Based in Rochdale, InXpress was the brainchild of entrepreneur John Thompson, whose research showed that similar companies were taking off in the US. Until a parting of ways in 2003, it started as a master franchise for Unishippers, an American brand.
“The UK seemed like a prime market for this type of business because no one else here was really doing it,” says Adam, John’s son.
These days, Adam is InXpress’s Chief Revenue Officer, but back then, he worked long hours as its first salesperson, “bringing a lot of customers on as quickly as we could to prove the model and concept”. The challenge was to recruit five franchisees of a similar entrepreneurial spirit, who’d perform well.
Focused on SMEs
In the last year alone, InXpress has earned three major accolades: from Elite Franchise, the Global Franchise Awards and the British Franchise Association. How has it achieved such a sterling reputation?
“One unique selling point is that we focus on SME businesses because the larger type of customer knows everything they need to know about shipping anyway. They’ve got their own shipping departments. The small to medium-sized businesses don’t”.
Shipping consultants
To be clear, then, what do franchisees do from one day to the next? “It’s a good question, “says Adam. “We are a sales and marketing-orientated business, so the franchisees’ first and foremost responsibility is to go out and find new customers. Then they do everything to keep that customer shipping with us.
“As a franchisor, we give them the tools to do that. So, we work on the carrier relationships. We work on the IT platforms. We give them all the sales enablement that they need to win business. But it’s the franchisee’s responsibility to find and keep customers.”
The other aspect of the business is operational. “They may do some tracking and tracing of shipments, they’ll ring the carriers if the shipment goes wrong, they’ll be pricing certain jobs, and they’ll be understanding what’s gone wrong when a product is stuck in customs,” says Adam.
Learning the ropes
To be an InXpress franchisee costs £35,000 plus VAT for a year in the UK. What do people get in return for that?
“Our systems are turnkey solutions,” says Adam, “so pretty much as soon as they pay their fee, they can start to bring on customers. We give them access to our online shipping portal and the InXpress Management System, which they run their whole business from.”
A vision of the future
“What brings people to us is the industry’s potential. They really see a vision of people ordering from home, businesses ordering online, repeat business, the freight side of the business, import-export, and the fact that they can scale this business fast with only a small number of employees.”
Testimonials
“My wife Sally and I joined InXpress in 2013, and it’s the best thing we ever did. Our son, Jacob, joined us six years ago, and our daughter, Emily, joined us two years ago. Not only do we all make a living from the business, but it’s great working with each other. It works perfectly for us!!” – Paul Wright, InXpress Preston franchise
InXpress’s openness impressed Jason immediately. “You can go in and they’ll go through all the details. Once you’ve got a grip on all that, they’ll give you a list of franchises you can ring up and speak to directly. “Then they’ll do all the training, which is very well done, and as well as the head office, you’ve got a good support network of franchises that will help you if you’ve got a problem.” – Jason Tattersall, InXpress Blackburn
Nikki handles customer service while her husband monitors how the salesforce is performing. “Collectively, we probably have about 400 customers. Volume-wise, we must be dealing with 9,000 shipments a month, and we’re a smaller franchise compared to some.” It’s satisfying, she adds, but you need to be “Willing to learn and develop because the logistics industry is everchanging. – Nikki Edwards, InXpress Chester