5 Simple Ways to Wow Franchisees

…And Raise the Performance of Your Franchise System

1. Clear Expectations
Having clearly defined expectations that both franchisees and franchisors agree to is a critical first step to raising performance. A franchisee’s personal goals are going to be the primary drivers behind setting and reaching their business goals, yet many franchisors don’t take the time to learn and fully understand their franchisees’ personal objectives.

Every franchisee should be asked to complete a personal Financial Prosperity Worksheet to outline their personal and business goals in writing and track their income, lifestyle, equity and wealth objectives. This worksheet should be reviewed and adjusted on an annual basis, and a short list of specific tasks should be developed to address any specific performance short-comings.

2. Performance Groups
Franchise Performance Groups  or Peer Performance Groups are small groups of franchisees (4 – 8 members) that meet regularly to review each other’s business performance and share best practices. Performance groups operate as a board of directors for each group member and they hold each other accountable to their stated business objectives.

The groups typically meet quarterly at one of the franchisee’s locations. Meetings begin with a review of the member’s goal progress from the previous meeting. The hosting member will then make a detailed presentation of their business to the group members including full P&L review, progress toward plan and current business highlights / challenges. The group will then spend time analyzing and assessing the host member’s business and make specific recommendations on how to improve performance.

3. Training On-Demand
Most new franchisees are overwhelmed by the intense, initial training that their franchise system provides. Without any specific operational experience, it’s hard to know exactly what questions to ask, and retention of training materials is extremely low (10 – 20%).

A training on-demand program – delivering bite-size pieces of training information exactly when franchisees/employees need it – is a much more effective approach. Breaking training information down into specific items/tasks with weekly objectives and delivering these on a daily basis can significantly improve overall performance.

4. Peer-to-Peer Mentoring
An active mentoring program can be an important tool to accelerate new franchisee ramp-up. Many franchisors require franchisees to participate in a mentor program for their first 12 – 24 months of operation but find that many franchisees will continue this peer-to-peer relationship much longer. Some franchisors choose to have mentors be paid (usually at the mentoree’s expense) but often senior franchisees will volunteer to participate in a mentor program.

5. Measure – Share – Review – Adjust
Our most successful clients will survey their franchisees annually on their overall satisfaction, then share and review the results as a group. One of the most effective ways to do this is at convention – presenting the system strengths and challenges taken directly from the survey data, then facilitating franchisee-led roundtables to brainstorm solutions. The end results are typically identical to what senior management would have recommended, but franchisee buy-in and ownership of the process yields significantly higher results.

If you’re looking to implement these or other practical tips to amplify your wow factor, say no more! Just reach out to schedule a conversation!

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