Bertrand Cormier
General Manager MIDAS France
Can you tell us about Midas and what makes it unique as a franchisor?
A specialist in local multi-brand car care, Midas is part of Mobivia Groupe (Norauto, CarterCash, etc.), the European leader in vehicle maintenance and equipment and a major player in new mobility.
Midas France et Dom-Tom has been present in France for 40 years and today has 352 centers, including 40 branches.
Our offers are innovative (Midas Connect, 1st multi-brand maintenance contract) and anchored in a permanent quality approach. Our franchisees are entrepreneurs supported throughout their career.
Midas is therefore a dynamic brand, focused on innovation for the benefit of the customer, backed by a solid network of partners, which intends to continue developing the coverage of its concept throughout France (more than 20 openings per year).
You chose AGT Retail over 5 years ago. What does the AGT Retail solution do for you on a day-to-day basis?
First and foremost, AGT Retail is easy to use, whether you're working in a Midas center, at head office or in the field as a network coordinator. Icons, easy-to-read reports, exportable to Excel or Pdf are just a few of the features that make data processing so much easier.
Secondly, the data contained in the tool is taken from our information systems, aggregated and then rendered in the form of highly visual indicators that enable simple KPIs to be piloted.
AGT Retail goes further than simply exploiting commercial or financial KPIs: the solution also enables budgeting and business forecasting. Many of the accounting firms we work with use the tool, making it easier and quicker for franchisees to communicate and share data with their firm.
In short, the tool is as much a day-to-day management tool as it is a forward-looking tool for monthly, quarterly and annual monitoring of commercial and financial ratios.
How have you succeeded in building a relationship of trust with your franchisees?
Proximity is undoubtedly an essential component of the trust we build up with our network, as is the strength of the concept we offer them. This relationship is underpinned by the people who make up our teams and our network, through the dialogue that exists via working committees, sales meetings and our meetings with franchisee representatives. We also need to provide our partners with ongoing innovation in the offers, content, resources and tools available to them. Providing support through training, and giving perspective and a clear meaning to our actions are also essential elements in building trust with our network, both with existing partners and with those who join the Midas brand every year. The transparency of our objectives and the results of our KPIs managed by AGT Retail consolidate our relationship of trust with the network.
In your opinion, what are the keys to effectively managing a network?
First and foremost, we need to share common values, based on people, customers, innovation and joint success:
This is what binds the relationship between the network head and its partners.
Secondly, you need to have working tools that are shared as much as possible.
AGT Retail is a good example of this, as it enables us to work with a tool that is available to both our partners and our teams. Dialogue is greatly facilitated, since we share the use of an identical tool... This means we can exchange information on known indicators or KPIs, which we can manage or develop together. What's more, the AGT Retail tool is part of the training curriculum for our new franchisees, and the verdict is regularly the same: it's ergonomic, easy to use and operational... so many assets that facilitate our partners' management efficiency!
Interview published in LSA magazine on October 20, 2016.
