The next day, our homeowner goes to heat up the leftover pizza in the oven—and there’s no heat. So she schedules a repair visit with her home warranty company and tracks the technician while playing Ticket to Ride on her iPhone.

Thanks to experiences like these, homeowners are setting the bar high for brands they shop with.

When it comes to retaining customers, where does your franchise fall along the customer-pleasing technology-line? If you’re not even on the line, customers may be passing you up for a competitor who offers a better experience.

Why Mobile Is Key for Franchises

A great mobile experience is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a necessity. Americans are viewing their smartphones an average of 52 times per day, and 65 percent of customers say they’d choose one brand over another based on their mobile app alone.

If you haven’t made the leap to a full mobile experience, we understand: For one-off brick and mortar stores, adopting mobile technology is a lot easier than for franchises like yours that have multiple locations.

Here are some franchises that have used their “customer-pleasing technology” to improve the customer experience, boost NPS, and reduce customer churn.

1. Burger King’s App Diverts Customers from Its Rivals

Burger King boasted close to 18,000 locations in 2018, and its app operates not only in the U.S., but also in countries like France, Denmark, and Mexico.

App users get access to mobile-only coupons and a restaurant locator, and at some locations they can even order with the app and skip the line. Even better, in 2018 Burger King used its app to send customers away from the competition right as they were at the rival’s door: The “Whopper Detour” promotion caused the app to unlock a 1-cent Whopper deal when it detected that customers were within 600 feet of a McDonald’s.

The app was downloaded over a million times within just a few days, making it the number-one free app in the Apple App Store. Now, almost a year later, the app boasts a 4.7-star rating with 47,300 ratings, with comments like “very convenient” and “the consistent deals are AMAZING; don’t order BK without this app.”

2. Domino’s App Lets Customers Track Their Pizzas

This popular pizza chain has close to 800 independent franchise owners in the U.S., operates stores from the U.S. to Australia to India—and offers customers an app that lets them order Domino’s food from anywhere, and track it from the instant they place the order until it’s ready for pickup or delivery. On the iPhone app, customers can use Dom, the company’s voice ordering assistant, to add items to the cart and select coupons.

Domino’s is constantly changing and adding to the app to keep customers interested. In 2016, for example, the company unveiled a “Zero Click” app that let customers order simply by opening the app. (Though it did give customers a 10-second countdown just to make sure it wasn’t an accidental order.) And in February 2019, Domino’s launched Points for Pies, where users could take a picture of any pizza—whether from Domino’s or somewhere else—to earn 10 points. After 60 points, users got a free medium two-topping pizza from Domino’s.

3. Merry Maids Boosts Customer Confidence with Its Mobile Experience

Hiring a cleaning service can feel risky to the average homeowner:

1. They’re letting people they don’t know into their home to clean their personal belongings.
2. When the cleaners run late, the homeowner worries that the cleaners have forgotten them.
3. They fret that the cleaners won’t do a good job cleaning their home.

Merry Maids, a 40-year-old franchise with about 1,700 units, has overcome these sticking points with their dispatch service, Team Mobility, and an app provided by Dispatch that’s available at participating locations. Dispatch’s solution increases franchises’ Net Promoter Score by an average of 20%, and reduces time-to-schedule by 40%. Through the app, customers receive updates on arrival time plus information about the cleaning team, fostering a sense of transparency that puts customers at ease. Customers can also offer feedback right through the app, giving the company an opportunity to quickly handle customer complaints and promote positive ones.

4. RE/MAX’s App Helps Homeowners Find New Homes

Sometimes homeowners aren’t looking to deliver a pizza to their home or to have their home cleaned—they’re looking for a new home altogether, and they want to do it without having to leave their sofa or even call an agent.

Enter RE/MAX, the #1 franchise in the U.S., which has 3,700 franchisees inside the U.S. and 4,600 outside the U.S. In 2019 RE/MAX acquired booj, a real estate tech company, and created an agent-branded property search app.

