58 | Business World Magazine |
April 2014
tors across the United States and Canada are
in it by themselves. Numerous area-specific
training events are scheduled throughout the
year, and all franchisees are invited to attend
the annual Lifestyle Conference, whose 45th
edition is set this year for April 27 through
May 2 in San Diego.
The supportive approach is further buf-
feted by in-house systems such as DecoNet,
a private online information and communi-
cations system that was created by Virginia-
based FranConnect and is made available for
exclusive use by Decorating Den franchisees,
regional offices and preferred suppliers.
It allows franchisees to communicate with
the corporate office and each other, to set
up their individual customer-management
systems and to participate in chat forums to
share design or customer ideas. Additionally,
a one-stop element of the system was recent-
ly launched to allow users, if they choose, to
develop, design and implement an annual lo-
cal marketing program with a single button
push.
“Our goal is always to make our business
as easy as possible on the back end, so that
they can spend the majority of their time on
the front end of their business, which is deal-
ing with their clients and designing beautiful
rooms,” Bugg said.
