5 Tips for Growing with Your Current Franchisees

Development is a perpetual concern for every franchise. Any good concept will sooner or later see competition in its segment, and sustaining growth can become a challenging process as the marketplace crowds. Finding, vetting, signing and training new franchisees can be an enormously time-consuming endeavor, making it even harder for a development team to grow their systems. Fortunately, there’s another way. 1851 Franchise spoke with two industry experts to learn how growth strategies targeted toward existing franchisees can provide a much needed stimulus to a franchise brand looking to grow quickly.

Signal 88 Security, a security franchise with more than 170 locations nationwide, saw rapid internal growth in 2017, signing new development deals with nearly 20 existing franchisees who are expanding into new territories across the U.S. Kevin Jones, Signal 88’s chief development officer, says direct corporate communication, a supportive framework and mentorship are all key to ensuring the success of franchisees and promoting growth. 

“We have small mentoring groups consisting of franchisees that get together on a monthly basis to discuss challenges they’re having and to get direct assistance from veteran franchisees who’ve been through similar experiences,” says Jones. “We’ve also created a social channel that’s similar to Facebook, but for the workplace. This social media platform allows all Signal 88 franchisees to communicate freely and quickly with one-another to discuss sales, operations, etc.”

Kay Ainsley is the managing director of MSA Worldwide, a domestic and international franchise advisory firm, and has more than 20 years of experience in franchise development. Ainsley says offering current franchisees growth incentives can be go a long way to encouraging internal growth, but the primary focus should be teaching new franchisees how to be multi-unit franchisees from the get-go. 

“Helping franchisees transition from an owner/operator mentality to a business manager who looks at the broader picture is vital to a system’s growth,” says Ainsley. “Providing franchisees with the support and leadership training to make that transition is essential early on, when they first join the system.”

Brand culture is another factor that can inspire growth, and Jones points to annual conventions, where franchisees and corporate teams gather to discuss new challenges facing the sector and host and participate in workshops, as an example of an opportunity for brands to reestablish or demonstrate their culture.

Finally, Jones points to brand awareness and reputation in each market as essential influences in a franchisee’s decision to grow, and he says brands should encourage their franchisees to take an active role in cultivating those assets.

“It’s so important for franchisees sharing a market to work together to increase the brand’s involvement in the community, whether that’s through a new charitable partnership or working with prominent organizations in the area to represent the brand well,” says Jones.