Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2012 | Page 49

In 1988, when she started with
a single stand at a Pennsylvania
farmer’s market, Auntie Anne’s
founder Anne Beiler relied on
strong relationships with relatives and friends to help her
business grow.
Now owned by franchise operator Focus Brands, the international chain of pretzel bakeries has
1,200 locations in 46 states and
25 countries including Indonesia
Valerie Kinney
and Mexico. Nearly 25 years later,
her farmstand has become a global enterprise, but the company
is still doing business with franchisees in Beiler’s personal way.
“Our management team still believes that our franchise
partners are our customers, that they’re our main priority,”
says Valerie Kinney, Auntie Anne’s director of communications. Being attentive to franchisees is key. Their phone calls
and emails to the corporate office are answered within 24
hours, Kinney says.
Franchisees also have an influential voice in developing
new corporate rules. Fifteen of the company’s 300 franchise
owners belong to an advisory council, where they weigh in
on everything from upcoming marketing campaigns to new
equipment needs. Three additional franchisees, elected by their
peers companywide, serve on a strategic leadership team that
speaks with corporate executives every week. Depending on
the topic, those conference calls can be as brief as 30 minutes
or as long as two hours.
“Before anything goes out to the store—even a coupon
offer—we get their feedback on it,” says Kinney. “We realize
we can’t work in a vacuum; they’re involved in a lot of decisions we make. If they’re not successful, we’re not successful
as a corporation.”
Over the years, the company has discovered that listening to
its frontline operators pays off, as its most effective franchisees
share several traits. “They love structure and the framework
around that,” says Kinney. “But they also have the creativity
and passion on a local level to be able to grow a brand.”

PIZZA RANCH
Best Telephone Prospect Follow-Up

Marilyn Mayberry

It’s a small but devoted corps
that helps find new franchisees
for this expanding Iowa-based
pizza restaurant chain. One of
the most instrumental members
of the franchise development
team is Brenda Anderson. As a
lead qualifier, Anderson helps
determine whether applicants
have what it takes to thrive as a
Pizza Ranch franchisee.

This means assessing prospects in several areas. Do they
show enthusiasm and passion for the brand? Can they operate
in one of the markets the brand has targeted? Do they bring
experience in the restaurant business or have they operated a
franchise before? And, perhaps most important, do they have
the financial capability to take on a franchise business?
Interest in a Pizza Ranch franchise often comes from people
who have had a good experience in one of the brand’s restaurants, says Marilyn Mayberry, director of franchise development at Pizza Ranch, which has served as a politicking site
for GOP presidential contenders on the campaign trail and is
distinguished by its