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Welcome to the Small Biz Growth Podcast, your go-to resource for small business owners in Asia-Pacific. Listen to Renée Chaplin and industry experts, customers, partners, and real-world pros discuss running a successful small business, sharing actionable advice, and inspiring stories.
Nicola, thank you so much for joining us on the small business growth series. Really appreciate your time. We have Nicola here with us who's the CMO of Poolwerx . Thank you. Pleasure to be here.
Nicola Votier:Thank you for the invitation.
Renee Chaplin:Tell us a little bit about what a day in
Nicola Votier:the life of a CMO at Poolwerx looks like. Thanks, Renee. Yes. Certainly an interesting role, and every day is very different. My role, obviously, you know, one of the joys of being part of of of a team of marketing people is that you get to cross all different facets of the business.
Nicola Votier:And I think that's one of the loveliest things about my role and the opportunities that my team get. So a day in the life for me can be very different, but but in essence, you know, what do I focus on primarily? You know, we, as a Poolwerx business, are very focused around our national campaigns. We have regional led propositions, and then we have obviously a very strong proposition across all of our local marketing. So my day can be very different in respect of being on a call with a franchise partner directly talking to them about, you know, what they can do, to help improve their growth in their particular market sector based on their business plans.
Nicola Votier:So I spend a lot of my time talking to our operations team, who we call our ROMs, our regional operations managers, talking to them about growth. Where can marketing support them in growth within their particular states? Where can we support the franchise partners, within that state who needs more help than others? So, you know, there's always that triage conversation going on, where I can then support my team to look at, you know, where does growth come from? What does acquisition look like?
Nicola Votier:What does retention look like? At a local level for everybody, really? From a national perspective, obviously, there's a lot of stakeholder engagement with what we call our pips, otherwise known as suppliers, I think, in most other industries, our partners in profit, as we call them. That's cool. I like that.
Nicola Votier:Are are the people that, you know, I I get involved in, obviously, in terms of our forward, what we call our client first strategy. So those key promotions that go out throughout the year. So what's happening in terms of innovation? I always need to be six months ahead of the game in terms of, you know, what's going to land and where it's going to land. Is our focus around wellness?
Nicola Votier:Is it around lifestyle? What new products are coming in? And my role is to listen, take the feedback, and promote and present to them new opportunities that equally they can then take back down the chain and into their networks and their buddy systems. So those type of meetings help, help marketing in terms of making sure we're listening, we're understanding what the feedback is that's coming from small businesses that are within our network, and that we're meeting, you know, both their expectations and obligations around the brand, but we're also always looking for that niche, that new opportunity, that different way of doing something. You know, looking at PR and and brand and sponsorship opportunities is also, you know, a key part of my role along alongside those everyday promotional needs that we have as a service led business.
Renee Chaplin:Absolutely. There is so much to unpack in that answer because the main thing that I hear a lot about and and we do as Constant Contact as well when we're talking to franchises is, you know, how to better support at a local level. So you know, and how to support the franchisees. But, like, based on what you've just explained there, like, there that's a lot of support. That's that's amazing.
Renee Chaplin:And how many franchisees do you have now?
Nicola Votier:So at the moment, we've got, we've got a 43 stores and 484 mobile operators. So
Renee Chaplin:Is that across Australia or New Zealand?
Nicola Votier:That's across Yeah. Yeah. It is. And, well, across Australia, there's 400 and what we call 442 territories. So we're looking after 442 territories, so the franchise partners certainly are, with both a combined mobile operation and, obviously, our bricks and mortar stores as well.
Renee Chaplin:As the the HQ the HQ marketing team, how do you manage and and oversee, I guess, from a corporate governance perspective, 442 territories? I mean, that that is quite a a a lift. So, you know, there must be sort of systems and tools and processes, I guess, in place to do that because it's that's a that's a big network of franchisees right there.
