The pandemic disrupted many businesses - some struggled to survive while others were able to drive innovation. So where does that leave franchise CEOs who are committed to the health of their system? Implementing these three strategies with a critical focus on people is crucial for success.
FASTSIGNS' Mark Jameson talks with FBR about why franchisee satisfaction is one of the four key pillars of FASTSIGNS mission, how they use FBR’s data to bring in high quality candidates who are aligned with their culture, and how the pandemic drove rapid innovation in their business.
Getting franchisees to their "point of clarity" can turn around underperforming franchisees and drive greater system performance overall. Scott Greenberg, author of The Wealthy Franchisee, shares how to get franchisees into the right mindset to boost performance, increase satisfaction and grow your brand.
Peloton’s “Together we go far” slogan encapsulates a culture and strategic growth that most franchise systems (and all businesses) strive for. Community isn’t something you can force to happen, but Peloton seems to have fostered something special, and a lot of that could be applied to our own organizations.
Employee engagement is important to the success (or survival) of an organization, and while it’s become increasingly hard to foster engagement when some (or all) of your team is remote, it’s also more important than ever in helping to retain your top talent.
James Dwiggins, CEO of NextHome, talks with FBR about how their focus on caring and support enables them to maintain franchisee satisfaction amidst explosive growth, how their company culture guides strategic decisions, and the outlook for the real estate industry during COVID.
What does the future hold for franchising? We asked some of the thought leaders in franchising to look into their crystal balls and reveal their predictions for 2021.
Learn how Streamline Brands uses FBR’s survey to build trust, drive strategic planning, and attract investors in this Q&A with co-founder and COO Paul Gerrard.
Franchisees typically tend to disengage somewhere around five years into the business. Follow these 10 tips to keep your franchisees satisfied and engaged long term, and drive growth for your system.
All franchise buyers do varying degrees of due diligence before investing in a brand. The difference is that today more and more prospective franchisees are looking at franchisee satisfaction data in addition to financial benefits, lifestyle, and the training and support they’ll receive. See what current franchisees have to say about franchisee satisfaction as a key factor in choosing a franchise.
New franchisees discuss their franchise research process, what they looked for in a franchise and how Franchise Business Review’s satisfaction reports led them to Wild Birds Unlimited.
Why Emerging Brands Need to Make Building a Positive Culture a Top Priority We have spent the last 15 years [...]
Virtual onboarding and training may be here to stay post-COVID. Here's a look at the 4 major challenges that poses for franchisors and recommendations for overcoming them.
Working parents are essentially juggling being the teacher, principal, custodian and lunch lady - in addition to their full-time jobs. Franchisors may not be able to alleviate the anxiety working parents are experiencing as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on schedules and child care responsibilities, but here's what they can do to support them.
Social Joey's Jack Monson offers 5 tips to help franchise marketers maximize their social media strategy to grow their brands as we close out 2020.
Michelle Rowan, president & COO of Franchise Business Review, is part of this year’s planning task force and the emcee for the Operations program at the IFA's Marketing, Operations & Development (MOD) Virtual Conference. She talked recently about the highlights of the event and what franchisors will take away.
While some franchise brands were able to continue to thrive through the events of 2020, many have had to lay off or furlough employees and/or had franchisees whose businesses didn’t survive - all of which can also take a toll on franchise culture. It’s more important now than ever before to assess your company culture and take steps to fix the parts that are broken. These 12 steps can help you get started
Listen to inspiring stories from two of franchising's most inspiring female leaders in the Her Success podcast series from the Women's Franchise Committee.
What’s always been common practice in food franchising—requiring franchisees to commit to opening multiple units as part of their franchise agreement—is now becoming common outside of food. But attracting multi-unit franchisees and keeping them happy isn’t as easy as just changing your franchise agreement. Here are six tips for attracting multi-unit franchisees and ensuring your system is set up for success.
With protests continuing across the country, it’s clear we need systemic change to end racism. Franchising is positioned to lead the way by supporting franchisees and employees. Here are five ideas we’re sharing from what we’re reading and hearing from people in our industry.
