In a franchise system, the franchisee is the “customer.” In business, we often hear the term customer experience. It is the job of the franchisor to ensure that the franchisee’s experience is one that creates confidence, and trust. Treat your franchisees the same way you expect them to treat their customers and watch the ripple effect!
Here are 4 secrets to keeping franchisees happy:
1. Keep Lines of Communication Open
As a Franchisor, you must be just as skilled at listening as you are at providing vision and direction to your franchisees.
This is a critical key to keeping communication flowing. Recognizing the importance of being a powerful listener enables you to build rapport and trust with your franchisees. In turn, your franchisor will feel comfortable sharing ideas, concerns, and valuable data with you that you need to improve your company.
2. Get to Know Your Franchisees
The skill of listening leads to relationship building, and that rapport and trust makes your franchisees feel like valued team members who see the company as a good career bet.
If your franchisees don’t trust you, and don’t like you personally, it’s unlikely they will go the extra mile for your company. When their boss is easy to respect and like, franchisees will put in the extra effort.
To build that rapport, be available, and keep communicating. Send a birthday card, an interesting article, or a Starbucks gift card to show them that you care and you are invested in their success.
3. Have an Effective Complaints Process
Firstly, franchisees need to know who in the parent company they are supposed to report to when specific complaint issues come up. Otherwise, time and energy is wasted with people who don’t have the answer or can’t make the decision.
Secondly, Customer service is fundamental to a successful franchise. As a franchisor, you must make sure your process for dealing with complaints and issues is fast and efficient.
If your complaint process includes delayed replies to emails, or solutions that don’t satisfy your franchisees, your franchisees will be stressed and anxious.
Complaints are never easy to handle, but they can be made easier if the process is quick, efficient, and sensitive to their issues.
4. Motivate, Inspire, Lead
While sharing your vision and listening to your franchisees is essential, franchisors that provide motivation and inspiration significantly enhance the franchisee/franchisor relationship.
Motivation and inspiration remind everyone why they are in business. Use online mediums to keep your team feeling motivated. A weekly newsletter is still one of the best ways to share information, and these can include interviews from industry leaders, updates about company progress, stories about successful franchisees, and surveys.
Free services like Mail Chimp www.mailchimp.com allow you to send to your franchisees professional looking newsletters with video or audio embedding capabilities. Consistent newsletters help keep you and your franchisees connected.
The franchisee is your customer, and the more deliberate your customer experience can be, the more trust and confidence your franchisee will have in your company’s vision. Remember, building trust and rapport with your franchisees encourages them to go the extra mile for your business and be truly invested in your goals and objectives.