Providing franchisees with the support they need to execute the brand vision is critical for any healthy franchise system. But that job is a lot easier when franchises are geographically clustered in a specific region or are near the corporate headquarters. Franchisees can then benefit from pooled advertising and marketing efforts, and franchisors can plan site visits more efficiently and cost-effectively. 

But supporting geographically distant franchisees has recently become a lot easier. That’s due in part to the online communication tools and platforms that became essential during the pandemic.

“If there's a silver lining with COVID-19, it’s how we've learned how to support the franchisees much better than we ever did before electronically,” said Michael H. Seid, the founder and managing director of MSA Worldwide, a franchise consulting firm. “The innovative use of electronics is making us more nimble and actually improving the performance of the support that we're able to give a franchise.”

Here are some other methods that franchisors can use to support their more remote franchisees.

Have a Geographic Strategy in Place

“Franchisors should be looking to create a critical mass in order to not be in the position where there is an isolated franchise that’s so far away from headquarters or support centers,” said Seid. In other words, Seid said that before you start opening franchises, you should think about where you want to create a cluster of units. That way, you will be able to deploy support resources more efficiently.

Offer Online Pre-Training Early 

Before a franchisee travels to a headquarters or other location for initial training, the franchisor can set the training in motion through online courses. There are benefits to doing online training for both the franchisor and the franchisee, according to Seid. “For the franchisor, it's a consistent training format. It's also less expensive because the franchisor is not away from home and not paying hotel bills,” Seid said. “If the franchisee still has a job, they can get training on a more convenient schedule as opposed to coming out to training in person for a couple of weeks.” 

Tap Into Third-Party Training

Determine if there are components to your training that can be provided by local third parties. “For instance, if you take your franchisees through an accounting class, a bookkeeping class or any class dealing with money, those courses certainly can be provided by the American Management Association or local colleges,” said Seid.

Deploy Your Franchise Consultant in Innovative Ways

The job of the franchise consultant has changed. It’s no longer a quick stop and on to the next unit. “We live in an age of Zoom,” said Seid. “Between that and cell phone communications, field consultants should be much more proactive with franchisees. When the field consultant isn't traveling or living out of hotel rooms and instead working from their own offices, they can actually provide much more support to the franchisees than they can by physically traveling.”

Make Site Visits Based on Metrics, Not the Calendar

“For some unknown reasons, there are still franchisors that choose to visit based on the calendar,” Seid said. Instead, he advises franchisors to establish metrics that will determine a store’s performance and trigger a visit. He said he breaks down a brand’s promise into 10-12 measurable criteria, whether it’s costs of goods, customer counts or the effectiveness of advertising or profitability, all of which can be measured online.

Never Lose That Personal Touch

Despite the plethora of online communication and connectivity tools, online vs. in-person should not be an either/or situation. Edward Kushell, president of The Franchise Consulting Group, said that while he believes these digital tools are helpful, franchisors should continue to make in-person consulting trips and inspections. “The bottom line is to do as many things as you can for the franchisee to build up their revenue and their profits,” Kushell said.