The Signarama franchise group recently held their national conference in the picturesque Dinokeng area in the north east of Gauteng. The conference took place over 3 days, and covered some great training, fun team building events, and culminated in the Signarama Gala Awards Dinner where the top achievers in the Signarama franchise network were recognised.
The conference forms a major part of the support that the Signarama franchise offers to their franchisees. It gives franchisees the opportunity to break away from their businesses and aside from the training and updates provided by the franchise office support team, it gives franchisees the opportunity to benefit from peer-to-peer learning. “Who better to learn from than someone else who has been there, done it, got the t-shirt?’, asks Kurt Tyack, the franchisor for Signarama.
<<Signarama franchisees enjoying one of the informative sessions at the conference>>
Tyack believes that one of the strongest resources that any franchisor can offer to their network is other franchisees. According to him, this was particularly evident at the conference where some of the highest rated sessions were franchisee lead discussions. “Learning from some of the more senior franchisees really opened my eyes to the reality of running my business, and the willingness to help each other was great.”, said Deren Moodley, the Signarama franchisee in Honeydew, Gauteng.
The event was not ‘all work and no play’. The franchisees were tasked with cooking their own dinner on the Friday evening of the event. This involved a number of challenges, including starting their own fire, building it to a large flame and then cooking a delicious potjie. The once the pots were bubbling away, the franchisees enjoyed a relaxing game drive and sundowners.
<<Franchisees were tasked with cooking their own dinner in team building event>>
The Signarama franchise support team also provided valuable training to the franchisees, and the event was used to update everyone on the marketing, operations, financial and support plans for the future. A highlight of the event was the introduction of the Signarama Meerkats – a metaphor for each individual franchisee and how as a collective ‘Mob’ they are stronger together. The event was also used to introduce the marketing plan until the group’s 20th anniversary in 2020, and the launch of a new look showroom.
The successful event culminated in the form of the Signarama Gala Awards Dinner where the top achievers in the Signarama group were recognised. “We honestly believe that all of our franchisees deserve an award in some shape or form, but this event highlights those franchisees who truly do go above and beyond and deserve some special recognition”, explains Tyack.
The winners of the various awards were as follows:
Sign of the Year Judi Rabe Signarama Overberg
Sign of the Year first runner up Gavin Mann Signarama West Rand
Sign of the Year second runner up Francois Schoeman Signarama Pretoria North
Rookie of the Year Judi Rabe Signarama Overberg
Team Player Award Herman Van Dalen Signarama Welkom
Marketing Award Jacques Nortje Signarama Somerset West
Rising Star Award Heiko Lucks Signarama Windhoek
Rising Star Award Herman Van Dalen Signarama Welkom
Customer Service Award Barry Vermeulen Signarama Midrand
Sales Achievement Award Francois Schoeman Signarama Pretoria North
Sales Achievement Award Jacques Nortje Signarama Somerset West
Franchisee of the Year Finalist Gavin Mann Signarama West Rand
Franchisee of the Year Finalist Francois Schoeman Signarama Pretoria North
Franchisee of the Year Finalist Jonty Myburgh Signarama Middelburg
Franchisee of the Year Finalist Jacques Nortje Signarama Somerset West
FRANCHISEE OF THE YEAR FRANCOIS SCHOEMAN SIGNARAMA PRETORIA NORTH
<<Franchisee of the Year, Francois Schoeman (L), receiving his award.>>
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