How We Make A Difference
In addition to looking after the day to day needs of our clients, we are constantly investigating and developing new and innovative ways to contribute to the franchising sector. Below are some interesting initiatives we have recently undertaken:
Study Tour on Multi-Unit Franchising … Stay Tuned …
April 2008
Our Senior Associate, Debb Lowe, has been on a study tour to the USA to review trends in multi-unit franchising. We believe this to be a major and growing phenomenon in franchising around the world, including Australia.
There is an assumption by many franchisors and franchisees that a multi-unit operation is just an extension of the existing franchising model. Debb believes this is dangerous and flawed thinking as the support structures and people issues for both franchisor and franchisee are quite different.
She will be sharing her findings in articles and franchise conference presentations next month.
In August we will also be holding a special Forum and Masterclass for our Australian clients on the topic, “Achieving Profitable Growth Through Multi-Unit Franchising” with some phenomenal speakers. Stay tuned …
Debb Lowe takes a break under a Joshua tree in Arizona during her study tour into multi-unit franchising.
Delivering Effective Field Support Training for New Zealand
March 2008
The Franchise Association of New Zealand (FANZ) organised for us to conduct a full day workshop for its members on “How to deliver effective field support”. This is a topic we love to teach. The day started with participants working together to agree on a list of hot issues they'd like to explore further. We did this to both identify the needs of the group as well as teaching some facilitation techniques they could use with their franchisees. As with all our training programs it was a very practical day of learning.
“The workshop delivered great value with lots of good practical tips and techniques learned.”
Les Seiler, Pit Stop
“Our team certainly got some new techniques for working with our franchisees.”
Theo Thomas, Esquires Coffee
“Excellent. We received some real hands on advice that we could put to work immediately into our businesses.”
Brent Paterson, Signature Homes
USA Franchise Relations Clinic Leads to Serious Jamming
February 2008
FRI’s Managing Director, Greg Nathan, conducted a full day Franchise Relations Clinic for 55 franchisors at the IFA convention in Orlando with re:Group President, Jan Muhleman. This is the second year this program has been offered as part of the IFA's Internationally Accredited Franchise Executive (ICFE) program. Feedback from the program was extremely positive.
“The Franchise Relations Clinic is not only one of the most popular sessions, but continues to be among the highest rated sessions offered by ICFE at the Annual Convention”
John Reynolds , President, IFA Education Foundation
“Your workshop was the best that I attended. A wonderful learning experience. I love your ‘stuff’. It makes so much sense!
Lots of what I have learnt or read in your books is now being incorporated into our business.”
Roberta Baker, Manager-Franchise Training, Magnetsigns Group
Two weeks later Jan visited Greg is Australia with her husband Tom. It turns out that Tom is quite an accomplished guitarist and plays in a well known band. Not to miss an opportunity, Greg and Tom were soon visiting guitar shops and then it was back to work for some serious jamming!
Who said work can't be fun? Jan Muhleman’s husband, Tom (right), is strapped up and ready to rock with a Fender Telecaster from Greg Nathan’s guitar collection.
Debb Lowe Conducts Research Briefings on Franchisee Selection
January 2008
Recruiting quality franchisees is probably the hottest issue facing franchisors today. With this in mind our Senior Associate, Debb Lowe, conducted a series of franchisee selection research briefings with franchisors in Australia and New Zealand. The New Zealand group of 50 franchisors were particularly enthusiastic about the research presentation and how these findings relate to their recruitment practices.
“Fantastic morning for everyone with a great presenter and great information.”
Simon Lord, Vice Chairman, Franchise Association of New Zealand
“What an absolutely fantastic presentation. I learnt so much and came away with some real food for thought on things we can do so much better.”
Helen Thompson-Carter, General Manager, Ecomist Systems.
“Thanks for the invitation to the franchisee selection session and the booklet which I am presently studying. It is the best program I have seen. Debb Lowe was fantastic.”
Laurie Jones, Franchisor, UVTEC
Franchise Relationships a Big Hit in India
December 2007
Greg Nathan demonstrates a point using an audience member at the Franchise India Conference in Delhi.
We recently contributed several educational sessions to the Franchise India Conference in Delhi including a keynote address on “Managing the Franchise Relationship”. We found the Indian audiences extremely receptive to new ideas. One workshop session due to finish at 5.30pm didn’t end until 9.30pm due to audience enthusiasm and participation!
