UMI’s Authentic, Positive Work Culture Extends to Its Relationships with Franchisors
Amy Peart believes that the success of any business is tied to the satisfaction of its employees. So it’s no surprise that she has a laser focus on a positive work culture. “As our leadership team came together, early on, we agreed that we wanted UMI to be a place where people wanted to come to work every day,” she says.
As the CEO of UMI, a turnkey marketing operations partner for franchisors, Peart believes that her team is the most valuable part of the business.
UMI’s customer-focused service helps franchisors simplify their marketing partnerships by bringing the capabilities of multiple suppliers under one roof. In a nutshell, UMI’s team essentially becomes an extended member of a franchisor’s staff.
Happy Franchisors
For Peart, keeping her employees happy equates to keeping her clients happy. And that strategy has worked. Not only has the company had a successful run of 23 years working with top franchise brands, but just last month, UMI employees voted the company a top employer in the www.greatplacetowork.com rankings for this year.
Peart describes the company’s leadership as authentic. “As a leadership team, we work hard to ensure our people have a voice in how we move our company forward. Our culture is collaborative and vibrant, and new ideas are always welcome,” she says.
“We help franchisors un-silo aspects of their business that they themselves may not even know are complicated for their franchisees.”
A Unique Approach
According to Peart, UMI’s approach is what sets the company apart. “There are a lot of agencies out there in the marketing space, but that’s not what we are. We’ve coined the term ‘marketing operations partner’ because our solutions create a bridge between those departments. We help franchisors un-silo aspects of their business that they themselves may not even know are complicated for their franchisees,” she says. As an example, Peart points to the company’s SNAP Platform, which offers a brand the ability to build out a completely customized brand portal that houses everything its franchisees need to run their business. “Just imagine a single place online where a franchisee can access training manuals and back-of-house materials, order uniforms or signage, customize print pieces in ways that make them specific to their location, pay for them within a few clicks and then know that within a matter of days those things will arrive at their door on time and ready to use,” says Peart.
The brand portal becomes the central hub for all things, simplifying where a franchisee goes to activate marketing programs. It houses insights and data specific to their location also accessible by the brand’s corporate team. “Things like that help UMI change the game for franchisors who are focused on scaling their brand quickly,” Peart says.
Focus on Execution
For Peart and the UMI team, it’s all about making franchisors’ lives easy. “Marketing a multi-unit brand is complex because not only is there a national presence at play, but then there are individual locations, each needing to create awareness for their business,” she says. “We extend the reach of the corporate marketing team, provide resources to manage the relationships with franchisees, develop customized technology to pull it all together and empower their organization to market more efficiently across all of their locations,” she says. “We allow franchisors to focus on being the strategic brand champions while we focus on execution.”