The Law

How to Optimize Territory Development for Your Franchise From The Buxton Co As you know, it’s a competitive market for franchisees, who compete not only for customers, but also for internal resources and attention from their franchisor. Franchisees know that they have a higher likelihood of failing if they are poorly managed by their franchisor, which hurts both the franchisee and the reputation of the brand. One of the most difficult management challenges facing franchisors is defining franchise territories in a way that minimizes cannibalization, but doesn’t leave the market underserved. Franchisors who do this well set their franchisees up for success. So how should a franchisor determine franchise territories? Strategic franchisors make objective, data-driven decisions when it comes to franchise territory determination, rather than basing it on guesswork. Franchise territories should be granted only after a data-driven analysis has been conducted to make sure that the franchisees don’t eat into each other’s profits – because it’s simply too risky to assume that franchisees will pull business solely from within their designated trade areas. But It’s Not Just About Territories Beyond combating cannibalization and managing territories, franchisors must know who and where their customers are so they can optimize their store presence in each market and not face the dangers of underserving a particular market. Brand ownership needs to have an analytic solution based on customer data that’s designed to identify and understand not only today’s customers, but also tomorrow’s and 2016’s customers. Because at the end of the day, customers are the life-blood of every franchise concept. Franchisors who truly know their customers’ lifestyles and behavior patterns have a distinct advantage over those who don’t and will be able to support their franchisees with customer insights that will ultimately help the franchisee operate their business better. The Bottom Line The retailers and restaurants that have embraced customer analytic solutions are thriving in this competitive market. The power of customer analytics and its application to franchise territory planning can help you optimize your brand’s reach. Buxton is the leading customer analytics firm that helps organizations identify who their customers are, where those customers are located, and the value those customers have to the organization. 2651 South Polaris Drive Fort Worth, TX 76137 1-888-2BUXTON buxtonco.com