Give and Take

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United Country Real Estate?s history with Lowen Sign built on developing relationships
By Stephanie Andre

Lowen Sign?s working relationship with United Country Real Estate goes back more than 30 years. And for United Country, it couldn?t be a better match.

?It?s a great relationship,? says Lou Francis, president of United Country. ?After all of these years, they are still very responsive to our needs and the quality of their materials is excellent.?

Francis says the give-and-take relationship works because each company understands the other’s needs. ?They understand that we are looking out for the best service for our franchisees and we understand that they have a business to run,? he says.

Still, Francis says that it’s important to show the management at Lowen Sign that his company values their relationship. ?We make it our business to tour their manufacturing plant annually and spend time with their lead management team, discussing new ideas and such.

?[The Lowen Sign management team] understands that we are interested in keeping our business with them,? he adds.

That said, Francis points out that his franchisees are not obligated to buy exclusively from Lowen Sign, but it’s rare that an order is placed elsewhere.

?We don’t really have approved suppliers?our franchises are not required to use Lowen Sign,? Francis explains. ?But Lowen Sign is the only company we’ve negotiated with to provide signs and we pass that pricing on to our franchises. We don’t try to make money off of our suppliers.?

That pricing agreement?which maintains that all of United Country?s franchises operate under one account?is another element in this unique relationship.

?That’s one of the biggest differences in our relationship compared with other companies,? says Francis. ?Lowen Sign looks at us as one customer. All sign orders go through our corporate office and although each franchise places custom orders, all orders still go through one account.?

In fact, the two companies have developed an Intranet site for United Country?s franchisees that directly links to a custom catalog on Lowen Sign?s Web site.

?All of our signs are included on the site?it’s a catalog they can shop,? according to Carl Hopkins, chief financial officer for United Country. ?This really allows for faster ordering.?

Once the order is placed, the request is immediately sent to United Country?s home office. ?We then review the request and place the order electronically,? Hopkins explains.

Francis says that the connection between the two companies is like most other relationships. ?It?s like a marriage?you get out of it what you put in it,? he says. ?If we have a franchisee with a problem, I can call someone at Lowen Sign and it’s taken care of because of our personal relationship.

?Business is hard enough at face value, but if you can make business relationships personal, it makes it much more fun,? Francis says.

For more information, visit www.lowensign.com.

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Monday, March 22, 2010