This Week on Franchise Today: Veterans in Franchising – From Battlefield to Boardroom

This week on Franchise Today, Franpreneur and Helgerson Franchise Group CEO, Lonnie Helgerson joins Host, Paul Segreto and Co-producer, Joe Caruso to discuss veterans in franchising – from battlefield to boardroom.

Lonnie also discusses his newest venture into franchising, IslandTime Treasures, and his new book, 5 Pennies: Ten Rules to Successfully Building a Franchise Mega-Brand and Maximizing System Profits.

About Franchise Today

Franchise Today is hosted by Paul Segreto, President and CEO at franchisEssentials, and co-produced by well-known franchise veteran, Joe Caruso. Their unique perspective and extensive industry experience provides the foundation for relevant discussions about franchising and franchise best practices. Weekly guests include some of the brightest minds in the franchise world, with specific expertise and experience within various areas of franchising.

Other features include Franchise News, as reported by the leading franchise publications, the IFA Corner, news and events from the International Franchise Association, New Brands in Franchising, a look at up and coming franchise concepts, and “Are You Kidding Me?”, eye-opening and thought-provoking insight into the comical, and sometimes illogical side of franchising.

The team at Franchise Today is dedicated to franchise success at all levels. So, whether you’re a franchise professional looking to grow a franchise concept, needing some assistance in facing today’s challenges or would just like to better understand franchise best practices, then Franchise Today is for you!

Franchise Today airs LIVE every Thursday at 12 PM CST / 1 PM EST with archived segments available on-demand.

Are You Confused by Franchise Terminology?

Many, including myself, refer to franchising as an industry… even though we know it’s really not an industry. A business model is probably one of the better definitions, but what does that really mean?

When referring to a franchise, even many within franchising choose from a variety of terms as a point of reference – franchise organization, franchise system, franchise company.

Of course, there’s also the varying terms relating to the franchise relationship – franchisee, franchise partner and not to mention the slang, zee. And to the other side of the relationship – franchisor, head office, corporate office, parent company… and yes, zor.

And what’s the difference between franchisor and franchiser?

Confused yet?

And, franchise locations are independently owned and operated. Yet, the franchise relationship is interdependent… or at least it should be interdependent and not dependent or independent upon… Well, you get it, right?

Now let’s look at the people serving the franchise community. Yep, franchise community is another reference for the franchise list above but let’s move on. Franchise consultants, do they sell or consult? How about franchise brokers, sales agents, sales representatives, and again, franchise consultants. Whew!

Moving down the chain there are franchise suppliers, service providers and vendors… What’s the difference? Preferred or approved? Is there really a difference?

Of course, there are references to segments within franchising such as master franchising and sub-franchising… Which one is correct? And, isn’t the sub-franchisor actually the master franchisee? I guess it all depends on which end of the relationship one is on.

How about now – confused yet?

Franchise services means what, and providing services to who? Franchisee to end-user? Franchisor to franchisee? Franchise service provider to franchisor and/or franchisee?

Same can be said of franchise marketing, right? Does marketing in a B2B or B2C scenario but within a franchise environment mean that it’s franchise marketing? Or, is franchise marketing actually marketing to franchise candidates?

Speaking about franchise candidates, when is a candidate actually a candidate and not a lead or just an interested party? Does this fall under franchise sales or franchise development? And who’s in charge – the VP of Franchise Sales, VP of Franchise Development, or VP of Franchising?

And then there’s reference to franchise professionals. Is a franchisee a franchise professional? How about if the franchisee is a multi-unit franchisee with 25 locations? How about a franchise attorney? Franchise service provider?

If a franchise executive is a franchise professional, at what level of management does one begin to be considered a franchise professional? How about within the franchise organization itself?  Secretary, if their support is purely administrative as opposed to an admin that actually communicates with franchisees?

Oh, and should the CEO of a franchise company be considered a franchisor as we often refer to them as such at franchise events?

Ironic how franchising is the replicating of a system with focus on consistency in image, appearance, product and service from one location to another. Yet, there’s little consistency in the terminology used to define many aspects of franchising.

Listening Comes Full Circle as Systino Rebrands as Listen360!

In today’s economy, it’s more important than ever to understand the true value of your customers’ business and how to retain business-at-risk before it’s too late. But unless you’re talking to all of your franchisees’ customers on a regular basis, how can you proactively solve a problem before you lose a customer’s business – or before a scalding comment shows up on Facebook, Twitter or one of hundreds of review sites?  And how do you leverage your customers’ positive feedback for word-of-mouth recommendations across all of your social media platforms?

These were the words used to introduce the recent webinar, It’s Easier to Grow Your Business When You Know What’s At Risk & How To Fix It! produced by FranSummit and presented by Angela Bossie, Chief Customer Experience Officer at what was then referred to as Systino. Well, as the focus of the webinar was about listening to what customers have to say about brand, product and service, it’s certainly appropriate that Systino has announced their rebranding as… Listen360!

