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Stone Payton  

Welcome to franchise marketing radio Stone Payton and Lee Kantor are here with you today. Today's episode is brought to you in part by the Business RadioX® Studio Partner Program, equipping franchisors to help franchisees dominate their local market. To learn more about serving your market and growing your business. Go to mybrxstudio.com. Lee, this is gonna be a fantastic segment. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast, President and CEO of AlphaGraphics, Mr. Ryan Farris, how are you, Ryan?

 

Ryan Farris

I'm doing great today, thanks for having me on the show.

 

Lee Kantor 

All right, before we get into things, can you share a little bit about AlphaGraphics? how long you've been around? And some of the services you provide?

 

Ryan Farris 

Yeah, absolutely. You know, AlphaGraphics is actually celebrating this year, our 50th anniversary. So, it's been around for quite a long time and, and has made a lot of changes to address the needs of our customer base. And then what we do is provide customers and businesses, notably small to midsize businesses, print and marketing services, whether that's communications or graphics, it could be as simple as a brochure or a business card, or it could be as complex as the window wall and floor graphics to get a restaurant up and running to their direct mail needs. or any of the digital need’s website, email, and etc. So, and I've been with the company fortunate to have been with the brand since 2015. And, and looking forward to continue it on for a number of great years, as it's been a lot of fun working with this fantastic, brand.

 

Lee Kantor  

So your franchisees in local markets, how did they kind of go to a market like, what nice do they serve in the business community?

 

Ryan Farris  

Yeah, so obviously, each one of our AlphaGraphics is locally owned and operated and, and as they work in their local markets, they're servicing a lot of those other locally owned and operated businesses, even some of the headquarter businesses that might be within their territory. And so, it could be the ice cream shop next door, helping them with their menus, their boards, their direct mail to let customers know they're there and what they're offering us. Or it can be the headquarters office down the street that that needs to communicate across the country. 

 

And so, we kind of provide that mix of print and marketing services. And our breadth of offering is quiet, quite wide as you can imagine. So, a lot of people think of it as printing, which it certainly is. But like in these times, right now we're doing things like floor graphics, face shields, counter displays, directional Wayfinding, signage to help people know where to go to sign in and do ABC XYZ so you know, they provide quite that mix for those businesses in their local markets.

 

Lee Kantor  

Now, what does the profile of an ideal franchisee look like?

 

Ryan Farris  

Well, you know, our owners are quite diverse individuals, you know, obviously, our ideal candidate and those that we've seen in the brand for this 50-year period, have a lot of entrepreneurial spirits, you know, they want, they want to make a business for themselves. A lot of them have had some great corporate careers, and are at a point in their life where they’ve amassed some wealth. 

 

But more importantly, they're looking to have a better balance between income right, obviously still provide for their family but start building some wealth, you know, working for themselves can do something like that, that also have the right balance for lifestyle and be able to have the right work-life balance. I see quite a few candidates come to us that maybe a little bit burned out of being on the road and putting too many miles on a plane and they want to start you know, putting some more miles in their community and that makes a really good fit for us as an owner as an individual that is a has the desire to be in business for themselves with right guardrails that a franchise brand can provide but also likes to see the physical work that they're producing in, that's what an 

 

AlphaGraphics can do is take that desire to be an entrepreneur with the guardrails, and they give them something through printed marketing communications, that helps actually another business ground running, what they do at the end of the day is, is help that local business better brand themselves, communicate to their customers, and find their own success. And that gives our owners a lot of pride. And so, our ideal candidate’s kind of fit that profile of someone that is ready to invest in the community, take ownership and take the reins of a business, but more importantly, also help other businesses be successful at what they're doing.

 

Lee Kantor 

Now, do they have to come from like a marketing printing background in order to be successful? Or can they like, what is their kind of skill set coming in?



Ryan Farris  

You know, that’s a great question. And a while, it's certainly fantastic, you know, if someone's coming out of the printing industry, or the marketing, design, industry, even advertising, but that's, that's actually quite rare, I would say less than, you know, 15%, or even in some cases, 10% of our candidates have had any such background. So, it's not necessary. And I think that's, that's what makes an AlphaGraphics franchise successful is that we have that model, right, we have the ability to teach you those skills and give you the right tools to learn the print and marketing business. So really, the key, the key component there is not having the experience necessary, but the desire to be in that business. 