Nicola Votier:It certainly is. And I think, you know, that's one of the reasons that, you know, we're we're so engaged with our our future with you and, you know, what opportunities, Vision six Constant Contact can, you know, bring to the table. So in terms of the, in terms of the change and growth that happens within a business like ours, it's obviously always important that we've got the right technology available to us in this modern day and age. So, you know, we've been very lucky this year introducing a new brand portal for our franchise partners, something we call Loop. They've got new portals for paid advertising.
Nicola Votier:They've got portals to help, reputation management. They've obviously got the portal, with Vision six at the moment to help with our EDMs. But for us, the governance piece is is very focused around our brand portal. We provide to our incumbent franchise partners and certainly those new people that join our organization a plethora of tools, templates, evergreen assets that they can use, for their local area marketing. Every campaign that goes out, at a national level is, executed with a suite of material that lives within our brand portal.
Nicola Votier:So our franchise partners are able to log in. They can download, our flyers. They can download the posters, send them to print. They can modify those templates if they want to temper it to their local environment, which is critical and essential for a network outside.
Renee Chaplin:And it's so good that you know that because I think that is some of the feedback we hear as well from franchisees that sort of they don't have necessarily that flexibility to localize and
Nicola Votier:edit things. They sort of
Renee Chaplin:just have to take what's top down and localize and edit things. They sort of just have to take what's top down and can't really roll it out. So giving that option for flexibility for the for the land, the local area marketing is really important. Right? Particularly Absolutely.
Renee Chaplin:With a bricks and mortar store too. Right? That could be different situations at any given point, even, like, different temperatures and things. Like, it's hotter up in Queensland than it might be in in Tassie, for example. So, you know, you might your approach just might be slightly different in the way that you're wording things, but certainly at a at a local level, localizing does allow for more penetration with that community.
Nicola Votier:Without a doubt. Without a doubt. You know, what happens at, Poolwerx Wagga Wagga is very different to what's happening at Port Stephens and or at Brisbane Metro, so we do have to allow a level of flexibility. There is obviously a level of brand governance, that that is applied, very strictly, but, you know, we have thematics. We have phased opportunities for them as to how how much they can modify, an individual asset.
Nicola Votier:But the thing I think that's also really important is, you know, they're able to develop their own assets. So, you know, they they can pull in those all important photos of, you know, nasties in the skimmer box or kangaroos bathing in the pool at Christmas or, you know, ducks invading a a swimming pool and and and use them to to help tell lovely stories at a local level. And
Renee Chaplin:Yeah. The storytelling piece is so essential for engagement. So, like, you touched earlier on some of the channels. So you talked about paid, and then there's flyers. Like, I think that there's a bit of direct mail that still happens with Yes.
Renee Chaplin:Would you say? Yeah. So, like, what are the channels that are performing best at the moment, and and how does it differ between you and sort of, like, the HQ and the national campaigns versus the local campaigns?
Nicola Votier:So if we look at, if we look at our our business, as a franchise or supporting our franchisees, you know, it's important that we bring as many platforms and opportunities to them as possible. One of the benefits of being in franchising is, you know, you get access to all of this, equipment and and, you know, modern technology as as kind of part of the deal. So it's important that what we deliver works, more importantly than anything. But, at a national level, you know, we've spoken about some of the platforms that we've got. But our our role at the national level as the support center is that, you know, we're obviously focused on brand awareness.
Nicola Votier:You know, we're focused on growth of the brand through, our sponsorships this year. We've become one of the major sponsors, of the big bash league with Brisbane Heat. So, you know, we're looking forward to that season and, you know, our franchise partners who are Cricket Madder will be getting involved in it. I have no doubt. But, in in terms of, in terms of our channel, so our our role at support center is to drive leads.
Nicola Votier:First and foremost, you know, one of our key KPIs, that we have within our business is franchise partner profitability. And for them to be profitable, we need to ensure that they're getting that inbound reach, and they're getting brand awareness geotargeted at a local level as well. So the mixture of, digital and traditional assets in the pool industry, unlike some others, is is still incredibly important. We do do a a phenomenal amount of traditional marketing. I think there's always a perception that kind of digital is king.