When you survey your franchisees, it's critical to share it with your entire executive team if you want to truly cultivate a data-driven mindset in your organization. The insights we collect on our surveys can help every team in your organization identify priorities, track their progress and meet their goals. Find out how each of your teams can benefit from having FBR walk them through your data together.
Over the past 15 years we've worked with more than 1,100 franchisors who understand the value of franchisee surveys, but we’ve also encountered many who buy into myths and misconceptions that simply don’t hold water. Here, we separate fact from fiction.
Most of us are aware that communicating - and communicating quickly and often - is critical in times of crisis. But while most of us are focused on outbound communication to employees, franchisees and customers, it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that communication is a two-way street. Learn how to ensure you have a plan for franchisees and employees to communicate their needs and concerns to you.
Franchisee satisfaction is a primary indicator of long-term system growth and success in measuring the health of any franchise system, but if you're wondering what the ROI of franchisee satisfaction surveys is, read on for 8 ways you'll get a return on your investment of time and money - and drive franchise system growth.
FBR's president Michelle Rowan shares her three personal takeaways from Brené Brown on vulnerability, as well as how they apply to franchising.
Like other businesses across the country and the world, franchises have had to get creative in how they deliver their products and services - from implementing curbside pick-up to going entirely digital to completely changing priorities - basically overnight. We asked them to share their Smart Ideas for getting it done and here's what they told us.
Franchisors frequently implement new programs with the intention of adding value for all (or most) of their franchisees, but oftentimes, it’s hard to create programs that impact the more experienced, high-achiever franchisees in your system who have already figured out how to be successful. Franchise peer groups, however, can inspire and motivate all franchisees, including those already successful and mature franchisees, and give them the tools to take their businesses to an even higher level.
Many leaders are trying to adapt to running teams and their businesses remotely. How can you maintain, or create a remote culture while everyone is online instead of in-person? And how do we rebuild culture when remote workers return to the office? Consider these ideas for creating or maintaining company culture while working remotely during COVID-19 and how to rebuild culture after returning to the workplace.
Here at Franchise Business Review, we talk about ways we can contribute to supporting the franchise industry during COVID-19. With our Smart Ideas Project, we want to collect and share more ideas that are working in this crazy time - I hope you’ll share yours. We plan to share these ideas that might help support or inspire others as we look for ways to protect or pivot our businesses.
Within days of COVID-19 becoming a health and economic crisis, numerous organizations and companies made resources available to provide assistance and forums to connect us and guide us through this. To make them easier to access, we’ve compiled a list of the COVID-19 franchise resources we’ve come across. The list is not exhaustive and we are updating as more resources become available.
Learn three steps you can take to build in transparency to keep existing franchisees satisfied and engaged, and attract new franchisees to your brand.
Social media expert Karen Spaeder of Rallio shares four proactive strategies for recruiting franchise employees using social media to fill open positions more quickly with the best job candidates.
Where are food franchises headed? We take a look at the data and trends affecting the success of the food franchise sector and how it compares to other sectors. Here are the food franchise stats you need to know.
Franchise Update's Leadership and Development Conference is a must-attend event. In case you missed it, FBR president Michelle Rowan shares the four major takeaways from the event on how to create a culture of growth in your organization.
What are the biggest challenges facing franchise operations teams? FBR's president Michelle Rowan joined over 175 operations leaders and had a unique opportunity to facilitate two days of discussion around where their focus is and the best practices they're using to overcome obstacles.
Learn how to get franchisees on board with your social media strategy - and increase satisfaction and support - using these tips from social media guru, Karen Spaeder of Rallio.
One of the biggest challenges of the franchisee lifecycle is keeping tenured franchisees engaged. Join us at the IFA's Franchise Operations Conference this fall to learn how successful franchisors are using franchisee satisfaction data to make continuous improvements to their training and support to break franchisees out of their performance plateaus.
There is no metric that better predicts success or foreshadows issues within a system than the sentiment of its franchise owners. Measuring and managing franchisee satisfaction is the best way to build a system in which everyone wins.
Do your franchisees feel supported during compliance checks? Most franchisors will say “no”. But it doesn't have to be that way! FranchiseBlast has collected 357 franchise audit questions from top franchisors to help you "audit your audit" and elevate the compliance check from an exercise in “catching” franchisees doing something wrong, to “coaching” them to make the business be its best.
