26 January 2010
Dear franchisors. I have some good news and some bad news. Shall I give you the bad news first? Ok.
You’re no longer in control. Yes, I’m serious. If you’ve had your head in the sand (and let’s face it, that is what most franchisors do best) then you haven’t been a part of the communication revolution. I’m not just talking about the “internet.” That is so 1999. I’m talking about the empowerment of every person in the world to connect and broadcast to every other person in the world. Of course they do this on the internet, but they do it using forums, twitter, linked-in, facebook, and a million other tools. In the last 2 years corporate America has finally realized that they can’t control their message regardless of what press releases they write or staged interviews they conduct. All someone needs to do is Google a company name and they can find every non-coached, biased opinion that has ever been written about the company by everyone from experienced journalists to ticked off 14 year olds. No only that, but they can join in the conversation and connect with “publishers” and continue talking.
There is no going back to how it “used to be.” This isn’t a fad. The tools will change, but the empowerment won’t. This means that as a franchisor you aren’t in control of what your franchisees say. You aren’t in control of them talking and connecting with each other. You aren’t in control of how public they make their conversations.
Ready for the good news? If you embrace this new world and leverage it, it will change your company for the better. But you will have to become more transparent in the process.
Over the last 5 years I have worked in the franchise world, the online marketing world, and the social networking software world. I have talked to many franchisors about how to become more “transparent.” Becoming more transparent means you open the channels of communication. It means being brutally honest with your franchisees and potential franchisees. It means having to give the microphone to your worst critics. It means letting everyone comment and even blog about what your company is doing right AND wrong.
It is a strange and abrupt reversal of most corporate values, and for many of the “old school” franchisors it feels very unnatural. So to help facilitate the level of transparency that franchisors will need to embrace over the next few years I’ve written the 5 rules for being a transparent franchisor.
1. Think of your franchisees as investors.
The first step to being transparent is to look at your franchisees as investors, not clients or employees. These people have invested in your company with their money, time, and resources. Thinking of them as investors helps create a level of respect needed for real transparency. Would you try to hide something from an investor? Would you let an investor feel ignored? Of course not.
2. Facilitate the forum.
In today’s world franchisees will find a way to connect. You need to own where this is done. If you don’t then your franchisees will start random forums and random sites or (heaven forbid) create a facebook group to talk about you. (This is bad because facebook owns the content added to it.) Software like Franhive (www.franhive.com) allows franchisors to create private social networks including forums and groups. This allows for a safe place for everyone to talk. Franchisors should create both public and "franchisee only" blogs to talk candidly about the company. You might not be able to control what is said, but you can help steer where it is said.
3. If you’re not a part of the conversation, you’ll become the subject of it.
Having an online forum or blog isn’t enough. You HAVE to interact. If your franchisees are getting together online or offline, you need to be there. I have personally seen many online forums, which were sponsored by a franchisor but also abandoned by them. Inevitably these areas are filled with “anyone there?” posts only to be answered with silence. This is poison and it gives the impression that you don’t really care about what your franchisees (investors) have to say.
4. Act, don’t react.
There are 2 parts to this. First, don’t wait for your franchisees to ask questions and bring up issues. Use the tools you have to proactively give advice, franchisee interviews, best practices, etc. One recommendation I usually give is to think of email as a last resort. When a franchisee emails you a question, tell them you will answer on the forum. This gets them used to using it to find answers and to interact with you and other franchisees.
The second part of this rule is even more critical. Be prepared that when you are willing to share the microphone with everyone, some will make negative comments. In fact, some will give you a good thrashing. Justified or not, don’t react. Think of any conflict as a chance to engage, not attack or defend. Keep your cool and try to deal with the issues at hand. If you keep a level head and stay above the fry you can use your transparency as an example to the other franchisees.
5. Secrecy is dead.
Every franchise system gets bruised once and a while. Unhappy franchisees, corporate restructuring, etc. In the past, franchise systems tried to brush these things under the carpet, which is why we now have such a highly regulated industry. Today, many franchise systems tell franchisees everything they "need" to in the FDD. The true test of a transparent franchisor is when they talk to their franchisees about unflattering issues even when they don’t “need” to. The reality is that, these days, your franchisees will probably find out the secrets your company might have anyway.
Corey Spencer
VP of Marketing