MARKETINGADVICE
marketing? Marketing is a key skill for business success and many franchisors fail to give their franchisees adequate training in how to market their businesses.
H As the majority of franchisors are not
qualifi ed coaches or trainers, the dissemination of knowledge often gets lost in translation. By providing your franchisees with a dedicated marketing programme, you can guide them through the year step by step, month by month. Help your franchisees to improve their sales and improve yours in the process.
How helping your franchisees helps you recruit more of them With a high-performing network, your prospects are much more likely to want to come on board. No one wants to buy into a franchise that has not yet proven to be profi table and doesn’t provide them with the training they need to successfully market their businesses.
Many franchisees have scant, if any, marketing experience, and so will have no idea where to start. You can help them by providing them with a training programme, either in-house or externally, to not only help them promote their business in the early days but to continue this throughout the life of their franchise as well. Here are my top tips for providing your franchisees with a great marketing plan:
Regular, adequate training Providing training in bite-sized chunks makes the information you are disseminating more easily digestible; franchisees will be able to go away and implement each stage of training and eventually it will all come together. If, however, you overload your franchisees packing everything into just one training session, by the time they come to put it into practice they may have forgotten a lot of the information and will not implement it or may otherwise feel too overwhelmed to know where to start. By drip-feeding your franchisees the information they need, you are likely to fi nd that they will absorb it and will apply the training step by step. Regular training will also make sure that
ow much easier would it be for you to recruit if everyone in your franchise network was doing well? Would you like your franchisees to get better at
franchisees stay up to date with changing technology, especially when it comes to social media and online marketing. Technology and the internet are developing at such a fast pace it can be diffi cult to keep up with the ever-changing demands of the online world.
“The more innovative you are, the more people will want to join you and be part of your network”
By providing regular training sessions, you can ensure that franchisees never lag behind and are always at the top of their game when it comes to the latest marketing methods. If franchisees don’t have the time to attend training sessions physically, you can always offer online training through webinars. This method is much less time consuming for the franchisee because they can do this from home or their workplace. It will also allow you to track who is accessing and using the resource the most! Then, you can identify and target those franchisees that might be fl agging slightly on an individual basis.
Involve third party experts If you’re not sure about how to adequately train your franchisees or you’re not skilled in marketing techniques yourself, it is a good idea to consider allowing third party experts in, to either train you as the franchisor or to set up a training course for your franchisees to attend. In many cases, franchisees will look favourably on a third party. They can see that you are investing in their future and growth and this helps to build trust between you and the network. This method costs money but sales, results and performance will improve massively if your franchisees get it right. Regular talks and training from an outside professional will benefi t not only your franchisees but your network and brand as a whole.
Operate a buddy system As a low-cost training exercise, you can partner your franchisees together so that they can help each other. By partnering an experienced, high-performing franchisee with a new franchisee, they will be able to learn
from each other; old dogs can learn new tricks from fresh-faced newbies! Having a buddy system is also a great way to form a stronger network. Franchisees who are prepared to help each other out and share their ideas are much more likely to perform better collectively. They can call each other for help and advice, which may also clear up your phone lines at head offi ce!
Offer networking opportunities Networking opportunities such as annual or quarterly franchisee conferences are another great way to get franchisees together in one place on a regular basis to share best practice. Conferences give them the opportunity to discuss their businesses and marketing methods with each other. You can also arrange for industry experts to give talks at each event to give franchisees an incentive to attend and give them a little bit ofw extra help and guidance. As a franchisor, it is essential that you stay ahead of your competitors and attract as many new franchisees to your network as possible, which also ensures they don’t join someone else’s! By implementing the training mentioned above, you can offer prospects something that most franchisors may not have even thought about: teaching your franchisees to market their own businesses. Before they join a franchise, prospects will have carried out their due diligence and a large part of their decision will be based on whether or not their business will be successful – adequate training goes hand-in-hand with this. By constantly developing your product or services and providing franchisees with ongoing and new training opportunities, you can ensure that you remain at the top of your game. The more innovative you are, in every aspect, the more people are going to want to join you and become part of your network. As a franchisor, you should be available for help and advice at all times and this is just one of the many ways you can show your franchisees that you are supporting them fully in their new business ventures. n
AUTHOR’S NOTE
If you would like to find out more about how you can set a marketing strategy for your franchisee recruitment, contact Coconut Creatives on 01725 511 673
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