Regulate consistency
As a business with locations worldwide, maintaining consistency across its many stores is critical to Subway’s reputation. So it’s important for owners like Feldman to have the proper controls in place to keep operations consistent and maintain quality throughout their territories.
One way the company does this by maintaining high standards of compliance for its store owners.
“We’re very, very strict in our requirements for compliance,” Feldman says. “Part of the support is 80 percent of my staff is made up of operations analysts. They go into the field and are in their stores at least once a month. They do full evaluations that start with cleanliness in the front window and go right on through the store, including marketing recommendations, attitude of employees — all of these things.”
Driving consistency internally is also why Subway doesn’t sell to professional chefs — who are tempted to try to “improve” on the business model.
“Chefs always are looking to create a better way,” Feldman says. “And while we’re always looking at our corporate offices to do that, and have a tremendous amount of success from franchisees who give us recommendations, it basically is that when you go into a Subway regardless of where it is around the world, that you know that you’re getting a consistent product. The look is consistent.”
For Subway, the food part of it and the product part of it can be learned and trained. The real work of the owners is growing the business in the community, from “the outside in,” whether it’s sponsoring local Little League games or working with not-for-profits.
“It’s understanding how to take those tools and get out there and market your business,” Feldman says. “We look more for people who will participate in marketing and bringing customers in, because we can teach you everything that needs to be done in the store itself.”
When the goal is consistency, you want store owners who are entrepreneurs, not industry professionals.
“They would come back after two weeks of training thinking they knew how to grow their business their way,” Feldman says. “But this doesn’t work as a large-scale concept. At the franchisee level — success is about following the model.”
