Call center simplifies operations, helps drive growth for junk removal franchise and moving franchise owners
Smart entrepreneurs value having a strong community presence. They also understand the importance of being plugged in to a larger network that’s capable of sending more work their way.
When you take advantage of both opportunities, you drive growth.
That’s why College Hunks Hauling Junk operates a national customer-service center at its Tampa headquarters. Our junk removal franchise and moving franchise owners create high visibility within their markets, and then the call center steers more business their way.
We know the value of on-the-street marketing. Every single one of our trucks and all of our marketing materials have 1-800-JUNK-USA featured prominently, so we help our franchisees expand and deepen their presence both within their target areas and around the country. What’s more, the number is a branding tool that tells people we are a national, professional operation.
This helps keep College Hunks Hauling Junk making national headlines. The latest comes from Inc. magazine, which has named us to the 2014 Inc. 5000 List of America’s fastest-growing private companies.
Sales team supplements franchise efforts
When a potential customer calls the toll-free number, he or she is quickly matched with a professional service representative who can provide answers about estimates, availability and more. Our reps use Hunkware, a proprietary system that gives them instant information on every franchisee, including available time slots. They can book jobs right then, over the phone, then send the information to the franchisee. These operators know how to close sales, so they send a steady stream of work to your junk removal franchise.
How important is the call center to College Hunks Hauling Junk? When our founders, Omar Soliman and Nick Friedman, were looking to relocate from their Washington, D.C., startup offices, they picked Tampa, Florida, primarily because of its deep pool of call-center talent. They knew that a highly efficient, proactive call center would be a game-changer for their franchises, and they were right.
Steady improvement deepens call-center value
The call center is continually getting stronger. Through Hunkware and other tools, we are able to monitor average wait times and booking rates, and then our longtime call-center managers listen in and coach the sales team. This daily input helps a great staff get even better.
Our call center is available to franchisees at a flat rate. Not only does this let you factor the payment into monthly operating expenses, it also comes at a significant savings: You don’t have to have someone at your location staffing a phone seven days a week, but you have that kind of coverage working for you nonetheless.
A few other franchises offer call centers — but on an additional royalty setup. That means as your business grows, you pay more for the center’s services. College Hunks Hauling Junk doesn’t believe that penalizing franchisees for growth is a good business model, so we keep the rate flat, which is more affordable. We’re so serious about this that we don’t even charge the flat fee during your first six months of business, so you can focus on building your team and providing great service to clients.