"Under Solis, the amount of back pay Labor collected for workers in wage and hour enforcement actions rose to $250 million in fiscal 2013, up from $173 million in fiscal 2009 -- an increase, after inflation, of more than a third. Since the start of the Obama administration, Perez crows, the agency has "recovered over $1 billion" in lost wages.Meanwhile, the number of man-hours spent on enforcement rose nearly half, to 1.3 million, up from 880,000."
"Workplace discrimination claims are at an all-time high, and small-business owners feel vulnerable.With a difficult economy, Employment laws are making lawsuits more likely, employment practices employment liability insurance, EPL, is evolving from a high-priced option to an affordable necessity for smaller companies.A recent survey of small-business owners conducted for Hartford Steam Boiler found that 66 percent were concerned their employees would file an employment-related charge against them, 2010."
"One of the chief advantages of purchasing EPL is that the insurer has a duty to defend, even when the insurer is not going to indemnify you - the insurance may not pay the legal damages, if you are found liable."
- A successful retention strategy starts with the first interview and continues throughout the employee's career. The interview is an essential tool for both the prospective employee and the interviewer to gauge each other's needs, abilities, and future plans. An employee's career starts with interviewing, it is their first impression of the company and how they operate.
- The employee orientation provides a chance for the new hire to become familiar with their new surroundings. This should be a time of low stress for the employee, giving them the opportunity to meet co-workers, learn the layout of the office, and further their understanding of the vision and mission for that organization. Why do you need to do an orientation? It sets expectations for both parties at the beginning of the job and helps to develop positive attitudes, job expectations and job satisfaction.
- The first thing you want to do when creating an orientation program is to define what you want to accomplish with the program. In doing this, keep in mind what kind of impression you want to make on the employee, in other words what are the stories they will be bringing home to their families after their first day/week on the job.
- Have their email address, phone number etc already set up prior to their arrival. Give them a glossary of common terms, all orgs have their own language. Pre-arrange a "buddy" who will be there if they have any questions or concerns. Prepare a quick "help" card listing contacts for different questions.
- Who is doing the interviewing? Are they up to speed on the job? Do they understand the legal framework for questions? Are they a "people" person? All of these things will impact how interviews are conducted and how effective they are.
- When designing an orientation program it can be helpful to sit down and make a list of what you need the first day, the second day, the first week, and so on.
- How can you reduce the first day jitters for new employees? Send them a letter prior to their first day with info in it: What time to arrive, where to go, where to park, who they will be meeting with, what to bring with them (documents for I-9 form etc). Also celebrate their arrival by doing something such as hanging a welcome sign with their name on it by their office.
- Onboarding: This is the modern term for the process of interviewing, hiring, orienting and successfully integrating new hires into an organization's culture. The best onboarding (orientation) strategies will provide a fast track to meaningful, productive work and strong employee relationships.
- Who should be Involved: The people who need to be involved in the onboarding process include the HR department, team members of the new hire or a "buddy" from that area, and members of other functional areas they will be working with on a regular basis (ex: payroll/finance), their direct Supervisor, and a member of the management Team.
- A well thought out orientation program, whether it lasts one day or six months, will help not only in retention of employees, but also in productivity. Organizations that have good orientation programs get new people up to speed faster, have better alignment between what the employees do and what the organization needs them to do, and have lower turnover rates. Which translates into dollars.
- For a comprehensive online Human Resource Compliance service that provides support in areas including employee hiring and orientation, check out HRSentry.
Reputation marketing isn't something to be improvised. I always encourage my clients to take the offensive when it comes to their reputation. Most companies have an area or two where they operate in the crisis management mode and can get away with it.
Given today's connected society reputation marketing is an area that can have the greatest impact in the shortest amount of time.
Every company from a major corporation to a solo entrepreneur working at home has to have a solid plan for managing its reputation. There are five steps to doing this effectively.
