Franchisor Tips: Ongoing Training is the Best Way to Ensure Franchisee Success

Alice Tuffery, writer

Published at 11/01/2018, Updated on 04/05/2022 , Reading time: 5 min

Franchisor Tips: Ongoing Training is the Best Way to Ensure Franchisee Success — Photo © franchise-development.jpg

Running a franchise network is about more than just appointing franchisees and handing over an operations manual. To succeed as a franchisor, you must be prepared to implement continuous learning and development opportunities. In the vast majority of cases, ongoing support is crucial to franchisee success.

The best franchisors are dedicated to the growth of their franchisees. Whether you choose to deliver workshops, webinars or weekly networking sessions, the only way to fully support your investors is to guide them throughout their journey.

Although creating a learning management system for your franchisee training comes at a financial cost, the results should justify the expense. While many franchisees believe they don’t need training, they can end up making serious mistakes without the franchisor’s advice and insight.

Keep reading for our top franchisor tips for generating franchisee success.

Why continuous learning leads to franchisee success

Some of your investors may come into your franchise with limited or no experience of managing a business. They won’t be able to build a profitable unit without first learning some essential skills. Training should cover everything from handling supply and demand, customer service and accounting, to resolving disputes and identifying any potential bumps in the road.

Over time, franchisees will accumulate a wealth of knowledge, insight and skills, which should lead to significant improvements in productivity and sales across the network.

What’s more, most people want the chance to access learning and development opportunities, so providing high-quality learning resources will help you build a happy, fulfilled network. According to research, 68 percent of workers say the most important workplace policy is the availability of training and support. And 87 percent of millennials consider it very important to receive opportunities for career growth or professional development (CareerBuilder).

Franchisor tips for nurturing franchisee success

Here are some of our top franchisor tips for getting the most from ongoing training schemes.

1. Focus on your business model

One of the most important parts of paving the way for franchisee success is making sure investors understand the franchise’s business model and can follow it closely.

Whether you make changes to your operating practices or not, reinforcing your business’s values, strategies and culture should help you maintain consistency across the network. In turn, this step should lead to a positive reputation.

2. Use a Learning Management System

LMSs are digital portals designed to help leaders store and deliver their training programmes and other educational resources effectively and in one place. Over time, learning schemes can become less efficient and slowly diminish in quality, but franchisors can use LMSs to monitor them and identify any weak areas.

>> Read more:

3. Strike a balance to avoid overwhelming franchisees

It’s easy to forget just how much knowledge it takes to succeed in running a franchise business. As the franchisor, you’ll have years of experience and probably know the company inside out, but it’s important you don’t bombard franchisees with a huge amount of information.

Aim to plan out your ongoing learning opportunities and work out how much detail to provide and when to provide it.

4. Work towards the BFA QFP qualification

The benchmark for professional knowledge and experience in franchising is the British Franchise Association’s Qualified Franchise Professional qualification (QFP). To achieve this prestigious accreditation, you must attend regular training workshops and industry events, which will enable you to learn the latest franchising practices and build stronger network support systems.

Franchisees can also apply for QFP status in order to gain the skills they need to run their businesses confidently and efficiently.

5. Establish quality control techniques

One way to make sure your training is working well is to measure the results at regular intervals. For instance, you could introduce a form of assessment or certification to see how your franchisees are performing, or review your product standards or customer response.

>> Read more:

6. Talk to a legal professional

It’s always a good idea to get independent legal advice if you’re unsure of your rights and obligations as a franchisor. Because the UK’s franchise sector is not subject to formal regulations, it can sometimes be tricky to move forward.

A solicitor with expertise in franchise law can help you better understand your responsibilities when rolling out an ongoing support system. To make sure you get the best advice, try to find a solicitor who is a member of the British Franchise Association.

7. Take advantage of franchise events

Ongoing training goes further than the odd marketing workshop. Conferences and other networking opportunities can be incredibly valuable when it comes to helping investors achieve franchisee success.

Whether you organise internal socials with the chance to mingle or book your franchisees onto national and international franchise events, you’ll be encouraging collaboration and further development.

8. Don’t overlook staff training

It’s all very well rolling out an excellent franchisee training scheme, but if your investors don’t know how to support their own staff, your company is bound to suffer. If you don’t already offer an employee learning framework, it’s worth considering how you can give your franchisees the tools to develop a skilled and competent workforce.

How to train franchisees

Hopefully, this guide has given you some ideas when it comes to supporting the continuous learning and development of your franchisees. Implementing a fantastic educational framework can make or break a business, so it’s vital you’re always exploring ways to make sure investors are performing as well as they possibly can.

Here at Point Franchise, we also have a number of resources to help franchisors create initial induction schemes when they first welcome franchisees into their networks. If you’re wondering what goes into a training programme, take a look at our business guides on the subject:

You can also learn more about the many other ways to nurture franchisee success with our catalogue of informative business guides.