MODULE 6
1.
Maintain an
undying devotion to the brand
Understand what you want your brand to represent. Make a commitment to ensure the best
possible customer experience - and deliver on it.
A company’s ability to deliver what it promises is fundamental to its brand and
reputation.
Always remember: The brand is your most important tool for
communicating to customers. Your brand is less about what you want
your marketing to communicate and much more about customers’ answers to the question,
“Can I trust this organization?”
The brand promise:
▪ Customers will find the truth about what your brand and ultimately will tell you what your
brand means.
▪ Authenticity matters. Alignment matters.
▪ The key is connecting franchisees and employees to the brand and the brand promise.
▪ Effective communications and data will drive alignment and collaboration with the franchise
community.
Brand Promise
– Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar is a unique
and exciting concept. We are all about
selling entertainment. Everything about us
is interesting and fun. We are not copiers
but inventors. In every aspect of our
business we look for new and exciting
ways to present ourselves because:
We can’t stand bland.
In most franchise businesses, franchisors and franchisees are faced with the challenge that the brand, its
images and customer relationships are formed by the interaction between franchisees and employees
with customers.
The franchisor’s focus then must be instilling in franchisees and employees the undying commitment to
deliver on the brand promise with every customer touch. This approach requires the wholehearted
commitment of management to lead by example.
What is your brand?
►Your brand is how you are perceived by others – what people think
you’ve said.
►The only way to manage your brand is to think about what you mean
to say and try to convey that in words, images, and actions.
►The DNA which is at the core of everything an organization does and
communicates internally and to all stakeholders, including franchisees
and consumers.
►Management must address the brand promise to each stakeholder
Group
What does your brand mean?
►An effective brand should answer the following for your market
► Who are you?
► What do you stand for (for your end customer and franchisee
customer)?
► Why should I (the customer) care?
How do you build your brand?
►Your brand is impacted with every customer “touch.”
►You build a brand one customer at a time.
►It is all about the CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
How do you build your brand?
►Branding ultimately shapes an organization because it is trust based:
We promise. We deliver.
►When this is not done, customer relationships are more likely to be
short-term and to contribute little to brand building.
►All stakeholders must be aligned on the mission and core values that
drive the brand
►Challenges in getting everyone on the same brand promise page due
to varying interests
What do consumers ask?
►Can I trust this organization?
►Are promises met when we actually deliver products and services?
►Are we following through on commitments?
Golden Nugget
A company’s ability to deliver what it promises
is fundamental to its brand and reputation.
It only takes one
When a customer is satisfied or dissatisfied he’ll lay that experience
over the entire system.
►“XBrand screwed me and I’ll never go back.”
What is inside out branding?
►Traditionally brand development has focused on external advertising
and promotion.
►When branding is more specifically associated with intellectual
capital, rather than just the development of marketing, then brands
will be central to the development of systemwide value.
►Trust among the franchisor, franchisees and support staff of each.
Inside Out Branding
►Wholehearted commitment of management (leading by example).
►In most franchise businesses, the brand, its images, and relationships
are formed by the interaction between franchisees/employees and
customers.
►Doesn’t this underscore the important of connecting
franchisees/employees with the brand promise?
2. Balance Interests of Franchisor, Franchisee and Systems as a Whole
Achieving balance requires a working relationship built on trust, structure and compliance
between the franchisor and franchisee. The successful franchisor establishes a culture of
voluntary compliance with system standards (the rules), but vigorously enforces compliance
by errant franchisees.
Be keenly aware of the competing interests of the franchisor, franchisee and the
system as a whole, and balance them appropriately. Successful franchise systems are
built on a relationship of interdependence and trust, but you should never lose sight
of the differing and sometimes adverse roles of the franchisor and franchisees.
The key is to establish a culture of voluntary compliance with system standards, but
vigorously enforce compliance by errant franchisees. Your tool for enforcing
compliance with system standards is the franchise agreement, the document that
ultimately governs the franchise relationship. Therefore, you should draft the
franchise agreement to help you establish the direction of the franchise system
without interference from courts.
Among other things, it should protect your rights as a franchisor to evolve the system
to respond to competition and changes in consumer demands and limit the ability of a
few franchisees to place the entire system at risk through class actions.
