Can Cool Binz establish regional and national account relationships whose offices are located in a franchisee's territory?
Cool_Binz Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
We retain, as we deem appropriate, the rights to:
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- establish, solicit, market to and build regional and national account relationships, whose offices may be located in the Territory as is further outlined in Sections 1.F and 1.H of this Agreement;
We have the exclusive right to negotiate and enter into agreements or approve forms of agreement to provide services to National or Regional Account ("NORA") customers. The term NORA includes any customer which on its own behalf or through agents, licensees, or other third parties owns, manages, controls or otherwise has responsibility for a business in more than one (1) location for the benefit of the System, and regardless of the aggregate contract amount of the services to be performed. Any dispute as to whether a particular customer is a NORA shall be determined by us in our sole discretion and our determination shall be final and binding. Following the execution of a contract with or the acceptance of a bid by a NORA customer which contemplates the provision of services to one (1) or more NORA customers who are located in your Territory, we may, if you are qualified to perform the services and conditioned upon your substantial compliance with the terms of the Agreement and any other applicable agreements,
provide you the opportunity to perform such services pursuant to the terms and conditions of the NORA contract or on such terms and conditions as we, at our sole discretion, determine are appropriate. You agree to provide services to all NORA customer referrals within your Territory. You further agree to provide all services in strict adherence to the COOL BINZ performance and process standards and all service guidelines and performance standards of the NORA. You may be required to enter into a service agreement to participate in certain NORA programs.
If you are not able or not willing to provide services to a NORA customer in conformity with the terms and conditions of the NORA contract, or fail to make an election within the time we specify after being offered the opportunity, we have the right, exercisable in our sole discretion, to (i) provide, directly or through any affiliate or other franchisee, services to the NORA customer; and/or (ii) contract with another party to provide such services to the NORA customer. In either event, neither you nor the Business shall be entitled to any proceeds from the provision of Services provided to the customer of a NORA.
We may provide services to national and/or regional accounts that require centralized overview and support, and for purposes of responding to requests and referrals for Services through our franchise system, managing those relationships, answering calls placed to our toll-free number or a national account on-line access system. In that case, we may charge you a National or Regional Accounts Fee ("NORA Fee") of up to five percent (5%) of Gross Sales generated by the account. The purpose of this fee is to defray the cost of providing national/regional account management services to the franchise system. We do not plan to charge a fee for simple referrals where we do not directly manage the relationship with the customer, but we reserve the right to do so.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPTS (FDD pages 63–238)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Cool Binz's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, Cool Binz retains the right to establish regional and national account relationships, even if those accounts have offices within a franchisee's territory. These are referred to as National and Regional Accounts (NORA). Cool Binz has the exclusive right to negotiate and enter into agreements with NORA customers, which are defined as customers who manage a business in more than one location.
If Cool Binz secures a NORA customer within a franchisee's territory, the franchisee may have the opportunity to perform services for that customer, provided they are qualified and in substantial compliance with the franchise agreement. However, Cool Binz does not guarantee participation in these programs. The franchisee must adhere to Cool Binz's performance standards and the NORA customer's service guidelines. Cool Binz may require the franchisee to enter into a service agreement to participate in certain NORA programs.
If a Cool Binz franchisee is unable or unwilling to provide services to a NORA customer under the terms of the NORA contract, Cool Binz has the right to provide those services directly, through an affiliate, or through another franchisee. In such cases, the original franchisee will not be entitled to any proceeds from the services provided to the NORA customer. Cool Binz may also charge franchisees a National or Regional Accounts Fee (NORA Fee) of up to 5% of gross sales generated by the account to cover the costs of managing these relationships.