Step 1 - Brainstorm Possible Reputation Damage Scenarios
Sit down and make a huge list of all of the different things that can happen. Imagine everything from a small bump in the road to a major emergency. The most obvious problem would be a negative post somewhere complaining about your company's service. There may also be a situation where a customer doesn't understand your company's policies and the complaint comes from this misunderstanding.
Brainstorm each place where a comment could appear so that you can create a plan for dealing with each. Examples would be personal blogs, your blog comments, social media sites, online forums, review sites, etc.
Step 2 - Determine the Best Response
For each item on your list, decide what would be the best response. Consider it from the point of view of other customers who will be watching. For example, you might respond to a complaint on Facebook by engaging with the customer, asking them to clarify, empathizing with them, and then offering them a solution.
To other users who are reading the thread, your company shows that it cares about customers and not just its own reputation.
Included in this plan should be a chain of command notification. When a problem is discovered, how will it be communicated to everyone in the company who needs to know?
Step 3 - Set up a Plan for Monitoring
You know what to look for. The next step is to decide how to monitor. One way to monitor all online content is through alert notification programs like Google Alerts.
You may also routinely check Twitter using hashtags and Facebook by searching posts or using HyperAlerts.
You might identify certain online forums, review sites, and other sites where you're likely to be mentioned for monitoring.
Step 4 - Delegate Monitoring
Put someone in your company in charge of monitoring.
You may want to delegate to several staff members. For example, if a certain staff member handles your Facebook account, put them in charge of monitoring Facebook for comments.
Make sure everyone is on the same page with all procedures for dealing with negative comments.
Step 5 - Create Positive Content
This step is often forgotten. In addition to doing damage control, reputation marketing is also about creating content that shows your company in a positive light.
Seek testimonials and reviews from your customers and create fresh content on your website, social media sites, and blog. Positive content will off-set any negative content.
This is an ongoing job, so make things like soliciting feedback from customers a regular part of your sales process.
Many companies and online professionals decide to outsource reputation marketing to a company that specializes in this field. These companies have experience and tools to manage a company's reputation comprehensively.
Look on what on your strategic plan for the next 6 months? Do you have a plan? Make this a priority.
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It's no secret that the restaurant sector is a very competitive segment of the service industry to survive in for full-service restaurant concepts. Most restaurants struggle to make it past the first, second, and third years of business; the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported that only around 25% of the restaurants that opened in 2004 were still in business eight years later in 2012.
With such an intimidatingly high failure rate, this business is not for the faint of heart or those who fear change.
We were lucky to have Tom Prince, founder and owner of Tomasso Trattoria start using On The Spot's mobile survey tool in February 2011 to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty based on real-time feedback.
What follows is a very nice testimonial from Tom - which should help everyone in this space improve their loyalty programs.
Prince believes that the addition of On The Spot's mobile survey tool has had both tangible and intangible benefits that have played a key role in the success and profitability of Tomasso Trattoria.
It is so essential in this day and age to use real-time survey tools because it supplies a depth of beneficial knowledge to restaurant operators specific to their business and customer base. The company administers the surveys during "available guest time(TM)" -- the time when a patron's check is being processed -- by providing guests with a survey board.
Pioneered by On The Spot Systems for use in the service industry a 'survey board' is an iPod touch programmed to run the survey that sits atop a lightweight bamboo board and can be easily handed to guests at the table. Tomasso Trattoria also offers an iPad kiosk programmed to run the survey at the front of the house so that patrons can also take the survey and sign up for the newsletter club as they leave the restaurant.
Impressively, 91.3% of Tomasso Trattoria guests that are offered the option to skip the survey and just sign up for the email club will voluntarily opt-in to take the survey. This validates the value of the data that the restaurant is receiving and they are extremely proud of because it shows that guests value the opportunity not just to stay in touch for promotions, but also to give their feedback.