“Thank you coming to India and making an address at the Franchise India 2007 conference. Your talk was the highlight of conference and very valuable take away for the franchisor delegates.”
Ritu Marya, Director, Franchise India Holdings
Forum on Winning Franchisee Hearts and Minds
November 2007
Andrew Robertson from Worldwide Online Printing, also 2007 FCA Franchisee of the Year, gives some tips to the franchisors in the audience.
One of the highlights of our most recent Forum was the franchisee panel where six top performers from several franchise systems gave frank and honest feedback to the 110 or so franchisors in the audience on what they need to do to pick up their game! This is the second Forum we have run especially for franchise marketing professionals. And based on participant feedback it was an enormous success with 98% saying it was definitely a worthwhile investment.
Other highlights of the day were the case studies from leading franchisors on the challenges they face as they drive new initiatives into their networks, and the mini-forum discussions where people worked in small groups to identify answers to common marketing and communication challenges. We are currently reviewing the tapes and intend to make the findings available soon.
“Attending this FRI Forum was inspirational! The content was relevant, timely and informative.”
Corina Vucic, General Manager, Clark Rubber
“I've got lots of good ideas to implement and share at the next management meeting!”
Kristen Kilpatrick, Marketing and Communcation Manager, City Pacific Finance
Nicole Dodd, Chief Marketing Officer with the Retail Food Group, leads a discussion with her mini-forum group.
Research Update on Franchisee Performance
June 2007
Greg Nathan and Debb Lowe conducted, briefings in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne on the detailed findings from our research project into predictors of franchisee performance. A research paper with trends and data was provided to all participants who were also encouraged to reflect on how they could use the research results to improve their franchisee selection practices. This research has of course been fundamental to the launch of our new franchisee selection tool, the Nathan Profiler. Thanks to Deacons in Melbourne and Dymocks in Sydney for hosting these events.
Focus Groups on New Franchisee Selection Tool
June 2007
Ree-Anna Chatman conducted focus groups in Brisbane and Melbourne with some of our clients to seek feedback on our new franchisee selection system, The Nathan Profiler. In addition to encouragement that we are on the right track the sessions provided invaluable insights on how we can improve the system to best meet franchisor needs. Thanks to those clients who participated and to Bakers Delight who hosted the session in Melbourne.
Building a Healthy Franchise Culture
29th May 2007
Greg Nathan delivered a keynote address to the FCA’s Queensland Convention on the topic “Building a Healthy Franchise Culture — Are you Up to the Challenge?” The session drew on decades of psychological research into how the behaviour and expectations of leaders shape organisational cultures and how people are subconsciously influenced, for better or worse, by the cultures they find themselves in. He also warned of how easily it is for a franchise culture to go off the rails where franchisors and franchisees see each other as enemies rather than collaborators and suggested a number of practical methods for preventing this. Delegates all received a copy of FRI’s “Healthy Franchise Culture Survey” to enable them to evaluate their own organisational culture. Greg finished on the point: “Just as one bad apple can spoil a barrel, a bad barrel can also spoil a crop of good apples!” Food for thought.
“I wanted to personally thank you for your excellent presentation. I loved it.”
Chris Lowe, Chief Operating Officer, FCA Australia
Round Table Discussion With Rupert Barkoff
14th May 2007
FRI hosted an intimate morning discussion on the back veranda with eminent USA franchise attorney, Rupert Barkoff, co-editor of the text book “Fundamentals of Franchising”. An interesting group of local consultants, academics, lawyers and franchisors participated in the wide ranging discussion which covered:
- Common concerns related to expanding into the USA.
- How State and Federal laws impact on franchisors.
- Financial and tax implications.
- Best expansion strategies and franchise friendly USA States.
- The role of attorneys and consultants in the USA.
- Trends in franchise relationships and franchisee associations.
A good time was had by all. Our thanks go to Rupert and the other participants for supporting this event.
Research Project into Predictors of Franchisee Success
2007
The Franchise Relationships Institute (FRI) has been conducting a major research project into predictors of franchisee success. Previous research by FRI has shown that the success which individual franchisees achieve is largely influenced by the attitudes, abilities and values they bring to the business. While there are many theories and opinions on what these factors are, there is a dearth of good quality research.