Nicola Votier:But for us, you know, being able to still put flyers through letterboxes, is important. Still have that one to one relationship in the backyard. Having a conversation is is as important as posting something on Facebook. So, we're always looking at acquisition. We're always looking at how we can expand the Poolwerx's brand nationally.
Nicola Votier:We're always looking at acquisition for our franchise partners from a perspective of client growth. So having channels that provide an opportunity for us to blend a mix of traditional and digital marketing in a business that operates both a retail store and in some instances up to 13 mobile vans is incredibly important. They've got to be able to deliver through their service vehicles a retail experience as well as delivering a a service of a pool, and vice versa. You know, making sure we've got the right channels to really attract footfall, into our retail stores is is important. We're up against big box.
Nicola Votier:You know, people like Bunnings, Clark Rubber are our major competitors. But in that, you know, online big box environment where we're we're being, you know, targeted head on also with comparisons on ecommerce, you know, it's really important that our our product channels are are open, that there is opportunity for people to browse, engage, and ask questions. So so that's really important for us. So you talked a little bit about, like, the digital and then the traditional. Seems like a blend of both is what's working really well, like, at a national level as well as at a local level.
Nicola Votier:Sticking with the digital part for for a little bit here, so, you've talked about social. You guys use email and SMS
Renee Chaplin:as well. How do they complement each other?
Nicola Votier:So for us, you know, we we measure ourselves internally across three kind of major attributes. Obviously, service is a primary. We obviously are a retail, business as well. So, you know, we're always looking at, equipment. We look at chemicals.
Nicola Votier:We look at labor, as as key measures and metrics for us as a business as to where we need to invest, whether that's through paid or meta or through search. You know, we are, we are very product agnostic in terms of our website and that search piece that's really important to us, that query piece. And our paid really leans into, search, and that's an area where we kind of have opportunity for greatest growth. But but for us, bringing together the digital and traditional is is very important. And, you know, we always give our franchise partners the advice of do what's free first.
Nicola Votier:Like, you know, when you're starting your business and you've got a million things on your mind, do what's free first and get your feet under the table and get comfortable. And in the back end, you know, the mark the support team are taking care of some of their bigger paid, and organic pieces of marketing content for them. But from a a wider perspective, we have a lot of, obviously, metro and, rural clients. And, you know, digital communication in some of those areas is is challenging. So it's more important that, you know, the flyer is put through the door or the phone call is made every Friday, or the, you know, the right, posters are up in store for the weekly visit that Jack does every Friday.
Nicola Votier:That's far more important to them than us trying to get them to connect on a Facebook page or an Instagram page. And I think probably the the the thing with us as, a a business and unlike many others today, our clients range from in their twenties right through to in their very, very later years who still have a pool in the garden for the grandchildren, but, you know, aren't able to maintain it themselves. So we have to tailor our marketing, traditional and digital, to also suit that consumer group that is very mixed, in some areas and or quite prolific to a certain age group in others. So it's very important that the franchise partners have access to, all of the collateral, that resonates with a local business, a local quiet village or town, and or a busy city suburban environment.
Renee Chaplin:You talked a lot about the fact that there's, you know, a lot of resources given at the franchisee level. Is there education and training as well? Because we hear about that so much that it's the big challenge with, I don't know how to mark. I'm not a marketer. Right?
Renee Chaplin:I wanna I've got my store. I want it to grow. Like, I'm passionate about it grow. I'm really good at what I do, but I don't understand all of this marketing business. So, like, how do you how do you help the franchisees in that way?
Nicola Votier:So there's they go on a they go on somewhat of a journey. So, when they join the business, they go into what we call pool school, and their pool school lasts three weeks. I think it's one of the longest pool schools that's around where they're actually, you know, given that onboard training, as a small business. So we cover finance. We cover marketing.
Nicola Votier:We cover supply management. You know, we cover the technical training, how to how to plumb a system, how to pull a robot apart, how to prime a pump, you know, all of that sort of stuff. From a marketing perspective, when people are in pool school, we sit down with them and we develop, an interim three month plan.
