Do your preferred suppliers engage with franchisees? Could a closer working relationship boost performance?
Wendy’s franchisee Nada Naumovsk is based in Dapto Mall, Illawarra region, NSW.
“We have a varied demographic that visits our business on a day-to-day basis. During the day we have a lot of families and retirees coming in, and in the afternoon, school children and their families visit our store for afternoon tea.”
So how does Naumovsk and her team maximise the product at her fingertips and cater for all her customers?
Step up Frosty Boy, the business that supplies soft serve ice cream to the Wendy’s chain.
The supplier welcomes franchisee visits to give the owner operators the chance to see just what goes into producing this family favourite.
Dirk Pretorius heads up the supply business. He says, “We have worked with Wendy’s for a number of years and we wanted to show the franchisees, who are the core of their business, our strong relationship and the daily practises we reinforce to provide them with the best quality product we can.
“We believe that franchisees who have excellent product knowledge are able to market their product better, which hopefully translates to increased sales.”
That proved to be the case for Naumovsk.
“I am now able to market the product better which supports my sales. I found it very interesting to discover how many variations of the soft serve product exist and the research and development behind each customised product.”
Sharing the information with staff has paid off too.
“They now understand the quality and versatility of the product and how it can be sold in a variety of ways. This information has also prepared my staff with the knowledge to answer any customer questions completely and accurately,” she says.
Pretorius believes a strong relationship with customers also extends to relationships with their franchisees.
“Frosty Boy benefits a great deal from engaging with franchisees as it builds trust and supports our clients with internal relationships with their franchisees. We’ve received feedback from our clients that their franchisees want a better understanding of their products and seek an opportunity to learn more about how they can make it work for them.”
