Motivation will lead those Dreams into Success

Franchisees are life-line of any business that plans to expand in other markets too. A franchisee’s motivation is driven by success, satisfaction and freedom. A franchisor must have the ability to understand the franchisee’s perspective and understand what they wish to accomplish and how they go about achieving their goals. Once the goals have been fully or partly achieved, a franchisor must recognise that achievement and use a variety of strategies to spot this success by awards, prizes, conferences and also regional meetings. Every Franchisee is an entity with individual goals and priorities. A Franchisor as a motivator must seek ways to help him attain these goals and priorities as a whole. There can be numerous ways to motivate a franchisee. Every brand holds a different standpoint on this. Manpreet Gulri, Country Head, Subway Systems India Pvt. Ltd says: “For us recognition and acknowledgement of their hard work and dedication to the business is that one thing which motivates a franchisee the most.”

Best practices motivate

In any blossoming business, a franchisee operating in his local market, miles away from the Head office is no less than a business partner. A franchisor must recognise and reward its business partners for doing good work. According to Nitzan Katz, Master franchise, Seacret-India - “We help our franchisees to set high targets and then push them into reaching this target. So, ultimately they are motivated themselves.” A franchisor must take some of his short-term morale boosters, like recognising good work with a handshake, a smile, idea sharing or just a phone call. Thanking franchisees face-to-face on a regular basis also helps improve their capability to accept constructive criticism. Luxury chocolatiers Leonidas have a strategic reward system for its franchisees addressed through various modes of benefits, incentives, promotions, recognition and appreciation. In SUBWAY, the franchisees who have achieved excellence in their restaurants or the restaurants which achieve milestones such as highest sale in their respective stores are awarded. SUBWAY also offers a rebate program wherein franchisees (after the first franchise) are given franchise at a discounted rate. Further, the company provides training and support through its world headquarters in Milford, Connecticut, USA; five regional offices and various country offices across the globe. This facilitates seamless integration of franchisees into SUBWAY family.

Rewards and appreciation

For any brand to succeed, timely rewards and appreciation for its franchisees is vital. In this competitive business world, brand’s need to get more from their franchisees and their franchisees are looking for more out of them. So, with reward programmes, both ae in a win win situation. Reward and recognitions can surely help in motivating them to change work habits and key behaviors to benefit any business. SUBWAY gives awards to brilliant performers. The brand has regional awards for exceptional franchisees.

On the contrary, Katz of seacret-India believes that if a brand is performing good then automatically as a result its RoI reaches from two years to 8-10 months. It’s the best reward a business owner can get. Incentives et cetera are of course a part of the motivation programme.”

Idea sharing is the key

For bigger and better business, it is essential for brands to motivate their franchisees. Darshit Shah, Managing Director, Leonidas Chocolates India says: “We always try and find a few motivational activities for our franchisees. We spend time learning about our franchisees by finding out about their interest, likes and dislikes. We encourage idea sharing by keeping our franchisees informed about business developments, so they understand that their contribution is for broader goals. We build a culture of trust and let them make decisions, involve them in discussions, and trust in their opinions and inputs, share information, provide constructive feedback. We build a culture of franchisee appreciation by awards, prizes, conferences and regional meetings. I believe nothing motivates a franchisee more than success itself.”

So, it can be clearly concluded that a franchisee is a stake holder for any franchise business. Keeping a franchisee happy and motivated should top the priority list for every brand. So, time to perk up your franchisees and enjoy the flourishing business profits.