Whether or not customers choose to take the survey, they're asked to join the Tomasso Trattoria newsletter mailing list to receive special promotions and offers. Over 3,500 customer email addresses have been collected from the survey and are automatically fed into their email-marketing database; the ability to e-market and promote restaurant specials to this list drives foot traffic and revenue, increases social buzz and the likeliness of customer recommendations.
In fact, the National Restaurant Association published their findings from a survey conducted on dining habits in 2012, which showed an industry standard of 45% of diners say that they respond strongly to promotional advertisement via email.
This high conversion rate from marketing to purchase intent means that a growing email-marketing list will continue to enable Tomasso Trattoria to strengthen their customer base and encourage repeat visits.
Prince reflected on the intangible benefits of the survey data, stating,
If a customer has a poor experience with their meal, they have the opportunity to vent and give feedback directly to the restaurant instead of running home to post their opinion on a social network. We've seen a noticeable decrease in customers airing their grievances on public forums such as Yelp!, which could be seen by any interested diner.
Tomasso Trattoria isn't the only restaurant that should be worried about the negative effects of poor comments on peer-review websites for their business;
The National Restaurant Association conducted research on dining habits and found that 34% of diners base their decision on what restaurant to go to from peer comments and reviews on forums and social network sites.
Another benefit of switching to the service was realized through the level of engagement of the staff. As the restaurant industry remains fiercely competitive, it has become increasingly important that the staff members in the front of the house are truly involved in enhancing the guest experience and contributing towards positive impressions of the restaurant's service and atmosphere.
With the addition of the mobile survey, Prince has been able to realize a significant improvement in the awareness and recognition of customer feedback as a driver of success. Prince said,
The survey has made it more apparent to the staff that customer feedback is the ultimate evaluation of their performance.
When asked how using a mobile device to take the survey improved the process of data collection Prince answered enthusiastically.
As he said, "The mobile devices are fun and easy to use. For some of the older clients who don't have as much experience with modern technology, the survey gives them a chance to explore and have fun with something that they don't regularly see. Using mobile technology not only improves the process of data collection, it is also infinitely more responsive.
In Prince's words, "Our response rate from our previous paper survey forms was miniscule as compared with the high response rate we get from On The Spot Systems."cognition of customer feedback as a driver of success. Prince said, "The survey has made it more apparent to the staff that customer feedback is the ultimate evaluation of their performance."
"In an industry like hospitality, whenever you are given the opportunity to get customer feedback you need to jump on it. That is why On The Spot Systems is so useful; the survey is quick, efficient, and innovative," said Prince. He continued, "The specific comments we get about food and service allow us to make quick and effective changes in either product or people."
On The Spot Systems allows Tomasso Trattoria to constantly change and innovate to suit customers' needs, likes, and dislikes in a modern and convenient manner. We are thankful to Tom for such a fulsome testimonial!
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 GIS helps Culver's do better comparable store analysis by allowing staff members to focus on the most appealing trade areas. |
Selecting the Choice Sites
 Using ArcGIS Business Analyst, Culver's is able to easily compare and contrast new sites by analyzing the demographics of existing restaurants, then pinpointing new areas that are similar. |
"We want to give our franchise partners the support they deserve," says O'Brien. "GIS technology gives them the ability to maximize their potential at Culver's."
Sponsoring morning or afternoon traffic updates on local radio stations can be a great way to reinforce your grand opening message.
If you have ever listened to radio on your way to or from work, you're already aware of the benefits of traffic updates. In metro areas and even large towns, stations have added traffic to their morning and afternoon programming as a "public service" to their listeners.
The sponsorship of these updates represents a revenue stream to the stations. But, used correctly, they also represent a great opportunity for you to increase awareness of your new store opening, and deliver a call-to-action to your potential customers.
Here are three advantages to having traffic packages as part of your grand opening media mix:
1. Frequency
Stations deliver their traffic updates multiple times, every hour, during standard "drive times" in your market. In turn, your message is being delivered multiple times to the same radio audience over that same compressed period of time.
