varying degrees of due diligence before investing in a brand. The difference is that today more and more prospective franchisees are looking at franchisee satisfaction data in addition to financial benefits, lifestyle, and the training and support they’ll receive. See what current franchisees have to say about franchisee satisfaction as a key factor in choosing a franchise.
As the franchising environment changes, now, more than ever, it's important to help franchisees create effective franchise business plans. This eBook equips you with everything you need to get started and provide proactive support.
With the upheaval of the pandemic in the workplace, it's become more important than ever to measure employee engagement and organizational culture. But if you're going to do it, it's important to do it right. Business News Daily talked with Eric Stites for tips on how to make the most of employee engagement surveys.
Working parents are essentially juggling being the teacher, principal, custodian and lunch lady - in addition to their full-time jobs. Franchisors may not be able to alleviate the anxiety working parents are experiencing as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on schedules and child care responsibilities, but here's what they can do to support them.
Michelle Rowan, president & COO of Franchise Business Review, is part of this year’s planning task force and the emcee for the Operations program at the IFA's Marketing, Operations & Development (MOD) Virtual Conference. She talked recently about the highlights of the event and what franchisors will take away.
As the country continues to reopen or increase restrictions again amidst the ongoing pandemic, what are the big takeaways for franchise companies? FBR talks with franchisors two franchisors to learn how they responded, how they adapted their communication and culture while the country was mostly in lock down, and how employee engagement data can be used to improve employee relations as we move forward.
Franchisee satisfaction is a primary indicator of long-term system growth and success in measuring the health of any franchise system, but if you're wondering what the ROI of franchisee satisfaction surveys is, read on for 8 ways you'll get a return on your investment of time and money - and drive franchise system growth.
Learn three steps you can take to build in transparency to keep existing franchisees satisfied and engaged, and attract new franchisees to your brand.
Franchisee validation is a clear and measurable indicator of operational soundness; however, the typical franchisee lifecycle shows that a new franchisee’s satisfaction usually declines after a few years – which can negatively affect validation and franchise sales. Learn unique approaches franchisors are taking to mitigate or break the franchisee lifecycle and turn those programs (and their franchisees) into a development tool.
In these live case studies, learn how forward-thinking brands are using operational innovation as a differentiator to bring in more candidates, award more franchises, and ultimately, drive unit-level profitability.
Operations and development don’t always go hand in hand. In practice, however, these two functions need to be closely aligned to create a positive and profitable culture. This session brings together brand leaders from both sides of the house to share strategies and best practices for aligning their teams.
Leaders from five of the most experienced operations companies in franchising share the biggest operations pitfalls franchisors encounter - and what you can do about it to accelerate franchise growth.
CNBC's latest story on military veterans highlights FBR data, which shows an 85% satisfaction rate among veterans who own a franchise (of the 29K franchise owners who were surveyed) — and, an average annual income of $94,244 (after two years).
Over the past decade, the number of women venturing into franchise ownership has grown significantly, yet the earnings gap between men and women remains. Eric Stites writes for Forbes to explore what can be done to encourage and support female franchise business ownership.
FranNet hosts Franchise Business Review to help franchisors understand why franchisee satisfaction is a critical element of their validation and growth strategy. Hear from leading franchisors who are using franchisee satisfaction data to speed up the validation process and help brokers close more deals, faster.
There’s a disconnect between the C-Suite and other corporate staff when it comes to their views on how aligned their operations and development teams are. This webinar explores the role culture plays in alignment and strategies for getting ALL teams on the same page.
THe number of women in the franchise industry is soaring. As of May, women own or co-own 35% of the franchise outlets in the U.S.—around 265,000—according to Franchise Business Review's research.
Veterans News Report covers the growing number of veterans turning to franchising and shares Franchise Business Review's list of the Top Franchises for Veterans.
Franchise Business Review just announced the 2019 Top Franchises for Veterans. To identify the companies on the list, FBR analyzed 18 months of data from over 25,000 franchise owners, of which just over 10% were veterans, representing over 250 brands. Key findings revealed that eight out of 10 veteran franchise owners would recommend their franchise company to another franchise candidate.
CASE STUDY: Learn how Two Men and a Truck uses a data-driven approach to providing top-notch franchisee support and, in turn, attracting high quality leads.
Want to learn how some of the most successful companies in franchising achieving top performance? Watch these free franchise crash courses for practical tips and real-life examples you can easily implement in your own system.
