Franchising is a proven way to scale your business by distributing the risk and the reward across a community of franchisees. Yet, most franchisors struggle with engaging their franchisees, who are often the lifeblood of their growth and success. No matter how big or small you are as a company–you can’t afford to have franchisees struggle because they don’t have enough engagement with their parent brand.
Engaged franchisees are more likely to stick around and contribute to the growth of the brand. They are also more likely to be successful, (which benefits the franchisor of course) as they are given the tools, support, and air cover from the franchisor to ensure their success. This helps create a positive feedback loop, with engaged franchisees helping to promote the brand and its values, and the franchisor providing the support needed to help them be successful.
This blog series will help you understand the 3 key ingredients needed for a high-impact franchisee engagement strategy and technology tips to becoming a franchisee engagement pro!
Ingredient #1: Communication and Creating a Community
The first component of a high-impact franchisee engagement strategy is communication that fosters the feeling of a tight-knit community. Communications need to be clear, consistent, and relevant to the franchisee. This means that franchisors need to create a process or use a technology solution for communication that is both efficient and effective for the franchisee. They also need to make sure that their tone and messaging are consistent with the brand.
A good way to measure communication effectiveness is to look at the number of franchisees who are engaged on your technology solution (measured by KPIs such as open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, etc.). A platform for creating this can look like an online portal, social network community, or even a learning management and training system. The distribution of new content for your brand should be systematic by using a platform to proactively push it to franchisees. Bonus points if you can create a way to reward them for engaging with the information (ie: offering a contest). By encouraging feedback directly from these individuals, they feel like more than just another team member. Franchisees in the community can then learn from each other, all while feeling like their opinion matters when making decisions about what’s being distributed within the company.
Many franchisees found that they’ve been left out of the loop when it comes to company communications. This is an issue because a lack of communication can lead to poor brand consistency among franchisees, which in turn leads to lower customer satisfaction and higher levels of attrition. To increase engagement with franchisees and promote better brand consistency, organizations should consider including a communications center or hub for franchisee use. A well-designed communications center will provide all relevant materials in one centralized location so that they are easy to find and understand. It also provides the opportunity for franchisors to get feedback from their franchisees on how well these materials are understood as well as any other issues or concerns about them. The result? Increased understanding among both parties about what is happening within the company, and a more cohesive brand.
A learning management system (LMS) is an effective way to keep your franchisees engaged with the brand. It can help deliver training and development content, as well as manage communications between franchisors and franchisees. An LMS can also keep track of progress and performance, so you can identify areas where further support may be needed. Using an LMS can help ensure that your franchisees are kept up to date with the latest developments within the franchise and can help maintain a high level of engagement with the brand. Additionally, it provides them with the tools necessary to successfully represent your brand in their local market. When franchisees feel confident in their ability to deliver on your brand promise, it leads to a higher level of customer satisfaction and can help reduce attrition rates.
Franchisees are the lifeblood of your brand. They represent your company in the community, and they’re responsible for delivering on your promise to customers. Keeping franchisees connected to your brand can be challenging. By focusing on communications with your franchisees you can create a high-impact franchisee engagement strategy that will continue to engage and motivate your franchisees. Creating a community can help them achieve their goals, while also strengthening your franchise system as a whole.
Stay tuned for our next post in this series, where we’ll explore how franchisors can set goals and expectations for their franchisees that will set them up for success. Be sure to subscribe to our blog to make sure you get notified of when the next post is live!
For more operations-based content for the franchising Chief Operating Officer, check out our all-inclusive Executive’s Guide to Franchising Tech in 2022.
It is no secret that high-impact franchisee engagement is essential to a franchisor’s success. Franchisors who take the time to set clear expectations and goals for their franchisees are likely to see better results than those who do not. In part two of this series, we will cover some tips for creating an effective engagement program using effective expectation and goal setting.
Ingredient #2: Expectation and Goal Setting
Setting expectations and goals is an important part of the engagement process. Franchisees need to be aware of what is expected of them, as well as what they can expect in terms of support from the franchisor. In order for goals to be effective, they need to be achievable and actionable. Strategic KPIs can be used to help create goal-oriented franchisees who are focused on growth and profitability. However, it’s important to note that these KPIs should only be relevant to the franchisee’s business and not the franchisor’s overall business goals. This helps keep the focus on what is important for each individual business, rather than having a one-size-fits-all approach to goal setting.