Social media has become an indispensable tool in franchise recruiting, with more and more franchise organizations using social platforms to attract new franchisees. With the ability to hone in on the exact type of operators they want to bring on board, franchise organizations are able to save time looking for the right qualified candidates. Meanwhile, prospective franchisees are using social media to research brands. Learn best practices for using social media not just to build brand awareness, but to attract and qualify franchisees.
As we celebrate this fourth of July, FBR's president Michelle Rowan reflects on the freedoms we enjoy and the value of listening to and carefully considering the opinions of others in our communities, families, even our franchise systems, in order to drive positive change.
FBR sat down with Any Lab Test Now to talk about how they have seized a unique position in the healthcare consumerism sector and their approach to innovation in franchising, particularly when it comes to franchisee support.
Even before franchisees commit to buying into your system, they need to have an exit plan in place. This article explains what franchisees need to consider when transferring a franchise business and the steps they should take when building a succession plan.
In this Interview with Jeff Huber, President & CEO of Home Instead Senior Care, he talks with FBR about the deeply personal experience that led to the inception of Home Instead and continues to guide their business philosophy.
FBR’s newly released Franchising at Work study found that franchise salaries for women are lower than men, especially at the mid-level management and C-Suite levels. The question is why? FBR’s president Michelle Rowan explores some theories that may be contributing factors.
Wouldn’t it be nice if your training sessions were available whenever you had the time to listen – maybe when you’re stuck in traffic or working on mundane tasks? Welcome to the age of podcasts. Learn how Office Pride Commercial Cleaning is using podcasts to help franchisees be more successful by providing training and support - when and where it fits their schedule.
FBR’s CEO Eric Stites provides an inside look at employee satisfaction in the franchise sector in the latest issue of Franchising World. Find out which employees are least satisfied, where the biggest pay gaps exist, and the risks posed by Gen Z.
Celebrate International Women's Day with three simple, yet profound ideas gleaned from the legendary Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Franchise Business Review's President and COO, Michelle Rowan, explores lessons learned from the feminist icon, the value of women in her personal life and their role in the industry.
2018 may be in the rearview mirror, but there was a lot happening. We rounded up the hot topics that everyone was talking about and take a look ahead at what's to come in 2019.
It’s the season of giving, and while a partridge in a pear tree would be nice, we thought a list of our 12 favorite books would be a tad more practical. The team at FBR compiled this list of the most inspiring and motivating books they’ve read this year so we could share them with you.
Each year, Franchise Update invites franchise brands to compete in the Star Awards, which recognize franchising’s top sales teams at the annual Franchise Leadership and Development Conference. Find out which of the winning brands excelled in franchisee satisfaction and what the research revealed.
It’s clear that content marketing works. You know you need it to be relevant, but executing is another story. No matter the size of the system, franchisors share the same challenges when it comes to implementing and maintaining an effective content marketing strategy. This list of helpful resources and tips can help you get over the content marketing hump.
Despite it's critical importance, culture is frequently overlooked by leadership. This eBook examines the three foundational components of a positive franchise culture—and provides practical advice for franchise leadership teams for creating and maintaining a culture that leads to greater productivity and profitability.
Everyone's talking about organizational culture these days, but it can be squishy topic - hard to define and even harder to shape. To help understand what makes for a positive culture, we asked 10 franchise leaders at top-performing franchise companies how they would describe their brand’s culture. See what they told us.
While customer service is a mainstay within any business - and especially franchising - so is communications. And like customer service, excelling at communications is often nothing more than getting back to the basics. Learn six basic tips for ensuring effective franchisee communications that lead to stronger franchisee relationships.
We're surveying EVERYONE that works in the franchise industry to find out what they think of their job, team, and company. Share your experience with us and help us identify the best places to work in franchising!
We’ve pulled together this list of the top 5 must-have resources for emerging brands, full of the best practices we’ve collected over a decade from franchisors who are growing their brands strategically while maintaining a system of highly satisfied (and profitable) franchisees.
