SPECIALFEATURE
are not necessarily an entrepreneur; because they don’t themselves have selling or management skills to start with. “Good” (ie naturally well-performing) franchisees within a network may have some of those qualities but it’s not the norm, nor should that be a standard expectation at recruitment level.
What expectations do franchisors have of training providers – and are they always right? We do see franchisors ‘get in their own way’, for want of a better phrase!
When they invest in training, bring in a
third-party specialist in a particular area, for instance, they usually want it done in one or two days max and expect results instantly! Under these circumstances there are three parties involved – the franchisee, the franchisor and the trainer. There needs to be communication about what part each side is responsible for – what results does the franchisor want to see from the training, for instance? Typically, franchisors would rather have training that is short and impactful rather than do it in a phased way.
And the phased way is… ? … the only way of training – or it should be! A short, sharp method of training will see a quick spike in results and nothing in the long term. We work with our clients and ask ‘what do you want?’ Franchisors need to be specifi c about what they want to see – rather than “more leads / higher sales”, exactly how many leads? If training results in a franchisee’s leads increasing by one – and not the, says, one hundred that the franchisor’s hoping for– a trainer might think they’ve done their job.
So what are franchisors looking for when they seek your expertise? People often approach us because they experience a turnover of franchisees – they don’t know exactly what makes a good franchisee successful, although they may have some idea of what’s making the ones that are failing ‘bad’. We look at behaviours on our training programme – rather than ‘skills’ – to see how certain types of behaviour and kinds of thinking are affecting performance. The timeframes are always longer than franchisors would like of course, but it’s about behaviour change – which takes time. Short-term results show up in 90 days, whereas seeing long-term changes
takes up to a year – and as franchisors are in long-term relationships with their franchisees, they are going to fi nd that long- term results are worth it.
Who leads the way in training technology and thinking? Where do the latest ideas come from? And how do you see the future of training? The US defi nitely. In the States, they are way ahead in sales and management ideas – training is considered ‘normal’! Employees have a personal training budget, it’s very much thought of as investment – they like training! Particularly in the softer skills. The future is an increasingly blended approach to training, taking it away from the classroom and more towards a combination of hands-on teaching and self-study – online, e-learning and so on, although face-to-face training will never go away!
understand the why. Not just “because it works” and “this way is best”. They are more likely to follow something they fully understand and have had demonstrated to them that it works. It’s human nature – almost like a child thing, the fi rst learning we ever do. If you tell a child to do something, it will say ‘why?’ – this is no different. Franchisors don’t mean to do that – ie “Learn it this way, you can’t fail!” – but it’s a common trap.
Why does it happen so often in franchising?
Centre. He has been a Visiting Lecturer in Franchising at Bristol University and has delivered the Finance Module at Middlesex University Business School’s ‘Summer School in Franchising’.
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How do franchisors perceive their obligation for training? We fi nd franchisors are very good at training franchisees in how to do what the franchise does – how to cook that burger, or mend that windscreen, for instance – franchisors are good at that: “This is how we sell X or Y”. What they are less good at showing franchisees is how to run the business, how to understand the principles of running a business – maintaining their business plan, knowing the difference between profi t and cash, these sorts of things. Of course, the whole franchise premise is based on a system, a model, ie “my model works, so therefore replicate it” but it would be better for franchisees to have a broad understanding of why it works – that’s why franchisees can fall down.
How could training provided by franchisors be more effective, therefore? People are more committed when they
aul Monaghan is responsible for the development and delivery of training through The Franchise Training
Most franchisors have a strong drive to be successful, an innate entrepreneurial streak – they may have grown up in the family business or commercial background, for instance – or just are self-made, self- taught over the years and have a habit of assuming everyone has a similar ethic. Some franchisors, however, actually enjoy helping others to be successful. That’s why they’re looking for others to replicate their model. But this is why, on the whole, franchisors will hire a franchise manager and other support staff to deal with the franchisee side.
So, how do you persuade both franchisors and their network of franchisees of the value of training? It’s a fi ne line to walk between being interfering and “it’s your business, crack on” – as with anything, you have to ask “what’s in it for them?” Franchisors need to communicate ‘we want to help you’. Franchisees need to be ‘sold’ the idea – be shown the benefi ts and how it works. This is where the latest in technology comes in – with remote / online training, etc. A franchisee can do it in their own time, rather than take time away from running the business and the franchisor can log in and see whether the training courses are being taken up. These are easy to deliver and easy for the franchisee to do. It also means the franchisor can monitor performance results, compare sales between those who do and don’t take up training and use this to demonstrate its effectiveness to their network. Ultimately, it’s all about buy-in. No franchisee is going to be perfect, it’s an ongoing thing, everyone needs extra support whether it’s formal training or coaching/ mentoring or chalk-and-talk – it’s a developmental process. n
Franchisor News | 27
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