In this exclusive Q&A, we get to learn about Thryv from the company’s head of corporate and business development, Matthew Gourgeot.

Franchise Chatter (FC): What is Thryv?

Matthew Gourgeot (MG): Thryv is an end-to-end client experience software that helps both franchise brands and small businesses meet today’s customer expectations on one single platform.

FC: What are Thryv’s capabilities?

MG: With Thryv, a business owner can reach more customers, stay organized, get paid faster and generate reviews. Features within the software include a fully automated CRM, calendars, an online scheduler, social media management, marketing automation, estimate payments and more.

FC: What support does Thryv provide to franchisors?

MG: Scaling a franchise brand can be challenging and chaotic. Franchisors who equip their franchisees with Thryv can standardize their customer experience and automate business processes. This creates a turnkey system that’s repeatable and predictable, with real-time insights and accountability.

One of the most important assets to a franchise is their brand. We all know brand is far more than a logo, and it starts with the level of service and experience customers come to expect from that brand. Thryv ensures each location is delivering the same exceptional customer experience, again and again.

The franchisor’s leadership team can utilize our real-time reporting console known as Hub By Thryv to help keep tabs on their entire business, and individual locations, all in one place. They can view their best and worst performing locations, filtered by metrics like geography, average order value and number of appointments, among other items.

FC: Thryv and Franworth recently announced an upcoming REACH event. What are the two companies looking to accomplish and can you elaborate on the partnership as a whole?

MG: Culturally, Franworth and Thryv are very similar. Both of our organizations believe in providing services and tools, previously only available to bigger companies, for emerging brands. John Rotche, Dave Keil and Meg Roberts have built a solid team at Franworth, and it has been exciting to partner and collaborate with their group.

For the upcoming REACH Event, we will be selecting 30 micro-emerging franchisors and matching them up with a franchise mentor for one year. Each of the mentors will have a track record of success in franchising and be handpicked by the leadership team at Franworth.

FC: Can you share a success story on how Thryv has helped a brand optimize its business?

MG: Last year, we were introduced to Garage Kings, an up-and-coming floor coating concept, by our partners at Franworth. Garage Kings CEO Troy Rainsberg had just purchased the 30+ unit franchise from the previous franchisor and his vision for the company was to change their model from a distributorship to a standard royalty system.

Troy needed to simplify their business processes including how they estimated jobs, and he wanted to be able to track as much of the business as possible in real time. We worked diligently with Troy, his team and his franchisees to create their new simplified end-to-end system. They are now set to take off in 2021.

FC: How does Thryv differentiate itself from its competitors?

MG: Thryv is a stable, publicly-traded software company. We have hundreds of thousands of customers along with a few thousand employees. When an emerging franchisor is looking downfield over the next 3, 5 or 10 years, it’s essential that they team up with the right partners and ask a few questions:

1. Can the software company support the scale of the business?
2. Is there a chance the software company will even be around in 3-5 years?
3. Does the company have the resources to keep up with consumer expectations?

Unlike some smaller operations supporting the franchise space, you can check those boxes with our team. We are unique in that we can provide the nimbleness of a start up with the reliability and support of an established business.

FC: What type of franchise businesses can benefit from Thryv’s services?

MG: We support service-oriented franchise brands. That includes businesses who depend on pre-sales activities, job or task tracking through the work, post-sale follow-up and continually automated outreach to generate repeat businesses, reviews and awareness.

FC: Has Thryv helped franchisors or other small businesses navigate COVID-19? If so, how?

MG: It’s hard enough to implement swift changes when you have one location, much less a brand with numerous units. Our customers were equipped to navigate the pandemic. The trends accelerated by COVID, like online scheduling, digital estimates and invoices, contactless payments, are features found within our software. Franchise clients were able to easily update their hours of operations online, make instant changes to their marketing material and communicate with their clients on their safety measures, as an example.

Those already using Thryv were well positioned to operate virtually with centralized communication and online tools. We found others eager to sign up with Thryv in an effort to re-position their company, whereas before, they may have been comfortable doing things “the old way”.

FC: How can readers learn more about Thryv and the company’s capabilities?

MG: They can visit www.thryv.com, subscribe to our blog www.thryv.com/blog or follow us on social media @Thryv.

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🎯Find Good Franchises That Are Still AVAILABLE in Your Target Area (Free Tool)

🚀How to Find, Vet & FUND a Good Franchise. Watch Our Webinar Live or the Recording Later (Register Now – It's Free)

💵How Much Franchise Can You AFFORD? Use Our Free Financial Calculator