In 2023, Two Men and a Truck’s Training and Development department, in conjunction with the centralized consulting, national accounts, and sales teams, collaborated to create and offer a new training opportunity called B2B Initiatives for the franchise system. This program focuses on helping franchises increase B2B (business-to-business) sales and build lasting partnerships with businesses in their areas.
Though Two Men and a Truck mainly made a mark in the home moving sector, the company is equipped to handle a wide range of specialized moves, including large business and corporate relocations. Two Men and a Truck corporate also has a national accounts department that works on cross-country business relationships with companies that have several locations, and works with franchises on how to nurture these large accounts to sustain repeat business. Focusing on business moves can greatly increase a franchise’s revenue, as business moves often have high volume and require several trucks and/or several days to complete, making them high sales moves. Being able to close a sale means understanding that businesses are looking for different priorities, and the B2B Initiatives program was created to teach those types of differences.
Program Details
Utilizing a two-tiered system, B2B Initiatives spans eight months and provides two types of trainings designed to work in coordination: structured learning in the form of Webinars and peer-to-peer learning via lunch-and-learns. Both training types are held virtually using Microsoft Teams to allow participants to attend from their franchises across the world.
The Webinars are provided by Two Men and a Truck corporate subject matter experts. Monthly topics covered during the B2B Initiatives include requests for proposals, finding customers, and maximizing B2B efforts. Later in the month, a lunch-and-learn is hosted in which franchise staff (franchisees, managers, and sales staff) from across the system gather to have open dialogue on the topic of the month. These discussions allow peer-to-peer feedback on what is and what is not working in their franchise and create an environment of collaboration and brainstorming to help increase business sales.
Some months include a special blog follow-up of a success story from a franchise that is standing out in the B2B space. These blog posts are used as a reinforcement of learning to highlight sales tactics that were successful and covered as part of the learning process in the B2B Initiatives. As part of the blog post, a franchisee is interviewed to speak on a business move that was successful for them, how they landed the sale, and how the program fits with their business model.
After six months, locations that participate in B2B Initiatives work with sales consultants to continue to learn best practices and ensure participants are applying learned behavior. Additionally, participants work with the national accounts team on an ongoing basis to apply those practices to larger accounts to earn business and close sales.
Participants have continuous access to the Microsoft Teams chat used for the Webinars and lunch-and-learn sessions. These chats give learners access to the B2B team, as well as coworkers who can collaborate and assist in business move questions.
The B2B Initiatives program is evaluated through business-specific revenue data of participating franchises.
Results
Some 49 franchises had participated in B2B Initiatives as of June 2023. Franchises that participated in at least one B2B Initiatives session saw an increase of an average of more than $2,000 per month of business move revenue. The additional revenue the 49 franchises have achieved made up 1.35 percent toward Two Men and a Truck’s 2023 B2B revenue increase goal.