The goal-setting process should be an ongoing one, with both the franchisor and franchisees revisiting goals on a regular basis. This allows for course corrections to be made as needed and ensures that everyone is always working towards the same goal. Creating a well-engaged franchisee base is key to the success of any franchising system. By setting expectations and goals appropriately, franchisors can help ensure that their franchisees are invested in the success of their businesses.
When creating goals, it’s important to make sure they are achievable and actionable. This means that they need to be realistic and specific enough that they can be accomplished with a defined set of actions. The Franchisee Operational Scorecard is an innovative new way to measure and evaluate your business. It takes the dashboard one step closer towards sophistication, balancing important indicators with franchise-specific ones that help you succeed as a company or return on investment for investors in this rapidly evolving market! Franchisees are now able to track performance across all channels and have access to data that matters most to them – taking the guesswork out of marketing efforts. This creates more engaged franchisees who are working together with the franchisor instead of just being monitored by it!
Technology can play a big role in helping franchisors to better measure the success of their open franchisee units. There are a number of ways that technology can help franchisors to track KPIs, including:
- Tracking sales data and comparing it to the goals set for the franchisee unit
- Tracking customer satisfaction ratings and comparing them to the goals set for the franchisee unit
- Tracking employee satisfaction ratings and comparing them to the goals set for the franchisee unit
- Tracking social media engagement and comparing it to the goals set for the franchisee unit
By tracking KPIs this way, franchisors can get a better understanding of how well their franchisees are performing and make changes as needed to improve the success of the unit. This is a valuable tool for helping to ensure that all franchisees are meeting the standards set by the franchisor and that the brand is being properly represented. It also allows franchisors to identify which franchisees might need more support in order to be more successful. In short, using technology to track KPIs can help franchisors to build a more successful franchise system and ultimately streamline their monitoring.
For more operations-based content for the franchising Chief Operating Officer, check out our all-inclusive Executive’s Guide to Franchising Tech in 2022.
When it comes to site audits, franchisors have a unique opportunity to be able to actively coach their franchisees on what they need to do in order to improve their unit’s success. Today, we are focusing on turning the traditional site audit into a coaching moment, franchisors can help their franchisees understand where they need to make changes and how they can improve their unit’s performance.
Ingredient #3: Coaching Them to Success
It’s not enough to simply offer periodic site visits to franchisees. During those visits, they must be offered business coaching and support from their Franchise Business Consultant (FBC). This will help ensure that they are on the right track to success. Franchisees should see regular site visits as an opportunity for growth and learning, rather than a negative experience. By turning audits into a positive learning experience, franchisors can help their franchisees succeed.
The role of the FBC is essential in franchisee engagement. They are responsible for coaching franchisees on best practices and providing support when needed. This helps to create a strong relationship between the franchisee and the franchisor. When franchisees feel supported by their franchisor, they are more likely to be engaged and successful. Regular site visits offer a valuable opportunity for franchisors to coach their franchisees on best practices. By providing business coaching and support, franchisors can help their franchisees achieve success.
Operations-focused technology solutions can make coaching your franchisees easier by automating many of the tasks that FBCs would otherwise have to do manually. This can free up time for managers to provide more personal attention to their franchisees and help them to better understand the areas in which they need improvement. Additionally, technology can help to keep track of franchisee performance over time, so that any issues can be addressed as soon as they arise.
By focusing on the key areas covered in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, you can create a franchisee engagement strategy that will continue to engage and motivate your franchisees. By doing so, you can help them achieve their goals, while also strengthening your franchise system as a whole. Are you looking to create a more engaged and motivated franchisee base? If so, be sure to focus on the three essential components of franchisee engagement outlined in these blogs. By doing so, you can create a strategy that works for your franchise system and helps your franchisees achieve their goals.
For more operations-based content for the franchising Chief Operating Officer, check out our all-inclusive Executive’s Guide to Franchising Tech in 2022.
Ian Walsh
