Bertrand Cormier
Managing Director of MIDAS France
Can you tell us about Midas and its unique features as a franchisor?
A specialist in local multi-brand car maintenance, Midas is a brand of Mobivia Groupe (Norauto, CarterCash, etc.), the European leader in vehicle maintenance and equipment and a major player in new mobility.
Midas France and Dom-Tom has been present in France for 40 years and now has 352 centers including 40 branches.
Our offerings are innovative (Midas Connect, the first multi-brand maintenance contract) and rooted in a consistent quality approach. Our franchisees are entrepreneurs who receive support throughout their careers.
Midas is therefore a dynamic brand, focused on innovation for the benefit of the customer, which relies on a network of solid partners and which intends to continue developing the network of its concept throughout France (more than 20 openings per year).
You chose AGT Retail over five years ago. What does the AGT Retail solution bring to you on a daily basis?
AGT Retail first and foremost offers very simple user interface, whether you're in a Midas center, at headquarters, or in the field as a network manager. Icons, easy-to-read, and easy-to-read reports, exportable to Excel or PDF, are all elements that facilitate data exploitation.
Then, the data contained in the tool comes from our information systems, aggregated and then returned in the form of very visual indicators which allow simple KPIs to be managed.
AGT Retail goes beyond simply exploiting commercial or financial KPIs; the solution also allows for budgeting and a comprehensive business forecast. Many of the accounting firms we work with use the tool, which allows for easier and faster communication and data sharing between franchisees and their firms.
In summary, the tool is both a daily management tool and a prospective tool for monthly, quarterly and annual monitoring of its commercial and financial ratios.
How did you manage to establish a relationship of trust with your franchisees?
Proximity is undoubtedly an essential component of the trust we establish with our network, just as much as the strength of the concept we offer them. This relationship is closely based on the people who make up our teams and our network, through the dialogue forums that exist via working committees, sales promotion meetings, or our meetings with franchisee representatives. We must also constantly bring innovation to our partners, in the offers, content, resources, and tools at their disposal. Supporting with training, giving perspective and a clear meaning to our actions are also essential elements for building trust with our network, whether it concerns existing partners or those who join the Midas brand each year. The transparency of the objectives and results of our KPIs driven by AGT Retail consolidates our relationship of trust with the network.
For you, what are the keys to effectively managing and leading a network?
First of all, we must share common values, around people, customers, innovation and common success:
This is what strengthens the relationships between the network head and its partners.
Then, you need to have working tools, shared as much as possible.
AGT Retail is a good example of this, since it allows us to work on a tool that is available to both our partners and our teams. Dialogue is greatly facilitated, since we share the operation of an identical tool... From then on, we discuss known indicators or KPIs, which we can manage or develop together. Moreover, discovering the AGT Retail tool is part of the training curriculum for our new franchisees, whose verdict is regularly the same: ergonomic, easy-to-use and operational tool... all assets that facilitate the effectiveness of our partners' animation!
Interview published in LSA magazine on October 20, 2016.