(FS9) Maturing Your Franchising Relationships as Time Passes

When you pay your franchisor’s regular royalty bill, you’re not paying for services. You’re not paying for support and extra help from the franchisor, so how do you insure success? One way to get the most out of the relationship is to treat the franchisor’s success with fair respect. You can’t build franchising relationships on nothing or negativity. You’ll put a lot more importance into what you’re doing if you consider when your franchisor is successful (through you), you are more successful. Your franchisor will trust and enjoy you more through knowing you’re being successful and by benefiting them.

Feeling Like a Child in Franchising

While you may feel like a child who needs help walking at the beginning of your franchising journey, you’ll notice a difference as you mature. You’ll notice yourself getting the hang of your duties, learning more on the fly, and requiring less attention from your franchisor in general. You’ll see his visits or critiques as helpful rather than frightening, he will become a mentor instead of a parent and an ally instead of supervision.

When Problems Arise in Franchising

A problem can arise further down the line when a franchisee is finding success with the franchise, they’re requiring less help, yet are playing more in royalty checks. Franchisees may often ask themselves what the franchisor has done for them lately to deserve the raise in the fee, but the royalty check has nothing to do with the help that a franchisee is receiving—and this can be cause for animosity between the franchisor and the franchisee. That’s why it’s important for the franchisee to stay in check about what the royalty check does—and that is it allows them permission to continue using the franchisor’s name, brand, product, and reputation in order to make money. That’s pretty much it unless your franchising agreement stated otherwise.

A helpful way to remember the help a franchisor has given a franchisee is by remembering you may not have the success you have now if not for the use of your franchisor’s name, brand, reputation, and product. They’re providing you service every day through the use of their well-known offerings. If that’s not enough, stop and ask yourself a few questions about the franchisor every now and then such as:

• Does the franchisor listen to me?
• Do I have what I need?
• Am I following procedures?
• Am I available when a field consultant wants to meet with me?

Ask yourself any number of questions about what you’re providing the franchisor and what he’s providing you. Franchising should always be give-and-take.

Troubleshooting Your Franchising Relationship

If you feel like a gap has come between you and your franchisor and you’re not sure whether you can trust them right now, ask yourself some of these questions:

• Is the franchisor doing research and developing new products or services for the brand?
• Is the franchisor working on new ad campaigns?
• Is the franchisor ahead of the technology curve?
• Is the franchisor examining opportunities to expand business?
• Does the franchisor have an active franchisee advisory committee?
• Are franchisees involved in strategic planning with the franchisor?

If you’re not sure of any of these questions, try to open up lines of communication with your franchisor or his communication team. However understand that any good franchisor will be busy with today’s competitive environment and may not always be able to talk to you when you want it. They are committed to improving their system through actions and resources and you should be kept in the loop with regular updates.

Continue Reading the Franchise Series 9 With:

• Fellowship Relationships to Expect in Franchising
• Supporting Changes in Your Franchising System
• Making Changes to Your Franchising Systems
• Building Successful Relationships in Franchising Systems
• 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