RE/MAX’s mobile app lets home shoppers find nearby homes for sale based on their current location, use interactive maps to zoom in on and search neighborhoods, share property listings with friends, generate turn-by-turn driving directions to properties, and connect with a RE/MAX real estate professional when they’re ready for a showing.

5. Blaze Pizza Blazes a Path for Mobile

Blaze Pizza, which now has 173 franchise locations in 32 U.S. states and Canada, is an early adopter of mobile apps for ordering: They launched theirs soon after opening for business in 2011. The app lets customers order ahead, get deals, and track reward points.

In an article in QSR magazine, Jim Mizes, former CEO and president of Blaze Pizza, said, “We use mobile offers to surprise and delight our app users. We’ve made mobile a focus because we continue to see strong correlation between higher app usage and higher same-store sales.”

Are you ready to surprise and delight your customers with an amazing mobile experience? Reach out for a demo to see how Dispatch lets franchises offer bi-directional messaging, on-my-way tracking, instant customer reviews, digital invoices, and simple payments from the field.

The post Afraid to Go Mobile? 5 Franchises That Are Winning Big with Mobile Apps appeared first on Dispatch Technologies.

It’s the ultimate goal.

It’s what they strive for.

However, achieving superior customer experience comes down to the “last mile” – the time period between when the technician leaves for the appointment and the moment the job is complete. How you finish and whether or not you fulfill customer expectations will be how you are remembered and what your NPS is based on.

How and Why Franchises Derail Last-Mile Customer Experiences

Superior customer experiences depend on a variety of factors. When franchisors, franchisees, and service technicians are independent of each other, there are multiple points in the process that break down:

• can be completely disconnected from the technician in the field. If they don’t have the right tools to schedule, dispatch, and monitor the technicians then they’re essentially operating in the dark with no insight into how to improve performance.
• Field Technicians — without a mobile application that automatically informs the franchisee and franchisor about the status of every job then it’s tedious to keep everyone abreast of what is going on. This causes miscommunication, missed appointments, and even double booked appointments.
• Franchisors can be disconnected from the customer and the process, learning about customer issues long after the fact rendering them unable to proactively manage customer care and CX.
• Homeowners can be disconnected from the entire process once a request is made, waiting uncertainly to see if anyone shows up. They become annoyed by appointment “windows” and direct that annoyance toward the brand.

Anyone of these situations can affect the last-mile customer experience. And any one of these has the power to hurt a brands NPS.

The Difference Between Customer Expectations and Realities

A homeowner waiting for a service technician to show up faces several different scenarios. In the best case, the technician shows up on time, is fully informed of the problem, has the correct tool, equipment, parts, and knowledge required to complete the task quickly and with minimal disruption to the homeowner’s day.

All subsequent scenarios include degradation of the last-mile experience:

• The technician does not have the information the customer provided about their problem (According to a 2015 survey by Consumer Reports, more than 65% of customers say a top issue with service is having to repeat information over and over because it’s not being passed from rep to rep.)
• The technician doesn’t have the right tools, equipment, parts or knowledge to resolve the problem.
• The technician disrupts the homeowner’s day and/or leaves a mess behind when they leave.

While all of these issues may seem like technician issues, in reality, many pitfalls stem from a disconnect between the franchisor, franchisee, and homeowner.

Digitizing the Home Service Experience can Improve Last-Mile Outcomes

Digitally connecting every party through a clear and simple system provides each homeowner, technician, franchisee, and franchisor with the ability to visualize what is going on while facilitating superior last-mile experiences.

Check out these six customer experience moments that can turn your service into a wealth of positive feedback and word of mouth referrals. By delivering superior last-mile performances, franchises can avoid “where’s my tech?” call, build good-will, identify top-performing technicians in the field, and improve their bottom line.

Automatic Appointment Confirmation and Reminders

Automatic appointment confirmation and appointment reminders can help keep the homeowner n the loop and ensure they are ready to receive service at the assigned time. These can be delivered to a mobile device via text, direct message, or email.

