911 Restoration is considered one of the leading fire, mold, smoke and water restoration franchises in the market. The business model was developed originally seeing a significant opportunity in the restoration field and believing that there could be a better business model to approach this market than what the competition had been doing up that point. 911 Restoration was in a position where the organization had good credibility, solid footing in the restoration franchise market, but hadn’t been able to achieve wide-spread growth like many of the other restoration franchise brands.
In 2010, 911 Restoration hired Franchise Marketing Systems to develop a market strategy, support franchise development and create a strategic plan for developing additional market share. The restoration industry had picked up steam and now had many large competitors including PuroClean (200+ units), ServPro (500+ units), Service Master (1,000+ units) among other restoration franchise brands that were beginning to expand quickly (Rainbow Restoration 100+ units). The model needed to carry value, have an aggressive approach and would need to differentiate 911 Restoration from other’s in the market place. Franchise Marketing Systems worked with 911 Restoration’s management team and sales staff to develop a better approach for driving new franchise candidates into the sales funnel.
The general perception in the restoration market from the franchise investor’s point of view was to buy into a relationship with the insurance company. Most buyers believed that if they bought a franchise who offered them the ability to get direct insurance referrals, this would be the most efficient way to build their new restoration business. What new franchise buyers didn’t realize was that the market works very differently once you are in business, the insurance companies do not necessarily offer the best source of leads and although they are a necessary relationship to have in the business, they do not make for good marketing partners. What 911 Restoration had to offer with the franchise platform was an effective, in-house marketing and business development model. This value proposition was strong in that no other water restoration franchise systems had as deep of a resource pool when it came to internet lead generation and marketing. Franchisees were given the opportunity to leverage this team and have all of their marketing handled for them by the Franchisor.
To convey this value proposition, the marketing needed to first educate the franchisee how the restoration market works and what is involved in getting new business. Once this education took place, then the value of the marketing and lead generation model could be fully understood. Next, the sales and marketing model needed to be quantified and presentable to a buyer so they could see and understand how effective the business development model really was. This started with a strong Item 19 earnings claim, then collateral materials backed up by fact-based data from franchisees and then a sales presentation that introduced this information to a prospective buyer.
As Franchise Marketing Systems worked with 911 Restoration, it also became clear that for the franchise system’s size, there was an incredible infrastructure and some impressive resumes in place dedicated to supporting the franchisees. This value was not being presented effectively to buyers so they could understand how much support, training and hand-holding they would have when they opened their restoration franchise. New franchise sales processes were developed in order to get franchise buyers into the corporate training facilities in Los Angeles faster and more efficiently so they could experience and understand how much value was there for them.
The growth results were strong and convincing in the coming years as today, 911 Restoration has over 350 restoration franchises in operation and has firmly positioned the brand as being one of the primary players in the restoration franchise market. With continued aggressive marketing and business development, the franchise system is adding new franchisees on a regular basis and has been able to compete effectively with the rest of the restoration franchise market.
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FMS is a team of expert franchise consulting professionals based in Canada that provides solutions for franchise development, franchise consultation, and expansion of businesses globally.