How to Work With Independent Franchisee Associations

A poorly handled relationship with a franchisee association can stall growth and sour your best operators; a well-handled one can turn your harshest critics into your strongest advocates. 

Key Takeaways:

• A franchisee association is an independent, legally organized group that represents franchisees to the franchisor, with the power to sign contracts and negotiate for its dues-paying members. A Franchise Advisory Council (FAC) differs: the franchisor organizes it, participation is free, and it holds no voting power, authority, or liability.
• Franchisees typically form associations when a system grows too fast, when communication with the franchisor breaks down, or when they believe the FAC isn’t representative. But the relationship doesn’t have to be adversarial.
• Franchisors benefit most by working with associations rather than against them. Partnering on franchisee satisfaction surveys turns discontentment into actionable feedback, sparks collaboration, and drives brand growth.

Successful franchise system rest on two foundations: unit profitability and strong franchisee/franchisor relationships. Franchisee associations represent the interests of franchisees to the franchisor, and they usually form independently of the franchisor. A good relationship with an association keeps the franchisee/franchisor relationship productive, while a bad one turns it combative. Either way, the effect shows up in profitability and growth.

Why Franchisee Associations Are Formed

Independent franchisee associations are more common today than they were 15 or 20 years ago. Franchisees form external associations for several reasons:  

• The system is growing fast, and franchisees grow discontented when they feel like the franchisor isn’t responding to them.
• There’s a specific incident or grievance franchisees are focused on bringing to the franchisor.
• Communication breaks down between franchisees and the franchisor, or the franchisor is non-responsive.
• Franchisees feel the existing Franchise Advisory Council (FAC) is “fixed,” or not representative of the whole franchisee community. They may feel that only “favorites” of the franchisor are being appointed to the council.

Sometimes the corporate team recognizes these associations. Other times it doesn’t, which adds strain to the relationship.

The Difference Between a Franchise Advisory Council and a Franchisee Association

Franchisee Associations

Franchisees legally organize these associations around a specific agenda or focus, and the relationship with the franchisor is often adversarial. The structure is formal; most associations can sign contracts and can legally represent and negotiate on behalf of their members. Members pay dues to belong, and frequently not all franchisees in the system participate.

Franchise Advisory Councils

An FAC is a committee of franchisees that the franchisor organizes to gather feedback and ideas for improving the system. The most effective FACs  are interactive groups built on constructive, structured collaboration. In effect, they serve as the voice of the franchisees to corporate leadership.

FACs have a less formal structure and there’s no cost to participate. They’re intended to represent the franchisees’ perspective and communicate operational challenges to leadership. However, they do NOT have any real power: there’s no voting, no approval authority, and no liability.

How Franchisee Associations Can Benefit Franchisors

While franchisee associations are often (but not always) formed out of discontentment by the franchisees, the relationship doesn’t have to stay complicated or adversarial. In fact, welcoming one and fostering a positive relationship with a franchisee association, yields a number of benefits, including:

• Sparking collaboration between franchisees and franchisors.
• Driving participation with the rest of the franchise community in system-wide calls, events, product or service rollouts, and in gathering feedback.
• Generating ideas and changes the franchisor can implement to strengthen the brand.

Our advice: work with the association! Recognize the value they can bring to your system. Of course, not every relationship with an association turns acrimonious, but if yours has, treat it as an opportunity. It’s like responding to a poor customer review. You’ve been handed a chance to turn critics into loyal, raving fans.

Turn Goodwill Into Actionable Feedback

Start by asking for feedback. FBR partners with franchisee associations and franchisors to conduct franchisee satisfaction surveys. We’ve surveyed members for associations including Elevanta, the franchise association administrator for multiple brands, and the Planet Fitness Independent Franchisee Association. In fact, Planet Fitness is a high-performing brand that consistently is consistently recognized on our lists of Top Franchises. We’ve seen firsthand how the association shares the results of the survey with the franchisor and collaborates to implement positive changes in the system, as well as uses their status as an award-winning brand to drive development.

FBR’s survey asks a standard set of benchmark questions and we make it easy to add custom questions to measure satisfaction in other areas unique to your system. FBR can present the results to the entire franchisee community, or just to the franchisor/executive team to reinforce the value of the third-party work that was done. We offer a neutral viewpoint, grounded in data, and provide clarity on what to work on first. We also guide you on how to get there and how to get everyone working toward the same goals.

Learn more about how we work with Franchisee Associations

Stop Fighting Your Franchisee Association and Start Reaping the Benefits

If you’re faced with a strained relationship with a franchisee association (or even your FAC), put in the work to understand how you can collaborate for the good of the system. Keep asking franchisees what they need and want, then respond by setting clear expectations for what comes next. Pair that with transparency, respect, and communication, and everyone starts moving in harmony.

Interested in seeing what questions we ask on our standard survey? Request a free demo to see how the survey works and get a look at our proprietary online reporting tool.

Request a Free FAC Workbook

Our FAC workbook walks you through how to implement an FAC that contributes to the success of your franchisees and the overall performance of your brand.

Request a free copy of Building a Franchise Advisory Council That Gets Results for a step-by-step guide to:

• What you need to know before implementing an FAC, including defining goals, setting expectations, identifying FAC members, and communicating the plan.
• Creating the FAC format and agenda, launching, setting ground rules, and managing the process.
• Keeping the FAC on track, making adjustments, and expanding the opportunity and value over time.

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