Over the past few months we’ve been asking franchisees for feedback on the quality of operational support and whether they would recommend their field manager to other franchisees. This research is adapted from the Net Promoter Score question, where customers are asked to rate how likely they are to recommend a particular business. The results so far indicate some important shifts in expectations of field support.
First let’s look at a few typical comments as to why some franchisees would strongly recommend their field manager:
In summary, straight talking, providing useful feedback on business performance, being positive, sharing best practice ideas and conveying genuine care for the franchisee’s success are emerging as vital trends.
We also asked franchisees who would not recommend their field manager, what the field manager could do to add more value. While there were frequent references to the themes above, here are some other typical suggestions:
The messages here relate to providing ideas to grow local market share, maintain regular contact on issues important to the franchisee, deliver constructive feedback and be able to discuss the bigger picture of what’s happening in the network.
Field managers who are applying these and other forward thinking ideas can make an enormous difference to the performance of their franchisees. I was just this week talking with an attendee from one of our Field Manager Bootcamps who has taken his franchisees from the second bottom performing sales region to top performing region in less than 12 months.
Let’s ensure we are giving these people the support they need to stay on top of their game. The Franchisor’s Guide to Improving Field Visits is a good place to start. Hundreds of franchisors around the world provide this to their field managers as one of their standard tools of trade.
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