Renee Chaplin:Oh, that's
Nicola Votier:awesome. Given a plan that tells them how and where to focus on their business subject to the geographical location. In most instances, if it's a brand new business or a start up, you know, it's kind of an almost out of the box experience for them for the first three months because there's so much else going on, and they've got to build the round. They've got to build the service round. We have a program called Forming Good Habits that we run with our franchise partners, so they go through continual training with us.
Nicola Votier:We have a a session every year called revitalize. So we're on the road, out training franchise partners face to face, showing them what all the platforms do for those that still haven't yet logged in, and, you know, teaching them kind of, you know, where the biggest opportunity is at the moment. Our focus with them is around Google My Business, Google Reviews. So we're trying to kind of upscale them around that too, around that reputation management piece. And we're doing that because, you know, we're also improving, our digital stack with our website as well.
Nicola Votier:So that's a really key piece for us. But but there is ongoing training and investment for our franchise partners. We've just come out of convention. We all got together on the Gold Coast this year, and, you know, we've run some really good little master classes with them around marketing. But it also gives us an opportunity, particularly in business meetings, for example, when we're presenting what the next campaign is that's coming, that they also feedback to us.
Nicola Votier:So that that feedback system is important. I think one of the lovely things that we do do in our business and we do it so well is our buddy system. We have a fabulous buddy system whether it's on WhatsApp, or whether it's a peer to peer group that gets together monthly or quarterly. Our franchise partners actually support and train each other. You
Renee Chaplin:know, what are some of those challenges that you face at the moment from a marketing perspective?
Nicola Votier:I think, obviously, the economic shift is has been something that's been on everybody's radar for the last eighteen months. You know, we've been in we've been in retention mode, as a strategically as a as a marketing piece. And, you know, we're now kind of turning the tide on that and, you know, really kind of looking at at more acquisition, as as people's propensity to spend begins to change slightly. We didn't see a drop too much around that in our service business, which is lovely. Yeah.
Nicola Votier:There there's always challenges, economically. And, as a business, I think we really pride ourselves through the brand research that we conduct that that we are really are engaged with our client base. We we survey twice a year. We send out net promoter scores, and we really make sure that we're listening. That's a really important piece for our our business because it's
Renee Chaplin:That's a really good takeaway, actually. It's just and I think you can forget that. Yeah. You just keep listening. It's just, you know, trying to pump out the comms as much as you can, and you're not really, listening and then adapting to what the customer's kind of trying to tell you.
Renee Chaplin:And and sometimes it might not be directly trying to tell you. It just might be behavioral, and you you are noticing that shift. Because, I mean, we've seen, from some of our research as well, there's, about 60% of consumers that we surveyed recently in Australia and New Zealand have reduced their spending at small businesses due to inflation. So it definitely showed us too that, you know, there's a real price sensitivity in in Australia and New Zealand right now.
Nicola Votier:Absolutely. I I couldn't agree with you more. I mean, last year and and certainly at the beginning of this year, our major focus, really for the last two years was around the value piece demonstrating as the experts where people can get value out of the product that they're purchasing. And, you know, we did see initially a a a push to, people perhaps looking at we call our range good, better, best. So they were they were looking at the value end, in terms of price as an opportunity as opposed to, you know, stretching and and getting the more kind of premium product that's available on the shelf to them.
Nicola Votier:So we did see a shift in that area. The area we probably have seen the most change in is is people's habits around repair. Our rep our repair business primarily for robotic cleaners and or pumps, those type of pieces of pool equipment, we've seen a lot of people actually reinvesting in their product over the last eighteen months as opposed to going out and purchasing direct replacement pieces. So That makes sense. That that's that's a nice piece for us, certainly around the environmental and, you know, always making sure that there is a second and or third opportunity of life in
Renee Chaplin:a product before it gets swapped out. So aside from sort of the impact that maybe inflation sort of having with those price sensitivities, From a pure marketing play perspective, what are some of the core challenges that you're trying to overcome right now? I mean, I know you're going through a digital transformation phase as well. Are some of those challenges fueling those changes that you're making at Poolwerx right now?