There’s so much to know and learn as a new franchisee – and so much ‘paper work’ coming down from HQ, that franchisees often get lost in a barrage of paper, rather than focusing on the big picture. That can lead to your franchisees unknowingly sabotaging your brand and their customer satisfaction. Nancy Friedman, President of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training, outlines five common phrases that can sabotage a business and how to mitigate them.
We see so many brands that grow quickly but don’t have the operations support in place to sustain it. Join us in Tampa on September 12 for the IFA's Operations Seminar, where top ranking brands in franchisee satisfaction will share techniques and insight on how to achieve grow your brand strategically through operational best practices.
Franchise culture NEEDS to be an operational priority - starting with leadership, but really for everyone in your organization. The challenge is knowing where to start. Join FBR at the IFA Operations Seminar in Tampa this fall to learn the secrets of creating a winning culture from leading franchisors.
Perhaps no other franchising sector is as competitive and battle-tested as food. Every year, we release our annual report on the top food franchises based on franchisee satisfaction. The brands in this report have maintained double-digit growth and high franchisee satisfaction through some of the toughest years in franchising history. Franchisors from all types of sectors can learn a lot from what these brands do (and don’t do) to be successful.
FBR’s CEO, Eric Stites, recently talked with Crunch’s CEO and Founding Partner, Ben Midgeley, about fanchisee-franchisor relationships, being “unamazonable”, and creating a culture of listening.
Nike made a mistake that cost them billions when they lost their endorsement contract with Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry to Under Armour. Don't make the same mistake Nike did when it comes to your franchisees.
Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp Resorts was named one of Franchise Business Review’s top 200 franchises of 2018. We recently sat down to chat with Jim Westover, VP of Operations, to talk about the franchise’s growth over the past 50 years and how their focus on brand differentiation and franchisee education has been a critical factor in becoming a top choice for franchise buyers.
Discovery days are an integral part of every brand’s development process. They are a way to set appropriate expectations and expose candidates to what it’s like to be a part of your franchise brand. Here are five ideas to make your discovery day more effective and make sure the candidates you choose will turn out to be successful franchisees.
We all know the adage that “content is king,” but not everyone takes it to heart. Learn three ways you can use franchisee satisfaction data as part of a solid content marketing strategy to bring in more candidates and close deals more quickly.
Successful franchisors make growing their franchise brand look easy, but it rarely is. How do they do it? For a little inspiration, read advice shared by franchisors at leading brands.
The energy behind small, but growing franchise brands is often fueled by the passion, culture, and core values of its founders, staff, and franchisees. As a brand grows, those things tend to get diluted or take a back seat to other priorities. Pulse surveys can help you keep your franchise on track and keep franchisees and corporate staff from disengaging.
Franchise executives from leading brands share how they have successfully incorporated video into their communications with franchisees to boost participation in their annual franchisee satisfaction surveys.
When was the last time you did a communications audit? Probably too long ago. Strategic communication is a critical component in your organization's ability to reach and exceed business objectives. And just as you would with other key areas of your organization like operations, marketing, and finance, communication must be reviewed, directed, adjusted, and monitored to ensure the best possible outcomes.
Learn some of the ways EmployBridge has successfully used their annual conference as part of an overall effort to improve and foster franchisee engagement.
If you can commit to focusing on one area to work on each month and embedding it into your corporate culture, you may find that a step-by-step approach to change can end up making a big difference. This eBook lay out 12 best practices you can implement over the course of a year to increase satisfaction and improve productivity.
Vic CiuffetelliCEO, ActionCOACHWhy did you decide to survey your franchisees with FBR? FBR is reputable and has recognition. Did you [...]
Zach Nolte President, Kitchen Solvers Did you use any type of survey before FBR’s? If so, was it internal or [...]
Seventy-four percent of franchise executives report that they do not verify assets, yet failing to verify assets before awarding a franchise can put franchisors in an unenviable position. Boefly's David Bassin shares why asset verifications play a critical role in vetting franchise candidates.
Integrating digital marketing overall development and marketing strategy is a no-brainer. But, did you know your franchisee satisfaction can be a secret weapon for converting prospective franchise buyers?