Plus, many sponsorships are structured with both a "billboard" (e.g., "this traffic report is brought to you by _________") and a 10 or 15-second commercial message. So, within each report, you're gaining double the exposure for your brand.
2. Reach
Traffic reports are usually implemented consistently across entire station ownership groups, and sometimes even across multiple station groups. That means your single sponsorship can be heard on numerous stations in your market.
Sponsorship packages, from providers like Clear Channel's Total Traffic Network, will admittedly include placing your message on both powerhouse stations as well as those with much smaller audiences.
But, you're extending your reach in the marketplace. And, you can (and should) negotiate the sponsorship costs, to make sure the pricing is fair for what you're getting in return.
3. Cost
And, speaking of costs ... they obviously vary, depending upon your market and the size of the overall radio audience you're reaching. But, fortunately, the traffic format doesn't require (i.e., allow) the use of a traditional 30 or 60-second commercial.
Advertisers usually provide the copy (usually 30-45 words) and the station either pre-records your message or reads it "live" within each traffic update. Regardless, you avoid the cost of audio production, voice talent(s) and music.
Traffic radio sponsorships are definitely not appropriate for every brand message. It's hard (if not impossible) to introduce a complex new program or offer within the format.
But, traffic packages can be a great complement to an established message, or one that is spelled out more completely in another medium.
If you're opening a store, they can be the perfect way to invite the public to your new location. With some careful writing, you may even have enough time to hint at the fun and excitement you have planned for your grand opening.
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When you start your own independent (non-franchised) business, your mistakes will be more costly than you imagined. In fact, your mistakes will probably put you out of business.
I'm not writing this to scare you away from starting a business without a franchisor; I'm writing it because it's factual . . . and scary.
Do indie businesses survive?
Have you looked at the statistics? How many independent start-up businesses survive in the USA? Rather than take my word for it do some research, or better yet, just ask a local business banker!
Of course, the more entrepreneurial you are, the more likely you are to say that you can avoid the mistakes, and maybe you can. However, the statistics say otherwise. Most independent startups fail.
Why mistakes occur
Many people think certain businesses are easy to start and operate. Let's take pizza for example. Many people can make a "good" pizza? My Italian grandmother made the greatest pizza in the world, so it's no surprise that many of my cousins can make great pizzas, too.
In fact, when people tasted my cousin Mary's pizza, they told her that she needed to go into business. And she did! Mary and her entrepreneurial husband (also an Italian) opened a couple of pizza shops, and in a matter of years were dead broke.
How could that be? They made a "great" pizza.
Can you sell what you make?
I'll tell you how. They knew how to make pizza; they didn't know how to market and sell pizza. Franchising's saving grace is that it knows how to distribute (sell) products and services.
It is simple to open a pizza shop. You get a good location, buy the equipment, bring in the supplies, get a recipe, put up a sign, do some marketing and . . . voila! . . . you've got a thriving business.
No, you don't. You've got a money-sucking business, unless you avoid the mistakes.
What do customers want?
1. Mary's first mistake was believing that consumers want a "great" or even "good" pizza. They don't. Just look at what they buy everyday!
2. Mary thought she could build her business by advertising in the newspaper. Wrong. The pizza franchises would have saved her from that mistake.
3. Mary also thought she could build her business without delivery. Wrong. The pizza franchises would have saved her from that mistake, too.
Too many mistakes
There were numerous other mistakes . . . Mary didn't know how many slices of pepperoni to place on a large pizza and still keep it profitable . . . and the pizza franchises would have saved her from that mistake as well.
After so many mistakes, Mary and her husband lost their business and much more.
It's easy to make these mistakes . . . Mary and her husband had no idea they were making them. They would have done anything to avoid them . . . except buy a franchise. Because a franchise would not have allowed Mary to sell her "great" pizza.
Should you buy a franchise?
Look, you need to make some tough decisions before you start a business. What's important to you? Your way? Or a franchisor's way? Keep in mind that the franchisor may not sell what you consider to be a "great" or even "good" product - if that's important, find another franchisor, or avoid franchising.
