Franchise Update Magazine Issue III, 2013 | Page 10

Grow Market Lead

CEO
profile:
Positive Change
Molly Maid’s Meg Roberts: from marketing to president
By Kerry Pipes

M

eg Roberts says her
entry into franchising
occurred when her professional career path
unexpectedly changed direction. The
Michigan native always thought she
would be in the advertising business:
she studied it in school and went to
work for one of the largest ad agencies, BBDO in Chicago, eventually
working on major accounts such as
Wrigley.
The high stress and long hours
were not conducive to a family and
any life outside work, so Roberts
moved back to Michigan… not far
from Molly Maid’s headquarters. She
knew someone who worked there,
one thing led to another, and in 2007
she became director of marketing
for the 30-year-old brand.
“One of the things that I came
to realize very early on was that
franchise marketing is much more
complex than consumer retail marketing,” she says. “You don’t only
have a brand marketing strategy, you
also have to work with and influence
the franchisees so that everyone is
on the same page and executing effectively.”
At Molly Maid, Roberts didn’t
waste any time putting her marketing
acumen to work. She introduced a
customer-building online marketing
campaign, driving up leads by more
than 150 percent in 2010, and she
channeled resources into social media.
Under her leadership, Molly Maid
notched double-digit sales growth
three consecutive years.
In 2011, she was promoted to vice
president of marketing for Molly
Maid and Mr. Handyman (Service

8

Franchiseupdate Iss u e III, 2 0 1 3

Name: Meg Roberts
Title: President
Company: Molly Maid, Inc.
Units: 256
Age: 40
Family: 2 sons, Luke 10, and Erik 7
Years in franchising: 5
Years in current position: 1

Brands International owns Molly
Maid, Mr. Handyman, and ProTect
Painters). She and her marketing
team continued to fine-tune their
online strategies and consistently
increased website traffic and, most
important, leads to franchisees significantly year over year, racking up
quite a reputation in the process. Last
year Roberts was named president

of Molly Maid.
Roberts says her marketing background continues to influence her
management style, but “I’ve discovered that I’m more of a motivator
than a marketer,” she says, favoring a
collaborative approach to leadership
and working closely with her team
at corporate. For example, she and
her team dug into customer demographics and other data and discovered about 200 additional territories
they think they can build out.
They’re also turning to technology to ensure they’re ready to meet
the emerging Millennial customers
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