 

And to learn, right, we tell all of our candidates through the process that, you know, the biggest driver of success is a willingness to learn something new, do new things, and adapt and change as this business is one that does that a lot. You know what, what it would look like 50 years ago is nothing of what we look like today. And so, people that really thrive on innovation, providing unique ways of doing things, finding new ways to kind of cut through the clutter and noise of marketing you really well in this and they don't have to have any previous experience to have success doing so.

 

Lee Kantor 

Now, do you prefer the franchisees to be owner-operators? Or is this something they can run as absentee and just hire the right folks?

 

Ryan Farris

That's another great question. You know, and there are brands that you can be more of an investor and in manage, multiple units in AlphaGraphics are not that great, we are very much an owner-operator model. We have, we have found, through lessons learned to 50 years that the most successful centers and owners are those that are in the business that is helping, you know, side by side, obviously, over time and through experience, they find the right lifestyle balance, of course, but that's it's not an investor model. And so, we do require that our owners, learn the business, help kick off that business be involved in the day-to-day decisions, and they certainly can continue to expand through multi-unit. But we still want that initial location to be an owner-operator model.

 

Lee Kantor 

Now, what is kind of a day in the life of a franchisee look like?

 

Ryan Farris  

Oh, yeah, so this is a little bit guided by the owners. But you know, a typical day, you know, an owner is going to have a business hour Monday through Friday eight to five. And they're going to come in in the morning, and generally hold what we call a whip meeting, what is our work in process and get with the key team members and go through the work that came in yesterday and needs to get out that day, kind of layout the schedule for the team, and then kind of set everybody off on their marching orders to get them going. 

 

That owner may be helping produce some of those jobs in the day. But that's only going to be a portion of their time, they're going to also spend some time with some of our key tools and systems, understanding the leads that are coming in for the day, prioritizing those leads, and following up, you know, taking those requests and getting those estimates out, getting some invoices out and then hopefully getting out of the building and talking with a few customers and prospects. 

 

And then obviously, through the end of the day, even doing a few deliveries is a great opportunity to shake hands with customers thank them for the work that they've given you for the day, and ask for the next job. So, you know our typical owners will spend about half the day you know working with their team and in the shop and making sure things are going well. And about half the day. You know to prospect, talking with customers or potential customers, and just making sure all the bills and invoices get gets sent out from the day.

 

Lee Kantor 

Now when you're working with your owner-operators? Are they? Do they typically have a comfort level of going out and immersing themselves in the community? Or is that something that corporate kind of teaches them? How to get the most out of that?

 

Ryan Farris  

Yes, yes, on both sides. So, our owners, you know, especially new into the business, you know, I can find a lot of our candidates did very well in a particular industry or business, but may not have been a sales background at all, okay, may not even have initially had any comfort, doing calls or conversation or meetings that are even sales-oriented whatsoever. And so our training program focuses quite a bit on understanding how, as an owner, it's not technically a sales call, in the sense in the traditional sense, but it is that community involvement, and so we focus a lot on, you know, how to engage with your chamber of commerce, you know, how to work with your local nonprofits, how to engage your community, just as a business owner, as a community leader, and work with those individuals at the same level, you know, working owner to owner, entrepreneur to entrepreneur, in some cases in small business, small business to say, I'm here to support your needs. 

 

And here's what I'm capable of, and maybe vice versa, how can you help my business as well. And so, we spend a lot of time in the training, helping these new owners get more comfortable with those types of opportunities and engagements, which is a little bit more of a self-sale process. But it's super instrumental. You know, we did a customer survey about 18 months ago, with our current customers, customers that stopped doing business for one reason or another, as well as people that have never done business without the AlphaGraphics. 

 

And we found the number one reason that a customer stopped doing business with us as they just moved out of range or out of distance. And so, we've noticed, it's very important to be a brick-and-mortar business to have that local presence. Because that seems to be a very key driver, to why they want to do business with AlphaGraphics. And then obviously, the quality product service and expectations come into play. But we are very instrumental in our communities. And a lot of our owners drive a lot of the referrals and business just by being engaged in their local communities. 

 

Lee Kantor 

When you're working with the franchisee, and you're helping them kind of with this consultative selling and not selling, but just being available and teaching them that what are some of the I don't want to say maybe mistakes that new person makes when they're making that transition for maybe they were a leader in their kind of day job prior to this in their first life, corporate life. And then now this, you know, they got to be a thought leader, they got to be an expert, but maybe it's kind of a little bit out of what they're used to doing any tips on how to make that transition smoother.

