Communication is key to any business. In franchising, engagement and good relations within the network and between franchisor and franchisees is even more important as it directly determines how effective the whole business and brand performs within the marketplace.
Get the dynamic community spirit right and franchisees become brand advocates of the business. Get it wrong and negativity can erode and even destroy productivity.
The key is that any franchise is built on the principles of partnership. Good franchise management requires working hard to avoid an ‘us and them’ culture. A master / servant relationship will breed resentment, distrust and lead to alienation. While the franchisor must prescribe processes and procedures and ensures franchisees don’t deviate from the programme, there is a balance to be struck.
Franchisors need to remember franchisees pay for support. Some of this is tangible, like product sourcing and marketing but much is intangible. Often the value of such support lies in the relationships with the rest of the franchise network, loyalty and working together. Therefore applying effort to develop a culture of engagement between franchisees is crucially important.
It also means developing a culture where franchisees have a voice and to some extent can influence how the business is run. Their participation in strategic and operational decisions must not be feared, it should be embraced – it will have very positive outcomes.
Take the example of an engineer who was a franchisee for a home services franchise I managed. He created and patented a device for exclusive use by the franchise network which remains a mainstay of the business today. If that franchisee had been disengaged or not closely connected to the brand, he could and would have gone out alone and the whole network would have missed this brilliant opportunity. Alone, without the brand’s marketing support he too may have failed. In reality a win-win situation was created where everyone benefited.
The other end of the scale is the franchisor who discouraged franchisees from contacting each other by removing official communication channels. Needless to say, they talked anyway so the action was completely counterproductive. Furthermore, , the resulting chatting behind closed doors meant negativity was allowed to pervade the network in an uncontrolled manner, causing a detrimental impact to business. The enthusiasm always needed for the day to day work was lost, and this directly impacted performance.
Of course, some franchisees are more willing to engage and communicate than others. Therefore, a little psychology can go far. Finding different ways for the network to interact can help, as individuals respond differently to alternative mediums. Conferences and face-to-face working groups are great for some and technology can be our friend for others so a mix of webinars, Zoom or Teams calls plus WhatsApp groups, can create all of the right channels to maintain engagement for productive collaboration of different personalities.
As they say: “It takes a village to raise a child” and this phrase is relevant on so many levels of business. It means collaboration, teamwork, connection and togetherness can create far better results than isolation or working alone.
Remember, not everyone will agree all of the time and it is OK to have strategies and thinking questioned. It creates a collectively dynamic business with enthusiastic partners which is far more agile and likely to succeed.
