Having spoken to our franchisees over the years, one of the biggest challenges they face is that as their business grows they need to bring in staff to help manage the business.
Many of our franchisees have taken the step of employing branch managers whose role it is to manage clients, cleaners, cashflow and the other day to day tasks which keep the business going, while the franchisees focus on the strategy and overseeing business growth.
Hiring staff is a big step for any business and it’s vital to employ the right people to reflect the business, the brand values and to ensure the business is running smoothly.
Everything their branch manager does impacts on clients and can help turn them into long-term clients or drive them to a competing brand.
For our franchisees, it’s all about finding people who will manage the client experience and train them to deliver the best possible results. In other words, the success of their franchise business is directly related to the quality of their branch managers’ behaviours and attitudes. One of the issues the often face, however, is that most of them have never had to train employees in the past. Our franchisees bring a number of skills and qualities to the table from their past work background and some of them may have even been in managerial positions but most of them don’t have any experience in training people to run their business so they can delegate with confidence.
This is why we recently ran a managers training workshop where we had the opportunity to ensure that our franchisees’ branch managers are up to speed with our latest systems and that the customer service they offer reflects the network’s values.
As a franchisor, we must take an active interest in the training of our franchisees’ staff to ensure that everyone who represents the business is doing it properly which will help the business to thrive and remain ahead of the competition.
We encourage our franchisees to hire for attitude, as we can help them learn the skills they require to run a successful Cleanhome brand. Turning an enthusiastic member of staff into a productive and efficient branch manager doesn’t happen overnight but with the right support and training it will become the key ingredient to the branch’s success.
The most important thing is to view the training of franchisees’ staff as an ongoing commitment, rather than as an occasional ‘as and when’ approach to fix any issues that may arise. We want to stop the issues arising in the first place!
If you’re thinking of investing into a franchise operation then make sure that the franchisor is not cutting corners when it comes to the training they provide not only to franchisees, but also to their staff. A franchisor who wants to make the network successful will consider the investment into the whole network operating at its best worthwhile.
Cleanhome UK News 