Case Study
City Wide
About
City Wide
City Wide is one of the most successful and fastest-growing facility management companies in the United States. With more than ninety franchise locations across the country, the organization oversees over twenty different facility services for commercial properties and manages thousands of employees, contractors, and client relationships at scale. Their business model is unique in the industry: City Wide does not compete as a janitorial provider. Instead, their entire value proposition centers on a powerful promise—“We represent the client, not the contractor.”
As the franchise network expanded and roles became more specialized—from Sales Executives and Business Development Specialists to Facility Solutions Managers, Night Managers, Directors of Operations, and franchise owners—the leadership team recognized an urgent need. They required a structured, sophisticated, and scalable training system that would onboard, train, and upskill people consistently across every location. This realization is what gave rise to the creation of three flagship academies: the Sales Academy, the Operations Academy, and the Foundations Academy.
Context and Challenges
City Wide’s vision for these academies was ambitious. They wanted comprehensive, top-of-the-line learning programs that could support franchise performance, accelerate readiness, and ensure operational excellence nationwide. But the internal constraints were significant. Their training department, while highly capable, was a small team stretched across a wide range of responsibilities. Supporting an entire franchise system while also keeping up with daily operational demands left little bandwidth for designing and producing three complete academies at the level of quality the business required.
Meanwhile, the volume of new content coming down the pipeline was growing quickly. Every role within the organization needed clearly defined curricula, updated playbooks, and new materials to support tools training. The sales organization required advanced training around the full sales cycle, UVP, storytelling, and methodologies. The operations team needed new modules around execution excellence, retention, complaint handling, IC management, and Other Services. Without a structured academy system, training risked becoming inconsistent, fragmented, and difficult to maintain across locations.
City Wide also had a clear expectation for the type of training they wanted. They no longer wished to rely on static or text-heavy materials. They wanted immersive, modern, story-driven learning that reflected the personality of the brand and matched the energy of a high-growth franchise organization. That meant 3D simulations, 2D animations, interactive scenarios, gamified learning paths, engaging exercises, and content that brought concepts like SOHO, the 7-step sales process, Other Services, and the City Wide Way to life.
Furthermore, the academies needed to include far more than online learning. City Wide required a fully integrated training ecosystem with facilitator guides, student workbooks, structured exercises, knowledge checks, story-based games, and one-page reference sheets—all designed so trainers across the network could deliver sessions with consistency and confidence. The internal team knew precisely what excellence should look like, but they did not have the time or capacity to produce these materials at the scale and speed needed.
Why Selected LAAS by Genius
To execute an initiative of this magnitude, City Wide needed more than design support. They needed a fractional L&D engine—a partner capable of functioning as an extension of their internal department and of producing enterprise-grade training across multiple media formats. LAAS by Genius brought that capability.
The LAAS model allowed City Wide to translate leadership’s vision into structured learning journeys for each academy, complete with defined objectives, modules, and practice opportunities. It also allowed the internal team to remain focused on strategy and subject-matter input, while LAAS handled the complex production tasks: from highly immersive 3D Storyline modules and gamified 2D animations, to Rise courses, facilitator materials, workbooks, recap sheets, and full curriculum design.
Instead of a one-off engagement, City Wide selected LAAS as a long-term partner—one that would deeply understand the business, its model, its roles, and its unique terminology, making every subsequent deliverable faster, more aligned, and more impactful.
Solution Overview
The collaboration between City Wide and LAAS by Genius resulted in the development of a multi-academy learning ecosystem. The first phase centered on clarifying audiences, learning objectives, and expected performance outcomes. This involved defining what a Sales Executive, a Facility Solutions Manager, or a Night Manager must be able to demonstrate at the end of training, and mapping these outcomes into structured learning paths.
From there, LAAS designed complete academy curricula for Sales, Operations, and Foundations. Every sequence—from the company’s history and UVP to tools training, sales flow, operations excellence, and leadership skills—was arranged with clear instructional logic. Practice and assessment moments were intentionally woven into the learning journey, including role-plays, scenario-based activities, skits, group exercises, quizzes, and certification checkpoints. All content was aligned with existing systems such as City Wide You and built to integrate seamlessly with the broader ecosystem.
