In Alabama, the Coca-Cola Company has just expanded the franchise territory of Coca-Cola Bottling Company United (CCBCU) to include seven new cities.

The new contract means the franchise area of CCBCU more than doubles in size.

It's almost certain, however, that the local CCBCU customers will probably see no change in their day-to-day operations, despite the exponential growth of the soft drink supplier.

Coca-Cola has long been known for their exceptional products and their even more outstanding customer service. It has built its reputation on ensuring the local beverage purveyors receive product on a timely basis, ready to sell, and easy to track. Their advertising over the years has indelibly connected their corporate face to "doing good" in local and global communities.

So how will CCBCU manage to maintain their relationships with existing customers while expanding into such an extensive territory? Presumably, technology will facilitate not just the transition, but provide the foundation for a smooth, painless shift to the (much) larger corporate footprint. Proprietary franchise management software will direct their next steps, based on analysis of their new territory data.

A franchise offers significant benefits as a small business. The products/services are already developed; the processes of start-up and launch have been streamlined, and the artwork, imagery and labeling development has already been proven effective. Managing the business effectively comes down to knowing the territory and the target customer base.

Smart franchise owners elect to leave the product maintenance to their franchisor, in order to focus on building a strong relationship with their territorial customer base. The success of those local customers is vital to the success of the franchise, so identifying, tracking and modifying the data within that franchise territory is integral to the business success.

This comprehension of the base market is almost certainly why Coca-Cola has remained at the top of the franchiser list for so long - they respect and maintain a strong connection and quick responsiveness to the business of their local customers.

Regardless of the size of a franchise territory, proprietary software can contribute to business strategy by collecting, analyzing and strategizing franchise territory data.

Gaining this information assures franchise owners that they are responding appropriately and productively to their local market, as well as building a strong future for themselves.

The post Tracking the Market Within Your Franchise Territory appeared first on Predict and Prevent Business Failure.

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