Franchising is the decision to give a piece of the company to someone with complete trust in the traits this person has to progress the company. Yet, so often, the department working through the process of selecting a successful franchisee neglects observing some of the critical traits that could mean success or failure for the franchise.
Here are 5 traits to look for when awarding a franchise to a candidate:
1. Do They Have a High EQ?
The EQ, or emotional quotient, of a person determines how sensitive they are to recognizing emotions in themselves, and in other people. This is a critical skill for leadership and personality management.
How well will this franchisee be able to build rapport with staff and customers? How well will they handle conflict? How well will they be able to learn and adjust to the individual needs of their staff when it comes to being stern, awarding praise, or letting someone go?
Look for traits during the interviewing process like good listening skills; the ability to remember details; and the ability to adapt to personalities. The potential franchisee’s EQ will be the root quality that may indicate success or failure in the next four traits listed below.
2. Do They Like People?
A people person is a salesperson. If the franchisee believes in the product or service, and has an obvious knack for communication, then they should already be winning points with your organization.
Ultimately, business is about people more than it is about products or services. Look for your candidates’ ability to communicate well through the selection process. Perhaps the greatest skill to look out for is the ability your candidate has for being interested, rather than interesting. You can always spot a salesperson if they have honed this skill.
3. Are They Coachable?
A “coachable” person is a person that is willing to learn. Willingness to learn is the trait of someone who is not self-conscious, or threatened by the knowledge of the teacher.
People that are NOT coachable tend to insert their own ideas or “educated guesses” into the learning process, instead of simply absorbing the information being presented, and then offering questions or suggestions.
The candidate to look out for is the one that is eager to learn without being disruptive, and just as eager to understand what is being taught through asking questions and offering suggestions.
4. Do They Have Grit?
Grit does not automatically suggest that someone is tough, or unwilling to budge. The “grit” skill in a franchise candidate means they have the ability to take on hard challenges, confront people when necessary, and say no and keep pushing through obstacles as they come up.
A leader with grit can still be sensitive, fair, and even warm, but knows when a tough decision needs to be made and makes it.
You can observe a candidate’s grit by putting them in a leadership role, managing a group, where they must make the final decision on something actionable while wasting no time. Pay attention to how willing the candidate is to get to the important information, locate the right decision, and pull the trigger.
5. Do They Have a Positive Attitude?
Negativity will get you nowhere in life, and especially in the work place. In a leadership role, negativity will get you a staff that is totally unwilling to work hard for you.
Positivity, however, has the opposite effect on your staff. Positivity combined with praise will get you a staff that is willing to do more for you because of the environment of encouragement and reward you’ve created for them.
Positivity in a franchise candidate is easy to spot. Look for the candidate who truly cares. Positive people do more than listen, and work hard – they care about output, outcomes, and results, and they believe that their attitude affects the attitudes of those around them.
It is in the best interest of the whole team to look deeper into the traits and skills of each franchise candidate before awarding the franchise. A wrong decision could be fatal for the company. Look deeper than technical skill sets or past business success, and into leadership, attitude, and people skills to find the candidate that will truly add value to the company.