COMMUNICATIONS FRANCHISE MANUAL MAY, 2013

Transcription

1 COMMUNICATIONS FRANCHISE MANUAL MAY, 2013

2 COMMUNICATION: Scripted answers to Frequently Asked Questions, plus facts all employees need to know You will find recurring themes in questions asked of you by customers and schools. To ensure consistent communication and help with efficiency, we ve compiled answers to many frequently asked questions. Be sure to customize according to the customer s question or request. Other Donations (gift cards, coupons, sponsorships of sports teams, events, etc): Our mission at Smart Cow is to do the best we can to help local K-12 schools deal with challenging budgets, and so we regularly donate part of an entire day's sales to a neighborhood school. We strive to keep our program very defined, easy to understand, and impactful. For that reason, we focus exclusively on K-12 schools, and we are not able to make other types of donations, such as gift cards or coupons, or support other causes, though of course there are so many great causes in the community, like yours. Working this way helps us keep our message clear, and allows us to put as much as we can toward supporting education through direct donations to schools. Thanks for your understanding, and thanks for visiting Smart Cow. Best of luck with your event; you also are doing great things for kids. Parameters of our Grassroots Tuesdays Program Yes we have a program we call Grassroots Tuesdays, and we regularly donate part of an entire day's sales to a neighborhood school. Our two parameters are that the school be within about a 5-mile driving distance of our shop - because we feel it's really important to help our closest neighbors - and secondly that our donation is given to the school in an effort to help the most kids possible. We donate either to the school itself, or to the overall school fundraising entity, such as the PTA/PTO. Donation calendar is full, but school is in your area Thanks for inquiring about adding your school to our Grassroots Tuesdays donation calendar. I'm sorry to tell you that our entire (school year, i.e ) donation schedule is full. Word of our giving spread quickly and we scheduled schools on a firstcome, first-served basis, but I will make note of your request. It s our goal to help as

3 many schools as we can, and we will continue to work through the list of requests as the years progress! Driving distance; school is too far away Thanks for visiting Smart Cow and for inquiring about our school fundraising program. One of the parameters we use in choosing schools is driving distance from the store. Right now, we host schools that are within about a 5-mile driving distance, simply because there are so many schools in our own neighborhood, more than we can accommodate, and we feel the distance parameter makes it most fair. (School) is a bit too far to fit our guidelines, but I will keep your contact information in the event that anything changes. Sorry to disappoint, but we thank you for asking, and for your understanding. Request to support daycare or preschool Thanks for thinking of us and for your nice compliments about Smart Cow! Our focus in our education giving is on K-12 schools, so I'm so sorry to decline your request to be added to our calendar. There are so many schools in our area and we are trying to be as fair as possible. Since there are more K-12 schools than we can accommodate in a given year, we feel it's important to stick to that parameter in our giving and try to help additional K-12 schools year by year. What makes us different We so very much appreciate the support we've received from the community. We're a family-owned business and strive to differentiate ourselves by making a measurable impact with this company. It has been completely gratifying to see the support we ve received, and the support to schools we're able to give in return because of it. We've now donated over ($x,xxx) in (your city) and it's folks like you who allow us to continue on our mission. Thank you so much for your support! Pricing complaint: (Be sure to do your own math before sending this reply) Hi and thanks for writing. We'd like to give you a little information on our pricing. Doing the math shows that our loyalty program brings the price per ounce down to (37)cents; You end up getting a total of (81) ounces for $30.

4 Prices at other shops in our area range from (39 to 45) cents per ounce. In addition, we offer a 20% discount to teachers and military personnel all day, every day. The cornerstone of our business is our commitment to local schools. We regularly donate part of an entire day's sales to a neighborhood school, because when Smart Cow began, the founders were determined to make a difference in education. Smart Cow has donated over $50,000 to area schools since its creation. This financial commitment also factors a bit into our pricing, and we hope that customers appreciate the value it brings to our community. We don t know of any other business (or yogurt shop) that donates as much or as often to support local schools, and we're happy to be making a difference. Then of course, in setting our price we also have to consider factors like rent, our standards for our unique interior, and choosing a dairy that produces a premium product, which is different than what many other area shops serve. Thanks again for your support of our family-owned shop. We've had such a warm welcome and are so happy to support local schools in the (city) area. We hope to see you again soon! And if you have a local school in mind that you'd like to suggest we put on our donation calendar, please let us know. Cost (alternate phrasing) Thanks again for your support of our family-owned shop. We've had such a warm welcome and are so happy to support local schools in the Green Bay area. We appreciate your feedback and respect that every customer has their own comfort level when it comes to cost; I hope my explanation is helpful. Support from folks like you helps us continue on our mission to help neighborhood schools. Allergens and Ingredients Thanks for your question. You can find nutritional information on all of our flavors in two places: our Nutrition Book at the store, and on our website. The book at the store contains ingredient, allergen and nutritional information on every flavor available to us. Just ask an employee to take a look at it during your visit. On our website, click on YOGURT, then FLAVORS. You can then click on a specific flavor and up will pop quick facts like calories, carbs, allergens and more. You may also click on Full Nutritional Information to see all details. We hope that helps, and thanks for your support!

