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Applications to Professional Practice
The study enhances the existing body of information to establish strategies and
provide information on how the findings are relevant to improving business practices,
which may contribute to the effectiveness of marketing strategies to retain customers at
franchised small businesses in North Carolina. The participants that participated in the
study were business leaders at franchised small businesses that were 18 years or older in
North Carolina with 3 years of marketing strategies experience within the organization
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and use retention strategies on a regular basis to retain customers. The success of the four
participating franchised small businesses stemmed from the implementation of excellent
marketing strategies and advertising strategies by the business leaders. The results of this
study indicated that 100% of the participants indicated the importance of marketing
strategies in the operation and profitability of a company. Organizations’ marketing
strategy should include their mission statement, which defines the key element of the
competitive area of its operation (Lotayif, 2016).
More specifically, the participants reflected the components of the competitive
advantage theory and blue ocean theory throughout their responses. Huang & Chung
(2016) indicated that corporate rewards come from a sustained competitive advantage
and properly used corporate resources and capabilities. Furthermore, business leaders that
have higher-value resources such as employees, technology, reputation, and partnerships
and manage their resources portfolio properly benefit from a competitive advantage
(Fréry et al., 2015). The company managers can build blue ocean strategy for future
success by avoiding uncertainties in the competitive market (Altindag et al., 2014). The
knowledge other franchised businesses may gain from this study is the importance of
marketing strategies that includes networking within the community, targeting specific
market segments, advertising, promoting brand identity, developing customer loyalty
programs and providing personalized customer service. According to Al-Nimer, Qasem,
AlAdham, & Yousef (2015), the two fundamental factors in the deployment of a
company’s name are marketing and advertising.
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Relating to the responses of the franchise small business leaders, they expressed
that advertisements and brand identity were effective marketing strategies. A participant
believed that brand identity in conjunction with advertising was a major marketing
strategy. Hanaysha and Hilman (2015) found that advertising had significant positive
effects on brand loyalty, brand image, and brand awareness. Therefore, business leaders
may incorporate brand identity when developing advertisements to increase customers’
awareness of the product or service by brand. To conquer the consumer’s loyalty,
marketing leaders must develop bold and innovative advertising campaigns (Musetescu
& Chira, 2015).
The results and documentation revealed that customer retention is a key factor in
franchise small business profitability. All the participants indicated that business leaders
need marketing strategies including networking with other businesses and community
involvement to be successful at customer retention. The basis of relationship marketing
is the indication that selling a product to an existing customer is cheaper than selling the
same product to a new one; therefore, business leaders focus on increasing customer
retention to increase profitability (Abdolvand, Baradaran & Albadvi, 2015; Hassouna et
al., 2015).
The most efficient marketing strategy for customer retention mentioned in the
franchise small business leaders’ responses was the development of customer loyalty
programs. Developing loyalty programs help sustains and enact repeat purchases while
increasing communication between businesses and customers (Pimpão, Correia, Duque,
& Carlos Zorrinho, 2014). Business leaders may focus on developing customer loyalty
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programs to enhance customer satisfaction and build strong customer-business
organization relationships. A participant indicated that building relationships with loyal
customers and staying in contact with them was a major marketing strategy. Customer
loyalty is a source of a sustainable competitive advantage because loyal customers are a
continuing source of profit for the business (Trif, 2013).
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