Chuck Lennon President, TeamLogic IT Did you use any type of survey before this? If so, was it internal or [...]
Effective coaching is a crucial tool for boosting performance. If you want your franchise “team” to take their performance to the next level, these four tips can help you show them how to get there.
When planned and executed properly, these visits can be a valuable link between the corporate office and your franchisees. Learn 10 things your franchise field reps should be doing to make sure everyone involved--franchisees, field reps, and franchise leadership--are getting the most value from field visits.
Franchisors that lead their sectors proactively seek feedback from franchisees, customers, employees and/or candidates because they understand doing so positively impacts their bottom line. Read on to learn a few ways to leverage survey data that you may not have considered.
Franchise brands with strong cultures have extremely high satisfaction and engagement among their franchisees. But cognitive culture is only half the story. Research cited by Harvard Business Review article points out that emotions are central to building the right culture.
There are some brands that go above and beyond the typical ways we suggest the award be promoted. Here are some of our favorite examples.
The new Google Review Extensions option gives you an opportunity to highlight third-party reviews and awards in your ads as well. What better differentiator to highlight than your status as a top-rated franchise opportunity by FBR?
Newer, smaller franchise brands typically don’t have a ton of capital, so investment in powerful software platforms can be extremely difficult to finance. At the same time, steady, sustainable growth of the brand depends on franchisees being successful and validating well for interested candidates. So do you invest beyond your means to streamline unit-level and brand growth, or do you stick with inefficient systems until there’s enough capital to spend on better technology?
As a franchisor, it can be especially difficult to maintain the highest level of customer service at all your locations since your franchisees have a great deal of autonomy. Here are five key things you can do to protect your brand.
The segment, part of the Nightly Business Report program, aired on November 11, 2015 and featured interviews with veteran franchisees of both Housemaster and Pinot's Palette, two of the highest rated brands in our 2015 Top Franchises for Veterans guide.
This month I celebrate my 10th anniversary at Franchise Business Review (FBR). I also turned 40 this summer, which seems an ideal time to reflect on what I’ve figured out makes work a place I enjoy going to each morning.
http://vimeo.com/135080066 The data provided by Franchise Business Review gives franchisors a wealth of insights that help them grow their [...]
The fourth of July makes me appreciate how fortunate we are to live in a country where opinions can be [...]
Having a strong culture of transparency is critical for the long-term success of your franchisees and your system as a whole. Franchisees can easily get distracted as their business grows, which will ultimately stall their growth. Being 100 percent transparent as an organization will keep you and your franchisees laser-focused on things that really matter.
Register now for Franchise Business Review's 2015 Franchisee Satisfaction Awards, part of a national project that looks at franchisee satisfaction among the country’s most popular franchise brands.
A common complaint from franchisees is that their franchisor doesn’t listen, the corporate office is out of touch, and they don’t feel part of the larger brand. There are a lot of big picture things you can do to change this, but there’s also one seemingly small thing that can make all the difference: A handwritten note.
There’s no doubt we’ve all worked with a complainer or two—that person who spends all his time griping about a situation rather than doing something to improve it. Complainers may hurt your brand in more ways than you know.
Our team spent most of last week in New Orleans at the IFA Convention, so I asked them to dig out from their beads and give me the best tip they took away from being there. Just like the conference itself, there’s something for everyone in their responses.
The best conference tip I’ve ever gotten was from Susan Black-Beth at the IFA Leadership Luncheon in February. I always walk away from conferences with a few (soon-to-be-forgotten) great ideas, but Susan’s hit home and I’ve been thinking about it—and working on it—ever since.
If by some unlikely twist of fate, you were instantly transplanted from the home office to ownership of your own franchise unit, how would you feel about the direction of the company? What thoughts would be crossing your mind as you read the latest memo from the executives? Would you trust you?
Social media is a funny thing. In the business world – and perhaps more so in the franchising world – [...]
With the shadow of tax overhaul looming, the International Franchise Association and Franchise Business Review asked franchise executives to weigh in on several pending tax proposals and comment on tax reform in mid-October 2011. More than 400 franchisors and franchisees took part in the study, which uncovered the following key findings.