Of this you can be sure: If you buy a reputable franchise (and they're not all reputable) the franchisor's training will save you from making too many costly mistakes. You're still going to make mistakes, but in a franchise, the mistakes probably won't put you out of business. Ask your banker how many of his or her franchisee clients fail? It's one of the reasons why bankers love franchising.
In fact, even though they won't tell you, the bankers know you are going to make mistakes when you start an independent business, and even though you've accounted for mistakes in your business plan and cash flow estimates, the bankers know better. Your mistakes are going to cost more than you think.
Franchisors need to have financial standards for their franchise candidates. In fact they are a 'must have' in your franchising sales and recruitment process.
And your franchise candidate financial requirements for net worth and liquid capital (cash or cash equivalents) should match up with the Item 7 Estimated Initial Investment in your Franchise Disclosure Document - FDD. And be bankable by meeting or exceeding bank lending requirements.
Now I look at a lot franchise sales processes and a big area of opportunity to generate more franchise sales is your application. Most franchise salespeople don't think of their franchise application as a candidate attraction and sales tool.
I think you should. And here's how.
You should use the 'Joe Friday Dragnet Approach" of "Just the Facts Ma'am". You want the 'bare essentials' at this stage and most franchise applications ask too many questions gathering information the franchisor and sales team will not ever use.
Let me ask you how many times do you look at the franchise candidates application after you have confirmed they meet or exceed your requirements?
Okay here's the quick fix list of do's and don'ts.
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Do make it easy to fill out the application. Get it to 20 minutes or less.
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Don't ask for Social Security numbers at this stage. You don't need to.
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Do get the 'bare essentials' of net worth and available cash. You need to know they qualify.
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Don't let someone in the Finance or Accounting Departments control this part of the franchise sales process. You need to. Franchise sales is your thing.
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Do keep your franchise application to one page. You'll get points for this with candidates and more will apply.
Remember it's the financial wherewithal of the candidate that's important. And the trust you build at the beginning of the sales process. It's not about making people do more work than is necessary. You're not the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Have the right financial requirements for your concept. But make it easy & dead simple to apply.
We fix gaps on franchise sales processes. And if you need me to look over your franchise application process call me at 443.502.2636 or jcfran1@msn.com.
Here is one trick that I know works for franchise vendors: If the franchisor has no more marketing spend, then ask about their training budget.
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Arthur Miller's character Willy Loman is the tragic protagonist in the 1949 play "Death of a Salesman".
Miller's play is an enduring story about an aging and now mediocre salesman who has lost his enthusiasm for selling.
Willy is in the twilight of his career. He does know his product well, maybe better than most of his peers.
Great actors like Brian Dennehey, Fredric March, Dustin Hoffman, George C. Scott, Lee J. Cobb and Philip Seymour Hoffman have all portrayed Willy on stage and screen.
There's no question that "Death of a Salesman was one of the greatest plays of the 20th Century.
So what's Willy Loman got to do with the Death of a Franchise Salesman?
Well I don't think Willy sold franchises?
In the play Arthur Miller never reveals what Loman sells. Could you imagine getting into a car and going from town to town equipped with a briefcase and sell franchises in 1949?
Who would ever do that?
In 1952 Colonel Sanders did just that.
He traveled across country from Corbin, Kentucky to Salt Lake City, Utah to sell his first Kentucky Fired Chicken franchise to Pete Harman.
And KFC franchising was born.
I talk with a lot of people in across franchising at all levels. And franchise company presidents have expressed a concern. They think that they may have Willy Loman selling franchises for them. Not the tragic version in the play, but a failing franchise seller nonetheless.
This is their perception right or wrong.
Their solution however is to do something radical to change franchise sales and take them to unprecedented heights.
They are going to automate the sales process so that an over-the-hill mediocre Willy Loman can sell or even Biff or Happy for that matter.
