“We offer our clients complete solutions for all of their franchise consulting and operational needs,” says founder and CEO Robert Stidham
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Summa Franchise Consulting (“Summa” which is the Latin word for “total”) is an award-winning franchise consulting company, specializing in advising franchising companies of all types at every step along the process, from emerging concept to sustainable success.
Based in Arizona, with a global presence, it has developed an enviable client list. Robert Stidham, Summa’s founder and CEO, says: “We enjoy working with all of our franchise clients. We are active in the franchising community, and our professionals have real and significant direct experience working in a variety of franchise businesses.”
Mr.Stidham is an accomplished franchise industry leader and executive with a proven track record of improving franchise company performance. He has held a variety of leadership positions including development, operations, consulting, and also as a franchise company president. Mr. Stidham also founded Franchise Dynamics, which is the world’s leading full-service franchise sales outsourcing firm. It has won numerous awards for outstanding performance. He is also active in the International Franchise Association (IFA) and serves as an International Committee member.
“We are active in the franchising community, and our professionals have real and significant direct experience working in a variety of franchise businesses”
Summa has extensive experience taking North American-based brands internationally, as well as bringing brands from Asia, Europe, and the Middle East to the United States and taking them to other world markets. For example, Summa has advised numerous restaurants, retail, and service sector brands successfully expand beyond their respective home markets.
BESPOKE SUPPORT
Summa specifically designed its “Emerging Franchise” consulting model for businesses that wish to franchise. Summa, as part of its services model, provides select clients with comprehensive franchise company launch services. Summa’s model has a unique cost structure approach in which its work outcomes are tied to the franchise concept’s success.
Summa is well-known for working with start-up or emerging franchise companies and maintaining those relationships throughout the franchisors’ growth cycles. “Working with companies at the beginning of their respective franchising journeys is advantageous for them and their franchisees,” says Chrissy Eblin, Summa’s vice president of marketing, “because Summa will help them establish clear, solid, and enduring practices based on well-developed policies, procedures, and manuals. This, in turn, helps our clients avoid unforced errors and unplanned costs. We also help our clients’ branding, operational, strategic, and marketing plans begin harmoniously.”
Ms.Eblin has extensive direct experience in domestic and international franchise marketing, sales, and operations. She has overseen the design and production of hundreds of major digital, video, print, and direct mail marketing and advertising campaigns. She has created and developed comprehensive marketing plans, presentations, research reports, along with sales and marketing reporting tools. She also has created, edited, and translated numerous corporate franchise operations and training manuals.
COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAMS
Summa is equally well-known for “providing comprehensive programs to assist companies in their franchise system development, growth, and operations, regardless of where they may be in their respective business lifecycle,” says Tom Rocca, chief experience officer (CXO) and executive vice president.
Mr.Rocca has over 30 years’ experience in customer and user experience and marketing. He has unique knowledge in business process outsourcing (BPO). He has worked with franchise companies in all segments, including restaurant brands. “Summa uniquely understands the customer experience, the consumer franchise experience, and the franchisor-franchisee experience,” Mr.Rocca says. “This allows us to help our clients develop optimized processes, systems, and communication tools which empower their franchisees to thrive, and ultimately benefit the customers.”
Mr.Rocca added that “Summa advises our clients on various challenging issues ranging from improving profit drivers to leverage to acquisitions or spin-offs to food safety and risk management. And Summa, through our affiliate, provides best-of-class outside sales and development services. Not as a broker, but instead as an integrated team member.”
MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE
Clients rely on Summa’s substantial experience in franchise sales and franchise marketing to inform their decision-making when it comes to choosing franchise marketing networks, developing budgets, constructing best-of-class messaging, and selecting the right franchisees during the franchise sales process.
“Working with companies at the beginning of their respective journeys is advantageous for them and their franchisees”
“The costs and problems of selecting the wrong franchisees far outweigh any revenue generated from those transactions,” Mr.Stidham points out. “We help our clients select superior franchisee partners so that they all can achieve superior results, which ultimately benefits the individual customers.”
Summa, through its affiliate, provides Franchise Sales Outsourcing (FSO) services, relieving franchisors of the difficulty and costs associated with selling franchise units, particularly on complex multiple-unit or master license transactions. Summa provides clients with a full-cycle franchise development solution, coordinating its activities with its clients’ marketing and operations executives and teams for proper program execution. The service format is unique in that the fulfillment model is shared-risk oriented and neither Summa nor its affiliate takes a portion of royalties nor direct equity from its clients for franchise sales services.
AT A GLANCE
Main HQ: Arizona, U.S.A.
Contact: info@summafranchise.com
