Franchise News International (blog):
Dorset entrepreneurs, Chris and Holly Galley, are through to the Franchisee of the Year Awards Final.
The couple believes their success in reaching this stage lies in their innovative use of marketing and social media to boost their customer base, and increase local brand awareness.
Chris and Holly Galley took over the Dorset franchise of Riverford Organic just 18 months ago, and in this short space of time have increased their number of deliveries by almost 200, and pushed cash sales up by 12%.
Says Chris: “When we took over from the previous owners, sales were declining. By improving customer care and processes and introducing social media – as well as other marketing methods such as cooking our fresh organic produce at local fairs to stimulate interest – we’ve taken on more regular customers. When you also consider that this is a slower time of year, because a lot of people go away and routines are disrupted, it’s a great achievement. Going into autumn and the busy Christmas period, I expect our veg box sales to increase even more.”