Nicola Votier:Absolutely. You know, first and foremost is is trying to achieve that improved or trying to even achieve the omnichannel experience. So, the pool industry is somewhat of a laggard compared to the rest of that retail world. We we aren't as technologically advanced as some of our sisters and brothers within that that retail industry. So, one of the things that we've been focusing on heavily for the last year and certainly continue into the beginning of next year is our digital stack, improving the right technology for our franchise partners, but primarily also then giving our clients that better experience both in store and online.
Nicola Votier:So, yes, we are working on our websites. As I've said, we we've got new websites coming for Australia, New Zealand, and The USA. That's a huge
Renee Chaplin:job in itself.
Nicola Votier:Big job. Yes. It is. And then in addition to that, you know, we're we're improving the digital technology around our servicing. So it's you know, the feedback that we always get could do more with the communications.
Nicola Votier:Absolutely. So the SMS component component around, you know, Joe is coming today. He'll be there at 03:00. You know, your pool has been serviced. This is what's happened here.
Nicola Votier:Attached is your client record to show you what we've done and dosed the pool and and you know, we locked the gate on the way out, and the dog's still safe. So, you know, that reassurance piece is really important that that digital comms is is essentially And
Renee Chaplin:it's so convenient, and it's the kind of SMS you wanna receive. Right? It's it's
Nicola Votier:Without a doubt. You want to know that you've someone shut the gate.
Renee Chaplin:Yes. And it's, and it's personal to you. So using that as a channel for that purpose is, you know, super valuable. We know, like, SMS, I guess, compared to even things like, email, but certainly other channels, but has an open rate of about 98%, which is nice. Right?
Nicola Votier:Because you
Renee Chaplin:know that SMS is getting there. I mean
Nicola Votier:Absolutely. Yep. Without a doubt. It's it's it's a really key tool in in their their marketing armor to to keep the comms open. Yes.
Nicola Votier:Every house is different. Some houses require us to go through a garage, and or sometimes through a house to get to a pool depending on how it was built. So, again, that relationship, that trust for our business is is top priority.
Renee Chaplin:And that's what fuels that customer loyalty, right, and getting that repeat business. So how do you maintain that through from a marketing perspective, the touch points in between the servicing. I think you guys do a wonderful job, like, from a marketing perspective. You know, you as I said, you use sort of the email and the SMS together with us right now. But in terms of the the touch points, like, are there certain things that work better than others?
Renee Chaplin:Like, for some people, it's newsletters. For others, it's like milestones. Like, you know, thank you for a year of being a customer with us. So really, like, leveraging those sorts of things. Like, what do you think from a comms perspective and a messaging perspective is working best for Poolworks?
Nicola Votier:For us, our clients do like to receive a a blend and a mixture. You know, our adoption rate on our website is, you know, heavily biased towards mobile users. Most people are on a mobile phone today. So, you know
Renee Chaplin:It's about 70% at least.
Nicola Votier:It's really high. So so that's a really important piece, making sure that we're always kind of front of mind and, you know, we're always putting the right information out at a time, that's relevant to the consumer base as well. And for us, that's around seasonality. So that's seasonal communication. Into
Renee Chaplin:that now.
Nicola Votier:Right? Just about to ramp up to the summer season. Yeah. The the weather is good. Everybody's even getting their water tested at the moment, peeling off those blankets.
Nicola Votier:Yeah. So, you know, the the seasonality piece is is really key for us. So having those platforms like email, SMS, where we can put the promotions out to support them around. Where we could do better is, you know, where we're having a a relationship with with you and the team at Constant Contact, and it's it's around improving that personalization. It's around improving and enriching the experience that somebody has around buying habits, consumer trends, geographical location, as you've already said, you know, you know, geographically, we've still got Victoria experiencing some some awful weather still at the moment.
Nicola Votier:So, you know, they're they're not peeling off the blankets yet. No. Exactly. And, you know, New Zealand is a market. You know?
