(FS9) Fellowship Between Franchisors and Franchisees in Franchising
As part of a franchise, you’re part of a network, a team, and a greater community. You’ll be given direction, procedures, rules, a system, and a whole flood of people that won’t be directly with you, but are a part of your team. You’ll want to know how to relate to them and to know what your dynamic is with your new found community in franchising. Perhaps even the ways you’ll relate to them.
Playing by the Rules of Franchising
The way that franchisors and franchisees build confidence in each other is through the signing of the franchise agreement and they prove the decision was the right one to make by following through. You show that you can all work together as one cohesive team in franchising by first agreeing to the rules and then following through with your word, giving your word value. However if you fail to follow through on the promises you make, you will show your franchisor that you shouldn’t be trusted and they might have to hold your hand and watch over you because you won’t do your duties without that supervision.
Meeting Franchise System Standard
Like parents, franchisor’s hope to see their franchisees succeed so they can brag about them with pride. Franchisors will drill their standards into you in the same way that parents try to drill good morals into their kids. Training sessions, franchise meetings, the operational manual, and the newsletters. You should be able to stay in constant contact somehow with your franchisor, even if they aren’t talking to you directly. You should receive updates on franchise system standards, changes made within the system and changes as they pertain the industry on a federal level.
Maintaining the system standards can cause a feeling of camaraderie and community. You can feel prideful in knowing that you’re meeting the standard that others across the country are also meeting. You work hard just like many other franchises and you can find a sense of siblinghood with them. Violating the standards of the system can be a threat to the franchisor and the system as a whole. Every franchisor will take this very seriously so it should be avoided at all costs.
However, it’s also important to be realistic and know that violations occur in franchising. The most important thing you can do at those times is note them, note why they happened, and how to avoid them again. If violations continue, it’s normal for the franchisor to visitor to send out a field consultant if the franchise or brand is a big one. They’ll monitor the situation and take note as to why the violations are happening as well as helping you, the franchisee, figure out a way to fix the problem. If the problem is unable to be remedied, the franchisor might go through the process of ultimately ending the relationship with the franchisee who cannot seem to follow the rules. We’ve mentioned multiple times how meeting the standard and sharing the brand is a huge deal, how the consistency in a franchise is a huge deal. If franchisors can’t trust the franchisees to follow the rules they signed to follow, there’s no reason to maintain that relationship and allow their name to suffer. Franchisors really don’t want to do that, so the will avoid it for as long as possible.
The bottom line to understand is that termination helps no one. If you’re violating the standard, try to fix it for both of your benefits.
Continue Reading the Franchise Series 9 With:
- Supporting Changes in Your Franchising System
- Making Changes to Your Franchising Systems
- Building Successful Relationships in Franchising Systems
- Maturing Your Franchising Relationships as Time Passes
- Franchising Research, Development, and Office Support
- Managing System Size or Focus Changes in Franchising
- Working Your Way Through Conflicts That Occur in Franchising
- Reaching Out to Fellow Franchises for Advice
- Joining Advisory Councils and Associations for Franchises
- Bringing the Best To Your Franchises On Your Own