The odds are pretty high that you’ve already heard of the Subway foot long controversy. If not, you can read all about it here. To summarize in one sentence: Subway is being sued for sandwiches that don’t quite measure up to a full twelve inches.
Whether or not you agree with the lawsuit is kind of moot. What is important, however, is that there are ways to prevent this from ever happening. By consistently measuring your franchise execution, you can catch these issues before they get to the customer.
Once mistakes reach the customer on a mass basis, you’ve essentially lost the battle. One bad experience becomes a tweet, which leads to another Facebook post and so on. Before you know it, the complainers who used to praise you on Yelp have become a voice too loud to ignore. One of biggest mistakes a franchisor can make is letting a customer find mistakes first.
Subway responded appropriately by saying, “We have redoubled our efforts to ensure consistency and correct length in every sandwich we serve… Our commitment remains steadfast to ensure that every Subway footlong sandwich is twelve inches at each location worldwide.”
Subway is just an example; they are definitely not alone! Every quick service restaurant and franchise operation fights a never ending battle to maintain consistency across every location. With the power of mobile technology and location based reporting, analyzing franchise execution is easier than ever.
Are you catching your execution issues before they reach the customer?