Nicola Votier:They're still bubbling in their spas. They're not quite ready for summer at all. So, you know, it's really important that we temper our our our comms appropriately, accordingly to the needs of the consumer. But we're also giving the consumer the opportunity as we do, looking for that innovation, looking for that change, giving them advice on how they can improve the the quality of their pool and their swimming experience. So we do actually share genuinely, we do share the feedback with our franchise partners that comes through the brand research.
Nicola Votier:I present it to them, and I also give them through their regional operations managers access to what is said in their net promoter scores. So they they do see in black and white, which can be confronting, what somebody has actually said about their business.
Renee Chaplin:That's so important. Again, it comes back to listening, doesn't it?
Nicola Votier:It does.
Renee Chaplin:And and, the corporate governance side, you know, is so important from a franchise model perspective too, particularly for for marketing, just to make sure that, you know, if you're you're out in region trying to present yourself as that premium brand and also a really trusted brand, you know, the the kind of brand that you can rely on, you know, when when things go south. Right?
Nicola Votier:Yeah. Absolutely.
Renee Chaplin:But, you know, you need to maintain that from a branding perspective then. So having that element of control of the comms that go out from the franchisee is important. So how do you manage that? Because I know a lot of sort of franchises do have that as a challenge in terms of how do we make sure that we can oversee what's happening. And you've talked about, like, having a brand portal, but as at a high level zooming out, you know, is corporate governance a challenge, you know, in at Poolwerks, or do you find that with the structure that you have that it it just works?
Nicola Votier:It's well structured in terms of local regulations, the regulatory bodies around franchising. That's that's very well governed. And, obviously, you know, there is, the franchisee autonomy that is required in terms of, you know, just brand governance as well. So we support our franchise partners. So there's been a a significant amount of change, that's that's happened of late, around, you know, wages and, obviously, you know, staff, and their ability to disengage and kind of switch their phones off at five or 06:00 and not be available kind of twenty four seven.
Nicola Votier:And we're a twenty four seven business. So, you know, we have to ensure that our franchise partners adhere to that regulation, and we do that through training. So, you know, we we have training in place, and we bring them up to speed, and we make sure their businesses are up to speed around legislation and their legal obligations. That's all monitored very heavily, and we we train and support accordingly. As any small business, they unfortunately are bound legally and through the regular regulatory process to to ensure that they're compliant across many things, whether it's vehicles on the road, staff in the store, wages, hours, all of that kind of stuff.
Nicola Votier:But, you know, they also have the added complication of, of managing the brand. So our marketing team, we have sign off processes on everything. Everything comes across the marketing team's desks. There's always two sets of eyes on what's being presented digitally. We can track and monitor what's going on and what's being posted and sent out.
Nicola Votier:But there's a level of trust as well. At the end of the day
Renee Chaplin:that balance, don't you?
Nicola Votier:They've bought into the Poolwerks business. They want it to go well as well. They want it to go well, and it needs to it needs to work for them locally because, you know, it takes it only takes a a one man and a small army to make something go wrong. So, you know, that they they're responsible for their their local business in a local environment, managing and dealing with the people that live in their neighborhood. And if if that cultural fit, if that trust isn't there, then a business no small business would be successful.
Nicola Votier:So, yes, it's, it's a big responsibility for any small business, but particularly, I think when you've got that equal weighting of being responsible for a brand that's a national brand as well.
Renee Chaplin:And in terms of the personalization, I mean, we see a lot of businesses using automation to try and execute on that. Is that, like, marketing automation? And what about AI? Is that something that you're exploring as a team?
Nicola Votier:We we are without a doubt that I mean, AI has crept into most platforms now already. Certainly, it's available as a tool to franchise partners to help them with their communication Yeah. As well more
Renee Chaplin:importantly. Content writing perspective?
Nicola Votier:Absolutely. Yes. Making sure that they actually answer the question, and they answer it in a tone that is acceptable for customer service, and they're not doing it on the fly, with two minutes to spare and and being direct and and believing they're answering the question that there is a, you know, a modity of control and empathy, is incredibly important. So AI is very helpful for them, in that experience, and we probably see that most across our reputation management platforms and, our meta platforms where they can they can create content to to help with, a social media post or or or a post that they're putting out around a promotion, with with the wording. So that's nice.
