Financial services franchisees are most satisfied

Sarah Stowe

Franchisees in Australia’s mortgage sector are the most satisfied, according to topfranchise.com.au’s third quarterly review results.

Franchisee satisfaction ratings for financial services businesses have recovered and even improved their performance, with three major mortgage franchises either entering or improving their position in the top 10 most satisfied franchisees. ANZ Mobile Lending moved from number 10 to number seven, Mortgage Choice went from number nine to number four, and first-time surveyed franchise company Smartline Personal Mortgage Advisers were named number one in franchisee satisfaction.

Managing director at Smartline Personal Mortgage Advisors, Chris Acret, says that the company’s commitment to ensuring the success of each franchisee is the main reason why they have reported such a high degree of satisfaction.

“We’ve worked really hard to have a positive culture where we’re essentially all on the one team. There’s not this ‘us and them’ between the head office and the franchise owners. We try and help each other,” he said.

“What we’ve tried to do as a business is to say ‘we will be successful on the back of our franchise owners being successful’, and we’ll gear our business around that principle.”

Xpresso Delight remains the number one choice for those looking to have a good lifestyle business, with Car Care and Mr Rental closely following.

“We have a system whereby, for a similar amount to the average weekly salary that someone working 40 to 45 hours per week might get, our franchisees can get while working no more than around 10 hours,” said Stephen Spitz, co-founder of Xpresso Delight.

The franchise places fully-automated, commercial grade, gourmet espresso coffee machines into workplaces at no cost, with the coffee charged at just $1 per cup. New franchisees start with five machines and from there, have the option to manage up to 20 machines.

“Any of our franchisees that have a full franchise with 20 systems would not be working in the business longer than three full days per week,” Spitz said.

Among the quarter’s most passionate franchisees are those at Smartline, Snooze and cookie retailer Mrs Fields‘.

The seven categories taken into account by topfranchise.com.au include renewal, recommendation, rewards, lifestyle, passion, support and opportunities.