Franchise companies only achieve sustainable success and growth when their franchisees are satisfied with their performance. And the most satisfied franchisees feel that their franchisor is invested in their personal success. If you want to build a system where everyone wins, you need an action plan. That means understanding what you’re doing well and where you can improve. Start by downloading this free franchise report card to rate your system.
CNBC partnered with Franchise Business Review to highlight award-winning brands in this feature on lucrative low-cost franchises.
2019 Franchise Development Website Award judges and franchise experts Michelle Rowan, Thomas Scott and Stan Friedman share the best ways to optimize your digital audience, personality and budget.
Franchise Business Review is pleased to welcome Jay Arbelo to its research team as a Research Analyst, along with additional investments in staff to accelerate research, client success, and marketing capabilities.
Are you looking for inspiration on your field audit questions? Download FranchiseBlast's "357 franchise field audit questions" now including Customer Service, Marketing, Food Safety and Quality, Cleanliness and Management.
Franchise Business Review compiled survey feedback collected over 18 months from 8.,800 female franchisees representing 266 franchise brands. 88% of female franchisees say they enjoy operating their business. Learn what the data shows about flexibility, financial expectations, income, and more.
In today’s ‘employees market’, the talent drain is a very real risk to franchises. Many franchisors and franchisees are struggling with recruiting and retention, trying to balance the need for competitive compensation and benefits, with rising costs in many other areas of the business.
Read this case study to see the creative approach the TWO MEN AND A TRUCK development team took to differentiate the brand, attract quality candidates, and accelerate the sales process.
FBR sat down with Any Lab Test Now to talk about how they have seized a unique position in the healthcare consumerism sector and their approach to innovation in franchising, particularly when it comes to franchisee support.
Franchise Update Media's team of esteemed judges, including Franchise Business Review President & COO Michelle Rowan, announced the winners of the inaugural Franchise Innovation Awards, recognizing the best innovations in franchising in 2018.
In this Interview with Jeff Huber, President & CEO of Home Instead Senior Care, he talks with FBR about the deeply personal experience that led to the inception of Home Instead and continues to guide their business philosophy.
This slideshow gallery from Club Industry highlights the nine award-winning fitness franchises that ranked highest in franchisee satisfaction and appeared on Franchise Business Review's annual list of the Top Franchises for 2019.
In the March edition of Franchising World Magazine, Franchise Business Review CEO Eric Stites analyzes the key findings of the Franchising@WORK study and the risks that franchisors may be facing when it comes to attracting and retaining top employees.
New research from Franchise Business Review indicates franchise business owners are satisfied and confident about growth. When it comes to the future outlook for their business, two-thirds (67%) rated their long-term growth opportunity as “very strong” or “strong,” while another 25 percent (25%) rated their long-term growth outlook as “moderate.” Just eight percent (8%) rated their long-term growth opportunity as “weak” or “very weak.”
Think it may be time to expand your franchise? Thinking of adding locations, but not sure if it's attainable? Boss Magazine's latest article describes the safest and most effective ways to grow your franchise. Franchise Business Review CEO Eric Stites and others weigh in on the most appropriate time for expansion, as well as other useful tips for growing franchises.
Franchise Business Review recently conducted a first-of-its-kind study of corporate employees across the franchise sector in partnership with the International Franchise Association. The report reveals key trends around employee engagement and compensation and benefits among franchise professionals and where risks exist for franchise companies.
The best metric to gauge a franchise's success is the satisfaction of its franchisees. Success stories from franchisees show just how special the journey can be and shows some of the more personable side of franchising. Each franchising journey is different, but each can be a success if done correctly!
Starting a franchise can be a daunting and difficult task and many who set out on the journey run into the same, or at least similar, hurdles. This easy 11 step process helps new franchisees avoid these common problems to make their endeavors as successful as possible.
Mark Zuckerberg was given an early ultimatum growing up - either go to Harvard, or franchise a McDonald's restaurant. This article describes the decision he eventually made and shows the ins and outs of beginning a franchising opportunity and how his life would have differed had he chosen the Golden Arches instead of the Crimson.
It’s the season of giving, and while a partridge in a pear tree would be nice, we thought a list of our 12 favorite books would be a tad more practical. The team at FBR compiled this list of the most inspiring and motivating books they’ve read this year so we could share them with you.
This handy checklist is a free tool to help you compare the services and benefits of survey providers - either internal or third-party - to make sure you’re getting the most for your investment of time and money.
It’s clear that content marketing works. You know you need it to be relevant, but executing is another story. No matter the size of the system, franchisors share the same challenges when it comes to implementing and maintaining an effective content marketing strategy. This list of helpful resources and tips can help you get over the content marketing hump.
