Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue II, 2016 | Page 108
FranchiseMarketUpdate
BY DARRELL JOHNSON
Expertise on Call?
Making multi-unit knowledge more available
A
couple of years ago we worked
with a really big search engine
client to help them better understand and approach the franchise community. Their epiphany (which we
in franchising all know) is that franchising
is a business model, not an industry.
Until then they had been frustrated in
both their vertical industry sales efforts
and in the efforts of their regional sales
partners to crack the franchise code. They
knew success would lead to hundreds of
millions in sales. They now are realizing
it. I mention this because multi-unit
operators (MUOs) have a similar set
of characteristics: like franchise brands,
they frequently span industries with the
same basic attributes.
Sometimes stating the obvious provides new perspectives. Here the obvious perspective is to consider MUOs
their own community, something Franchise Update has been instrumental
in creating over the past couple of
decades. Having their own MultiUnit Franchising Conference (later
this month) and dedicated magazine
are two important components in
creating that community. It seems
to me a third component might
involve technology.
I really didn’t give this much thought
until I had several hours of conversation
with Wyatt Nordstrom, CEO of Maven,
a technology company that appears to be
providing an interesting solution to w hat
I think might be a key capability needed
in the MUO community. To be clear, I
am endorsing neither Wyatt nor Maven.
However, I support the concept behind Maven as it applies to MUOs and their needs.
Before I explain the implications of that
conversation, we need to be clear about the
issue we are solving for. In other words,
what are the needs of MUOs that might
be satisfied with technology that reinforces
the multi-unit conference and magazine?
FRANdata get lots of questions and research inquiries from MUOs. Some of the
questions lead to research projects because
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the answers require a fair amount of information and analysis to arrive at an answer
or a set of options. However, many questions lead to relatively short responses—
franchise-related questions usually around
who, how many, and where. MUOs asking
these types of questions typically are seeking
guidance and direction, hoping to get the
answers in phone calls and emails rather
than reports and studies. Most of the time
we are able to respond with some degree
of helpfulness. The distinction between
a short response and a research project
is how much time it takes us to come up
with the answer. The more work we have
to invest, the more likely it will lead to a
research project rather than a quick data
or knowledge response.
Time is money and MUOs are typically impatient, demanding, and smart.
When they pose a question, most of the
time it is framed in such a way that they
expect a quick answer. That brings me
back to Wyatt, Maven, and the concept
underlying his company. He starts with
the belief that the fastest way to learn is
to get people who know stuff to tell you.
Sometimes you need quick insights. He
calls that microconsulting. Other times
you have deeper needs. He calls that
extended consulting: bigger bursts of
expertise such as workshops and seminars, research and analysis, and in-person
engagements.
As I understand it, their business model
is built around qualified experts (mavens).
Mavens can be people inside your organization or outside experts, whose areas
of expertise are collected in the system
and made available to client subscribers.
Subject experts surface depending on the
questions being asked. The subscription
provides a certain amount of access to external mavens. I believe there is no charge
for internal mavens, as they are probably
down the hall from you. I assume the value
of the profile software for internal mavens
is in identifying people on your team with
a skill or experience you would not have
known about otherwise.
Essentially, the idea is to have a software
system keep track of the knowledge and
expertise that employees, partners, members, customers, vendors, and consultants
have that is (or could be) valuable to you.
The software matches the question to
the experts, and you end up with a short
and timely answer to your question. For
instance, Maven claims an average turnaround time of 1 hour.
How would such a concept work in
franchising? Quite well, I suspect. Want
to know how a potential brand might
fit with your portfolio? Want to know
who to ask or talk to about expanding in another city? With a pool of
MUOs in such a network, their expertise would cover almost any operational franchise question. Expand this
with outside experts and you would have
the ability to get many questions answered
quickly, efficiently, and accurately.
I again note that I’m not endorsing a
particular company, but rather the concept behind such a network. Done well,
this could become a powerful third component inside the MUO community. Let
me know what you think.
Darrell Johnson is CEO
of FRANdata, an independent research company supplying information and
analysis for the franchising
sector since 1989. He can
be reached at 703-740-4700
or [email protected].
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