Franchisors are buying into the hype that franchise buyers are going to self-discover everything they need to know about buying a particular franchise. And all you need do is automate this process for them.
Build it and they will buy.
Here's how it's supposed to work in theory. Leads flow into the CRM. Candidates follow the application instructions and gain access to a series of steps or doors and learn what they need to know to buy the franchise. You can't get from one door to the next without successfully unlocking it.
So all Willy, Biff or Happy has to do is guard the doors and assist the franchise prospect if they run into trouble with the CRM. Once the prospect completes the CRM process one of the Loman's schedules a Discovery Day to get the deal done.
But one day Happy gets an idea!
If he just unlocks all the doors and rushes franchise candidates through the CRM process he can get them to a Discovery Day faster and get more deals. How do I know this you say.
I talked with Happy Loman about it and he told me.
Don't get me wrong I like sales force automation.
I have been using these databases for over 20 years. I think to do it right you need to first have your franchise sales process set up so that it works for both your candidates and your Willy, Biff and Happy.
Using a CRM to keep the salesperson engaged, in control and attentive to your franchise buyers makes sense.
So before you try to replace franchise selling with a CRM we should talk about why Mr. Loman is not selling as many franchises as you want to sell.
"Hey, Are Your Franchisees in compliance with insurance requirements as laid out in Franchise Agreement?"
"KPMG asked for records - we didn't have them. Caused us a lot time and money - all of which was wasted."
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- Rebecca, has performed her data entry job poorly for several months. She is consistently late and her work is often inaccurate. The manager has spoken with her and given deadlines for improvement but the deadlines have come and gone. The company decides to fire her but wants to wait a few days until the manager returns from a business trip. Before he returns, Rebecca suddenly goes out on leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for a problem with her back. Upon her return, the company fires her for poor performance. She claims the company retaliated against her for taking FMLA leave. Without documentation of her performance problems, the coaching efforts or the timing of their termination decision, the company has no defense against her claim of retaliation.
- Joe, performs some aspects of his graphic design job well but is often slow to get back to customers. Co-workers pick up his slack. Resentful, two of the best employees quit so the supervisor knows she needs to fix the situation quickly. She approaches Human Resources about firing Joe. The HR administrator check's Joe's personnel file and finds several years' worth of good performance evaluations. So she says, "You can't. At least not yet." The supervisor and HR work together on a coaching and performance improvement plan that will take a couple of weeks to implement. The turnover adds pressure until replacement staff can be hired and brought up to speed. Staff members grumble louder than ever.
- A supervisor in a retail store, Marcus, asks employee, Kaitlyn, out on dates every day. She tells him, "No, thank you" but he keeps asking and makes comments about her body that make her feel uncomfortable. It is Kaitlyn's first job and she doesn't know how to handle the situation so she quits. She was given a copy of the company's sexual harassment policy on the first day, along with a stack of other papers. No one told her what was in the policy, she never read it, nor did she sign an acknowledgment that she received it. Her mother helps her contact the EEOC. They decide to pursue two claims: one for sexual harassment and one for constructive discharge. (Constructive discharge is when an employment situation is made so intolerable that a reasonable person would quit.)
When you need help implementing your HR audits, connect with me on LinkedIn and let's talk about how we can help you.
Click on the image below to expand it.
Suppose your budget shows that you have been paying $800/month per display ad for portal 1 and $600/month for portal 2.
The rise and fall of the Roman Empire has a lot in common with selling franchises.
The Romans built an enormous empire that at its height spanned from Spain to the Middle East. They built great cities and famous aqueducts.
They were able to do this well because they developed an exceptional formula for concrete.
The Romans were not the first to use concrete. But they improved upon it by using volcanic ash which allowed it to set underwater and the addition of horse hair made it less prone to cracking after the concrete dried.
Unfortunately, with the fall of Rome by 500 AD their technique for concrete was all but lost. The Visigoths were not much interested in building roads.