 

Ryan Farris  

Absolutely, I mean, I think, for anybody going from no experience in running a business day to day, especially a small one, right, where, you know, maybe it's two to four people, maybe even five or eight people, but a very small team is a big transition, you know, I mean, you know, we kind of explained to candidates to go through the process that, hey, you know, you might find yourself you know, getting out the broom and cleaning up the floor, restocking the toilet paper and paper towels. 

 

This is this kind of comes with being a small business owner, and then those are key decisions you're making because now it's your money on the line. And it's a representation of you and your business. And so, you're gonna find yourself in some new situations helping them get through and understand the value of how to engage people. You know, it's, it's, it's more what we found is if we talk about it as a, as a sales call, it really does. It's amazing. Even people that are, you know, well-seasoned, it is amazing, the tremors you can see in their hands when they envision a cold call. And so, we tend to steer away from, you know, that type of language initially and focus on relationship building. 

 

You know, despite that vernacular change, of talking about it as building relationships, you know, letting the community know that you're there to service them is a much easier approach and takes a lot of those trimmers out of them out of these, these candidates and owners. It gives them a sense of comfort that you know what you're basically doing, it's just talking about yourself, okay? So what people are very good at doing is talking about yourself, and so What we coach them on and we actually do rehearsals of this is how do you explain what you do for a living right now that you're an AlphaGraphics owner, your elevator pitch. And going through that exercise is pretty impressive. And we actually do it in a group. So, we'll have anywhere from 5 to 10 new owners in the room at a time. And as they hear each other doing it, they pick up little tips and tricks. And they understand, oh, that sounds, that sounds like me, that's how I want to project myself. And that begins to give them comfort. 

 

And so that kind of exercise, if you will, of almost doing it to mirror, that actually was some of your peers that are in the same situation, helps build their confidence, and gives them the ability to very easily, you know, if you will, the next time they run into their next-door neighbor, the next time they run into the business owner, or hopefully proactively, you know, stand in front of their Chamber of Commerce, and have to say very simply, what do you do, that becomes an easy way that they've now rehearsed to convey, I'm a local business owner, and I've invested my life savings in this business because I like to help other businesses be successful. And if any of you need help with your sales and marketing, I'm willing to put my livelihood on the line to help you with yours. 

 

And that simple talk track helps them connect and build those relationships and makes it very impactful because now it's coming from them from their heart. And then you can feel what it's like to be an owner, and people like that connection. And from there, it just builds. And then we go through another series of exercises, which is once they say tell me more, or hey, I would like to learn more about your services. How do you then answer that? And so those tactics of group kind of sessions, going from the 30 seconds initial conversation to the five minutes, you know, how do I talk about their needs and assess their needs? Because becomes really effective for these owners? So, if you will, our first component is, how do you talk about yourself and what you do. 

 

And then the easiest thing, like we just said, is then asking them what they do. And they love to talk about themselves as well. And you'll get those answers. And so, it becomes a really easier conversation that helps these folks transition into that kind of sales mode, if you will, and helps them communicate because they had to do their business.

 

Stone Payton 

If you're just now joining us, you're listening to franchise marketing radio. Our guest today is the president and CEO of AlphaGraphics. Mr. Ryan Farris, Ryan, Stone Payton here, when it comes to marketing the opportunity out to potential franchisees, are you finding any vehicles more effective than others? Whether it's email, direct mail, pay-per-click social, or something's working better in that regard than others? For you guys?

 

Ryan Farris  

Yes, you know, we certainly find that our social channels work very well. And different forms of advertising through those more digital-based avenues work very well in reaching an audience and I think it's twofold. One is, you know, if you're finally hitting that point in your life where you know, you're tired of the grind, or you're tired of doing all that work to earn someone else their money and build their wealth, you're likely to add on that information in the evening, you know, after you come home from a long hard day, or finally gotten off of a five-day road trip. And so, you know, there's not a phone number, you're going to call at 9:10 midnight because you can't sleep. 

 

So, you pop online. And so we find that that's the first place we get our initial engagements and we've actually set up some automatic chat to engage people at all hours at night videos so they can hear from other people like themselves, you know, why they considered you know, going the franchise route and joining a brand like AlphaGraphics and, and that's really been, you know, highly successful, because at the end of the day, it's letting people find you when they're looking for you through the channels that they're using. 

 

And the reason social hits both runs for us as one, they can find it right if they're running through their Facebook feed or LinkedIn. And they see that particular you know, opportunity to be an owner. But the second part is once they click into it, they can engage digitally through video and in audio, you know, to understand how it might connect with him. And so that's been a really, you know, great opportunity for us and obviously complements our traditional channels of you know, dress email and email just as well, that's socialist certainly a great avenue for us.