Everyone's talking about organizational culture these days, but it can be squishy topic - hard to define and even harder to shape. To help understand what makes for a positive culture, we asked 10 franchise leaders at top-performing franchise companies how they would describe their brand’s culture. See what they told us.
This whitepaper by Roger McCoy, Franchise Business Consultant at Direct Energy, explores what determines an organization's culture, why franchises are even more dependent on culture than other business models, the foundations required for building a positive culture, and the role of franchise leadership in creating a positive culture that in order to drive productivity and profitability.
We’ve pulled together this list of the top 5 must-have resources for emerging brands, full of the best practices we’ve collected over a decade from franchisors who are growing their brands strategically while maintaining a system of highly satisfied (and profitable) franchisees.
Franchise Business Review compiled survey feedback collected over 18 months from 5,723 female franchisees representing 240 franchise brands. Overall, female franchisees overall say their work/life is balanced or very balanced.
We often hear that the data we provide has helped our clients identify key issues among their franchisees, but it can sometimes be difficult to put an operational value on tracking franchisee attitudes. In this webinar, we speak with three franchisors about how moving the needle on satisfaction has also helped them grow their brand, both in same-store sales and new development.
A system with 500 franchisees handles communications very differently than one with 25, but regardless of size, franchisees demand that their voices be heard and respected -- and rightfully so. Still, finding the optimal strategy to solicit feedback, make decisions, and roll out changes while making sure everyone feels represented can be extremely difficult for any brand. Our panelists discuss how a brand of any size can create efficient, open communication channels to keep both franchisor and franchisees happy.
We've often discussed the importance of collecting and analyzing unit-level data to help franchisees improve their profitability and grow their bottom line. This time, we focus specifically on WHY it's important not just to collect the data, but to share it with the entire system. Our panelists discuss what they share, how they overcome franchisee pushback, and what benefits they've seen by making this data available system-wide.
If every franchise brand had a fully integrated, customized, easy to use, modular, cost-effective technology platform for their franchisees, operations would run very smoothly. Unfortunately, the perfect tech options seem too expensive for the brands that need them most and the questions involved with moving from one platform to another can quickly halt a much-needed upgrade. In this webinar, we speak with panelists who can clarify how to make the choice in platforms, when to make the investment, and the most seamless ways to roll out a new system.
Franchisees are motivated by the potential to realize their dreams. Unfortunately, it can become very easy to lose sight of the long-term goals while dealing with the short-term challenges within the business. Working with franchisees to put their vision in writing can help them to stick to it and track their own progress, and helps YOU to make sure their vision stays aligned with the brand's so that both parties are working toward common goals.
You’ve nurtured ideal franchisees all the way through the sales pipeline; now all that’s left is to sign on the dotted line. This webinar will take you through practical strategies for closing franchise deals, including using discovery days and shadow programs, why you should reveal the good AND the bad to candidates, tools (checklists, templates, FAQs) to speed up validation, and how to deal with candidates who sabotage the validation process.
Today 55% of the franchise industry is controlled by multi-unit unit operators. But landing a multi-unit operator can sometimes feel like reeling in a whale. This webinar will help you better understand what sophisticated multi-unit candidates look for when seeking a brand and how they evaluate it. You’ll learn tips and techniques for adapting your development process to multi-unit candidates and how to make your brand more attractive to the lenders that finance them.
Everyone wants more leads, but increasing the number of leads coming in doesn’t do you any good unless they’re quality leads. Listen to franchise development experts share their experience about what works best, tactics for marketing your brand to candidates, how to get more referrals, and how to convert more leads by being transparent throughout the sales process.
Franchise brokers can be an important part of your franchise recruitment strategy, but most franchise brokers are working with a hundred or more brands. So how do you make sure your broker is recommending your brand over others when talking with potential leads? Find out how your franchisee satisfaction data can be the silver bullet to get your broker sending more candidates your way.
More than ever, savvy franchise buyers are honing in on your FDD’s Item 19. After all, it’s the closest they can get to answering the burning question, “How much money can I expect to make?” FBR's President & COO Michelle Rowan shares three need-to-know tips to make your Item 19 accurate and engaging.
Looking at franchisee satisfaction data spanning a recent 18-month period, franchisees of Emerging brands showed a more positive sentiment in several key areas compared to all franchise owners Franchise Business Review surveyed.
