Australian Franchise News – 06-07-12
HIRE A HUBBY franchisees are reaping the rewards of improved streamlined processes after the property maintenance franchise invested $500,000 in a customised, fully programmed franchise management system.
The new Hub e-connect management system has full CRM capabilities and the capacity to produce quotes and record conversions, among other features, and it means the entire Hire A Hubby franchise network is now managed in real time.
Hire A Hubby CEO Brendan Green said the new system, which has been up and running since January, bolstered franchisee support.
“Our franchisees come from diverse backgrounds including supervisory and middle management, trades people and accountants, all with the passion and skills for providing property maintenance, but they need extra support with business operations,” he said.
“The new system allows them to do things like evaluate certain metrics and monitor quote conversions and it’s important that we have these measures in place to help franchisees run their business and customers well, because this results in their success.”
Mr Green said the new management system streamlined the entire Hire A Hubby operation.
“In the past, we had three unrelated systems managing accounting, work allocation to franchisees and franchisee performance and this was the key driver behind the need for a new franchise management system. It just wasn’t good enough for effective Head Office support.
“We had regular business reviews with franchisees and relied on them to divulge their business and it was difficult to provide constructive solutions. Now we can walk in prepared with real time data and provide solid support.”
He said ex-franchisees who now worked in Head Office provided a real feel for what was needed.
“We couldn’t find a suitable off-the-shelf system so we produced a customised, fully programmed system and tested it thoroughly and then in January started rolling it out across the network.
“More than half of existing franchisees have already adopted the system and new franchisees learn it as part of their initial training. Some Hubbies are even using the system’s more advanced components to proactively manage their customers.”