Franchise recruitment is a delicate dance where franchisors and franchisees meet and find out about each other before progressing to the next stage. Sometimes neither franchisors or franchisees like what they hear, see or even smell, so here are some common mistakes to avoid during the franchise interview. I call these wiggly or uncomfortable truths!
Don’t be late
Being respectful around time keeping is important. When your well-financed, prospective multi-unit franchisee couple have even been on an away trip abroad to immerse themselves in your franchise concept in a different country, don’t turn up 40 minutes late to interview them. It happened, or rather it didn’t happen after that…
Me, Me, Me
When a discovery day or interview is all about the franchisor and not the candidate this is a big no, no. Talking and listening to understand what’s got a franchisee to this point in their journey will be a far more valuable and productive conversation.
Don’t miss a key character
In the US, recruiters call this ensuring the full cast of characters are present in an interview. Franchisors need to meet everyone in the decision-making unit from an uncle who is providing the finance to the supportive spouse. If a key character can’t make the meeting, perhaps they can be Zoomed in to participate?
Cultural insensitivity
One master franchisor in Holland gave a potential franchisee who did not drink, refreshments containing alcohol. This was showed incredible cultural insensitivity which rightly, did not go down well. Ensure needs relating to diet, culture or faith are catered for during meetings.
Bad odours
At one memorable (for all the wrong reasons) franchise recruitment event, the team had been out for a few drinks the previous evening to wash down a wonderful European meal. However, the next morning, the smell of garlic was so strong that booth visitors took one sniff and walked away.
At offices take time to walk the floor from the entrance to the bathroom and look out for – or sniff out – anything that may put off potential franchisees. No-one wants to miss a £100k franchise deal because the bathroom was like something from a bad hotel.
Don’t live in the 1970s
Franchisees make as many mistakes as franchisors during recruitment interviews. One I interviewed recently put his wife down so much during the meeting it resembled a bad sit-com from 1970s, but no-one was laughing. It was a no from us. He was angry but we were recruiting in for a female majority industry and his attitude was totally unacceptable.
You don’t know everything
Sounds obvious doesn’t it? However, many potential franchisees think experience will give them an easy ride. Experience helps of course, but the challenges of running a small department will be different to running a £2million operation. Those that embrace life-long learning are far more likely to succeed, and those that ‘know it all’ are a red flag to franchisors.
Avoid blame
Franchisors know that the ability to resolve conflicts is a good skill for business owners. Potential franchisees that criticise ex-business partners or old employers or blame others for their lack of success will not thrive like those who learn and grow from tough times.
Be prepared
Franchisees who aren’t prepared for an interview, who rock-up late or those who are not honest about their financial situation, CCJs or credit scores will not be taken seriously.
The other mistake I often see from franchise companies is lack of follow-up after the franchise interview has taken place. It may be that the prospects are keen but circumstances need to delay the timing of a decision and a good follow-up will be remembered at a later date. I undertook a mystery shop for one franchisor and their follow-up process was simply an email which said: “Are you interested?” We ended up working with them to sharpen their recruitment process. Ok, we had to work on some other points in the process too (the comedy socks which were more about the franchisor than the franchisee had to go) but this example shows the devil is in the detail and avoiding mistakes in the franchise interview process can pay dividends.