Although you should strive for consensus and accord with your franchisees,
compromises that risk your control will not work in the end. In other words, at times,
the best approach is “No more Mr. or Ms. Nice Guy.”
Sometimes the solution is to remove the bad apples. But removing a franchisee does
not have to be punitive, often the most effective approach is to work out a
franchisee’s exit from the system through a mutual termination agreement that allows
a franchisee to sell its franchise to a third party.
▪ The franchisor’s interest is to maximize revenues.
▪ The franchisee’s interest is to maximize profits.
▪ Mutual interest in being connected to the customer.
Revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods or services related to
the company's primary operations.
Profit, which is typically called net profit or the bottom line, is the amount of income that
remains after accounting for all expenses, debts, additional income streams, and operating
costs.
3. Stack the Deck with -Ace- Franchisees
Developing and implementing a process focused on recruiting and retaining high quality
franchisees is essential to the success of the franchise system. Understand that franchise
sales/recruiting is a separate business from your operational business.
▪ Choose recruiting path over the selling path. Be over the top responsive but do not chase
prospects.
▪ Prospects must be engaged. Focus on selecting franchise candidates who match the
franchisor’s profile of a successful franchisee and are likely to achieve the candidates’
objectives.
▪ Develop a detailed profile of an ideal candidate. Be willing to say “no”, as too many marginal
candidates will create challenges for years in the future.
Committing to the recruitment of only quality franchisees early on likely will pay huge dividends in the
long run.
Remember that recruiting franchisees and selling franchises is a separate business from the operations
aspects of the franchise. To make your franchise recruitment campaign more successful, hire a franchisee
recruiter who has great listening skills, masterful interview techniques and high integrity; who can follow
a franchise sales system; and who is focused more on building relationships with candidates than on
saying whatever needs to be said to get the deal done.
The franchisee recruiter should be paid a salary plus commission, essentially, you are paying him or her to
say no to marginal candidates.
Instead of focusing on quantity, by engaging in a strong and focused franchisee recruiting process, you will
be able to identify those franchisees who can make the franchise a success in the long term and help build
the brand along the way.
4. Obsess over the Franchisee’s Bottom Line
Everything the franchisor does must be driven by an obsession with the franchisee’s bottom
line.
▪ The franchisor has established business success drivers (KPIs) and discusses those with
the franchisees on a regular basis.
▪ KPIs must be specific to the industry, the brand, and the system.
▪ Use benchmarks to monitor, measure and motivate franchisees (individually and within the
system).
▪ Have a financial training component in place for your franchisees.
It is crucial to understand that your success as a franchisor is largely dependent on the success of your
franchisees. The key is, after identifying your ace franchisees, provide them with regular, ongoing field
support to help develop, grow and sustain business and customer relationships. This will ensure system
compliance, assist locations with improved performance, maintain a sense of unity and belonging among
franchisees, and demonstrate concern regarding franchisee operations. Utilizing qualified and experienced
field consultants can help you accomplish this efficiently and effectively.
Remember that profitable franchisees are happy franchisees. Too many franchisors spend too much time
dealing with problem franchisees, rather than proactively looking for ways to increase franchisee
profitability for those that want to play by the rules and grow their business.
5. Empower Franchisees
Create a culture of collaboration and shared decision-making. Support the franchisees and
give them the tools to develop and meet their goals within the system’s framework.
“Empowering franchisees doesn’t mean a franchisor has to give up its decision-making
authority.”
▪ Give franchisees something that will make them more successful and more effective.
▪ Give them resources to find new ways on their own to grow their own businesses.
▪ Create a culture of working hand-in-hand
▪ Use Thought Leadership Committees.
At first glance, this habit might seem frightening, but don’t confuse power with control. Empowering
franchisees means giving them the power to get things done and the tools to be effective.
There are a plethora of traditional ways to empower franchisees, including franchise advisory councils,
regional advertising cooperatives, franchisee representation on product development and other
committees, and franchisee buy-in to significant system changes.
Most franchisors look at franchisees who are not successful and say they are not implementing the
system, but they fail to ask the ‘why not?’ questions. Franchisees do not just wake up one morning saying,
“I’m not going to follow the system today.”
To be successful, it is important to create a trust-based franchise system with frank and open
communication where franchisees feel they are empowered to participate actively in the present and
future direction of the franchise system.