Research & News

On this page:

• 7 Tips for Building Your Franchise Relationships Bank Account
• New Field Manager Forum
• Research Snapshot — 6 Field Manager Attributes for Success
• Research Snapshot — The Six Themes Explained

7 Tips for Building Your Franchise Relationships Bank Account

1. Be transparent with franchisees on how decisions are made. Share research findings and other factual data that have help to shape your decisions.
2. Don’t gloss over mistakes. Acknowledge problems but focus on what you are doing to put things right and have a specific action plan with time lines.
3. Remind franchisees that you care about their success and where possible link discussions back to their profitability. For example, “What this means to your profitability is …”
4. Properly pilot test new initiatives before launching them into the wider network. Where possible involve franchisees who are respected by their peers in the testing process.
5. Don’t get defensive when people raise concerns or challenge your thinking. Be curious about what they want to know and welcome questions as an opportunity to sharpen your thinking.
6. Encourage all members of the franchisor team to spend time visiting franchisees in the field. (Don’t just leave this with your field team). This keeps the entire franchisor team connected to the pointy end of the business and sends a message that you care.
7. Ensure members of the franchisor operations team are regularly involved in professional development activities that hone their listening skills, their ability to resolve difficult conversations and their understanding of franchisee psychology. (Hint: These will be covered in the Field Manager Summit!)

Six Field Manager Attributes for Success

Last year the Franchise Relationships Institute conducted a study of 159 Australian Field Managers from 49 brands, examining various aspects of their job. One question asked: “When considering your performance in your field support role, what three attributes do you believe are most important to your success?”

A content analysis of the 477 responses identified the following six themes:

1. Listening with care and respect.
2. Being organised with prompt follow up.
3. Being honest, fair and direct.
4. Having financial and business acumen.
5. Being able to confidently influence and negotiate.
6. Having technical or industry knowledge.

There were no surprises here. The first four are regularly raised by franchisees as being a high priority for them in our franchisee satisfaction surveys. And the last two are essential if a field manager is to add value to both the franchisor and their franchisees.

The implications of these six attributes are explained further below. (We will also be digging deep into the time management, financial and influencing attributes at this year's Field Manager Summit).

The Six Themes Explained

1. Listening with care and respect

Listening with care and respect was mentioned by field managers far more than any other attribute and is clearly regarded as the most important.

Field managers report that franchisees respond most positively to their support and suggestions when these are given in a context care and respect.

This is consistent with findings from our franchisee satisfaction surveys which show franchisees biggest frustration is not being treated with the respect of a business partner.

One of the most powerful gifts a field manager can give to a franchisee is to actively listen to their wishes, hopes and concerns. This is the foundation for a constructive working relationship that in turn can deliver significant progress and performance.

2. Being organised with prompt follow up

Given the multiple demands on a field manager’s time and energy, basic time management disciplines are essential.

Franchisees expect their field manager to respond promptly to their calls for assistance as well as following up on specific commitments.

Field managers need to be organised and have systems in place to stay on top of the daily barrage of emails and phone calls they are going to get. And to have a clear

agreements in place with franchisees on what is a reasonable response time to different types of requests.

They also need to prepare for and participate in their face to face meetings with franchisees, so these are effective but not rushed, and people feel they are getting the focused attention they need.

Efficient daily and weekly planning that takes into account administration, analysis of data and the creation of regular management reports is also necessary to succeed in the role.

3. Being honest, fair and direct

Franchisees are more likely to follow a franchisor’s policies if they believe in the integrity of the people who are setting and implementing these policies. This requires consistency and transparency.

As the face of the franchisor, field managers need to behave professionally and ethically as they go about their daily business and not compromise their own or the company’s reputation.

Franchisees will also sometimes share sensitive personal and business information with the field manager so they need to respect and honour any confidences they have committed to.

Frequently field managers need to say “no” to franchisee requests, or give feedback requiring franchisees to make a change. The most effective approach here is usually to be direct and honest and not “beat around the bush”.

4. Having financial and business acumen

Increasingly, field managers are expected to be able to have productive financial discussions with franchisees and use data to help them gain insights into how to improve their profitability and performance. Also to spot the warning signs of a franchisee who may be heading for financial trouble.

This requires field managers to have basic financial literacy skills to understand financial reports, as well as being able to read Key Performance Indicators which indicate whether a business is on track toward making profit (e.g. average sale per customer, staff productivity ratios, number of local promotions held, etc).

In addition to reading the numbers they need to answer the “so what?” question — what the numbers mean to the current and long term health of the business. And what actions need to be taken to improve the health of the numbers and the business.

5. Being able to confidently influence and negotiate

Field managers are frequently given the challenging task of rolling out new initiatives and getting franchisees to support these. This requires them to communicate clearly and confidently while also understanding why people resist change and how to work with this resistance.

Not only must they lead and influence the thinking of their franchisee partners, they also need to manage the internal politics of the franchise system. This means speaking up against poorly thought out policies if they genuinely believe these will undermine the performance or credibility of the company or brand.

They also need to be able to stand up to bad behaviour by franchisees without being intimidated, firmly but fairly steering discussions in a constructive direction.

6. Having technical or industry knowledge

Because most industries operate under government regulations, field managers must be aware of these so they can protect franchisees, customers and the brand.

They also need industry knowledge and expertise to provide practical advice and support to improve the efficiency of a franchisee’s operations. This is particularly important for newer franchisees.

While they may not be expected to know how to run every aspect of a franchisee’s business, field managers do need to know when things are not working the way they should, and where to find relevant information to help fix specific problems.

Part of a field manager’s credibility and value comes from knowing things that the franchisee doesn’t know. This can be done by keeping up with market trends and collecting and sharing ideas that are working for other franchisees in the system.

Note that these attributes will be addressed along with a host of other exciting topics in the 2010 Field Manager Summit. Don't leave it too long to register. Spaces are filling fast.