QSR Interview | By Carolyn Walkup
Nigel Travis Talks Dunkin’s Success
With the record of tripling online sales during his four years at Papa John’s, Travis is bringing his strengths in technology to his new post. “I like technology. We are currently focused on a consistent platform of technology at both Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins,” he says, adding that franchisees are enthusiastic about advancing technology, both to speed customer service and to improve operations in a variety of ways.
“We are moving from selling franchises to supporting franchisees throughout their lives,” Travis says. “Our relationship with our franchisees is spectacularly good. If you focus on a collaborative relationship, everything else will follow.”
Jim Coen, president of the Boston-based Dunkin’ Donuts Independent Franchise Owners (DDIFO) organization, declined to comment on the status of franchisor-franchisee relations. “There have been changes,” he says. “Right now we are negotiating on a couple of different fronts; there are some extremely important negotiations ongoing.”
The DDIFO represents about 2,500 shops, or 40 percent of the U.S., Coen says.
Good franchisor-franchisee relations have not always been the case, as witnessed by some 350 outstanding lawsuits against franchisees at the end of 2009. Consultant Allen credits Travis with shifting away from “a culture of fighting with franchisees. They were one of the most eager-to-sue companies in the franchise industry,” he says.
Most of those suits accused franchisees of various brand-noncompliance issues. “When you’re 100 percent franchised, it’s important to keep on good terms with franchisees,” Allen says.
Lombardi is not bothered by Dunkin’s record of some friction with franchisees. “In any system that has stores that have been built over decades and where you have a large number of franchisees, there is a constant battle to make sure that the bottom 20 percent improves their quality,” he says.
“It’s critical that the franchisor protect the brand, both for the franchisor and franchisees who are pulling their weight. It’s an ongoing thing that they will continually have to do,” Lombardi says.
Overall, he says Travis was a good choice for the job. “He knows franchising and foodservice. The succession was orderly, and I think it was done absolutely correctly,” he says.
Whether Travis stays at Dunkin’ for the long term or moves on to a newer challenge in a few years remains to be seen. When deciding to hire him as part of its succession plan, Dunkin’ Brands’ board of directors looked to his proven track record of delivering outstanding results at Papa John’s, Blockbuster, and Burger King as an indication that he was the right executive to succeed Luther.
Now that Travis has had time to grow into his position, he says, “The opportunity ahead of us is spectacular. When you are doing good work, it’s fun.”
Freelance writer Carolyn Walkup has covered the foodservice industry for more than two decades.
