Heavy-hitters in Franchising on Franchise Today in 2013

Media Contact: Sara Schulte, Fishman Public Relations, (847) 945-1300 ext. 256 or sschulte@fishmanpr.com
For Immediate Release

“Franchise Today” Announces 2013 Interview Schedule Featuring Heavy-Hitters in Franchising
Franchise radio show announces new format with in-depth, multi-part series

Houston, Texas – January 25, 2013 – “Franchise Today,” the franchise-focused radio show on Blogtalkradio.com, kicks off 2013 with a new multi-part series format featuring some of the most respected names in franchising. Following the recent merger between franchise development companies FranchisEssentials and Franchise Foundry, the platform is now a production of the latter and is poised to continue its growth within the industry.

Hosted by Paul Segreto, president and CEO of Franchise Foundry, the show’s newly expanded format continues to focus on presenting the franchise community with best practices and advice on various aspects of management and development. Each series of multiple episodes will feature industry leaders, experts and key players sharing their unique perspectives on the chosen topic. The first of nine themes centered on marketing and included guests such as CEO of PostNet Steve Greenbaum on promoting your brand, Jeremy LaDuque of ElementsLocal on the challenges and opportunities of online marketing, Steve Baxter of Satmetrix on the customer experience as a key marketing component and Sandy Lechner of SproutLoud on the brand management value proposition.

“Our goal with ‘Franchise Today’ is to help educate franchisors by providing volumes of information on the most pertinent issues in the industry,” said Segreto. “Over the past four years, we’ve been able to build a community of listeners both here and internationally that is hungry for knowledge and best practices. I’m excited to be part of a resource that can aid franchise professionals and create success at all levels.”

Upcoming Q1 series include February’s “Voices of Franchising” featuring IFA President and CEO Steve Caldeira, just days before the IFA convention, as well as Nancy Weingartner from Franchise Times; “Franchise Finance & Multi-Unit Franchising” in March; and the fourth annual “Franchise Legal Series” made up of eight parts culminating with the IFA Symposium recap for April and May. New to the Franchise Today lineup is a summer-long Franchisor Spotlight Series where some of the leading franchisors share best practices they’ve implemented for improved unit-economics and franchise growth. Additionally, Segreto is planning six to eight special event broadcasts throughout the year for a total of approximately 60 live shows in 2013.

For more information or to listen to live and archived shows, please visit
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/franchisetodayshow
.

About “Franchise Today”:

Hosted by industry veteran Paul Segreto, “Franchise Today” is a production of Franchise Foundry, a full-service franchise management and development company. The radio show has grown to thousands of listeners, including international, and focuses on sharing advice and best practices from the leaders of the franchise community. Segreto and his team’s goal is to educate franchise professionals and help franchisors succeed at all levels. The new format promises multi-part series throughout the year as well as several special event broadcasts. Franchise Foundry also co-produces FranSummit, a social media and digital marketing workshop. To listen to “Franchise Today” live or hear archived shows, visit http://www.blogtalkradio.com/franchisetodayshow.

Franchise brands are few and far between on list of top brands in customer service!

Despite repeatedly hearing that exceptional customer service is paramount in today’s economic environment, franchising sees few brands make the list of top brands in customer service.

Do you believe it’s possible for a franchise brand to consistently deliver positively memorable customer service along the likes of Apple and Amazon.com, just to name a few of the brands that are repeatedly mentioned when discussing exceptional customer service and customer experience?

Are franchisors dedicating enough resources on customer service training? Are franchisees focused enough on providing exceptional customer service?

Personally, I believe it all starts with the culture of the Franchisor and the same must be conveyed to franchisees, not only through training, but in the way franchisors treat franchisees. It must be a top-down effect to start the process and must be on the forefront of everyone’s mind at all times and at all levels of the franchise organization. I also believe an extremely high level of providing positively memorable customer experiences is a key component towards improved unit-economics, and also in helping increase interest in franchise opportunities.

50 Brands Named ‘Customer Service Champions’ as posted on MediaPost.com March 15, 2012

In the faltering economy, the importance of customer service has reached new highs, overtaking even price as a purchase determinant, according to a J.D. Power report.

Read the complete article.

Want to learn more about customer service in franchising?

Mindy Golde, Director of Sales at Listen360 (formerly Systino) discusses Consumer Sales and Customer Experience at the upcoming Franchisee Sales & Marketing Summit. Listen to what she has to say about franchise brands and customer service! FranSummit is March 26-29.

Utilizing Real-time Social Media at the IFA Convention

On this week’s segment of Franchise Today, Paul Segreto welcomed as his guest, Jack Monson, Vice President at Engage121, a social media and pr software solutions providor.

With the International Franchise Association Annual Convention kicking off in Las Vegas on Sunday, February 13th, attendees will be able to enhance their convention experience with real-time social media. Jack and Paul discussed how to effectively utilize the IFA Mobile Application to create a personal convention schedule, navigate the exhibit hall and interact with exhibitors, download powerpoint presentations from education sessions, and stay on top of breaking news and alerts.

