Building a digital franchise organization: technology strategies for franchise growth and profitability. (Techno franchising: ahead of the curve).

Thanks to the rapid growth of technology and an Internet-savvy population, building a dynamic and paperless franchise organization has become easy and cost-effective. Today, a large number of growing franchise organizations are actively implementing technology solutions to create new revenue

opportunities, streamline their operations and cut costs associated with paper-based processes. In fact, some of the fastest growing franchise concepts (those with growth rates of over 40 percent to 50 percent) are more then 90 percent paperless and attribute a big part of their success to technology.

Current technology solutions can help to enhance all aspects of franchise operations including sales, marketing, operations, support, financials, customer management, training and supplies. Implemented properly, they can provide franchisors and franchisees with the competitive edge necessary to win over new franchisees and customers while reducing costs to improve profitability. Some of the franchise operations that can be enhanced by leveraging technology include the following:

Customer Acquisition and Retention

No matter what kind of a franchise concept you run, technology can help you acquire more customers. There are success stories of service-based franchisors converting 80 percent of their prospects into paying customers because of the professional impact they create on their customers by leveraging technology to food-service chains and specialty retail chains leveraging e-mails to send out recipes and coupons to increase customer loyalty.

For franchise organizations, looking to increase their top-line through better customer management, one of the easiest ways to start is by building an electronic customer database. By encouraging franchisees to put their customer lists online, the corporate office can have a complete knowledge of their end customers and have the ability to conduct national and regional marketing campaigns. Creating electronic newsletters that can be sent to customers, promotes customer loyalty and a community feeling. Depending on the franchise concept, providing online support or e-commerce capability can further enhance the customer experience. Franchise organizations can also improve customer service by providing online support in addition to phone-based support.

Attracting New Franchisees