This project seeks to build on previous research, and develop a validated method that will better predict franchisee success. This knowledge will be valuable for franchisors and franchisees, and will help to improve recruitment practices in the franchising sector overall.
Thank you to our franchisor clients and their franchisees who participated in this research. We are working on a detailed analysis of questionnaire data, with an aim to present the overall results at a series of seminars early next year. If you are interested in attending one of these seminars, please contact us either by email gnathan@franchiserelationships.com or phone (07) 3510 9000.
And congratulations to Bill Jaspers from Jim’s Mowing who is the winner of the $1,000 Harvey Norman gift voucher.
Winner of the Franchisee Research Prize — Bill Jaspers with partner Jenny Palmer.
Franchisor Forum on Franchisee Recruitment
March 2007
In March this year we conducted a full day forum on Recruiting and Developing High Performance Franchisees, attended by 100 senior franchise development and operations executives from some of the best franchise brands in Australia. This was followed by two days of Masterclasses where we drilled down into teaching the skills associated with recruiting and developing high calibre franchisees. One of our goals was to challenge and elevate the thinking of franchise executives by exposing them to ideas and people they may not normally have access to.
Cynthia Gartman from the iFranchise Group (standing) listens to franchise operations and recruitment people discuss how they can work better together.
Two very popular sessions were the research update on franchise recruitment trends by a range of top researchers and speakers and the coaching update by David Rock, an international expert in the neuroscience of coaching. David presented a fascinating overview of his research into the neuroscience of why people resist change and how to more effectively improve people’s performance — highly relevant for all franchisors. In addition to these expert sessions several franchisor executives presented case studies on what they are doing in their franchise systems to develop both franchisee and franchisor capability. All in all it was a great day of quality learning.
“Thank you for organising an awesome three day seminar. The calibre of speakers were world class. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and learned plenty.”
Michael Ermer, Franchise Operations Manager, Bakers Delight
“I just wanted to say thank you for a great two days. The content was fantastic, presenters were great and I got many ‘light bulb’ moments that I can bring back. I look forward to attending the next one.”
Sadhana Smiles, People & Performance Manager, Hocking Stuart
“Congratulations on a fantastic forum this week. I very much enjoyed the speakers and content.”
Leanne Fuller, Franchise Support Manager, Clark Rubber
Research Presentation to International Society of Franchising (ISOF)
February 2007
Greg Nathan presented a summary of FRI’s last research to the ISOF conference at Las Vegas attended by franchising academics from around the world. This research into the “psycho-social predictors of franchisee performance” has been conducted with Associate Professor Chris Jackson from the University of Queensland. The project aims to help franchisors improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their franchisee recruitment processes and has involved assessing 800 franchisees from over 30 franchise systems on a range of psychological and performance indicators. The project seeks to further build on work conducted by FRI in this area over the past 12 years and has so far produced some ground breaking findings that will guide the development of our new Franchisee Profiling system. The information from the research is currently being compiled into a White Paper to make the findings accessible to franchisors.
Involvement in 2007 IFA Convention in Las Vegas
February 2007
Greg Nathan teamed up with Jan Muhleman from the USA based marketing firm, re:group, to conduct a full day “Franchise Relations Clinic” for the IFA’s Internationally Certified Franchise Executive program. The session was aimed at teaching some of the essential concepts and skills for building a healthy franchising culture and was attended by 60 franchise executives. 91% of participants evaluated Greg’s presentation at the highest level (“excellent”).
Rod Young (DC Strategies), Greg Nathan and Joe McGuinness (Signs by Tomorrow) enjoying themselves at the IFA Awards Banquet. (Thanks Rosemarie Hartnett for the photo.)
Greg’s workshop was worth the whole trip out! … Greg was awesome! Valuable information. I could spend two days in this seminar. Jan was great! … Very informative and terrific facilitation. Highly recommend this be repeated at future IFA special sessions … Greg is a great teacher … This was “so” worth it in terms of time and money.
Sample of feedback from participants
As part of the IFA Convention Greg also moderated a session on implementing new technology into franchise systems and received “excellent” ratings by 82% of participants. Some comments:
“Excellent moderator — kept session alive! This was a great session! … Moderator did a great job in follow up and questions … Greg was a great host … This is the way all IFA sessions should be run. Fantastic!”
