Competing on price may result in a spike in short-term sales, but it’s often a race to the bottom. A focus on value not only drives sustainable growth, it builds long-term brand loyalty.
Following the recent updates to Australia’s Franchising Code of Conduct, Renée Chaplin, VP of APAC at Constant Contact, sat down with Jason Gehrke, director of the Franchise Advisory Centre, to discuss the code changes, the franchising outlook for 2025, and how franchisors can stay competitive.
Their conversation revealed practical growth strategies and marketing insights, all centred around sustainable success in franchising.
For franchisors and B2B brand leaders, it’s never been more important than now to invest in systems that create efficiencies, support franchisee success at a local level, and help you exceed consumer expectations.
Here are five key strategies that can help future-proof your franchise model.
1. Balance brand control with local execution
Brand governance is non-negotiable, but consumer expectations for personalisation are driving franchisors to double down on local area marketing (LAM). Franchisee candidates are also looking for more than just a great product or service — they want to join a brand with a marketing engine that can engage nationally and locally.
To achieve this, franchisors should:
- Equip franchisees with multi-channel marketing capabilities – through platforms like Constant Contact, it’s possible for franchisors to easily share branded, customisable email and social media templates that support consistent national campaigns while allowing for local messaging.
- Enable automation tools – to reduce manual effort and create efficiencies, franchisors can set-up automated customer emails to help franchisees drive engagement and loyalty. For example, milestone emails such as birthdays or reminders to return for a regular service.
- Establish brand kits – to maintain brand consistency, franchisors can set-up a brand kit with colours, logos, images, fonts etc. and require approval workflows to ensure all local marketing aligns with brand standards before being sent/published.
When executed well, this model empowers franchisees to market confidently at a national and local level, while keeping the messaging and branding consistent across the entire network.
2. Leverage franchisee expertise and data
Franchisees are experts in their local markets and communities, their insights help support a competitive advantage if the data is harnessed well and actioned in a timely fashion.
To successfully operationalise this, franchisors should focus on:
- Performance – establish reports and dashboards that surface real-time insights into marketing, sales, and customer behaviour across the entire network. These insights support better decision-making and allow for action to take place quickly.
- Feedback – create a feedback loop with customers and franchisees through surveys to ensure that strategic decisions are data-driven and that the business is adequately tracking important metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT).
- Information-sharing – equip franchisees with important information such as market data, sales benchmarks and metrics, competitive intelligence to help drive performance in their territories.
When data is centralised and accessible, and franchisee expertise is valued and integrated, the entire franchise network benefits from smarter decisions and stronger execution.
3. Lead with value
Too often, businesses lose momentum after the first sale. In fact, a recent study by Constant Contact found that 27 per cent of customers never hear from a small business again after their initial purchase.
For franchisees, this highlights a critical truth: staying connected post-sale isn’t just good customer service, it’s a scalable growth strategy.
However, contacting customers after a sale isn’t just an additional promotion opportunity, it’s a means to establish value and build loyalty. To achieve this, it’s important to establish value with every touchpoint and not lead with price or rely too heavily on discounting.
Instead, the focus should be on delivering value throughout the entire customer journey. Franchises can achieve this by:
- Focus on the unique value proposition (UVP) – highlight service quality, convenience, and differentiators to set the experience apart from competitors.
- Provide franchisees with communication tools – to foster long-term customer engagement, franchisees need to be equipped with tools that allow for customisable communication (find out how Constant Contact achieves this for hundreds of franchises worldwide) on an ongoing basis.
- Implement loyalty and retention programs – executing on customer retention requires a solid strategy implemented from the top down. A loyalty program supported by personalised communications via email, SMS, and social media, can keep a brand top-of-mind and encourage customers to bring their business back to the franchisee.
Leading with value builds stronger relationships, increases repeat business, and strengthens brand equity, a win for both franchisors and franchisees.
4. Adapt to evolving consumer expectations
Consumer behaviour is shifting rapidly, and successful franchisors must stay ahead of these changes to remain competitive. The key is building and evolving the customer experience at every touchpoint with the franchise brand.
To achieve this, franchisors should:
- Conduct regular market research – stay ahead of changing preferences and emerging trends, particularly with advancements in technology and consumer expectations in a digital-first world.
- Listen to the customer – using customer feedback to refine offerings and improve service delivery is important, this information should be shared across the franchisee network to help all territories adapt and improve.
- Train and develop staff – invest in the people on the front-line as they represent the brand and have a direct influence on the success of franchisees. Bringing them along the journey and helping employees to understand the “why” of certain changes helps with adoption and service delivery.
Franchises that truly listen to the customer (and act), evolve with consumer expectations and invest in their front-line staff will win the loyalty of tomorrow’s customers.
Key takeaways
In 2025, it’s the value you create and communicate that will drive sustainable growth across the franchise network.
Success starts with brand trust, reliable data and systems, and an exceptional customer experience. Achieving this requires investing in technology that can meet the unique demands of franchise networks.
Constant Contact provides a simplified solution to franchise marketing and communications that supports both the national marketing team and franchisee local area marketing.
Start your free 30-day trial or book in a no-obligation demo with our team based in Brisbane Australia.
