Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2013 | Page 49

In this era of breakneck-paced
technology and social media,
it’s easy to underestimate the
value of phone conversations,
says Doug Wong, senior director of global franchise recruitment for Denny’s, which has
1,700 restaurants in 50 states
and 13 countries. “In Denny’s
case, most of our prospects,
who are often Denny’s consumers who love the brand and
Doug Wong
want to become franchisees,
call in. That’s their comfort zone. Anytime someone picks
up the phone to call you, there’s interest. Our job is to take
that interest and move it to intent. It’s our responsibility to
respond to them quickly and to see what we can do to move
things forward.”
Also key to Denny’s success, he says, is to have the right
people in place. “Our philosophy is to treat folks calling as
consumers interested in franchisi