For Lanielle and Dennis St. Denis, expertise and customer service are powering their success as Batteries Expert franchisees
By Hannah Foulger
Ten months ago, married couple Lanielle and Dennis St. Denis opened their first Batteries Expert in Cornwall, Ontario. “When we first opened, there were some batteries we hadn’t heard of that we put on our shelves,” co-owner Lanielle says. After six years of running a trophy store, the couple decided to make a shift that would help build a better future. “We wanted to expand our business and see about a franchise. This one caught our eye because it’s about reducing carbon footprint,” Lanielle says.
Batteries Expert is a 100 per cent Canadian company with more than 60 stores in Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick. It’s essentially “a one-stop shop for pretty much anything that needs a battery,” Dennis says. The Batteries Expert franchise sells batteries of all kinds as well as conversion devices and outdoor equipment like propane heaters and solar panels. Whatever isn’t in stock at a local store they can order from the brand’s St-Jean sur Richelieu warehouse.
On a typical day, Lanielle and Dennis arrive at their story by 8:30 in the morning. As the only employees, if one is sick, the other will be running the shop by themselves that day. They begin by checking their emails and getting the store ready for opening, wiping down the shelves and checking the displays.
Lanielle and Dennis are able to greet their customers together as they come in and figure out exactly what their needs are. Sometimes customers are there right at 9 a.m., needing to get something for their workday. Lanielle and Dennis run the shop 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.
The biggest challenges in their first few months of running their franchise, Lanielle says, were learning to determine exactly what battery a customer is looking for, as well as learning about solar energy and the components needed to install solar panels on a home. It was a steep learning curve, but by now, she says, “When somebody comes in, it doesn’t take us very long to find what they’re looking for, with the tools the franchise has provided us.”
For Dennis, learning the Point Of Sale system was his challenge. He had many questions when they had their first customers: “Where do I go for this? How do I process a refund? How do I do an order?”
“If something technical needs to be done, or if they need certification research, then Dennis will do that,” Lanielle says. “When it’s time to cash out the customer, I’m the one that does that. We share the workload.”
Lanielle and Dennis perfectly balance each other as business partners with their different areas of professional expertise and temperament. Lanielle worked for many years as a clerk for the Red Cross and the federal government. Dennis, on the other hand, is a licensed automotive technician.
“We slowly teach each other,” her husband chimes in. “I teach her more on batteries, how to test them properly, what to do if there’s an issue, what the issue could be, she teaches me more on the point of sale,” Dennis says.
He adds, “During my apprenticeship, we were taught all about batteries, their function, how they operate, different aspects of when they fail, what the symptoms are. Now when I have customers come in, I can apply that knowledge to their situations. Customers will say that the battery is gone or finished, and I’ll ask them, ‘Well, what type of scenario is happening? Like, is the car rolling over slowly, or not at all? And if it’s not, is it making a clicking sound or multiple clicks?’ I can help diagnose [what they need].”
Not only do Lanielle and Dennis complement each other in the business, they’ve chosen a key location in Cornwall in Eastern Ontario, about halfway between Ottawa and Laval. Cornwall, according to the 2021 census, had less than 50,000 people. While it may seem like a small market for a niche business, there are very few competitors in their market.
“We’re brand new in this city. Not many people know about Batteries Expert. We’re still being discovered,” Lanielle says. “We have people coming by, saying, ‘Someone told me to come here.’”
Word of mouth has spread through customers’ family members, groups of friends, and coworkers. Even when the Cornwall location doesn’t have a specific battery in stock, the Montreal warehouse has been able to help. In one case, Lanielle recalls, they were even able to “rebuild a battery for a specialized hair trimmer for a stylist who hadn’t used it for over two years.”
With stories like these, Batteries Expert is being talked about. “It’s [through] this word of mouth that business has picked up month over month,” Dennis says.
Due to its rural location, Cornwall’s demographics skew older and their customers like to hold onto items like cordless phones, which have batteries that are difficult to acquire, even from larger retailers. Due to their expertise and access, the business has even made an impression on what should have been their competitors. Employees from other stores have even directed customers to Batteries Expert, Lanielle says.
Beyond expertise, another advantage of the brand is the brick-and-mortar format, and the personal, human touch. While some customers might try their hand at ordering their batteries and technical accessories online, they can struggle with the return process and the trial and error of ordering without advice from an expert.
Where a less specialized customer service representative in a larger store might not be able to answer questions about the specificities of certain batteries or solar power products, Lanielle and Dennis make a point to engage with their customers and educate them about the products they need, how they are made, and their functions. With the support of head office’s technical and customer service training, even if Lanielle and Dennis are not immediately sure what battery or product is needed for a customer, they have the knowledge to determine the product needed through fact finding and clear questioning.
During the week the couple starts closing up around 4:45 p.m., and on Saturdays, at 12:50 p.m. At that point they take down their displays and take batteries off chargers that might prove a safety risk. Some days, there can be a lineup at the end of the day. Lanielle and Dennis stay open long enough for everyone to get served.
It’s this person-first, partnership-based approach that is helping build their reputation in the community—one battery at a time.
Learn more about franchising with Batteries Expert
