Latest / Franchise Conversations with Fexingo: Buying, Running, and Scaling Franchise Businesses / How Franchisees Are Using Crowdsourced Innovation
Transcript
- Lucas: A few years back, Dunkin' Donuts rolled out a brownie batter donut that became a cult favorite. What most people don't know is that the idea didn't come from corporate R&D — it came from a customer submission through Dunkin's 'Dunkin' Runs on You' crowdsourcing platform. Luna: Wait, so a customer just typed in 'hey, make a donut that tastes like brownie batter,' and Dunkin' actually made it? Lucas: Pretty much. They got thousands of ideas, someone suggested a brownie batter flavored donut with a chocolate glaze and sprinkles, and the company tested it. It sold so well in limited release that they brought it back multiple times. Luna: That's a great example of crowdsourced innovation. But most franchisees don't have a corporate innovation team to filter through thousands of suggestions. How does a single-unit owner tap into that? Lucas: That's exactly the question. What we're seeing is that franchisees are using third-party platforms like IdeaScale, Brightidea, or even simpler tools like a branded suggestion box app. The key is to make it easy for customers and employees to submit ideas, and then have a system to triage them. Luna: And the cost? Because for a small franchisee, every dollar counts. Lucas: IdeaScale starts at about $500 a month for a small business plan. That might sound steep, but if you get one implementable idea per quarter that saves you money or boosts revenue, it pays for itself. I talked to a franchisee who runs three sandwich shops — he gets about 15 ideas a month from customers via a QR code on receipts. He implemented two: one was switching to a more efficient toaster that cut energy costs by 8 percent, and the other was a new combo meal that increased average ticket size by 12 percent. Luna: So it's not just about product ideas — it's operational too. That's smart. But there's a danger of getting overwhelmed. You don't want to become that franchisee who has a hundred ideas but implements none. Lucas: Right. The term for that is 'suggestion fatigue.' If you ask for ideas and then never act on them, people stop contributing. The best practice is to set a cadence — review ideas monthly, pick one to test, and then publicly thank the person who submitted it. Even if the idea doesn't work, acknowledging it keeps the pipeline flowing. Luna: I've seen a 7-Eleven franchisee do something similar. He put up a simple whiteboard in the back room labeled 'Your Ideas Here' and asked employees to write suggestions. One employee suggested moving the coffee station closer to the entrance — it increased coffee sales by 15 percent because customers smelled it sooner. Lucas: That's a zero-cost change. And it came from an employee who walked that floor every day. The franchisee told me he now dedicates 30 minutes every Friday to read the board and discuss with the shift leads. It's become part of the culture. Luna: So the barrier to entry is really just a notepad or a free app. But the structured platforms add analytics, voting, and the ability to track implementation. I'd imagine that's more useful for multi-unit franchisees. Lucas: Exactly. A single-unit owner might not need IdeaScale. But if you have five units, a platform lets you aggregate ideas across locations, see which ones get the most votes, and then roll out the best ones system-wide. One franchisee I know, with six fast-casual restaurants, uses a simple Google Form that auto-populates into a spreadsheet. He reviews it quarterly with his managers. They've implemented over 20 ideas in two years. Luna: What kind of ideas? Give me a concrete one. Lucas: One was changing the lunch rush scheduling. An employee pointed out that they were overstaffed from 11 to 11:30 but understaffed from 12:30 to 1. By adjusting shifts by 15 minutes, they cut labor costs by 3 percent without reducing service. That's a direct bottom-line impact from a simple observation. Luna: And that idea came from an employee who probably wouldn't have spoken up without a formal channel. There's something about writing it down that makes people more comfortable. Lucas: Absolutely. And the franchisees who do this well also tie it to incentives. Some offer a small bonus — say $50 — for the idea of the month. Others give a gift card or a paid day off. It's not about the money; it's about recognition. Luna: But let's talk about the flip side. Not every idea is good. How do you filter out the noise without discouraging people? Lucas: You need a lightweight scoring system. Something like: impact versus effort. High impact, low effort — do it now. High impact, high effort — plan it. Low impact, low effort — maybe do it if you have time. Low impact, high effort — skip it. That matrix is simple enough for any franchisee to use with their team. Luna: And you should close the loop. If someone suggests something that's not feasible, explain why. Otherwise they'll stop contributing. Lucas: 100 percent. One franchisee told me he sends a monthly email to all employees titled 'Ideas In Action' that lists the submissions, what's being implemented, and why some weren't chosen. It builds trust and keeps engagement high. Luna: It's basically a mini innovation culture. And that can be a competitive advantage. If your franchise is constantly improving based on real feedback, you're going to outperform the unit that just follows the manual. Lucas: And speaking of culture, I want to mention something that often gets overlooked. The best ideas often come from the newest employees. They haven't been conditioned to think 'that's how we've always done it.' So if you only ask your veteran staff, you might miss the fresh perspective. Luna: That's a great point. I've seen franchises where the owner or manager is the one who's been there 10 years, and they're resistant to change. But a new hire sees inefficiencies immediately. Lucas: Right. So you want to make sure your crowdsourcing is inclusive — both customers and employees, both tenured and new. And you have to be open to ideas that challenge your assumptions. That's hard for some franchisees. Luna: But it's worth it. Let's talk numbers: what's the typical ROI on a crowdsourcing initiative for a franchisee? Lucas: It varies widely, but I've seen estimates that for every dollar spent on the platform and incentives, franchisees see between three and five dollars in cost savings or revenue gains. That's a three-to-one to five-to-one return. And that's not counting the intangible benefits like employee engagement and customer loyalty. Luna: If these conversations have moved your work forward in some small way, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps them going — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. Lucas: Yeah, that support really does make a difference. It keeps us ad-free and focused on the content you tell us you want. Luna: Exactly. So back to crowdsourcing — what's next? Are we going to see ai powered idea filtering? Lucas: We're already seeing it. Some platforms now use natural language processing to categorize ideas, detect duplicates, and even predict which ideas are likely to succeed based on historical data. For a franchisee with hundreds of submissions, that could be a game-changer. Luna: So instead of manually reading 200 suggestions, the AI surfaces the top 10. That makes it scalable even for a single owner. Lucas: Exactly. And I think we'll see more integration with point of sale and customer feedback systems. Imagine a system that automatically tags customer comments from surveys as 'idea' or 'complaint' and routes them to the innovation queue. Luna: That would make the whole process seamless. But there's a risk of losing the human touch. If an AI filters out an idea that's poorly written but actually brilliant, you've missed an opportunity. Lucas: That's why the human review step is still critical. AI can triage, but a person should always do the final cut. And you need to periodically audit the AI's decisions to make sure it's not biased toward certain types of ideas. Luna: Good point. So the future is a hybrid: ai assisted triage with human judgment. That seems accessible even for smaller franchisees now that these tools are becoming cheaper. Lucas: And the key takeaway from today is that you don't need a big budget or a fancy platform. Start small. Put a box on the wall. Send a monthly email. Just start listening. The ideas are already there — you just need to create a way for them to surface. Luna: And if you do that consistently, you'll build a culture where innovation is part of the daily routine, not a special project. That's the real competitive edge.