(The use of concrete not revived until the 14th Century through 18th Century. Modern concrete with Portland Cement and reinforced concrete were developed in the 19th Century.)
We are in danger of losing the formula to sell franchises. Because technological visigoths who are yelling about "social selling" don't know how to screen and qualify.
In franchising up until the mid to late 1990s inquiries for franchises came in primarily on the telephone. And franchisors trained people to screen and qualify the callers interested in a franchise. Many had fine-tuned scripts to use for incoming telephone inquiries.
On the first call you determined if the inquiring party's area was available for development, whether they had the requisite liquidity and net worth and answered basic questions.
Only if they qualified they became a lead.
You then sent them a franchise information packet by mail, Priority, NextDay or FedEx. And they were in the top of your franchise sales funnel.
You followed up in two days to ensure the lead got your package and you could advance the prospect through to the next step. Franchise sellers had an easier time then because they had a good telephone number and that's all you needed to reliably be able to contact franchise candidates.
In the 21st Century a telephone franchise inquiry is a very rare occurrence. Franchise qualification specialists and franchise sellers go to their email inbox or CRM to see who has "expressed an interest" in their franchise.
The advent of internet and web-based lead generation in franchising means that franchisors have development teams who have never had to screen and qualify candidates effectively at the outset.
Franchise sellers have to trust the Request Information Form to do the qualifying for them & trust they get the inquiring person's telephone number and email address.
In the pre-web lead world franchisors had the opportunity to have a great formula for incoming telephone franchise inquiries.
Yet with all the fantastic technologies that the internet and digital age affords us franchisors have lost this formula.
People who inquire today don't have to qualify and they don't have to use a real telephone number to get the franchisor's information.
All you have to do to get a current comparison of web franchise inquiries to an inquiry similar to the ones we used to on the phone is to look at how franchisors get leads at trade shows.
At trade shows we talk one on one with people, get to ask qualifying questions, get their telephone number & email and tell the franchise lead what to expect next in the franchising process.
So what's a franchise seller to do about their formula and make it better?
- Re-think the top of your franchise sales funnel
- Stop overwhelming inquiries with too much information
- Get inquiries to do something that expresses their real intent
- Give your qualified leads reasons to call you
Technology has changed the way we communicate with one another.
What hasn't changed are the mental operations that franchise buyers must go through before they buy your franchise and you can't sell unless you get the prospect on the phone.
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What type of theatre experience have you ever had?
Why do I ask you that question?
Because if you have ever been on stage in a play, part of a band, chorus, dance group, stage manager, grip, sound, prompter, make up, lighting, director, or any form of theatre where the audience and other co-workers are depending on you, then you probably already know the answer to why I ask.
And you probably have a great background for customer service!
I have a professional theatre background and it has helped my career thrive immensely in the customer service arena. Now, it doesn't mean if you don't have a theatre background you won't be good in customer service, it just means you'll understand the mentality of customer service faster, and perhaps better.
Theatre 101, as I call it, is a perfect precursor to being in customer service. It prepares you in the best way for all these topics and many more.
I fibbed, there are more than 11 skills.
That's a good thing though. Here they are.
* Interacting with others
* Being on time
* Knowing priorities
* Learning how to say something even when you forget your lines
* Knowing how to have a phony smile even when you don't want to
* Understanding your problems are just that: your problems
* Learning to work well with others, even if you don't like them
* Understanding how it all 'comes' together
* Helping others when they forget or don't know what to say
* Learning the "show must go on" mentality
* Learning how to read a script without sounding like it
* Knowing the applause is for everyone
* No complaining!
* Keeping your lines sounding fresh no matter how many times you've said them
* Getting it right "the first time"
* Practice, practice and more practice
* Learning to go with the flow
Here's a real life example of "The Show Must Go On" skill:
On the day of one of our Saturday performances (we did a matinee and evening show) I got a bee sting on my foot. It swelled up and I couldn't put my shoe on that foot.
