Call it headquarter hubris: In an ideal world, a franchise parent organization responds to the needs of its franchises and tailors communications programs to bring various service offerings to the franchises’ attention.
But in the case of Coldwell Banker Corp., a real estate concern, headquarters was staffed by folks who had done well as brokers, and were advocating an unhealthy attitude of “speed kills” – going into the market, converting a sale, and moving on. They were, in the words of Jeanne Bliss, prescribing instead of listening.
Who is Bliss to make such a statement? While she is currently the founder of Customer Crusaders Inc., a consultancy that urges marketers to view their offerings from their customers’ viewpoints, she was senior vice president of franchise services for Coldwell Bankers. And under her leadership, retention of Coldwell’s “customers” – the independent brokers affiliated with the parent organization – experienced a 98% renewal rating, and an 80% increase in satisfaction levels.
Under the old system, one percent of the franchises were generating 12% of the royalty fees, and six percent of the sales force was accounting for 36% of the fees. There was a decided break between the sales and representatives’ service silos.
When Bliss took over, the parent company began to prioritize what the reps needed to function. “We improved their ability to stay with us by creating a [corporate] DNA that involved listening to [them],” she said.
Instead of amino acids, the building blocks of this DNA included surveys, feedback councils, and analysis of the services Coldwell purported to deliver. Bliss then asked the franchisees to rank what they felt the most important services the parent company could offer were. Ranking, rather than asking a simple yes/no is important, she said: Given a chance, customers will say pretty much anything offered is important to them.
Using this information, Bliss determined which services were most desired, and which ones the parent company had the most – and least – success in delivering. She set up systems to ensure that franchises would receive these services, including establishing resource managers dedicated to bringing these offerings to the independent representatives.
Bliss feels that any customer-focused marketing group, whether internal or external, should begin every meeting by reviewing growth metrics – including new customers by volume and value; lost customers by volume and value; referrals by customer group; decreases in costs to service customers; and non-renewals–with their reason for not renewing. “They will not have these metrics right away,” she said. “But keep asking until they do.”
Bliss offered her insights during a keynote presentation at the Direct Marketing Association’s B-to-B Marketing Conference in Scottsdale, AZ. The conference ends Thursday.
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