Real-time technician “on-my-way” alerts

On the day of service, the homeowner should receive a notification letting them know the technician has begun the journey to their house. An “on-the-way” text message can be accompanied by a preliminary ETA window as well as the technician’s name and contact information.

Two-way communication

Two-way communication between the homeowner and technician can ensure the homeowner has the ability to share information and digital photos detailing their problem. The technician can ask questions, and share more specific information about their ETA.

In-the-field payment options

According to the 2016 U.S. Consumer Payment Study from TSYS, 75% of consumers prefer to pay with a credit or debit card, making taking payments in the field a simple solution to chasing payments after the fact.  Allowing the homeowner to make a digital payment in the field increases immediate settling of invoices and decreases the number of accounts that run late or go to collections.

Immediate feedback opportunities

Gathering feedback in the moment provides direct, actionable data and prevents issues from being overlooked. According to the 2019 Customer First: Personalizing the Customer Care Journey Report from McKinsey, organizations must gather direct, up to date customer feedback in order to understand and meet customer wants, needs, and expectations. Providing opportunities for homeowners to leave digital feedback after every interaction can help head off issues and lead to successful service experiences.

Completely mobile experiences

Providing a consistent mobile experience for homeowners can significantly improve their satisfaction with their home service experience. If everything from the first contact to the final feedback can be completed via mobile, there is uninterrupted communication throughout the process. All parties are enabled to share and receive information for seamless customer experience.

By reimagining field service from the ground up and investing in a system that provides continual contact and transparency between franchisor, franchisee, and customer, your home service franchise can improve customer experiences and avoid churn.

Dispatch provides complete connectivity and seamless mobile experience, making improved last-mile customer experiences a reality. Find out more about how Dispatch works or sign up today.

The post How Home Service Franchises are Delivering a Better Last-Mile Customer Experience appeared first on Dispatch Technologies.

As you start the home inspection process, your realtor recommends someone to use…

“They’re the best in the area. I’ve worked with them in the past and it was a piece of cake. Here’s their number…”

So you (the buyer) calls the inspector and schedules an appointment. After a little small talk about last night’s Red Sox game, you settle on a day and time that works for the both of you.

Inspection date: June 22 at 1 pm. Put it on your calendar! Wait…well, not quite yet.

That’s half the process. You have to call your realtor to let them know of the inspection date. They then call the seller’s realtor to see if that date and time works for the seller. This is where you cross your fingers and hope that everyone’s schedule aligns. If they don’t, the entire process needs to be repeated.

This Process Has to End

This back-and-forth isn’t any way to run a company because it simply leaves too many opportunities for messages to fall through the cracks – plus it’s painfully tedious. We built Dispatch with the sole focus on improving two things: the customer experience and the communication between multiple, disparate parties.

Let me show you how…

Dispatch: Surprisingly easy and very impactful

The inspection process with Dispatch is shockingly simple. When the buyer and seller are ready to proceed with the inspection the buyer calls the inspector to schedule an appointment. When the buyer and inspector agree on a date and time, a text message and email goes out to the seller to schedule the inspection at a time that works well for them. Once the appointment is scheduled, calendar invites get immediately sent to the buyer, seller, and both realtors – everyone’s on the same page and communication flows perfectly.

This digital shift turned a 4-5 step experience into a simple 2-3 step process. The old way of working with a home inspector was not ideal – it had way too much back-and-forth. Turning the traditional method into a digital method allows for inspectors to be more accurate and faster with their communication. It allows them to keep both the seller and the buyer informed so the seller doesn’t have to wonder when to leave and return home during the day of their inspection.

Positive things happen with digital experiences

The NPS of the realtor will quickly increase because the process is easier for everyone.

The seller’s happiness will increase because by having a digital connection between them, the buyer, and the inspector, they’ll have greater insight into when to leave their home and when to return on the day of the inspection.

Buyer satisfaction increases because they only need to make one call.

All-in-all, companies that transform their existing customer experience into a digital stack like Dispatch will see improvements in NPS, scheduling time, reduced phone calls and more on-time arrivals.

