Guide your new franchisees through their first few months with step by step enabling tools.
New franchisees often require quite a bit of ‘hand holding’ and it is during these first few months that they go through their real learning curve. Often franchisees require specialist training to be able to run their franchise within the given market sector or industry. Marketing is almost always included as part of the training package through the operations manual. However, there is so much more that can be achieved once new franchisees understand their new business and have a few additional solid enabling tools, focused on marketing techniques, to assist them.
Managing expectations through a marketing orientation
A big part of the process for franchisors is managing the expectations of their new franchisees (who are often eager to establish themselves and create a return on their investment). At this stage, marketing can play a key role to help focus their minds and keep them busy while setting some small achievable targets and objectives for them to aim towards.
Setting your standards through marketing
Every franchisor wants every new franchise sold to become a success. It has been proven that by setting franchisee standards through a specific 2 month launch marketing activity plan, you can significantly increase the chances of success and within a shorter time period. While this can be time consuming for the franchisor to create and implement, it can save a great deal of ‘fire fighting’ time later on.
Dealing with the ups and the downs. Being sturdy, consistent and strong
As I am sure most franchisors have experienced, franchisees often go through a whole host of emotions over the first 6 – 12 months of running their franchise. The mere fact that often they have committed their life savings, changed their lifestyle and working relationships which often causes a shift in family relationships. It can be a very stressful time. Franchisors need to be the parent in the situation and create that focus for the franchisees to concentrate on. They also need to become the understanding agony aunt when things get tough but most of all, franchisors need to reflect (at every opportunity) a consistent and strong disposition during every dealing with any franchisee.
Creating confidence through marketing
When marketing is done well, it creates a great confidence in franchisors from franchisees. Marketing should be used as a focusing tool of franchisors to help them keep control of not only their business and brand, but the whole host of people that have bought into their psyche and believe in the business model.
The Four Steps to new franchisee success
- Invest more time at the beginning in teaching new franchisees key marketing skills
- Provide a tailored and specific two month marketing activity plan to help focus your new franchisee
- Always remain sturdy and strong, giving your franchisees a consistent impression of their ‘leader’
- Offer lots of encouragement and praise at every opportunity to keep new franchisees positively focused
The best possible tools that I have given franchisors is how they can teach their franchisees to look after themselves. In doing this, the franchisor deals with far less problems and far more confident, happy franchisees. By teaching your franchisees to market themselves, you give them the keys to their own success which in turn, also leads to yours.
Next feature; Using PR to Launch Your Franchise (very topical as we approach Octobers National Franchise Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham!).