Wrap Up: FRI Culture of Franchising Workshop

Wrap Up: FRI Culture of Franchising Workshop

The culture of Franchising Workshops mark a new event on the Franchise Relationships Institute calendar. With a vision to foster a safe, fun and challenging environment where people can listen and share franchising ideas and experiences to allow them to better work with their franchise network, the event set-out with big goals.

Covering some of the FRI’s most well-known and well-loved models, such as the Franchise E-Factor and the SCARF model which relates to the neuroscience of creating a healthy franchising culture, the event really delivered in building up a realistic image of the challenges and rewards that exist within the franchise industry.

In addition to this the workshop introduced some models that we had not yet encountered in previous sessions. Jewli and Jenna’s comprehensive insight into the Franchisee’s Business Journey helped provide clarity on the different stages franchise partners go through in their journey as a franchise owner and provided effective strategies to support them through each stage.

As well as this, the opportunity for self-reflection during the ACE Franchising Culture Diagnostic allowed each attendee to evaluative their strengths and weaknesses when engaging with franchisees in their network. The diagnostic tool allowed attendees to identify dimensions where they exceed and others where they could improve, knowledge which ultimately helps them better service their franchise partners and further their personal and career development.

As always the FRI team fosters an environment where attendees feel confident to speak up, jump in and share their experiences and knowledge. This collaborative culture adds significant value to the event as FRI’s models and theories are reinforced with real world experience. Attendees are often asked to relate the skills they are learning back to their own experiences, ensuring that everything they take away from the event they are able to implement in their everyday roles.

Overall, The Culture of Franchising Workshop is an excellent addition to the FRI calendar and caters more broadly to those who work within the franchising industry, but are not necessarily a franchisee, field manager or franchisor. The Brisbane event was delivered beautifully by the FRI team and received positive feedback from all in attendance.

We look forward to meeting up with the team again in Sydney and Melbourne!

What Franchisees Value Most In Their Field Managers

The definition of a field manager and what is encompassed in their role varies greatly across different franchises. Nevertheless, the impact that field managers can have upon the successful operation of a franchisees business is significant. So whether you are a franchisor looking to hire or a field manager yourself, it is important to understand what franchisees value most in their field managers.

An insightful study conducted by Franchise Relationships Institute asked 750 franchisees ‘Based on your experience, how likely would you be to recommend your field manager to another franchisee?’ The franchisees that regarded their field managers highly were then asked ‘What does your field manager do that adds the most value to your business?’.  The answers of those franchisees helped to establish 5 key areas of value within the franchisee – field manager relationship.

1. Performance Focused

An outstanding 21% of franchisees mentioned that they value most when their field managers focused on improving business performance through sales growth and profitability. This included taking time to help franchisees analyse and better understand their figures, and sharing what lead to success for other franchisees in the network. With a notable mention was their support for Local Area Marketing campaigns, conducted to help drive business.

2. Engaging & Constructive

Franchisees described successful field managers as easy to talk to and engaging. 21% of those surveyed said that they valued their field managers motivation and positivity, adding that when giving feedback they were constructive rather than critical. Franchisees said they looked forward to their field visits and felt that they could take on board their advice without feeling defensive.

3. Dependable

One fifth of franchisees surveyed mentioned they highly valued the dependability of their field managers. In particular they mentioned that they liked when field managers were responsive and prompt when following-up, and that they were available for help when needed. Other field managers who were perceived to be less organised and professional were often called ‘missing in action’.

4. Honest & Informative

20% of franchisees surveyed described successful field managers as informative and straight forward. They went on to say that they were well informed regarding issues impacting their franchise business and were direct and honest in their communications. It was also noted that they valued field managers who facilitated open communication with head office to better resolve issues.

5. Considerate & Caring

Field managers can often be the first point of contact during trying times for franchisees. This is reflected by the 18% of those surveyed said they valued field managers that showed genuine care and compassion towards the success of the franchisees business. Many surveyees recalled times where their field managers checked in to see how they were and listened openly to their concerns.

Ultimately, the roll of both field managers and franchisees is inherently stressful and often the relationship can become strained if either party fails to meet the others expectations. Studies such as the one noted above provide critical insight into what is valued by franchisees to help field managers better understand areas where they can best offer value.

Wrap Up: FRI Field Manager Boot-camp

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As a proud partner of the Franchise Relationships Institute, Cashflow It regularly attends events and workshops hosted by the company. Most recently, the team enjoyed a two day boot-camp designed for field managers, to give them the tools they need to drive positive outcomes with their franchisees.

Hosted by FRI’s Jewli Turier, the two day interactive boot camp brought together field managers from different brands and of different expertise to share their experiences and knowledge about their role in the field, whilst learning some new skills.

Kicking off with an FRI favorite, the Group Scoop, the room was able to share what they hope to gain from the experience, setting up the discussions for the coming days. Following this, the group undertook some exercises to better understand the franchise relationship through a holistic approach, and the values on which the relationship is built. We continued to discuss strategies to manage the franchisee and franchisors expectations and what the responsibilities of each party are.

Later in the day, Jewli delved into the FRI’s most successful models, The Franchisor and Franchisee Wheel of Excellence and The Franchisee Business Journey. Next we moved onto some of the attendees favorite topics of the two day boot-camp, with an in course on utilizing Solution-Focused Coaching and the DISC Model, which built the basis for the following days activities.

Day two kicked off with a group discussion on how field managers can add value to their franchisees and how to conduct effective field visits through joint preparation, process agreements and positive follow-up. Covering another important topic, Jewli encouraged field managers to be aware of the emotional state of their franchisees and how to offer the right support at different stages of their journey as a franchise owner. In addition to this, she urged field managers to take some time to manage their own vitality in order to avoid burning out in what can be a stressful role.

Wrapping up the boot camp with a series of round tables, Jewli delivered an engaging session touching on a wide range of topics that are vital to the field manager role. All attendees felt as though they gained something from the experience, and left with renewed energy to drive positive change within their franchise network.