 

Lee Kantor  

And Ryan, how are you canceling your owners in the local markets to help their clients whether this Coronavirus crisis we're having nationwide?

 

Ryan Farris  

Yeah, I mean, this is unprecedented. And, you know, we do quite a bit of video to support our owners and everything for morale-boosting to what you should be doing now to what loans and options are available for you. And, and, you know, I would say, it's equally important for our customers right now, what we've been focused on as an AlphaGraphics brand with our owners, is just being there for our customers that are being impacted the same way we are, you know, most of our owners, I think we've got now 26 states, 70 counties, and another, you know, 114 cities that have gone to a shelter in place, mode of operation. And we're all in the same boat. 

 

And so, we've kind of taken the approach of, here are five things you can do to better communicate with your team and your company during the COVID crisis. So, we produce an E-book to distribute to all of our customers, we've done some FAQs, what are you looking at? And what are your options? How do you want to address and manage to get through the crisis, and then obviously, we've been able to very recently shift some of our efforts to support our community producing face shields, with our equipment producing counter protective shields, so the cashier has a little bit of a shield, if you will, from guests and customers coming in. 

 

Floor stickers, you know, that's a stand here to remain six feet away from, from the other patrons in the venue, you know, Wayfinding signage, so you know where to go sign in, all of these things are community based, that are still helping those essential businesses stay in operation, working with our owners, or working with the restaurants to produce new signage for them that says, we're still open and we do takeout and delivery, even helping them with the takeout boxes, and laminated menus and to go mittens, so that so that the businesses that need to continue servicing our community have the marketing and communication tools that they need to do so and, and also that that's been probably the little bit of silver lining in this crisis is seeing these owners rally, even with their own pocketbooks being impact, to step up and help their communities help these other businesses find ways to survive and thrive, potentially this crisis, help our health care workers and our you know, law enforcement get the tools they need to stay safe and continue protecting his services and communities. 

 

That's been quite heartwarming, you know, you just can't imagine what that means for a brand to see 250 locations, you know, find ways to continue to get that. So, that's been, that's been how we've been working with our communities, and not just helping them. But that helps us get to the crisis of emotions.

 

Lee Kantor  

Yeah, I think that I agree with you, you, this isn't the time to kind of stay in a bunker and then pop your head out in 90 days, when it's over. And like, we're ready to restart, like you got to be serving through the whole process as best you can. And I think a lot of communities, and it sounds like you've chosen wisely in terms of your owners and local markets, that they have the heart of service, and they want to really stay connected to their community and help in whatever way they can.

 

Ryan Farris  

Yeah, we've seen owners, actually here in Denver, or AlphaGraphics, that does, or locations, they took some of their excess coroplast, which is the materials you see for yard signs, and started producing signs for neighbors, you know, just saying, we're staying in to protect our community, or we're staying in to protect our grandmother, about 50 versions of the sign now have been generated by the communities and, and you're starting to see him in the front yards. 

 

And even some of them with a little the bear produced on it to help with the kid’s little scavenger hunts. You know, it's things like this, that these owners are doing that still, you know, allows their printing to have some opportunity for business, but more importantly, you start to see the community and it's, it's, it kind of shows that we're all still banding together to get through this crisis.

 

Lee Kantor  

Yeah, and I think that we're gonna get through this and I think that companies like yours are examples of how to do it and you're doing a great job and congratulations on all the success.

 

Ryan Farris 

Yeah, thank you. It's been wonderful to work with a brand like AlphaGraphics and I appreciate your habitus on Your show today and look forward to doing again in the very near future.

 

Lee Kantor  

Now if somebody wanted to learn more about AlphaGraphics whether it's a find their local AlphaGraphics or find out more information about the franchise opportunity is there a website.

 

Ryan Farris  

Yeah, absolutely before for everybody, you can simply go to alphagraphics.com And there is a right away map finder so you can find the alpha graphics near you and contact them for any services you might need. If you're interested in learning more about potentially joining the brand as an owner, there's a link there as well that says learn about franchise opportunities. So, we welcome any and all and are happy to share how we can help your company or you as a person, or if you're interested in just learning about what franchising is like. We're happy to do that as well. Thank you.

 

Lee Kantor  

Good stuff. That was Ryan Ferris, president of AlphaGraphics thank you so much for being the guest today. This is Lee Kantor and Stone Payton We will see you all next time on franchise marketing radio.