Once the architectures were approved, LAAS transformed the content into rich digital experiences. The project included the development of advanced 3D Storyline modules that simulate real City Wide environments, such as building surveys, SOHO meetings, the Sales/Ops handoff, IC communication, and Other Services discussions. These modules placed learners directly into realistic scenarios, allowing them to make decisions that impact outcomes.
In parallel, LAAS produced highly gamified 2D animated sequences that explained complex concepts—such as the competitive landscape, the economic engine, or the full sales cycle—in a visually engaging, easy-to-understand format. These animations incorporated branching, scoring, and feedback loops to keep learners engaged and encourage repetition. All modules were delivered as SCORM packages ready for deployment on City Wide You, complete with embedded tracking, assessments, and reporting capabilities.
For topics requiring more nuance—particularly those relating to storytelling, objection handling, or the You-Focused Presentation—LAAS produced video-centric training that walked learners through real scripts and interactions. These videos helped learners visualize conversations, understand tone and pacing, and internalize City Wide’s message.
Beyond the digital content, LAAS created the extensive collateral required for live and blended delivery. This included detailed facilitator guides with minute-by-minute session plans, student workbooks with structured sections for notes and exercises, and a wide range of activities designed to reinforce concepts such as crafting a 30-second commercial, identifying pain points, or planning a territory. Knowledge checks and games were integrated throughout the academies, many of them tied to an overarching City Wide narrative. Quick-reference one-pagers and recap sheets were designed to support on-the-job coaching long after learners completed the academies.
Every asset followed City Wide’s branding with absolute consistency—from color palettes and typography to tone, iconography, and storytelling style. This created a unified training identity recognizable throughout the entire franchise network.
Partnership Model and Governance
The relationship operated as a true partnership. A dedicated LAAS project manager coordinated all workflows with Sales, Operations, and Training leadership, ensuring clarity around priorities, timelines, and deliverables. A multidisciplinary LAAS team—composed of learning architects, ID specialists, writers, animators, visual designers, and developers—worked collectively to convert City Wide’s requirements into finished products. Meanwhile, City Wide’s SMEs focused on providing expert guidance, feedback, and business context while LAAS executed the development work end-to-end.
Over time, LAAS developed a deep understanding of City Wide’s organizational structures, vocabulary, sales processes, operational expectations, and cultural priorities, which allowed the project to accelerate and evolve with increasing efficiency.
Outcomes and Impact
The result of this collaboration is a complete, franchise-ready training ecosystem that transforms how City Wide develops and maintains talent across its nationwide network. Today, City Wide has three fully defined academies—Sales, Operations, and Foundations—each equipped with robust curricula, digital content, facilitator materials, and assessment points. These academies provide a repeatable model for training future cohorts and new franchise locations, ensuring consistency and quality at scale.
The partnership also relieved significant pressure from the internal training team, allowing them to focus on higher-level strategic decisions instead of being consumed by production tasks. With immersive modules, gamified experiences, and scenario-driven exercises, learner engagement and knowledge retention have increased substantially. The unified design across all assets ensures that every touchpoint—whether in a live session, online module, or printed handbook—reinforces City Wide’s identity and expectations.
Perhaps most importantly, the academies established a long-term blueprint for how City Wide will continue to evolve its training. The foundation is now in place for new roles, new modules, and new initiatives to be built rapidly, efficiently, and at the same level of excellence.
Summary
By partnering with LAAS by Genius, City Wide transformed an ambitious vision into reality. What began as the idea for three best-in-class academies quickly became a fully realized, scalable training ecosystem that empowers every new and existing team member to understand and embody the City Wide Way.
LAAS did far more than enhance slides or build isolated modules. It architected end-to-end learning paths, produced immersive digital simulations, created comprehensive facilitator and learner materials, and elevated City Wide’s training to a level consistent with the most sophisticated, enterprise-level development programs.
Today, the academies support franchise growth, strengthen City Wide’s core value proposition, and give every individual—from sales to operations—a clear, engaging, and unified path from learning the model to living it in the field.