Sample of feedback from participants
Greg Nathan Named As One of “20 to Watch” in USA
2007
The Franchise Times, a respected specialist magazine that monitors the USA franchising scene, has named our Managing Director, Greg Nathan, in this year’s “20 to watch”. To quote the magazine:
“… What we try to do each year is highlight some of the trendsetters, overachievers and luminaries in the franchise community, as well as trends and legislation that will affect how we all do business. We don’t have a crystal ball here at Franchise Times but we predict the people, places and things that made our list will achieve greatness in 2007 …” (Franchise Times 2007 Top 20.)
Franchise Marketing Professionals Forum
November 2006
We pride ourselves on keeping ahead of international trends and in November 2006 we held an international first — a Forum specifically for franchise marketing professionals that explored how they can more effectively get franchisee buy-in to their marketing programs. It was a great day with 110 franchise marketers and brand managers discussing case studies and sharing practical ideas on what works for them. Greg Nathan and Professor Bill Merriles also presented a research update on trends in measuring franchisee satisfaction with their company’s marketing programs.
Franchise marketing professionals meet together to soak in some great ideas.
The Forum scored an average rating of 85% by participants and 86% said they would definitely come again next year.
“Great stuff … very informative … inspiring … amazing insights into brand values … super impressive individuals … simply the best — well worth attending … the most valuable information I’ve received in 5 years.”
Sample feedback from participants
Presentation to the American Bar Association on “The Psychology of the Franchise Relationship”
October 2006
Greg Nathan presented a trends paper and two workshops to the American Bar Association’s Franchising Forum in Boston. Participant feedback indicates the workshops and paper made a significant contribution to the Forum. We are grateful to the session moderator, Leslie Smith-Porter, and the many people who chipped in with useful feedback including Bob Peterson, Jeff Johnson and David Holmes.
“The ‘buzz’ was that your program was terrific. It seemed that all who attended liked the idea that you extended the boundaries of the Forum programming in a unique and very beneficial way.”
Andy Scott, Program Convener
“I thought the presentation, and the accompanying paper, were outstanding and just what a group of American lawyers needed.”
David Holmes, Partner, Holmes & Lofstrom. LLP
Franchise Leadership Forum
October 2006
Greg Nathan designed and delivered this half day program for the Franchise Council of Australia’s National Conference. As part of the program a hypothetical scenario involving the change of ownership of a franchisor company was workshopped by the audience and a panel of franchisor CEOs.
“Greg, thank you for this workshop. I thoroughly enjoyed it and from the response we’ve had, so did lots of other attendees.”
Chris Lowe, Chief Operating Officer, FCA Australia
Keynote Address To 2006 FANZ Conference: “Love Me Love Me Not”
2006
In this keynote presentation to the New Zealand Franchise Association Annual Conference Greg Nathan presented research on what franchisees want from a franchisor and how franchisors are generally being rated in these areas by their franchisees.
“Fantastic — really insightful … sound and practical … well delivered topic … exceptional experience … Aligned with what I believe is required in the franchising industry”
Some conference participant comments from feedback sheets
“The Third Way — Exploring the Paradoxes of Franchise Leadership”
This presentation was delivered to the Western Australia Franchise Council of Australia Conference and highlighted the dilemma that franchise leaders often face in having to accommodate seemingly conflicting priorities. Twelve paradoxes were explored and a “third way” for dealing with each of these way suggested.
“Thank you for bringing some great knowledge to the table in such a fresh and thought provoking way!”
Leon Pike, Program Director, FCA WA Conference
Live Franchising Drama: “The Dispute”
This is a fun play we have written to educate stakeholders in the franchising sector on some of the more common causes and cures for disputes. It was recently performed live at Franchise Council of Australia breakfast events in Melbourne and NSW. “The Dispute” shows how a series of badly managed franchisee/franchisor interactions evolves into a full blown legal dispute which is ultimately resolved through some skillful mediation. The play is really an educational process which combines audience involvement and facilitated discussion. The Academy Award performances by the cast of franchise executives, consultants and lawyers who performance also added significantly to the impact, fun and learning that was stimulated by the event.
“The breakfast theatre that you conducted was terrific — both entertaining and educational. Thank you.”
Ken Roseberry, Director, Franchise Council of Australia
“The Dispute was fantastic — one of the best breakfasts we have ever held.”
