Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue IV, 2012 | Page 70

Collaborative

Tension
“If you talk to our
franchisees, they’ll
say our track record
is pretty good. Half
of all our territories
are being awarded to
existing franchisees.
That’s a true
barometer of satisfied
franchisees.”

Brian Sommers

and when you fix 10 of them, they’ll fill
in with 10 more,” he says. “You have to
pick your battles by prioritizing what’s
important, coming up with three or four
things that you solve through the relationship—and, when addressing problems, you have to propose a solution.”
At Jersey Mike’s, Sommers says corporate tries to keep stable relations with
franchisees by being open and accessible
to its franchisees. “We have a whole team
of area directors around the country who
are accessible at all times, and that goes

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Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue IV, 2012

for all of us here in New Jersey, too. You
want to call a cell phone at midnight?
Somebody will pick up. It’s about being
open and transparent. If there are no
secrets, issues have a tendency to work
themselves out.”
Nigel Travis, CEO of Dunkin’ Brands,
says his management team is constantly
working on its relationship with franchisees. “We consider our franchisees our
primary customers and are constantly
working to help them improve their
profitability,” he says. “A big part of
maintaining that relationship is with constant communication and collaboration
through the Franchisee Advisory Council.
Franchisees are elected by their peers to
represent them in district, regional, and
national advisory groups that connect
directly to Dunkin’ Brands leadership.
Many of our best ideas have come from
working side by side with franchisees
through the Advisory Council system.”
A good example of this collaborative approach is when the franchisor
and franchisees “worked together to
convert Dunkin’ Donuts and BaskinRobbins U.S. locations onto one POS
platform,” he says. “From the start, our
franchisee leaders provided feedback
on our approach, reviewed the components of the program, offered feedback
on financing packages, and then several
members tested the components in their
restaurants before the national rollout.
We are now approaching the completion of these projects for both brands,
which will help support our franchisees’
bottom lines. At Dunkin’, this common
POS platform also helped us deliver
our Dunkin’ mobile app, which we released in August, ahead of many of our
competitors.”
Dady believes that, overall, franchisors and franchisees can best work
together by “looking out for the longterm best interests of both. When you
do that, good things happen,” he says.
“Enlightened franchisors recognize
that franchisees need to be profitable,
and that any success done on the back
of the franchisees is short-lived and can
mean long-term pain for the franchisor.”

Robins agrees. “Your primary concern
as an association leader is the franchisees.
That’s where your loyalty must lie. But
both franchisors and franchisees have
to rise above their own self-interests
and have a broader vision for the good
of the system.”

“We consider our
franchisees our primary
customers and are
constantly working
to help them improve
their profitability.
A big part of
maintaining that
relationship is
with constant
communication and
collaboration
through the Franchisee
Advisory Council.”

Nigel Travis