It’s thorough training that makes the difference between a franchise that soars and one that slumps, says Cordell Riley
I have been in meetings where smart businesspeople plan how they will launch or expand their franchises.
A number of topics usually get discussed in those planning meetings. People ask, “Do we have a strong brand?” and “How is our signage?” and maybe even, “Do we have a good plan for recruiting new franchisees?” Yes, the questions go on and on. But in my experience, many business people never get around to asking what the most critical question of all could be . . .
“Do we have phenomenal training in place to enable our expansion to succeed awesomely?”
You see, success of any franchise business depends on how well a company trains its new owners and further down the line, on how it trains employees who work at individual franchises. And that is true whether you are starting a new franchise company or growing one that already exists. Your success depends on the training you provide, which means addressing these concerns as you plan your training.
Training should be part of the culture of your franchise organization
In practical terms, that means . . .
You realize that training will be one of your key business drivers, central to everything you do
You write training into your strategic business plan and your mission and vision statements
You set goals for training that are based on specific roles and jobs in your franchise
You measure the results of your training, report on it and engage in continuous improvement
Train on your business system
Your business system can be defined as, “how we do it here . . . how we do what here?” It should cover everything: how you answer the phone, greet customers, what you wear.
Remember that people invest in a franchise for the proven system it offers. There are many reasons why this is critically important. First and foremost, people buy franchises for the system! Also, you want owners to learn to benefit from the systems and support you have put in place for their benefit.
On the subtler level, you want your franchise owners to tell prospective franchise owners that you provide industry-leading training and support that helped them succeed and become profitable from the day they opened their doors.
You also want franchises to grow because they have used the system, not because they used all kinds of tactics and strategies that they developed on their own. If a franchise grew because it adhered to the system and its rules, prospective buyers see that they can step in and start running their new businesses; all they have to do is stick with the system. Remember, “The System is the Solution.”
So, when you train your system, you are building the value of your brand and your franchises, which makes your franchise company vastly more valuable in the marketplace.
Don’t Try to Cover Everything
Remember that trying to cover everything in your training is not effective, because people will not retain all of it. How do you decide what to include and what to leave out? I would recommend using a DACUM (“Design a Curriculum”) methodology that creates job-specific training for employees who fulfill roles like selling on the retail floor or in the field, delivering and installing products, and more. So even though you might start by creating training for new franchise owners, go on to develop training for employees who perform all your most important functions.
Measure results, and keep improving your training
What will you measure? What are the average sales of your new franchisee? Is there a correlation between the amount of training taken and performance of certain locations? Are Net Promoter Scores increasing?
There are so many things to measure and, as the old saying goes, “How will you know what you are accomplishing if you never measure?” If you start your planning process by thinking not only about what you would like your training to accomplish, but about how you will measure it, you will be taking a great first step toward creating training that moves the right needles and brings success to everyone in your franchise organization.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cordell Riley is Partner and President of Tortal Training, a leading training development company in Charlotte, North Carolina. After his time in college and the military, Cordell launched his career at Driven Brands, the owner of Meineke and Maaco. During his 20 years there, he rose through the ranks with increasing levels of responsibility for Operations and Training. He then founded Tortal Training, in 2000. A recognized training expert with extensive experience in the franchising sectors, Cordell has spent more than 20 years helping thousands of companies achieve outstanding success through training. He is a sought-after keynote speaker who addresses conferences and company seminars nationwide. Follow @TortalTraining.