George Yammouni, President, FCA, Victorian Chapter
IFA Seminar — “Measuring, Building and Maintaining Franchisee Satisfaction”
This was a one hour presentation to the IFA Convention at Palm Springs. Greg Nathan spoke to 250 or so participants. Over 80% rated the session as “excellent” and many stated it was the highlight of the IFA convention for them.
“Greg’s information was really sensational. This alone, if nothing else, made the trip worthwhile” … “A wonderful speaker! Very much enjoyed his content and enthusiasm.”
Some participant comments from feedback sheets
Launch of New “Effective Field Visits” Training Workshops for Field Consultants
Our new workshops program, based on the book, “The Franchisor’s Guide to Effective Field Visits”, was delivered in the USA to the operations team of the Primrose Franchising. We have been continuously updating this program in response to detailed participant feedback and now believe it is the best of its kind in the world.
Members of the operations team at Primrose Schools explore how they can improve their field visits.
“Our operations team said this was the best group session they have ever experienced.”
Jo Kirchner, President, Primrose Schools
Franchisor Forum on “Culture Driven Performance”
This was a full day forum where 130 franchisor executives met together to share their experiences, listen to research and discuss ideas on how to build a people-friendly franchising culture. A team of respected colleagues and consultants helped facilitate this fascinating day of interaction and learning.
Franchisors share their ideas and experiences.
“What a fantastic day. It was like nothing I have attended in franchising in 8 years. In franchising circles you hear people talk about the importance of people and culture. Yesterday was actually about people and culture and it was real!”
Troy Cartwright, VP Australia and New Zealand, Poolwerx Corporation
Masterclass to Help Franchisors Improve Their Facilitation Skills
This full day Masterclass was organised by us to teach franchise executives the more advanced skills of running successful meetings. The session was taken by one of the world’s leading teachers of facilitation skills, Dr Bob Dick, and was attended by 40 franchise executives and consultants.
Atlanta Seminar — “The Psychology of Franchise Leadership”
This was a full day seminar delivered in Atlanta, Georgia, for the South East Franchise Forum. The day was attended by around 50 franchisors and attorneys and was hosted by Rupert Barkoff from Kilpatrick Stocktons LLP.
“Greg Nathan presented before the Southeast Franchise Forum in Atlanta and received stupendous reviews.”
Rupert Barkoff, Partner, Kilpatrick Stocktons
A Song Just for Franchisors — “Heaven Smiles on the Franchisor Who Cares”
This song, written and recorded by Greg Nathan, was sent on CD to our clients as part of our annual fun Christmas mail out. Feedback about the message was extremely positive but, after hearing the MD’s singing voice, some also suggested that he should not give up his day job!
Symposium: “Towards World’s Best Franchising Practice”
This full day Symposium was organised by us in conjunction with the FCA national Conference in Canberra. Four high profile USA speakers and a panel of local experts shared their thoughts on global trends likely to impact on franchise companies. Over 70 franchisors and advisors participated in this enlightening and enjoyable day of learning.
“Franchisee Recruitment” Masterclasses
We invited USA franchise recruitment expert, Joe Mathews, to come to Australia to teach franchise development managers the skills of ethical franchisee recruitment. Three workshops were held around the country and all received outstanding evaluations.
“National Franchise Appreciation Day” at Parliament House
As part of this FCA program Greg Nathan conducted several case studies with franchisors and franchisees and presented a paper on “The Future Face of Franchisee Associations and Franchise Advisory Councils”.
Visit to Norway
Greg Nathan delivered a keynote address and conducted a series of workshops on franchise leadership, organised by Effectum Consulting in Oslo. Effectum Consulting have also taken the initiative to publish The Franchise E-Factor book in Norwegian.
Profitable Partnerships Reaches Best Seller Status
This book, which shows franchisors and franchisees how to improve their relationships, continues to receive positive reviews from all over the world because of its practical and easy to read style. Over 14,000 copies have been sold.
New Edition of The Franchise E-Factor
This book is rapidly growing in popularity with franchisors because it defines how to actually manage franchisees through the 6 stages of the Franchise E-Factor. The book has also now been translated into Norwegian for our franchising friends in Scandanavia.
New Edition of The Franchisor’s Guide to Improving Field Visits
This practical guide for field managers has been positively reviewed by franchise industry experts and franchise operations managers all over the world and is being increasingly used as a blue print for developing an effective field support program.