To learn more, contact Joshua Schure at joshua@dispatch.me

The post The Annoying Home Inspection: Simplifying the Tedious Back and Forth appeared first on Dispatch Technologies.

Unfortunately, once a franchise is created, the franchisors often lack full visibility and insight into the work being performed by their franchisees. All that effort the franchisor puts into developing training guides, adhering to legal regulations, and vetting their franchisees, can seem pointless if they cannot even control their business after it’s been created. Rather than rely on real-time information and facts, franchisors are forced to rely more on something that isn’t scalable – trust.

And trust certainly has a place in the franchise model, but transparency is really the key enabler for any successful franchisor-franchisee relationship.

We highlight the 3 main challenges every franchisor faces, and how Dispatch helps to solve them.

Challenge #1: Franchisors Don’t Get Real-Time Feedback On How Well Their Franchisees Are Serving Their Customers.

As a franchisor in the home services industry, you have the experience and tools to respond to particular repair challenges with ease. Yet, waiting for customer feedback on your franchisees exposes your work to serious threats, and loosens your control on the business you built from scratch.

Even worse, without user-friendly technology, some customers may not even provide feedback at all, whether it be negative or positive. So not being able to quickly remedy negative customer comments, or promote positive ones, can leave a franchisor constantly playing a game of “Guess Who?”.

Solution: Real-time Information Delivered With Ease.

No more waiting, hoping and praying that a job is going well. Dispatch’s mobile and desktop platform instantly sends every job detail back to the franchisor, so he or she can see in real-time how their branch is performing.

Being able to access immediate customer feedback allows franchisors to finally level the playing field. No more time wasted collecting disparate pieces of information, sorting out billing issues, or responding to complaints days later.

Challenge #2: Franchisors Don’t Know If The Franchisees Are Representing Their Brand Well

In the home repair industry, every single job can affect the overall reputation of the franchise. It takes just one salty review online to set a franchisor scrambling to restore their brand.

Therefore, the success of a home services franchise depends heavily upon the ability of the franchisor to identify both their poor performing and hero franchisees. Without a clear picture of their franchisee landscape, business managers cannot make the necessary internal decisions that generate strong outward brand awareness and profit.

Solution: Immediate Feedback to Both Franchisor and Franchisee

Immediately following a completed job, Dispatch provides both the franchisor and the franchisee with customer feedback in one simple, technology platform. And if a customer leaves a negative review at any point during or after the job, Dispatch will trigger real-time alerts to the franchisor, allowing them to remedy the situation before that unhappy customer posts their thoughts online.

Getting to the customer before they write a negative review online can help more than just the brand. A Harvard Business School study found that for every star increase on a Yelp review, annual revenue can increase by 9%.

Challenge #3: Franchisors Are Looking For a Better Customer Experience But Don’t Know Where to Turn

All home repair franchises have one common goal – to fix their customer’s problems quickly and efficiently. When that’s their focus, the franchises often lose track of the experience outside of them actually fixing the problem – which is a problem. This is where customers feel helpless and left in the dark, eagerly looking for something to go wrong in order to justify their frustration.

What are the points along the customer journey?

Before the technician arrives, most customers have already passed through a gauntlet of work: from being put on hold with their telco service, rescheduling and playing phone-tag, and waiting all day for the technician to arrive.

In addition, franchisees and their technicians sometimes arrive late due to poor GPS and planning, or they arrive completely unprepared because of a lack of information and communication with their franchisors.

Solution: The Dispatch All-In-One Tool Kit

Poor customer experience ends with Dispatch’s all-in-one customer experience toolkit.

Customers access the platform via a web-based link, where all of their job details can be found. Scheduling an appointment is done with the swipe of a finger, and customers receive automatic appointment reminders, one-click calendar invites, and ‘On-My-Way’ notifications via text.