Nicola Votier:We aren't seeing it at the moment. We will hopefully start to see it as we bring in chat functionality. So, you know, really kind of gaining experience from that is important for us down the line. And, obviously, you know, in terms of, any any business that operates multiple digital platforms, you know, the learning experience from websites, from search queries, from SEO, you know, we dive into that data very frequently to make sure that we improve content on our pages, you know, the way that we're presenting stuff. That is part of our everyday marketing strategy, and we rely on that heavily to give the customer experience that our customers expect.
Renee Chaplin:And hopefully, we can continue to support you with that. Yes. I see.
Nicola Votier:It's a big priority. Big job coming up.
Renee Chaplin:Yes. Yes. And it's a big priority for us to make sure we're working, you know, with with with businesses like yourselves. And you have a huge job and a and a big network of of franchisees. And, you know, getting really involved in supporting you as much as possible is a big priority for us as well, and and our local support team is on hand to support with all of this transition that's happening in the future.
Renee Chaplin:And, making sure that, you know, you as a team are are successful from a comms perspective is is a big priority for us too. So thanks for trusting us
Nicola Votier:with our job. And I think, you know, the the key thing that we always talk about is the adoption piece as well, you know, ensuring that your team, you know, as we improve and migrate, kind of our platforms is is really ensuring that we've got the adoption. But the franchise partners know how to utilize the systems. You know, they have an infinite amount of time, and it's normally in the evening when they're trying to eat their dinner, or they put the books down for five minutes to to understand, you know, how many leads did I get from that campaign, who can I put on my call run for for this week to, you know, help out a query around, a heat pump that's come in or somebody that wants a service? So utilizing the platforms that you provide for us, the adoption I think permission to adopt and ability to adopt and willingness to adopt, is incredibly important in the training that we provide them.
Nicola Votier:So, yes, I think we're gonna have a a another change for them to to take on board next
Renee Chaplin:year one because
Nicola Votier:I one they love.
Renee Chaplin:Yeah. And I think it's, you know, what I'm really proud of that we've been able to do is is make sure we're delivering a a platform that is simple to use and that has this the the smaller business in mind so that it isn't troublesome. It doesn't take two months of training to learn how to send one email. And I think that simplicity is important because we know how time poor these franchisees are. They're usually less than an hour a day could be devoted to anything to do with sales and marketing.
Renee Chaplin:The rest, they're trying to run their business. They're wearing so many hats. So the simplicity and the ease of of use is is really important when it comes to these kinds of platforms. Otherwise, it does impact adoption.
Nicola Votier:Without a doubt. And, you know, you asked me a question earlier about what's one of our biggest challenges that we have in marketing. Really, one of the biggest challenges that we have in marketing when we're looking for future proofing the marketing experiences is to be able to have a platform that actually suits franchising. Yes. You know, that's a conversation story that, you know, we've had with your team, gosh, for a while as to how we can build and improve and and deliver something that works for franchising because most platforms that are out there aren't built for franchising.
Nicola Votier:And it's it's a bit of an anomaly, and it's a challenge, I think, for any business to get their head around, as to how you know, when you've got a 50 franchise partners that all need to log into the system at the same time and manage their own accounts and look after their own clients, and it's not a national thing. It's a local thing. Even the billing is different. Even the billing is different.
Renee Chaplin:That's fine.
Nicola Votier:Sorry about that.
Renee Chaplin:No. Well, it's, yeah. No. We we love working with you and and, appreciate the fact that, you know, you've trusted that, us with your your wonderful business, and helping support you as you look to grow, going forward. But thank you so much for your time, Nicola.
Renee Chaplin:It's been wonderful having you on our small business growth series, and we've talked about a lot. We've unpacked a lot, but I think it's been really helpful for people in the franchise marketing world to hear how it all works at Poolwerks. So thank you so much.
Nicola Votier:You're welcome. Thank you for having us.