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The benefits of conferences

franchise conferences

Manzoor Ishani on the benefits of conferences for both franchisee and franchisor

One of the prime advantages of franchising, according to popular belief, is that it enables a franchisee to get on with selling his or her goods and services, leaving to somebody else – the franchisor – to devote the time, energy and resources it takes to a) ensure that the franchise concept continues to cater to the market and b) develop its product and/or service to maintain its market position. The results of the franchisor’s research and development is handed directly to its franchisees.

In fact, this responsibility – of improving on the franchise system, and of investing in research, development and innovation – that rests with the franchisor is, more often than not, an obligation that is written into a licence agreement. Indeed it is a factor upon which franchisors place a great deal of importance, frequently promoting it as a positive characteristic of their franchise.

However, franchisors cannot work in isolation. Although they may to an extent be at the coalface themselves through their own company-owned operations, few have the geographical spread of such operations that would enable them to assess the market as a whole.

Any research and development policy of a franchisor, therefore, usually includes  an element of franchisee involvement. Most franchisors will take one or two trusted franchisees into their confidence, using them as a sounding board for their intentions. Franchisors also select certain franchisees to test an innovation in the marketplace to gauge the results before extending it to the rest of the network.

This aspect of a franchisor’s obligations can therefore be performed with relative ease. The story does not end there, however. Having developed new products, services or methods of operating an aspect of the business, the franchisor then has the very important task of selling it to its franchised network.

Although the franchise agreement may give the franchisor rights to insist that franchisees adopt any change wholesale, common sense dictates that greater cooperation, and therefore success, will be forthcoming if franchisees are persuaded to buy into the change. To do so means getting franchisees together under one roof on either a regional or national basis, depending upon the size and nature of the franchise.

Franchisee conferences serve a useful purpose. Some are designed to be morale-boosting sessions in order to enthuse franchisees into increasing their turnovers or to facilitate bonding amongst franchisees and the franchisors’ staff, some are a means by which franchisors explain their future policies and intentions.

Others are a platform for the franchisor to introduce and sell to their franchisees new products, services and changes to the system. Conferences and other annual company get-togethers also provide an arena for franchisors to encourage intra-group competition with awards and other forms of recognition. For instance, awards for franchisees with greatest improvement in performance over the previous year, those who have achieved the greatest turnover, landed the biggest contract, etc.

Also frequently well received and recognised within franchising is pro-active franchisees making suggestions on how products, services and operations might be improved, developed, enhanced or even something entirely new. For an example of the latter take the case of McDonald’s breakfast menu – kick-started by USfranchisee Herb Peterson’s ‘invention’ of the Egg McMuffin in the 1970s. Prompted  by his fondness for eggs Benedict, Peterson developed the muffin in his own store and solicited feedback from company boss Ray Kroc – within 12 months it was a menu staple across the brand where previously breakfast diners had not been catered for.

This sort of input is taken seriously by many franchisors and indeed, is increasingly lauded as a means by which franchisees can make a valuable contribution for the benefit of the network as a whole.

On the whole and almost without exception, it has been my experience that franchisee conferences are a positive force within any franchised network. They help to create an esprit de corps, encourage the commercially ambitious to reach their potential, fire up those franchisees who may be in the doldrums and motivate those who are under-performing.

Franchisee conferences can be a very important tool in managing a franchised network and, as with everything else, if they are well planned and executed, can benefit all concerned.

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