What Franchisees Really Think About Their FBCs (and What You Should Do About It)

Franchise Business Coaches (FBCs) are one of the most critical, and overlooked, factors in the success of your franchisees. When brands don’t invest in training and developing their FBCs, it doesn’t just affect morale—it costs money. Franchisees are less likely to follow guidance from someone they don’t trust or view as credible, resulting in slower ramp up in their business, missed goals, and inconsistent performance. And for franchisors experiencing high turnover of Franchise Business Coaches, each new hire sets you back, forcing your team to restart the process—the distraction and cost of hiring, and the challenge of earning the franchisee’s trust all over again. 

Franchise Business Review has surveyed more than 1,300 brands over the last 20 years. In recent years we added an entire section to the survey for franchisees to provide feedback on their FBCs. It includes questions like: Is your business coach helpful and knowledgeable? Are they accessible and responsive? Do they understand your business and personal goals? Do they care about you and about your success? 

Our research shows that 81% of franchisees agree/strongly agree that their FBC is accessible and responsive–the highest scoring question. The lowest scoring? Only 72% of franchisees agree that their FBC understands their business and personal goals.

Want to know how your franchisees rate their FBCS and how it compares to these benchmarks? Schedule a demo to see how our survey process and reporting works.

From our research, it’s clear that franchisees notice how their FBC shows up for them. Whether it’s consistent support or missed follow-through, these experiences shape franchisee engagement, trust, and ultimately, business performance. To help you better understand what’s working and where your team might be falling short, we’ve highlighted the most common positive and negative themes that emerged from open-text feedback on our franchisee satisfaction surveys. 

What Franchisees Say About FBCs: Top Positive Themes

• Reliable support. Franchisees repeatedly highlight the availability of their FBCs, noting they can depend on them when guidance is needed. This reinforces the trust and confidence they have in the relationship.

• Helpful guidance. Many franchisees appreciate how helpful their coach is, especially when addressing operational challenges or making strategic decisions about the business.

• Emotional encouragement. Words like “supported,” “valued,” and “motivated” point to the emotional lift franchisees feel when they know their FBC has their back.

• Collaborative mindset. Coaches are seen as collaborative partners, not just representatives of corporate. Franchisees value working with someone, not reporting to them.

• Business impact. The coaching relationship is often linked to improved business outcomes, especially around growth, planning, and meeting or exceeding performance benchmarks. 

While many franchisees value their relationship with their Franchise Business Coach, open-text feedback also surfaces pain points that impact trust, engagement, and effectiveness. These recurring themes provide important signals on where support and communication may be falling short.

What’s Not Working: Common Challenges in the FBC Experience

• Overwhelmed with new initiatives. Franchisees often express frustration about constant change—too many new programs and rollouts without the proper training or clarity to implement them effectively.

• Time constraints. There’s a recurring theme that limited time with their coaches makes it difficult to dive deep or focus/follow through on strategic support.

• Lack of visibility or connection. Many franchisees say they don’t know who their FBC is or the role the FBC is supposed to play in their business. This is often due to high turnover on the team or limited outreach from the FBC. Both result in weak relationships and missed opportunities to support the franchisee.

• Lack of personalization Franchisees say coaches “just” check in, without meaningful or personalized action or insights.

• Transactional, not strategic. Franchisees describe interactions with their FBC as a routine check-in focused on surface level questions, rather than more insight driven conversations tailored to their specific business or challenges to help them move forward.

• Lack of follow-through. Franchisees share that after meetings with their FBCs it’s unclear what should happen next. Lack of follow-up and accountability creates frustration and erodes trust. 

The insights here are just the starting point. If your FBCs are going to be trusted advisors, they need the tools, training, and accountability to build real relationships with franchisees.

Want to reduce turnover of Franchise Business Coaches? Start by assessing how your FBCs are performing with our free FBC Skills Assessment Checklist.

Looking for best practices? Read: What Makes a Great Franchise Business Coach.

Or better yet, get your operations team to the FBR Summit to learn, share, and connect with other brands committed to exceptional franchisee support.

Related Resource: How to Assess Franchise Business Coach Effectiveness

Get a 360-degree view of where your FBCs are excelling and where they could benefit from additional training. Download our free guide and you’ll learn:

• 5 critical skill areas for success
• How to assess an FBC’s skills
• How to align expectations
• Resources for additional training

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