How Heath Groves Grew From New Business Pitcher to Multi-Brand Manager With EZ CERT

EZ CERT brand manager Heath Groves has been there—’there’, in this context, being in the shoes of a franchisee, on the front lines of a business, wearing multiple hats and working tirelessly to get the job done day in and day out. He’ll be the first to tell you he didn’t have time to worry about insurance.

After three years of owning and operating a restaurant brand, Groves decided the life of a franchisee wasn’t for him. The franchising industry as a whole, however, was of interest to Groves, so he set out in search of another role within the space that better suited him, which led him directly to EZ CERT. The insurance compliance management and tracking business, in Groves’ words, took “a very unique and different approach to insurance in the franchise world,” effectively piquing his interest.

“Having been a franchisee, I could understand the importance of this type of system and why a franchisor would need something like it in place for franchisees to get insurance and ensure locations are covered as they grow across the country,” Groves said. Sold on its overall business model, Groves joined the EZ CERT team as its main point of outreach, manning the phones and calling on franchise brands to tell them about the ways in which EZ CERT’s services could simplify tracking insurance compliance at the unit level and effectively ensure franchise systems were maintaining the proper coverage.

That was three years ago. Now, Groves works as a brand manager for the company, working with multiple franchisor clients to keep franchisees current in their coverage, protecting their bottom lines as a result. At the time of his hiring, EZ CERT had just two clients, but in the years since, in large part due to the relationships he’s helped form, the company has forged relationships with franchise attorneys and consultants and built out its network of franchise partners to nearly 20 brands—with plans to double that number in 2020.

“As EZ CERT has evolved, we’ve simplified as much as possible for franchise systems, bringing peace of mind to franchisors and franchisees by establishing current coverage and minimizing liability as a result,” Groves said. “We educate franchisees what their required insurance coverage is and why it’s important and necessary for their business. That’s my job—I field those calls and serve as an educator to franchisees, along with our back-of-house team.”

One such way EZ CERT has evolved to better meet the needs of its clients during Groves’ tenure is through the 2019 implementation of a new cloud-based software that gives partner franchisors 24/7 access to a more in-depth view and real-time analysis of compliance at the store level.

“With our new system, if an area developer is out in the field and wants to check in on the insurance status of the stores they’ll be visiting, they can access that specific information in real-time to address any gaps with franchisees in person. This ease of use also extends to franchisees. We have automated emails that notify franchisees when their insurance is coming up for renewal, and from that email, they can upload their renewed certificates directly to our system or forward it directly to their insurance agent to upload them on their behalf.”

Despite the new technology EZ CERT has implemented in 2019, for Groves, the company’s most prominent differentiator is its human-centric customer service.

“Despite this excellent automation we’ve implemented, our accounts are hand-monitored by members of our team,” Groves continued. “That way, if anyone ever has a question, they have a real human to talk to. We can help you with coverage and questions, and serve as educated experts wherever needed.”

As EZ CERT has grown, so too has the brand’s qualifications for with whom it will partner, Groves said. As far as the most important thing he’s learned in his growth with EZ CERT, Groves was emphatic: It all comes down to how much you care.

“As a brand, you have to care. Everything works better when everyone is invested, for the franchisor, the franchisee and us,” he said. “It has to be a joint effort—it’s our job to care, but we can’t care on anyone else’s behalf, either.

You have to get involved from Day 1. Compliance isn’t achievable if’s it’s just us out there to handle it on our own—the system won’t work without buy-in everywhere. We are a service to simplify the insurance process for the franchisor, taking it off of their hands so they can focus their energy elsewhere.

We want to be your partner—if you are invested, the wheels turn better.”