Franchise Update Magazine Issue III, 2012 | Page 22

Grow Market Lead

Leadership
guru

Know Your
Customer
By Dina Dwyer-Owens

A

fter 30 years in franchising,
there is one lesson that I’ve
learned personally and shared
professionally. It goes like this:
It’s one thing to know your business. It’s
another to know your customer. If you
can master both of these things, you will
be extraordinarily successful as a result.
That is true across our service brands
at The Dwyer Group. And it’s true in
my role as chairwoman and CEO as
well. When I assumed these roles in
2007, some people could not imagine a
woman in a “male’s role.” But instead of
focusing on other people’s reservations,
I concentrated on a perspective we could
all agree upon:
I am the target customer. I am the woman
of the house, the person who typically schedules the majority of some 2 million service
and repair calls our service brands make each
year. And my experience matters.
Yes, it’s good to know how to fix an air
conditioner, replace a broken window, or
restore a flooded basement in the case of
our service brands. In fact, it’s wonderful to know how to make a cup of coffee,
change a flat tire, or cook a hamburger.
It’s imperative to know how to arrange a
cookie bouquet, run a daycare, or sauce a
pizza. The services or goods provided by
any franchise, and the business training to

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Franchiseupdate Iss u e III, 2 0 1 2

execute those things, are to be expected.
But how is the experience for the customer? Did you make a lasting impression? Is the customer going to remember
you to the extent that they tell a friend?
Now, we’re talking.
By turning the tables and looking at
your business from the point of view of
the customer, you might elevate your
service. You might hire and train people
differently. What’s important to you may
not be the same thing that is important
to your customer. So, you might not only
do what’s expected—you might also do
the unexpected.
At The Dwyer Group, we love doing
the unexpected across our brands. Getting
to know our target customer has boosted
the satisfaction ratings of our service calls
across our franchise family. The woman
of the house doesn’t just want a problem
fixed. She also wants peace of mind. That
means delivering in the details.
For example, repairing a broken toilet is one thing,