Franchise Business Review's data shows that brands with high franchisee satisfaction drastically outperform brands with low satisfaction on every key performance metric. This graphic illustrates the gap between brands in the top quartile of satisfaction and brands in the bottom quartile in annual unit growth, royalty revenue, franchisee turnover, and franchisee income.
Discovery days are an integral part of every brand’s development process. FBR's President & COO Michelle Rowan shares shares the top five creative ideas shared by leaders from: Smoothie King, Mathnasium, College Hunks Hauling Junk, Right at Home, and InXpress in FBR's Development Webinar Series.
Using the data Franchise Business Review has collected from over 1,100 franchise brands, we've identified four warning signs that indicate that your franchisees are unhappy or disengaged - which means your system is at risk. FBR's Michael Kupfer talks about what you need to watch out for.
The most successful CEOs lead by taking cues from what their franchisees are saying. Learn the three things that ALL CEOs should be doing if they truly care about the health and wealth of their system.
Nobody likes to waste money, but time and again, we see franchisors making simple mistakes that are costing them. In under three minutes, FBR's President & COO Michelle Rowan shares three ways you could be losing money - without even knowing it. Watch now to find out if your system is at risk and learn how to fix it.
Attracting multi-unit franchisees isn’t as simple as just saying you want them. Michelle Rowan, President & COO of Franchise Business Review shares four ways our most successful clients are bringing more multi-unit owners into their system.
FBR’s CEO, Eric Stites, recently talked with Crunch’s CEO and Founding Partner, Ben Midgeley, about fanchisee-franchisor relationships, being “unamazonable”, and creating a culture of listening.
Nike made a mistake that cost them billions when they lost their endorsement contract with Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry to Under Armour. Don't make the same mistake Nike did when it comes to your franchisees.
Franchisee satisfaction can have a direct impact on your bottom line - but it doesn’t have to cost you a lot. FBR's President and COO, Michelle Rowan, shares five easy tips that don't require a budget to help you boost the growth of your franchise system.
Sales is all about storytelling: Connecting with your audience on a human level. And while data - cold hard numbers - may not seem like it gives your audience the warm and fuzzies, data is actually a powerful storytelling tool. These tips and tricks will show you how to leverage franchisee satisfaction data at every stage of the sales funnel to meet and exceed your franchise recruitment goals.
Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp Resorts was named one of Franchise Business Review’s top 200 franchises of 2018. We recently sat down to chat with Jim Westover, VP of Operations, to talk about the franchise’s growth over the past 50 years and how their focus on brand differentiation and franchisee education has been a critical factor in becoming a top choice for franchise buyers.
Discovery days are an integral part of every brand’s development process. They are a way to set appropriate expectations and expose candidates to what it’s like to be a part of your franchise brand. Here are five ideas to make your discovery day more effective and make sure the candidates you choose will turn out to be successful franchisees.
Is your current lead strategy getting you a million first dates, but no commitment? Do your leads seem great online but turn out to be duds? Are they putting out the vibe that they’re interested but never return your calls? Take our two-minute quiz to find out if your lead strategies are getting you to the final commitment ceremony or you’re losing out on great relationships.
Dave Mattson, CEO of Sandler Training, explains why Sandler surveys with Franchise Business Review, and shares his thoughts on why franchisees find it valuable as well as how Sandler uses their feedback to make continuous improvements and grow the brand.
Is your current lead strategy getting you a million first dates, but no commitment? Do your leads seem great online but turn out to be duds? Are they putting out the vibe that they’re interested but never return your calls? Take our two-minute quiz to find out if your lead strategies are getting you to the final commitment ceremony or you’re losing out on great relationships.
We all know the adage that “content is king,” but not everyone takes it to heart. Learn three ways you can use franchisee satisfaction data as part of a solid content marketing strategy to bring in more candidates and close deals more quickly.
Producing content is easy. Producing GOOD content is a lot harder - especially if you have limited resources. In this five-minute video, FBR’s franchise marketing guru, Michael Kupfer, shares three easy tips for leveraging franchisee satisfaction data to produce GREAT content - and speed up the buying cycle.
Franchise candidates today expect transparency. They want access to data early on when researching franchise opportunities. In under five minutes, FBR President & COO Michelle Rowan shares TWO tips for leveraging franchisee satisfaction data online to give candidates the information they expect - AND speed up your development efforts.
It's no secret that franchise owners' performance plateaus over the years. So how do you keep them engaged? FBR's CEO, Eric Stites, shares the most common challenges facing franchisors and tips for re-engaging senior franchisees in this short 5-minute video.
