Consistency is Key for Franchisors

by | Mar 15, 2017

Quality Management System

Successful Franchisors Get It Right, Every Time

If you’ve seen The Founder, you’ll recognize this mantra: consistency is key. The American-invented business model, the franchise, is built on the concept of a consistent customer experience. Menu expansion, improper signage, and old uniforms were all issues that the McDonald brothers experienced in their first attempt to franchise. Today, we associate successful franchises with consistency: A “my pleasure” at Chick-Fil-A restaurant, the orange lighting at all Orangetheory Fitness, and a “Grande is the same size” at any Starbucks. It’s that attention to detail that keeps customers returning again and again, and a single flaw in the appearance, taste, or customer service can lead to a decrease in repeat visits. In addition to angry customers, inattention to detail leads to cost increases if a franchise starts to make decisions that fall outside of corporate-sanctioned protocols. Successful franchisors build over time by consistently setting and meeting customer expectations of the brand experience. To achieve this, network-wide adherence to brand, training, and operating standards is critical.

Flourishing franchisors implement regular assessments of corporate’s strict brand guidelines. The primary best practice for these successful franchisors is embracing smart tech to strengthen their franchise both internally with their staff and externally with their customers. Cloud-based auditing software helps franchisors gather better inspection data, see trends across franchisees, and implement improvements for corporate- and franchise-owned locations.

  1. Modernize the Inspection Process

Reviews, inspections, drop-in surveys, self-assessments are some of the many names for the auditing function, but the process is always the same. An inspector visits the location and documents the franchisees’ adherence to brand standards. The inspection process usually involves paper and pen, a scanner, a spreadsheet, and hours of transcribing. This cumbersome process means franchisors are wasting money by paying auditors for extra hours of work and unnecessary travel expenses. Switching the inspection process to a mobile app saves time and improves the quality of the data collected. Mobile apps standardize the inspection form, make it easy to add or remove questions as standards change, and eliminates the transcription process. Most importantly, inspection data is immediately available for analysis back at corporate.

  1. See Franchise Trends in Real-Time

Franchisors are always hungry for business intelligence reports. Is the new promotional campaign displayed in all locations? Are the staff trained on the latest industry terminology? Is each salon using the most up-to-date protocols for sanitizing manicure equipment? Thriving franchisors know the answer to any of these questions. When franchisor field teams gather inspection data with a mobile app, the data automatically feeds business intelligence dashboards. C-level executives gain a high-level picture of organizational performance, and can rest easy knowing that their hair salons are safe, their gym’s fitness promotion is well-executed, and their staff is correctly representing the brand.

  1. Implement Best Practices

A growing international pizza brand harnesses RizePoint to identify best practices across all locations. Decision-makers in the corporate headquarters can pinpoint trends and implement menu, promotional, or operational best practices globally, as Papa Murphy’s Director of Information Technology Jenni Doyle explains. This approach transforms the quality and operational scores from stagnant numbers to a proactive, revenue-protecting guidebook. The franchisor is empowered to address non-compliant issues, like outdated signage, broken equipment, or improper employee greetings before those flaws affect the customer experience.

Regardless of industry, it’s proven that cloud-based brand, quality, and safety software is critical for a franchisor’s success. All franchise brands—from home good stores to hair salons—spend resources developing the franchise manual describing the brand, training, and operational standards. So, before you look to franchise your company, make sure you can easily verify that each franchisee meets your corporate standards. This way you’ll protect your brand and avoid inconsistencies like the selling-a-burrito-at-a-McDonald’s fiasco of the 1950s.

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