Article
Papa John's franchisee leverages remote management technology to run the business from afar
Jaime Pickett franchises Papa John's units in Boston from her home in Virginia, entrusting and empowering her team to work together when she's not there.
January 28, 2015 by Nicole Troxell — Associate Editor, Networld Media Group
Veterinarian and pet hospital franchisee Jaime Pickett entered into a new market when she decided to become a Papa John's franchisee.
Ready for a challenge, Pickett decided to let technology steer the way in her management, marketing and business practices when she became the remote franchisee of a Boston-based Papa John's from her home in Richmond, Virginia. She has learned how about the extra care it takes to manage employees across states. But, she has also learned of convenient innovations remote management can provide via a virtual back office.
Pickett recently spoke to Pizza Marketplace about her experience and offered tips for remote ownership.
PizzaMarketplace: Why did you decide to become a Papa John’s franchisee?
Jaime Pickett:I was already a franchisee of Banfield Veterinary Hospital. It was eventually bought out, and they stopped franchising. We kept our franchises, but I wanted a chance to grow. I saw a commercial for Papa John's and decided to check them out.
Papa John's believes in franchising. About 80 percent of their stores are franchises so there are expansion opportunities. For a franchise model to work, there has to be a quality product, and I like what they have to offer. They're still very much growing too, and they're number one on customer service.
Also, a lot of companies don't believe in developing a team or don't have the resources to make that happen. Engagement at work is so important for your team; to be coached and be able to grow, and they bring a lot of that to franchisees.
PizzaMarketplace: How did you decide to manage the system remotely? Why not own franchises close by instead?
JP: Virginia was saturated with Papa John's. I wanted a wide open market, and I didn't see the difference between managing three hours away like I do with a Banfield location, and remotely managing from 10 hours away. Boston had the most opportunity for expansion. There were only three or four locations there at the time, so it was exciting.
PizzaMarketplace: How is remote management different than face-to-face? Any drawbacks or advantages?
JP: It was a huge learning curve for me, as was the food industry. The challenges are so different. You can never replace face-to-face, so I rely a lot on the managers to coddle our team members.
I try visit at least once a month for about four days. I take the principle operators out to dinner, so they can network and work together. It helps them hold each other accountable and check on each other's stores when I'm not there.
They know I can't pop in at any time, so I have to work harder to gain trust, and let them know I care about what's going on. I have to earn their trust on some level more so than I would in person, so they know I'm not just some person behind a computer.
PizzaMarketplace: How does remote technology change business and management practices?
JP:There are three types of systems and I have to log in to a website with a key fob that the computer changes every 60 seconds. One system is for marketing, one for payroll, and one for the virtual back office, where I can log in any time of the day and see what the team is doing, who's on the clock and what the schedules are.
We do everything remotely. It’s not as personal; it a huge change. I learned how to manage by talking to other people about how they’ve done it. I learned you have to be OK with remote taking away everything personal. If you stress that everyone is a team, it goes long way.
Also, I'm 38, so it maybe it's just my generation wanting to do things differently, but you so often hear what you've done wrong in the workplace and not what you've done right. Regardless of whether it's just part of your job, everyone wants to hear what they've done well. We believe in daily praising and weekly coaching.
Pizza Marketplace: What are some tips for you could offer for others thinking of remote management?
JP:Find a way to be engaged; what do your operators below you need – every day convo or weekly and need more space? You can't look at it as remote management, and you can't be untouchable as the owner. You have to make yourself accessible.
For marketing I can send out mailers and coupon codes via the remote system and then remote in and see what coupons work. Those are nice things about it. You can do that from anywhere and it’s really convenient, but it hasn't really changed the business model.
Photo provided by Pixabay.