Effectively integrating the relatively new Foursquare, along with social media mainstays, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and You Tube into the mix also lends to an enahnced convention experience. As Engage121 is a co-sponsor of the IFA Convention Tweetup, Jack and Paul also discussed the benefits of attending the event and interacting with fellow IFA Tweeters by utilizing the IFA Twitter hastag #IFA.

Besies the IFA Convention-related links within this post, an additional real-time social media tool mentioned on the show is the new IFA blog site, Fran Blog.

For additional information, may we refer you to today’s post by Jack Monson on the topic of IFA Convention-related Social Media links.

About Franchise Today

Franchise Today is hosted by Paul Segreto, President & 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.

Would the World be a Better Place Without Franchising?

This article is a repost from March 15, 2009

It is unfortunate the franchise industry continues to be (and always will be) subjected to bad press because of franchisee failures resulting in lost family savings including the children’s college fund. It’s unfortunate because bad press sells and society has evolved into accident watchers. Need I say “rubber necking on the highway?”

Not to mention that society has become full of gossipers. When was the last time you heard someone in the neighborhood say “Did you know Joe and Mary have been married for thirty happy years?” Such a positive comment is usually left unspoken, at best. Instead, you would be more likely to hear, “Did you know that Joe cheated on Mary.” Well, I think you see the point.

Would it be better for the press to report franchisee failure due to the franchisee not following the system, being undercapitalized or because of serious substance abuse problems? I seriously doubt it. But wouldn’t that at least educate the public? The same public that is looking at franchising as a career alternative or their first step into entrepreneurship. I know, that’s never going to happen either but it would shed a light on the truth.

I haven’t even touched upon less than reputable franchisors, undercapitalized franchise concepts and poor lending practices. Regardless, of how much government tries to protect potential franchise candidates, the government and the industry itself cannot effectively police every franchise professional, every franchise company and every aspect of commercial lending. It’s just not feasible and possible.

What’s the Solution?

So, the ultimate answer lies in dedicating more time and resources in positively publicizing franchise concepts and the industry itself. As well, promoting efforts and results in working with community and non-profit groups would go a long way towards positive public sentiment.

Basically, we (reputable franchisors, franchise professionals and the industry as a whole), need to create a publicity bank that can be withdrawn from as a precaution and hedge against the potential and reality of negative publicity. And just like the cash reserves insurance companies are required to have on hand for future claims, multiple sources and instances of positive publicity must be accumulated to counter the few negative counts of publicity that the media so enthusiastically reports.

The world would not be a better place without franchising. We just need to inform and remind people of the industry’s efforts and accomplishments so the world knows how franchising has actually made the world a better place and will continue to do so for years to come.

The challenge is that in today’s uncertain economic environment, where franchisors continue to cut budgets, the possibility of dedicating more resources towards positive publicity is slim to none. Certainly, it won’t be done in the traditional sense.

But it can be achieved, as it can also be achieved for marketing, development and operations, by exploring non-traditional strategies, methods and processes which are essential to future franchise growth and success.. at all levels.

Franchise Community – This Needs Our Immediate Attention!

Every once in a while, we come across something that makes such an impact on us that we find ourselves motivated to let other people know about our find. Well, I found one of those things. Except, it is not something that I’ve enjoyed, laughed at, or wanted to share for pleasure’s sake. However, it is something that everyone, I mean EVERYONE must be aware of. It’s something that everyone must share and spread the word about. That is, if you care about saving human lives and protecting families from absolute devastation.

The other day I was watching Rick Sanchez on CNN as they showed a Public Service Announcement video that depicted a horrendous accident which was the result of “texting and driving.” After watching this eye-opening four and half minute video, I was speechless, but knew I had to help spread the message of no texting (or emailing, tweeting, posting, etc.) and driving.

One of my social media clients, Mom Corps, happens to follow, and be followed by, @DontTwive. I had seen their posts and even before watching the PSA video, I was intrigued by their efforts. We tweeted a few things about DontTwive and retweeted some of their posts as well. But, after seeing the video, I knew I had to do more.

Today, I posted, from me, and from Mom Corps, tweets on Rick Sanchez show on CNN. Our messages ran across the screen many times during the show. Posts were also made on my personal twitter account, and that of Mom Corps. I also posted a link to the DontTwive blog on my Facebook page. But I know it’s not enough. Not even scratching the surface, but I know every little bit helps when it comes to saving lives and protecting families.

So, in an effort to take this to a new level, I invite all our site visitors to read the following blog article from DontTwive, and view the accompanying video. In addition, I implore all to please preview the rest of their site because it has a wealth of information and other articles pertaining to this horrific subject.

Upon doing so, please join me in supporting DontTwive and their efforts by sharing this information with all your friends and family, and with all your social networking connections. Also, please follow DontTwive on Twitter and make sure to tell everyone who will listen to do the same. On my end, I will look for additional ways of helping, so stay tuned for more details.

4 Minutes and 15 Seconds that can save your life

This 4:15 PSA video from the Wales Police Department is graphic and intense but left us speechless with its message. Some say this video is too gruesome and YouTube has even blocked the 18 and under group from being able to view (the target audience for this Public Service Announcement.)

Read the complete article and watch the video HERE!

This video should be watched by any driver who thinks they can text and drive. Life can change in one second. One second – less time than it takes to Tweet, text, email, or dial a phone number.