Blogs

This is a guest post by Evan Hackel, Founder and Principal of Ingage Consulting

Franchisee Proactively Recommends Franchise System

I recently conducted a study with the Franchise Business Review, which polled 24,000 franchises and 300 franchise brands. We asked, “What is the root cause of your engagement issue?” and one of the most common responses was ineffective communication. Communication is vitally important as a way to keep franchisees focused on executing goals, staying focused, and avoiding repetitive messaging. I’ve compiled five tactical tips that can help franchises stick to their business models, communicate well with audiences, and embrace engagement.

Tip #1: Your Audience

Why do they care and what’s in it for them? Make sure you are developing a relationship among your management, franchisee, and employees, so that you are all on the same page about how to keep your audience engaged.

Tip #2: Participation

Keeping your audience engaged is easy when you know your options and you test out what works best. Here are some examples of how you can get participation levels up:

• Enlist a communication advisory council that can start and seed conversations
• Use an Intranet to enable subsets of franchisees to work together (advisory councils, regional networking, advertisers)
• Ask franchisees to contribute articles and comment on posts
• Ask yourself important questions, like which social media posts are successful or which upcoming topics you should feature at your convention
• Conduct polls

Tip #3: Less is More

There are more efficient ways to hydrate than drinking from a fire hose. Make sure to streamline communication efforts to make things easier for you and your franchise:

• Communicate by role
• Define how you communicate to others
• Define the communication expectation of the franchisee
• Have the bulk and the most current info on your Intranet—don’t depend on email
• Track all emails and don’t be repetitive

Tip #4: Source of the Truth

Everyone needs to pitch in and keep the Intranet or private online community clean. The biggest complaint that our consulting practice hears is, “I can’t find what I’m looking for!”

Tip #5: Well-Orchestrated Symphony

Timing matters. Keep your communications department and other internal staff updated on communication strategy and coordinating your franchise’s message with upcoming events and promotions.

I hosted a webinar on this topic with Higher Logic’s Kyle Roberts, CFE on Thursday, June 27. You can watch the webinar replay or access my PowerPoint slides here. If you’re an IFA member, login to IFA’s private social network, FranSocial, to continue the conversation and have access to many more. I leave you with this question – what’s your biggest communication challenge?

About Evan Hackel

Evan Hackel is the Founder and Principal of Ingage Consulting, a consulting firm focused on improving the performance of Franchises by improving the relationship between franchisees and the franchisor. Evan has over 30 years of experience in franchising. To learn more about Ingage, contact Evan via email at ehackel@ingage.net