Matco Tools manufactures a wide range of specialty tools primarily geared towards the automotive industry, but with applicability in a variety of industry segments. These tools include wrenches, screw drivers, gauges and other specialty tools are generally higher quality and offer the customer the flexibility, warranty and American manufactured benefit which positions the brand in a premium market segment.
The company was originally founded in 1946 and initiated the direct selling model in 1979. As the business and demand for the products expanded, the costs associated with an in-house sales organization increased significantly and management issues forced the company to consider third party distribution models. In 1993, Matco developed a franchise system which could effectively leverage independent franchise owners to invest in and manage the distribution of the products.
The Matco franchise system revolved around the franchisee working a territory model and driving a customized vehicle which brought the parts and products directly to the customer.
Matco has never really looked back and since 1993 has become one of the industry leaders virtually every year for a variety of key performance indicators in franchising. This success in managing franchise relationships and creating profitable franchisees through the intensive support, training and effective business platform has resulted in strong growth.
Over 100 units were added to the system in 2016 and over 200 during the most recent three years of franchise operations bringing the franchise system to an amazing 1,600 units. The Matco franchise model is quite possibly the best example of a route-based product distribution system successfully converting to an independent franchise distribution model.
The franchise model has been so successful that the vehicle and branding associated with Matco has more popularity and appeal to the general population than the actual products the company sells.
As the system has expanded, so too have the operational and management requirements of the Matco Tools leadership team. With this growth, system compliance and operational efficiencies constantly need to be evaluated and reviewed in order to determine best practices and stay ahead of the growth of the business.
In early 2015, Matco Tools hired Franchise Marketing Systems to develop and conduct an operational analysis and market study which would provide the organization with a franchise management strategy. FMS was tasked to review and initiate franchise market research to better understand how effective the franchise system was performing and at the unit level whether these systems were appreciated and were showing bottom line results for the franchisees.
Franchise Marketing Systems developed a methodical approach to collecting franchise data and organizing industry research for the study.
Over a time period of 90 days, Franchise Marketing Systems was able to interview a wide range of franchisees, review the franchise sales, management and support processes and identify key aspects of the business that were working efficiently and others that could be improved.
Reporting directly to Matco franchise leadership, Franchise Marketing Systems was able to offer constructive advice and direction as to how to better manage the growing network and keep the high success rate intact of Matco franchisees.
For more information on how to franchise your Product Sales or Route-based business, Contact Us.
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.