Increasing consumer awareness and demand is creating a prime opportunity for contents and personal property restoration franchisors to grow their business.
With extreme weather events on the rise and an aging stock of housing and infrastructure, the need for contents restoration services is expected to grow sharply over the next several years. Franchisors and franchise owners can strategically leverage demand to reach new customers and expand into new locations and territories.
As the industry grows, however, it will become more competitive. How can franchisors stand out from other providers so they can successfully tap into these favorable trends?
It’s helpful to remember one of the key elements driving sustained success in this business: empathy.
We often meet our clients in the immediate aftermath of a challenging or even traumatic event. After the catastrophic impact of a fire, flood or storm, they may experience intense emotions and may not know what to do next.
Skill and expertise are necessary in these situations. Homeowners and business owners look to their contents teams for insights and guidance to help them get started on the journey back. Teams that can consistently connect with clients on a deeper level, with compassion and empathy, are in a position to establish trust and build lasting relationships that lead to repeat business and referrals, which are critical in this industry.
That’s why it’s essential for contents and property restoration franchisors to create a culture of caring and equip them to train their teams to exhibit empathy and compassion in the field, on every single job. Empathy and caring are the most effective ways for restoration companies to distinguish themselves as the market continues to grow.
Those characteristics can’t just be turned on when team members arrive on the job site, however. It’s necessary to instill those crucial values into your company through culture and training to ensure that your team delivers the care and expertise that help customers get through trying times.
Franchisors must commit to truly empowering franchise owners with training, support, technology and other resources that allow them to fully engage with clients.
You can’t train franchise owners once and expect them to serve as an effective ambassador for the brand. It takes continuous communication about best practices, processes and technology to ensure each owner is the best representative of your company. Franchisors must also have tools to keep their team members up to date with the latest skills, best practices and technology to successfully meet customer needs.
Training, therefore, must be an ongoing process involving not only traditional expert-led classroom learning but also frequent informal touchpoints and flexible digital training opportunities. Each of these moments is a useful time to remind franchisors and their teams of the company’s culture and focus on the needs of customers.
Implementing training as an ongoing process requires an investment in 24/7 support for franchise owners and their teams. Coaching, accessible training content, digital resources and other tools provide a foundation for team members to address urgent situations as they arise and to upskill. Such resources can also help franchise owners recruit and retain the top available talent and become an employer of choice – an important distinction in a competitive market. Many digital resources also allow managers and leadership to track training and performance so they can immediately target areas of concern and focus training on skills specific to their market.
As the contents restoration industry evolves, we must all remain engaged and alert to the impact of trends and evolving technology. Anticipating and adapting to innovation is essential. That means periodic ongoing training, whether that is systematic, structured learning in a classroom environment or informal one-on-one or small group sessions. These days, it could mean making flexible e-learning options available.
Digital learning platforms serve a wide variety of functions in the modern workplace — technical support on a job site, onboarding for new employees, career advancement for existing team members, updates to processes and systems. An easily accessible online platform that works with desktop computers, tablets and smartphones not only enables productivity and efficiency on the job, it can streamline training and ensure continuity.
A strong franchise culture can reinforce a company’s commitment to training. The franchise model allows each franchise owner to connect with an existing system of shared values and a common mission. When the franchisor has built a culture with a commitment to training, franchise owners have both the tools they need to implement effective training and a model for prioritizing ongoing training. Ultimately, the power of a common vision and culture will unlock value across the franchise brand.
By taking a holistic approach to training, franchise owners and their teams can streamline and simplify operations, ensuring they can focus on connecting compassionately with customers. The necessary investment in training is a foundation for empathetic service that will make a real difference as your business and the industry grow.
Stefan Figley is president of 1-800-Packouts, a leader in the contents and personal property restoration franchise industry since 2016 and part of the Five Star Franchising platform of home service brands. Figley has nearly 30 years of experience in the franchise and marketing industries, with a focus on brand growth. He has held executive and leadership positions with nationally recognized companies such as Terminix, Steamatic, Merry Maids and Jani-King International, as well as prominent international roles in the marketing industry.