Dispatch empowers their customers by allowing them to schedule and view when their contractor is actually going to arrive. Through Dispatch’s mobile messaging service, customers can immediately call and text their technician and home repair company. Both customers, contractors, and their companies can also share notes and photos before, during, and after the job, ensuring that everybody is on the same page, and working as one team.

Transparency Is Possible For Franchises

Dispatch equips franchises with the set of both tools and a support network to get the job done well. Franchisors gain complete visibility into the work of their franchisees, allowing them to make better business decisions, and provide a positive customer experience. If you are a franchise in need of help, reach out to us and learn more.

The post What it Means To Be a Transparent Franchise appeared first on Dispatch Technologies.

Training Helps

Training is clearly one of the core areas that helps franchisees understand the value of high quality, consistent service delivery. But as President Ronald Reagan said about agreements with the old Soviet Union, “trust, but verify.”  How can a franchisor train the franchises to understand the value of consistent, quality service delivery and verify that they’re actually delivering? One way is to implement a system-wide standard of work order management. This should be a system that has key functionality and high value for the franchisor, the franchisees, and their field service people, as well as the consumer of your services and products.

Have the Right KPIs and Monitor Them

To enable this, it helps if everyone involved is using the same platform and that platform has the processes and procedures built-in with easy to follow methods and checklists. You also need built-in key performance indicators (KPIs) on the core aspects of service quality. Such things as “On time arrival.” If your franchisee schedules to be at the customer’s home at 3 PM, the franchisor needs to know when they actually show up.

Measuring “On-time arrival” every time an appointment is made allows visibility into the consistency of your services system. If you are doing repair work, or other more technical services, what is the “first-time fix rate”? In other words, did the technician have to come back for a second or even a third visit to satisfy the customer? This KPI has a direct correlation to delivery costs, profit, and customer satisfaction.

The post Delivering on Quality Standards in the Home Service Industry appeared first on Dispatch Technologies.

Everyone wanted to know how to become an automated franchise.

They wanted to know how it would enhance their franchise and make their brand more memorable.

In response to this theme, we’re breaking down how automation can affect your service franchise in two critical ways.

Automation improves customer communication

For any service franchise, your brand is held entirely in the eyes of the beholder. Meaning you don’t decide what your brand is, your customer does. If you don’t follow-up with a customer, they’ll view your communication as poor and most-likely voice their opinion on Yelp – letting others know about your “bad” brand.  If you send consistent notifications and frequently call them to let them know that their appointment is still on, then you’ll be seen as transparent and competent – this time boosting your brand perception.

Service Franchise Tip: Being customer-centric is the best way to build brand loyalty and trust. But, keeping your customer in the middle is also…EXHAUSTING. This is where automation comes in. Having a platform that can automate your most important customer communication touchpoints can save you time and energy – all while boosting your NPS and brand loyalty. 

Time spent waiting for in-home services and appointments cost American workers $37.7 billion (IBOPE Zogby, 2011) – With automation, no longer will customers have to feel that “hopeless” and “left in the dark” feeling when interacting with a service franchise.

Automation provides 24/7 visibility

Knowing what is going on with your franchises is difficult. Depending on how your franchise organization is set up, your franchisees can operate as fully-independent businesses or rather, as part of your larger network. This sometimes leads to franchisors not always knowing what is going on with their franchises – which is precisely why the need for automation is real.

When you equip your franchisees with the digital tools to automate their customer communication, you gain real-time information about how each branch is performing. You can know how they’re communicating with the customer, if they’re regularly informing their customers of ETAs, and if the customer is messaging and sending photos to the franchise. Once all this customer communication is centralized into one platform, then you as the franchisor can gain valuable insight into your entire franchise network.

Service Franchise Tip: The fastest way to gain 24/7 visibility is to provide your franchise network with a digital platform that can automate customer touchpoints. Those touchpoints will be shared with you (franchisor) in real-time so that you will know exactly when something is going right and when something isn’t – 24/7 visibility at its finest.

The post What We Learned at IFA 2018: Become an Automated Franchise appeared first on Dispatch Technologies.