Why Your Franchisees Will Love a Survey, and You Will Too

In most companies, employees have an annual performance review. When done properly, it creates a powerful feedback loop and an opportunity for positive change–for both the employee and manager.

In franchising, an annual franchisee satisfaction survey offers similar benefits: It gives franchisees an opportunity to provide you with open, honest feedback on how well you’re meeting their needs and expectations.

When we ask franchise brands why they don’t conduct an annual satisfaction survey of their franchisees on a regular basis, all too often we hear responses like:

“Now’s not a good time.”

“I know my franchisees aren’t happy. I don’t want to stir the pot.”

“We’re just too busy right now.”

“We already know what’s wrong.”

“Our system isn’t large enough.”

“We just surveyed last year.”

“It costs too much.”

News flash: It’s not about you, it’s about your franchisees.

If you’re using one of these excuses, you’re putting the well-being of your system at risk. Franchisees are highly invested in the brand since their success is largely dependent on its success. Most franchisees want–and should have–a way to provide input on the direction of the system.

Establishing a formal process for gathering feedback on a consistent basis sets the expectation with your franchisees that you’re invested for the long haul, builds a culture of trust, and ensures their continual involvement.

If you have satisfied franchisees, they validate well and you sell more franchises. And if it turns out that the survey results show areas where your franchisees aren’t satisfied, you’ll know where the issues are so you can resolve them, before it gets to the point of litigation, franchisees wanting to exit the system, and losing potential franchise candidates.

Most importantly, if you listen to and act upon your franchisees’ survey input, the result will be happy franchisees who are worth their weight in gold when it comes to the health of your brand.

The Value of Having Happy Franchisees

• They tend to generate more revenue
• They validate well
• They are more likely to buy in to new policies

Oh, and by the way, if the excuse you’re using not to survey is that it’s too expensive, the average annual cost to survey with Franchise Business Review is less than the cost of buying lunch daily at work over the course of a year.

If you want to drive profits and increase buy-in, survey your franchisees to ask how you’re doing, listen to what they say, and and most importantly, work with them to make improvements. Your franchisees will thank you and so will your bottom line.