Exciting Updates: Key Wins and Strategic Progress
Discover the progress of The Wheel Specialist's multi-year strategy, focusing on customer convenience, being better than best, and network growth. Here are some of our key wins six months in:
50% of our network achieved their best-ever monthly sales figures.
New national repair account partnerships alongside other household names.
Expansion plans on track with multiple new territories, including London.
Successful trial and upcoming network-wide launch of the loan wheel program by end of Q3.
Introduction of online booking to enhance customer convenience by end of Q2.
Enhanced training programs and expanded franchise support team for continuous improvement.
We're on track, with exciting developments ahead!
Please see the full update written by our Managing Director, Jack below:
“We presented our multi-year strategy to our franchisees back in February at our annual network conference and we promised that it would be a living and breathing “thing”, not some dry document that is completed and then filed away never to see the light of day again. So, I wanted to share how that’s going.
I have to say that having three key strategic drivers for our business, (focus on customer convenience, being better than best and network and account growth) is really helping keep us focused on the bigger picture.
So, what does it look like 6 months in?
Well on the growth front, we’ve seen 50% of our network have their best ever monthly sales figures so far. We’re also partnering with a new national repair account to go with some other household names that have become rostered clients over the last 12 months. Our network growth plan is also on track with several key territories including multiple in London likely to see branch cover by the end of 2024. This is largely down to our revised franchising model that helps us unlock opportunity in even the most challenging parts of the country, where space is tight and rents are highest!
Moving on to customer convenience, our loan wheel programme is moving on from successful trial phase and we’re expecting to expand it to the rest of the network by the end of Q3. This will be a game changer for us, opening up further retail growth while making our offer even more convenient for our customers. We’ll also be launching our online booking function by the end of Q2, this will make our digital customer journey more seamless and therefore easier for customers to book in at a time most convenient to them.
Finally, while we pride ourselves on being the best for wheel repair and refurbishment, we’re always looking to improve – hence our focus on being “better than best”. To ensure that our teams are always on track, we’re improving our already great current and new franchisee training programmes with more interactive online content and an even greater focus on live training scenarios for new branches. Our head office franchise support team is also expanding to help support our network in delivering a 5-star service to our fantastic customers and clients.
So, in summary we’re getting there and in the spirit of total honesty and robust self-criticism, I’d score us a realistic B+ for the first half of 2024. We’ve done a lot but there’s still a lot more to do as we rush towards the year’s halfway point. It’s been a good start and we’ll always take that!”