February 27th marked the start of Refresh Renovations’ biggest conference to date. 95 franchisees attended, with two making the trip from the United Kingdom to the Trinity Wharf in Tauranga, New Zealand. The three day conference covered presentations under the theme of ‘people, processes and performance’, ending in an awards dinner overlooking the waterfront.
In addition to the 95 franchise owners, Refresh company directors Chris Caiger, Jon Bridge and Barry Bloomfield were there for the entirety of the conference, as was Refresh global CEO Lal Meyer. The conference was an opportunity for franchisees, CEOs, general managers, Refresh partners and suppliers to gather, grow and catch up. Many made the trip from within New Zealand, others travelled from Australia and as far as the United Kingdom and the United States.
A lot was covered over the three days. Forbes columnist Chris Myres advised the audience on what makes a great franchise business. Dan Vincent shared what he has learned running successful small businesses, such as The Homestore NZ. The Refresh head office team educated everyone on ‘how to get more leads through marketing’ and continued this in workshops on successful marketing strategies and dealing with sales objections. Australian franchise owner Cinzia Gagliardi introduced the audience to sales psychology.
At the end of day three, presenter and journalist Rawdon Christie led everyone into the main event - the awards dinner. Awards were presented alongside each meal. Chris Bath and Cinzia Gagliardi won Renovation Consultant of the Year Awards, with Paul Cree and Wayne Gordon walking away with Customer Service of the Year Awards. The New Franchise of the Year Award went to Jeff Clark in New Zealand, Cinzia Gagliardi in Australia and Kelly Malcher in the United Kingdom.
The final award, Franchise of the Year, was presented to Australian renovation consultant Marcus Smith and New Zealand renovation specialists Jim and Del Gleeson.
Drinks, music and dancing concluded the 2019 Refresh Renovations conference. Congratulations to the winners and we’ll see you next year!