J.J. Sorrenti on how to lead an organization, the beauty of franchising and his quest to make healthcare convenient.
GF: What does success look like to you?
JJ: I have tried to help my teams understand that significance is more important than success. When you are successful, you achieve goals, and they’re fun and memorable moments, but they are just that: moments. When you are significant, you leave behind a legacy that endures long after you’ve moved on from whatever you are doing. And that’s the measurable impact we want to leave behind.
GF: What are the vital components behind a well-run organization?
JJ: My teams have always aimed for open communication, collaboration, urgency and the ability to challenge or ask questions while decisions are being made. Once that decision is made, we all have to embrace it as if it were our own. The only way that can happen well is to be transparent, communicative, and goal-oriented, and to keep the customer and franchisee at the forefront of every decision we make.
GF: What interests you most about franchising?
JJ: I love being able to offer the opportunity of an exciting and successful business to motivated high-achievers interested in working for themselves. Helping those folks achieve their goals and become ‘significant’ in the way they define it while using our business model, is especially rewarding.
GF: How has the coronavirus pandemic affected Best Life Brands?
JJ: Because of the uncertainty that came at the start in mid-March, we immediately pivoted to weekly town halls for the franchisees in each of our brands. We wanted to share information we had and we wanted to create a place for them to share their concerns. We were also nimble enough to be among the first franchise brands to move to a virtual office, virtual training, and virtual discovery days. Since the initial impact, we’ve added peer performance groups in areas like recruiting, financial analysis, and marketing to get best practices shared around the network as quickly as possible. It hasn’t been easy and we haven’t always been perfect but we are doing our level best to make sure we all come through this together while helping our clients do the same.
GF: What are the biggest challenges facing the healthcare industry today?
JJ: It’s frustrating to even think about a list like that because the needs are so vast and so many parts of the industry are confusing at each turn. However, from those same industry challenges comes a growing patient consumerism that helps drive businesses like ours. When the client or patient has a need, we need to be in front of them with our solution. That’s the driving force behind growing our brands so that we can be convenient to the client in their time of need. When have you ever thought of ‘healthcare’ and ‘convenient’ together? Only a few times, if any. And those solutions will be the winners as the population ages and looks for simple, easy, less confusing solutions to their problems.
J.J. was recently a guest on the Global Franchise Podcast. Listen to his episode – and many, many more – at globalfranchisemagazine.com/podcast
