"For its 40th anniversary, the Midas brand is where it should be. Both in terms of performance and innovation and in terms of commitment to the network," Bertrand Cormier, CEO of Midas
Midas has just launched its pay-per-mile maintenance contract. Can you tell us more about this new offer?
This launch is part of our innovation strategy, which has been the driving force behind Midas for 40 years. The pay-per-mile maintenance contract gives the customer the opportunity to have maintenance spread over time (over 2 to 5 years) and which they pay for as they use it. It is offered in two formulas depending on whether the motorist is a “low mileage driver” (payment based on actual costs with a fixed monthly payment + price per kilometer traveled) or a “high mileage driver” (fixed monthly payment adapted to the annual number of kilometers traveled).
At the same time, we are launching an application called Midas Connect , the aim of which is to facilitate vehicle maintenance , keep passengers safe and simplify the driver's life (alerts on upcoming interventions, in the event of an anomaly, geolocation, assessment and personalized advice, etc.)
What strategic challenges do these new developments address?
Our goal is to win over and retain, firstly, individual customers, then businesses, a target that still represents a relatively small portion of our turnover, but which we wish to develop. It is also about showing the network that the brand continues to innovate. It is very important to take our franchisees , like our customers, out of the traditional model to offer them a different experience. Midas members have given these new offers an enthusiastic and dynamic welcome. A sign of their popularity, many of them have attended the technical and sales training programs that we have been running since November to support the implementation of these services in the network. Their deployment has been underway since April and will gradually take off. We are aiming for one to two maintenance contracts signed per week in each center.
Through these and other services, Midas is asserting an increasingly premium positioning. Does the image of your centers today live up to this ambition?
The Midas network currently has 340 centers in France, including 36 branches and 304 franchises . By the end of September, we will reach 352 units across the country. All of the network's workshops and reception areas have already been renovated. Given that all of our creations are made with the new visual identity, and given the pace of transformation of existing centers, 95% of our franchises will have adopted our new, more attractive colors by the fall.
Midas is 40 years old. What are your goals for the future?
We've been meeting our goals for the past five years, with 20 to 25 new stores created annually. We continue to expand, everywhere, with a few priority areas such as the greater southwest. We aim to provide the best possible support to the entrepreneurs who join us, primarily for new businesses, but also for the takeover of existing units whose owners are retiring. The Midas brand is where it should be for its 40th anniversary, both in terms of performance and innovation and its commitment to the network.
Article published on May 11, 2016 on the Franchise Magazine website, by Olivia Leroux