How a Franchisor Makes The Herculean Task Easier?

A franchising business no doubt is an exceptional business proposition, which involves a lot of assistance and supervision on part of the franchisor. Being the franchisor, you have to administer your own business, besides monitoring your franchisees as well as the customers, who are the revenues of your business. As a franchisor, you have to execute a number of responsibilities in order to strive through the stiff competition. The franchisor has to administer the franchise system at regular intervals so as to avoid any mishaps in future. You have to re-examine and implement newer marketing and promotional strategies to stay ahead in the market.

The first and the foremost thing a franchisor must do are to find the answers to certain basic questions related to franchising. These are as follows:    

• What you and your company are doing in order to excel in the market?
• What do your franchisees think about you as a franchisor in terms of support and training guidance?
• What do your customers think about the service provided at the franchised outlet?
• These are some of the basic questions that will help you monitor your own performance and also monitor the expectations of the franchisees and customers.

Conducting intensive market research

One of the most frequently used tools in market research is SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis provides evidence of how well a business is functioning and in what ways it can perform better. Besides SWOT analysis, market research involves analysis of the brand’s performance in terms of products and services in the market. It also helps the franchisor introduce new ideas and concepts catering to the demands and expectations of the customers.  Such market research helps to monitor the performance and of the franchise brand and ensure measures to maintain the position and growth of the franchising business.

Satisfaction surveys

Franchisee satisfaction survey: In order to measure the satisfaction level of the franchisees regarding the kind of support and guidance offered to them, franchisees satisfaction surveys can be conducted. As a franchisor, you can try traditional paper-based surveys or telephonic, or e-mail based surveys by hiring the experts from research and consultancy firms. To get unbiased or authentic results, it is advised to conduct mystery surveys where the identity of the franchisor is kept confidential.

Customer satisfaction survey

When it comes to customers’ satisfaction surveys, feedback forms through company websites can be used.  Here unlike the franchisee satisfaction survey, the franchisor’s name is not concealed. Timely customer satisfaction surveys are necessary to get instant feedback from the customers with respect to the services and products offered by the company or the franchised outlets.

Regular audits

Being a franchisor, you need to monitor the performance of your franchisees on a timely basis in order to ensure proper functioning of the franchise network. This can be done with the help of a franchise management team. Also, you can hire a third party for conducting the audits. Audits are an important measuring tool for the survival of any franchise network. Further, it helps the franchisor to keep a check on the working style of the franchisees and take preventive measures to improve the functioning of the franchise business.

Organising franchise meets

A franchisor must organise various franchise events such as award shows, annual conferences, workshops from time-to-time in order to let the franchisees meet each other. Such franchise meets generate new ideas to improve and run the franchise business more efficiently.

Building a sound franchise relation

Franchisees are the driving force of a franchise system. Therefore, if you want a successful expansion of your franchising business, you need to build a strong relationship with your franchisees. You can achieve this by providing your franchisees with:

• An ideal functional system to help the franchisees work efficiently.
• Taking care of your franchisees’ goodwill by offering them every possible support, guidance and back-up as and when required.

To conclude, the franchisor must ensure proper functioning of the franchise business together with the needs and expectation of the franchisees as well as the customers in order to flourish.