Exclusive Interview
– put another set of eyes on the operation and ask: “What if we tried this, what if we tried that?” I present it to a partner agent as: “If I come into your business and I haven’t added value, then I’m not doing my job. Ask yourself: ‘Would you pay for my time as a consultant?’” Thankfully, the answer’s mostly yes! We always strongly advise a direction
for a partner agent but we never tell them. It’s a partnership at the end of the day; they’ll have their decision and our role in that is to protect the brand and make sure everything is geared toward that brand advocacy.
Lee: There’s a really rigorous recruitment process: they meet the franchise manager, they meet the regional manager, we put them on a finance course for two days. Then, they bring their business plan to me, we talk about their ideas... and that’s when we start with launch support, a full induction programme, put them in-store to train, teach them the Vodafone way, etc. We bring them to our centre here and establish an ongoing relationship with the regional manager – who then supports the business with quarterly reviews, regular visits and coaching as and when needed.
Is this a growth sector? Jon: The UK demand for data on mobile and connectivity in the home is insatiable. Everyone wants fibre to their house, they want a certain number of gigabits per second, they want unlimited data. Vodafone now offers unlimited data packages to customers because we don’t want you to worry about how much data you consume, just be on the network that gives you the best access. The best thing about Vodafone is that it’s such a huge corporation – it’s a FTSE 10 company. Plus, the investment levels from us into the network ensure that connectivity so we can always keep up with consumer demand. And that’s great news versus lots of businesses where, yes, the investment is there – but is it in the long run? We are – we’re on a 15- to 20-year planning cycle, we’re not going anywhere.
32 | The Franchise Magazine 2020
“The performance in every store has improved – it’s their life! We’ve seen the benefits of what franchisees can do”
Mark: In terms of growing our franchisee network I think we’re unique in terms of what we do versus everybody else, and that leaves a lot of room for growth. In terms of territories for interested parties, there’s lots of stores available. We’ve got big patches on the South Coast and South East of the UK and in East Anglia. There’s a wide and varied option of locations. We’ve got our eye on some places about Greater London as well… at least where it’s affordable. We’ve got some great locations –
the likes of Poole and Bournemouth and Peterborough – good hustle and bustle towns you can bring that entrepreneurial spirit to.
What do you value in a franchise partner? Jon: Primarily that they’re really passionate about the area we’re talking to them about and they’re really knowledgeable. People that are willing to be where they get their store. That’s absolutely number one because we need to get more local as a global brand. That’s what all big brands struggle with: really understanding their customers locally. So it’s someone who’s willing to get local and get involved in local community. Don’t forget Vodafone does lots of business contracts so we do what we can to support the franchisee with all the business opportunities there as well, and so it’s being local and it’s being energetic and excited. That’s it. That
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