Personalizing or localizing a franchise means working within the national franchise guidelines to make local customers feel more connected to a business because it caters to their personal likes, dislikes, community culture, and customs. This makes customers more loyal because they trust a business they’re familiar with and can lead to increased sales and profits.
Localizing your franchise can be done in different ways. Here’s an example: A fast-food franchisee with a secret menu item to replace the bacon on a sandwich with fried Spam works well in Hawaii because Spam has deep cultural roots on the islands, but it may not connect with customers in New England where it is considered just another canned food.
By matching what’s important to your local community, as long as it’s within the customization guidelines set by your franchisor, you can increase the chances of customers choosing you over the competition. This can happen at various stages, including when they get in the car to go somewhere for dinner, when they search the web for plumbers near them, or when they try to find a place to meet friends for coffee.
Here are some ways to gain a competitive advantage by personalizing your franchise for the local community, building customer loyalty.
Food & Beverage
Food and beverage franchises can win customer loyalty by becoming the community kitchen table where everyone gathers to celebrate big events, and by being the easy choice for busy nights. Here’s how they can do this:
- Partnering with schools or sports teams to build awareness of the business through sponsorships or team promotions.
- To go a step further, you can set up a buffet of post-practice snacks.
- Creating 2 or 3 limited-time menu items where a portion of each item’s sales goes toward a different local organization, giving back to the community.
- The goal is to drive more foot traffic because people will want to support different organizations.
- Making special arrangements for events important to the local community but which aren’t covered by a national brand.
- If your coffee shop is in a factory town where being on time to a shift is crucial, offer a community loyalty program where instead of getting free stuff with points from purchases, you open 30 minutes early for members so they can get their coffee and get to work without worrying about waiting in line.
Personal Service Retail
Personal service retail businesses can create loyalty by finding ways for people in the community to feel seen, connected, or motivated.
- A fitness studio can host a free “Yoga in the Park” morning and partner with a local dietitian to do a nutrition workshop at the same time. This gives customers extra value while creating awareness for the franchise, as other park goers notice the event.
- Fashion retailers can host a fundraising gala for local organizations and get clothing models from the local high school or college to do a fashion show at the gala.
- The gala creates a fun event for the community to come together.
- Giving the proceeds to a local charity fosters a deeper connection with the community.
- You’ll have content for social media from the event.
- Attendees will likely tag your store and share images on their social media, giving you advertising and branding.
- This helps your business be a pillar of the community, encouraging people to spend their money there more often.
- Barbershops and beauty salons can feature customers and employees on social media to show their skills.
- A complimentary 5-minute foot rub with a pedicure after a 10K charity run can be a great way to market off of a community event and get more bookings.
- Partnering with other local businesses encourages more appointments too. For example, a joint birthday present where customers can have their hair cut and walk next door for a free cup of birthday ice cream can be a great way to get future business.
Automotive Services
Offering low-cost everyday automotive services gives customers a reason to choose you instead of a competitor for filling up on gas or getting their oil changed. It also builds trust for big-ticket services like repairs, helping them feel confident they’re not getting ripped off on the price.
- Free air for tires or complimentary air fresheners cost little but give customers a reason to choose you over the competition.
- Making vacuums available shows you understand parents’ needs. After they get their car washed, they can vacuum the messes of their kids or pets without having to carry their vacuum at home to the car.
- Share maintenance tips specific to your location on social media to show you have industry expertise:
- How to protect the car’s paint from months of extreme desert heat
- Advice on how to keep windshields from constantly fogging up as you drive in and out of local microclimates
- Ways to easily clean splattered bugs off the grill during summer driving season
Home Services
To personalize your home service franchise, think about a guest who’s invited into your home, and how you can leave a good impression. Here are some examples:
- A handwritten thank you note instead of a generic email where you mention something specific to the customer shows you care.
- Replace the franchisor’s generic marketing kits (double check what you’re allowed to change in franchise docs) with images of your regular customers and their homes (after you get your customer’s permission).
- By featuring loyal customers in ads, you build “social currency” which may drive more business, as friends and community members see the people they know and trust.
Localizing your franchise is possible by tweaking generic elements with personalized touches, such as offering customized services, low-cost perks, and localized products. By making your customers feel that your business is a part of the community and not a big corporation trying to sell them stuff, this can drive higher profits and better relationships. It’s all a matter of balancing what your franchise company will let you customize with what the people in your local community care about.
SmallBusinessLoans does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only. You should consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors.