5 Disclaimer at the bottom of nutrition pages As you saw in our nutritional book, specific allergens for each flavor are listed at the top of the page, above the ingredients list. For most customers, these known allergens are what they need to watch for. The disclaimer at the bottom of the page is there because allergens such as milk, peanuts, etc., -- even though they may not be an ingredient used in the specific flavor -- are used somewhere inside the dairy plant, and for that reason, the dairy has to make the statement. We hope that helps, and thanks for asking. Thank you to Schools After Donation Event (Ask to have this printed in their newsletter/enews, etc) Would you be able to have the following message added to any communication that goes to your families, such as enews, teacher's letters, etc.? I always like to thank the community for their support after an event: Thanks from Smart Cow! Recently, we had the pleasure of hosting your community at Smart Cow Yogurt Bar for our Grassroots Tuesday to support (school name). What a fabulous group of parents, teachers and kids! It was really rewarding to see such a great turnout, which of course means that you are a community committed to finding ways to support your school in challenging economic times. Thank you so much for your continued support of our family-owned business. With your help, we will continue to donate regularly to our neighborhood schools. Sincerely, (your name) Owner

6 Following are Frequently Asked Questions that your employees need to know how to answer on the spot: "Which of your flavors are gluten-free?" Most all of our flavors are gluten free. The few that contain gluten are those that have add-ins such as Cookies 'n Cream and Sea Salt Caramel Pretzel. And also, our Italian Tart may contain gluten. All the sorbets are gluten-free. I can also show you our Nutrition Book which contains allergen, ingredient and nutritional information on all of our flavors. Would you like to take a look at it? This information can also be found on our website. ~ Speaking of which, it's a good idea for all employees to familiarize themselves with our website: Here's a snapshot of how we identify allergen/ nutrition info. Click on YOGURT and then FLAVORS, then you can click on any flavor and up will pop a window like this:

7 You can see the quick identifiers of protein, calcium, gluten-free and more. "Do I earn points when I buy a gift card?" Actually the points are offered to the person who uses the gift card, since it's not possible to award points to both the purchases and the receiver. More quick facts ~ Our Sorbets are dairy-free for those who can't have milk products ~ Our NSAs (No Sugar Added) are not sugar-free because there is sugar in milk and yogurt is made with milk. The dairy that makes our yogurt adds no additional sugar. These NSA flavors have a lower sugar content and are sweetened with Splenda. If a customer asks, this is important to tell them, as people may have severe reactions, for instance, Splenda-induced migraines. ~Since our Italian Tart may contain gluten, please be aware that if we create a new Tart flavor using Custom Blend syrups, those would also be classified as may contain gluten. Be sure all staff knows which Tarts are made using syrups. Familiarize with Facebook If your employees use Facebook, ask them to Like your page. It's where you will post updates on flavors, Grassroots Tuesdays, photos and more.

8 Moo Mail: The cool stuff you tell us We provide you with this Facebook graphic so that you can occasionally post great comments and compliments you receive from customers, through surveys, s, phone calls, etc. These posts are generally very popular as often other customers who feel the same way, will like the post and therefore create publicity for you. Here are some real examples that we ve collected. Feel free to use them in your posts, and add your own as they roll in: I drive the extra distance to get to Smart Cow not only because of your delicious product, but mostly because of your support for our local schools. Keep up the awesome work! I am known to be quite thrifty, a mom of 6, so I truly appreciate finding affordable places to go. I must say you went above and beyond, greeting me within seconds of my entry, offering samples an answering many questions (due to allergies). One word...impressed! The Chalkboard tables rock! So many options, I"ll never get bored! It's the new favorite place of everyone at my school I would work here in a heartbeat. It's the best yogurt I've had in the area thick and creamy The yogurt is healthy AND delicious what could be better? I once ate it 7 days in a row. You reallly ought to visit. It's an awesome business. Thank you for all that Smart Cow is doing to support our underfunded schools. It means a lot to know that there are businesses out there that are willing to step up and do what it takes to make our community a better place. The yogurt was great, too, and we'll be back soon! We love your establishment! The fact that schools in the area benefit is great. I realize schools are taking a big hit in this economy, so, even though I don't have children in school anymore, I am still willing to help out where I can. And it tastes good, too. The concept of continually helping schools is very thoughtful and amazingly generous. As a teacher, thank you!

9 We HEART Smart Cow! We could eat it for every meal! Watermelon Sorbet rocks my world! Very cool place, love the variety and self-service. It's good to see a business giving back to schools in the community. A great place to bring the family! The taste is the best of any of the other soft serve places popping up around town, and super affordable. Staff is always keeping the store clean, and they're super friendly Our favorite place to go for a treat You know it's good when it's crowded! Thanks for sharing and caring. You prove there is potential in the world to make a better place for all. Sounds like heaven in a bowl. I need some Smart Cow after midterms today. Wait, is that my tummy rumbling for some Smart Cow? I bet it is! Your froyo is the best of them all! Love the atmosphere, the vibe of the dining area; but most of all your flavors, textures and toppings are above the rest! Holy Grail of Yogurt Bars! Our hearts belong to Smart Cow! Wish there were more companies that helped kids achieve like you do. Your shop is always clean and happy! I don't drink coffee, so this is my Starbucks! We were considering moving to another planet but Smart Cow has restored our faith in humanity Love meeting my friends here after work.

10 It's a cool fun place to hang out and the staff is really cool great service and best froyo out there! Smart Cow is far above the competition My kids love going here after school and it is reasonable in price! Thank you! This is some of the best yogurt I have eaten in my lifetime. I usually eat more of it in the warm weather months. Since I live so close, I will be visiting a lot in the near future. I am a retired teacher of 32 years, so I appreciate that you are committed to education. Thank you! You've brought such happiness to this community! Best Yogurt place in the area!