Systino®, Inc. Announces Record Year for 2011 and a New Name: Listen360

Atlanta, GA February 7, 2012 – Systino^®, Inc., an industry leader in customer feedback management systems, announced record results for 2011.  The company’s subscription revenues increased 87 percent over 2010 and its booked business more than doubled for the fourth consecutive year. The company expanded its customer base by more than 50 percent and implemented a record number of new customers in 2011 including FASTSIGNS, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, The Goddard School and Sylvan Learning. The company now supports 500,000 active users across more than 14,000 business entities.

The company also announced plans to rebrand in order to more closely reflect its mission; beginning today, Systino^® will transition to its new company name: Listen360^TM. “Our company was founded on the value of listening to customers,” says Angela Bossie, chief customer experience officer at Listen360^TM. “We provide businesses with immediate, specific and actionable feedback from their customers, so they can address customer issues quickly, save business at risk, build customer loyalty and make changes that will have a positive impact on customer satisfaction.”

In order to continue its strong growth, the company has invested heavily in both product and market development.  In 2011, Listen360^TM entered into a series of key business partnerships including those with MINDBODY, an industry leader in the personal services market for online scheduling and business management; and FranConnect, the leading provider of comprehensive franchise management systems.  The company has also added significant new product capabilities, including a web portal for capturing customer feedback, the addition of a telephone survey service offering and net promoter score trending. Listen360^TM has also enhanced its sophisticated “Voice of the Customer” text analytics and added broader multi-lingual capabilities. The company now supports a global client base with customers in the United Kingdom, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Germany and Korea.

Hyperion Management, a Geneva, Switzerland-based private equity firm that manages a portfolio of successful technology investments including Listen360^TM, recently announced an additional $2 million in funding commitments to support Listen360^TM as it capitalizes on growth opportunities. The company has doubled its staff over the past 12 months and expects to use the funds to ensure that it continues to have the resources necessary to provide world-class customer support and industry-leading products.

“From an investment perspective, Listen360^TM represents a golden opportunity,” says Patrick Tinley, managing partner at Hyperion Management and Listen360^TM board member. “The advent of social media has shifted customer feedback systems from ‘nice-to-have’ to mission critical.  Listen360^TM is on an excellent track; it’s profitable, fast-growing and has a strong record of providing outstanding customer service.”

###

About Listen360^TM
Listen360^TM, a Systino^® company, provides business organizations with detailed customer feedback in an easy-to-use, affordable, web-based solution.  Listen360^TM measures customer loyalty with just two questions then uses its exclusive text analytics tool to scan responses for key words about likes, dislikes and concerns. Armed with this information, companies have the insight they need to address unhappy customers’ issues; build customer relationships and loyalty, support company change and validate successes, and transform customers into advocates. Learn more at www.listen360.com.

This Week on Franchise Today: Franchise Times Editor, Nancy Weingartner Talks Franchising!

This week on Franchise Today, Franchise Times Executive Editor, Nancy Weingartner joins Host, Paul Segreto and Co-producer, Joe Caruso, to discuss the recently completed IFA Convention, and Nancy’s involvement in internatonal franchise trade missions.

Joe and Paul begin this week’s segment with a recap of last week’s show with IFA President & CEO, Steve Caldeira, and glimpse into future segments of Franchise Today including the 3rd Annual Franchise Legal Series scheduled to start April 12th.

About Franchise Today

Franchise Today is hosted by Paul Segreto, President and CEO at franchisEssentials, and co-produced by well-known franchise veteran, Joe Caruso. Their unique perspective and extensive industry experience provides the foundation for relevant discussions about franchising and franchise best practices. Weekly guests include some of the brightest minds in the franchise world, with specific expertise and experience within various areas of franchising.

Other features include Franchise News, as reported by the leading franchise publications, the IFA Corner, news and events from the International Franchise Association, New Brands in Franchising, a look at up and coming franchise concepts, and “Are You Kidding Me?”, eye-opening and thought-provoking insight into the comical, and sometimes illogical side of franchising.

The team at Franchise Today is dedicated to franchise success at all levels. So, whether you’re a franchise professional looking to grow a franchise concept, needing some assistance in facing today’s challenges or would just like to better understand franchise best practices, then Franchise Today is for you!

Franchise Today airs LIVE every Thursday at 12 PM CST / 1 PM EST with archived segments available on-demand.

The IFA Convention 2012 may have ended, but the discussion should continue…

To all franchise pros, it was great seeing you at the International Franchise Association Convention. I’m anxious to hear your thoughts about the event. Point blank… Did the event meet or exceed your expectations, and why?

Large or small, have you brought something back to your organization from the event to begin implementing right away? Or, at the very least, to insert into your plan for 2012?

As much of the buzz was about social media and technology, did anything change your perception of social media and how you may be able to utilize the same within your organization?

As well, there was plenty of discussion about credit and how it will continue to affect franchise development. Did you leave Orlando with any additional thoughts on this topic, and more specifically, did you leave with an alternative solution to this challenge?

Was there anything that was presented or discussed that you disagree with? Or, maybe a better question… Is there any topic that you just believe received too much focus and attention?

Anything else you would like to add would be greatly appreciated.