Training is one of the most important aspects of a franchise business. The key to the success of any franchise is the consistency of service. Customers know what to expect when they walk into a franchise branch and that consistency keeps bringing them back to the establishment.
This can only be achieved through franchisee training. They need to be familiar with the operational system and procedures to deliver consistent and good quality service to the customers. There are 3 things you must do for great franchisee training:
An operations manual contains a detailed description of all your operational processes, rules, quality control, contact details, and other such information. The operations manual is somewhat similar to a textbook or a guidebook and provides all the information that a franchisee would need to run the business on a day-to-day basis. No matter how comprehensive their training, franchisees need a solid guidebook to refer to, at all times.
This would help them maintain the quality standards and ensure they have access to all the information they need to succeed. You can provide a personal hardcopy of your operations manual as well as an electronic copy via your website. It should be easily accessible to the franchisees at all times as this would minimize the risk of errors and ensure everything is on track.
It’s important for franchisees to experience how a franchise branch works in real life. No amount of theoretical training can compete with practical experience. It’s important to provide thorough on-site training to your franchisees. You can take them to some of your most successful franchise branches and ask them to observe how the daily operations are carried out. Your potential franchisees would also be able to ask questions and get information from your existing franchisees during the walk-through.
On-site training can span several days and many companies often encourage people to actually handle a few orders or shifts during the training so they can get some first-hand experience in the job. This on-site training ensures your franchisees have a better handle on the operations and are more confident in their skills to handle their franchise.
Some franchise establishments skip on-site training and that has an impact on the early performance of the branches. The franchisees have a more difficult time trying to get the business off the ground and are more likely to make mistakes at the beginning. The best way to avoid this is to give them practical experience before they launch their own venture.
While franchisees need practical experience, they also need solid grounding in theoretical information about your company and this can be provided only by frequent training and seminars at the franchise headquarters. Most companies will provide pre-launch training at their company headquarters to ensure the franchisees are ready to handle all kinds of challenges. They’ll explain operations procedure, branding, customer relations, company software, and other such aspects of the franchise.
This is unarguably the most important aspect of franchisee training. New franchise buyers will learn everything there is to know and interact with other franchisees to gain some insight on how a branch should work. Training is an on-going process because your franchisees would need refresher courses regularly to ensure everything stays on track and their franchise always runs smoothly.
If you want to know more about franchise training, or want some advice, feel free to get in touch with us at The Franchise Institute. You can call us on 1300 855 435 or fill in this contact us form and we’ll reply as soon as we can.
Thanks for reading,
The Franchise Institute Team
1300 855 435
