How to Get Buy-In from Your Franchisees for Systemic Changes
By Karen Spaeder ,
As a franchisor, you have a certain obligation to help your franchisees succeed. They buy in to your franchise with the expectation they'll get the support they need - and you don't want to let them down.
If they win, you win.
Make your corporate assets available to them in a central marketing platform where they can quickly grab and use them. Supply them with promotional materials they can use at the local level and boost on social media for more exposure. It should be easy for them to schedule and manage posts as well as respond to customer comments and questions. The easier, the better so they’ll be likely to participate on social media.
The same playbook that has notched high returns acquiring things like foreclosed homes and highway rest stops is being tested by a family-oriented franchise.
"Direct inquiries to Michael O. Browning Jr. Jr., Unleashed Brands’s chief executive and founder, and other executives were not returned.
Instead, a public relations firm answered detailed questions via email, saying the company’s changes have improved business across the board.
“The financial impact and franchisee benefit of these efforts is undeniable,” the spokesman wrote.
Many of the changes, however, are simply not what franchisees say they’d signed up for"
“What this reflects is a conflict between the private equity firm that bought this and what they actually bought,” said Francine Lafontaine, an economist at the University of Michigan who specializes in franchise relationships.
“In their due diligence, they didn’t seem to think too much about who they were going to be working with once they owned this chain.”
You believe in a good idea. You know it could make a crucial difference for you, your organization, your community. You present it, hoping for enthusiastic support. Instead, you get confounding questions, inane comments, and verbal bullets.
Before you know what’s hit you, your idea is dead, shot down.
It doesn’t have to be this way, say John Kotter and Lorne Whitehead. In Buy-In, they reveal how to protect good ideas and win the support needed to deliver valuable results.
The key? Understand the unfair attack strategies that naysayers, nitpickers, and handwringers deploy with great success time and time again:
Through the device of a fresh and amusing fictional narrative, the authors vividly show how avoiding or attempting to quash attackers doesn’t work.
According to their counterintuitive approach, it’s far better to respectfully engage these adversaries and stand your ground with simple, convincing responses that save the day.
Building trust with franchisees should be the new franchisor's top priority. That's what happened with Dunkin'.
"At Dunkin we lived through having the worst franchisee-franchisor relationship in the industry to the best in the industry," says Robert Branca , Dunkin' franchisee and former Chair of Dunkin Donuts Independent Franchisee Owners (DDIFO).
His franchisor is equally proud of the culture they've recreated. "We always say that our number-one asset is our relationship with our franchisees," says Scott Murphy , Head of Beverage & Snacking, Inspire Brands and President of Dunkin'.
"We recognize that we need each other to be successful, and we stay focused on driving franchisee profitability, which in turn fuels system growth."
An example of their great partnership at work was the introduction of Dunkin's K-cup pods. The coffee product was originally offered in-store only.
When Dunkin' explored widening distribution to grocery chains, franchisees were concerned the move would negatively impact in-store sales. Dunkin' and franchisees worked together to create a revenue split to everyone's satisfaction.
Greg Nathan writes:
In this Tip I'll share 11 growth strategies to emerge from a franchise operations leadership breakfast we held on the topic "How to Encourage Franchisees to be Growth-Minded".
Steven Rafsky , a former franchisee of Padgett Business Services, a 50 year old franchise network with 400 franchisees in North America, first spoke of how the company was facing serious financial problems after venture capitalists bought it and mucked it up.
Helping Dogs Live Their Best Life, Franchise Industry Ambassador, Franchisor Advisor, Mentor, Speaker and Moderator
1yThere is no better term for franchising than “buy in” in my opinion. Today was a great reminder of how systemic change truly requires it!
Franchise Growth Strategist | Co-Producer of Franchise Chat & Franchise Connect | Empowering Brands on LinkedIn
1yMany franchisors have good ideas, but are unable to garner sufficient support from the bulk of their franchise operators. Which is why it makes sense for them learn the techniques in the buy-in book. Would this have helped you, Joe Caruso or Megan Allen?
Franchise systems are constantly improving themselves and need to get their franchise operators on board with new changes.