You’ve just welcomed some fantastic new faces to your franchise family, and now it’s time to get them trained and ready for business.
The franchise training you provide is crucial in creating a standard that you expect from franchisees. It’s important to enthuse new recruits, inspire them to succeed and to create a positive relationship from the get go.
If you’re wondering how to make your training engaging, then you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading to discover our top tricks to creating a fun training programme.
Make your franchisees feel special
Your franchisees have invested a large sum of money to become a part of your business, so it’s important that you make them feel appreciated.
You will have spoken to them many times through the enquiry process, but now it’s time to build a real business bond. Let them know the qualities that made them stand out and the reasons you knew that they’d make a great business owner.
It’s really important that you build a good relationship with your franchisees from the beginning. They are going to represent the brand you built, so it’s important that they respect this, and that you respect them as business people.
Give them an insiders look at your brand
The training stage is the perfect time to illuminate the brilliance of your brand to your franchisees.
They have invested in you as a franchisor and your business because your journey is inspiring. You’ve tried and tested a model that works and now they want to recreate your success.
Talk with your franchisees openly about the hurdles that you had to overcome to create a thriving business. Inform them of the values that are instrumental to being a success. Discuss the importance of your customer avatars and remaining on brand, after all it’s your ways of working that have made you a star.
This is a great opportunity to get new franchisees on the same page as you, allowing them to remain on-brand and on the right track for business brilliance.
Keep the training programme varied and engaging
When you kickstart the training programme it’s important to be informative yet engaging.
Nobody enjoys a dull or dry training session – they only tire out and de-motivate new franchisees. This is why it’s important to spend some time brainstorming and thinking of ways to make your training fun and unique.
Clearly identify the areas that you are going to cover and consider ways to brighten up the essential but less interesting parts.
Franchisees are far more likely to retain information and feel excited about implementing what they’ve been taught when it was shown to them in a fun and accessible way.
Be hands-on and passionate
As a franchisor you want franchisees to see your passion and feel inspired to work hard to bring profits for both themselves and for you.
By being hands-on in the training process, you will demonstrate your approachable nature and team spirit. Make sure that you check in with the franchisees throughout the training to ensure they are picking up on important things and are feeling confident to open their business.
After all when they succeed you succeed too. Investing that little bit of extra oomph into the training will provide a great pay off for you both!
Encourage franchisees to ask questions
Let your franchisees know that every question is a valid one.
It’s by asking questions and taking an active interest in what people are saying that individuals can learn.
Therefore make sure your franchisees feel confident enough to ask the questions they need to. Also make sure that you are prepared to answer popular questions that may be asked. You can find some common questions asked by potential franchisees just here.
Ongoing training
In addition to your initial franchisee training, it’s a good idea to have ongoing training throughout the year. This prevents the initial training from becoming an example of information overload.
Instead, franchisees can learn the essential things first. This will allow their branch to take off and find its feet.
You can make it known during the initial training that franchisees will be offered additional learning throughout the year. The ongoing training provides an opportunity for individuals to up-skill and keep motivated throughout the year to prevent ‘burnout’.
Providing ongoing training is a great way to keep franchisees refreshed and ready to do their best!
So there you have it…
Our top tricks to giving your franchisee training the wow factor. Everyone’s training will be different, and as a franchisor it’s about finding a way to teach that will get the best results for your franchisees and their businesses.
This blog post was written by Mercury Franchise School. You can visit their website here.
