Most franchisors would agree that for a franchise to make a real impact, and a real profit, it needs to connect with its local market. This is something that Cold Rock franchisees Paul and Rosa OÍNeill and Hayden and Sheryl Ramsey have definitely got under control. The two couples, who are also long term friends, have this year claimed the fast food/takeaway category of the Penrith Local Business Awards for the third year in a row.

And Penrith isnÍt the teamÍs only store, they also operate one in Wollongong and are preparing for the opening of their third store, Stockland Shellharbour, in May next year.

Hayden Ramsey believes the success of both his Penrith and Wollongong stores comes down to good old fashioned customer service. “I think the customer service part of the awards, which is a mystery shop at the end of the process, is probably the most critical part,” he says.

And itÍs not difficult to have happy staff at Cold Rock, when your day consists of mixing chocolate, fruit, nuts and lolly ïmix-insÍ into different ice creams.

“People come in for a treat. They come in for a good time so there are no grumpy salespeople behind the counter, because theyÍve been serving smiling kids all day and the whole idea is fun.”

Apart from explaining the Cold Rock offering and what makes it unique, the key to providing excellent customer service is simple. Smile and acknowledge your customer, Hayden says.

“YouÍve got to greet the customer first. As soon as they walk in the door itÍs about the greeting. Even if youÍre busy on the rock serving someone else, you should still look at and greet the customer. The theory is that once theyÍre inside the door and youÍve greeted them, theyÍll stay.”

Hayden and his fellow franchisees are firm believers in the ïwork on your business not in your businessÍ mantra, and with three stores on their hands, thereÍs plenty of work to go round.

“WeÍve been pretty lucky. Because our stores have been successful from day one, and earning a decent income, weÍve been able to step back and work on the store as opposed to working in the stores,” he says. “ThatÍs worked really well for us. In the partnership, the four of us have defined roles; one will do rostering, the girls do HR and recruitment, we try to specialise in certain areas, so we share the load rather than all of us trying to do a bit of everything.

“We spend a lot of time in the stores but weÍre training staff and keeping an eye on KPIs and organising our own mystery shops and doing all those things that keep our stores in check.”

Local area marketing is a big focus for Hayden and his team, who use the typically quieter winter months to sponsor netball teams in the Illawarra and Penrith regions in order to stay front of mind with their target market.

“WeÍre focusing on the really young, up to 12 years old, girls at netball. We give them merit awards so each week the coach gives one to the best player of the day. That brings the kids into our store and once you get them hooked as kids, theyÍll come back as teenagers. Our biggest market has always been the 16 to 34 year old females,” says Hayden.

On top of whatÍs offered by head office, the OÍNeills and Ramsays also promote the Cold Rock brand in their local areas.

“The thing about our concept is that you need to see the process to understand it. So you need to see an ad where it shows the icecream being mixed up on the rock, otherwise people donÍt understand, they think weÍre just another icecream shop. And in order to do an advertising campaign on a network, a Sydney market for example, itÍs very expensive. So head office does that in Easter and spring, they look after all the TV marketing, because we canÍt afford it, and we do the radio and the newspapers and magazines in the local paper.”

With a very full schedule and an opening around the corner, it would be safe to assume that four franchisees might be too many cooks in the kitchen. But after working with Paul previously and sharing a long term friendship, and personal partnership, with Rosa and Sheryl respectively, business is mostly smooth sailing, Hayden says.

“We have our moments, like any partnership does, but weÍve gotten on really well for the period of time that weÍve been together and because our roles are defined and different, itÍs almost like we all go off in our own directions.

“WeÍre not in each otherÍs back pockets and at the end of the day everything seems to function really well for us.”