How Does the Planet Smoothie Franchise Support Its Owners?
The culture of our corporate team is accessible and encouraging, and we support our Planet Smoothie franchise owners by meeting the needs of their customers
Smoothies have gone mainstream over the past 20 years, and the teens who discovered Planet Smoothie in the 1990s continue to come and bring their kids. The demographics of smoothie customers are evolving, and bringing more potential customers every year.
In choosing to go into the smoothie industry, our Planet Smoothie franchise owners ultimately benefit from their decision to partner with us because of our visionary leadership team. Since our ownership change in 2011, which introduced a management team with 100-plus years of experience with growing franchises for iconic brands such as Mail Boxes Etc., we’ve been focusing on not only providing the “best-tasting smoothies on the planet™,” but also on being the best partner to our franchisees. Planet Smoothie offers top of the line franchise support to our franchisees!
The Planet Smoothie leadership is unusual in its accessible, open-door policy to franchisees. We actively engage with our partners not only for training, but for ideas about how to improve the customer experience. Planet Smoothie also employs research and development teams to create such popular items as LeanLeaf — our proprietary sweetener made with agave and stevia, which helps our smoothies remain delicious while still being the healthy product consumers want.
Peter Holt, President and CEO
“There has never been a better time to start a Planet Smoothie franchise,” says Peter Holt, CEO of Planet Smoothie. “Our franchisees are all passionate people who thrive on providing their communities with products to suit their healthy lifestyle. They want to be successful, and we try to give them the tools they need in order to grow their businesses. The corporate team does a great job in supporting our franchise partners through our business plan and training, marketing, and also by listening to their feedback on a regular basis. We feel that it’s important that our franchisees know that they can come to us for anything.”
For Shannon Lelli, a Planet Smoothie franchise owner in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, the culture of the corporate team fosters not only accessibility, but hands-on support.
“We have had the best marketing materials and support,” Shannon says. “If I ask for anything, they are on it. For teacher appreciation week, I wanted to send out a postcard that said, ‘Because you do what you do, here’s a free smoothie for you.’ I called corporate with the idea, and within a couple of hours they sent me an amazing design that was ready for the printer. And it was a huge success. The corporate office is on it. They are amazing.”
Planet Smoothie supports our franchise owners by responding to the needs of their customers. When vegan customers told us that they’d like to add protein to their smoothies, but didn’t want whey protein that’s derived from dairy, we found a way to create a 100% plant-based protein supplement. That’s the kind of commitment that fosters customer loyalty, and it’s an example of the type of corporate R&D that benefits franchisees.
If franchisees are excited to be working with us, we’re even more excited to be working with them. Our brand is growing in shopping center locations, in kiosks, and in dual-branded locations with complementary restaurant concepts. Planet Smoothie has expanded its marketing research, which allows us to stay on top of health trends, create limited-time-only promotions, and add menu items to help franchisees improve the performance of their stores.
“From top to bottom, they are amazing,” says Michelle Williams, owner of two Planet Smoothie franchise locations in Tucson, Arizona. “They are like family. (CEO) Peter (Holt) is amazing — hilarious, down to earth, warm, loving. Whenever we talk, it feels like I am talking with friends. They are super open to their franchisees. They listen to us, and they care about what we say. They may not be able to do a cartwheel every time we ask, but they always really try.”
Learn more about Planet Smoothie here!
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