I had a show to do at 2 PM. What to do? What to do? Sure, I could go barefoot, but that might ruin the show for the others. And certainly for the audience. Theatre minds do not want to do that.
So the theatre mind in me said, "Figure it out, Nancy. Do something. You need to be at the theatre in 1 hour and 45 minutes."
Theatre minds are not necessarily logical minds. However, we are spontaneous. We are quick thinkers. We know something has to be done and we figure out how. My husband has a bigger foot than I do so that was not going to look very good if I wore his shoes. (Didn't go with my outfit anyway.)
What to do? What to do?
I believe I did what most fellow actors would do. I thought of something. The stinger of the bee was removed. I took two aspirins and took my own shoes for the show with me to the theatre. I got to the theatre in time for the 30 minute call and told the stage manager (theatre translation: The Boss) what happened. "However," I said, "I'll be ok. It feels a little bit better and I can squeeze into the shoe."
So that's what I did. I squeezed into the shoe and the show went on. The performance was great. The audience never knew anything was wrong.
Was I in pain? Yes. However, I knew I had a job to do. I wasn't going to let the other actors down and I certainly wouldn't let the audience down. In essence they were all my customers. They were depending on me.
QUESTION: If you got a bee sting on your foot, would you go to work? Would you be able to talk with customers and not let that affect you? Would you complain about it, talk about it until others were sick of hearing about it?
The theatre mind is one that thinks of the audience before themselves. In reality it's the same with your customers. Think of them before you. Remember, customer service is the 'stage.' The customers are your 'audience.' Make yourself a STAR.
Thanks for reading....
Nancy Friedman , president of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training, is a featured keynote speaker and subject matter expert on customer service and communications skills at franchise, association and corporate meetings. She has appeared on OPRAH, Today Show, CNN, FOX News, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning and hundreds of other radio and TV shows. She has been published in the Wall Street Journal with her column, "Don't Strike Out with Your Customers." Nancy is the author of eight books on sales, communications skills and customer service. She is the spokesperson in the popular Telephone Doctor customer service training programs.
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In a perfect world, all franchisees would follow the system exactly as intended; they would all ramp up quickly without struggle; and, they would all be successful and happy.
You wouldn't have to answer distressed calls or have tough conversations with under-performing franchisees who blame you, the franchisor, for their failures. However, reality never seems this easy. To some degree or another every franchisor deals with dissatisfied and under-performing franchisees.
Yet, the sustained growth of franchisors is directly related to their ability to have training and support systems that produce positive results quickly and minimize franchisee dissatisfaction.
A quick ramp-up is the key to keeping a franchisee's head in the game and to eliminating operational and cash flow problems today in the future.
Why don't franchisees who receive the same training and who are being taught the same system have the same results? Why is it that some "get it" right away and run with it while others struggle, and others even fail?
There are many reasons behind franchisee success-failure statistics, yet they can all be boiled down to the fact that all franchisees are not equal.
Additionally, they bring with them different experiences, learning styles, preferences, levels of expertise, beliefs systems, and habits that can work for or against them. And, the challenge lies in effectively addressing this diversity.
Furthermore, investing in a franchise is such a drastic change that for most people it engenders chaos, similar to a personal inner revolution with much emotional upheaval affecting all facets of the life of franchisees, including their ability to learn.
If training and support systems are not properly structured, if they don't account for franchisees' innate differences and for their emotional reactions, you simply end up with longer learning curves, slower ramp-up, increased franchisee dissatisfaction, and smaller franchisor's royalty stream.
The bottom line is that franchisees who don't ramp up quickly create more organizational challenges and contribute fewer dollars to help the franchisor fix them.
If franchisees don't experience some early wins, they lose confidence; and, if franchisees' attitudes start to decline before they achieve system mastery, they can slip into "survival mode," which leads them to wrong decisions, panic, and frustration.
Getting them back on track becomes harder and harder until eventually they become part of the statistics we don't like to discuss-they fail. And, we failed them.
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