Top 5 Tips to Build a Franchise Training Program

Franchising is a great way to share your brand, products and services with thousands, even millions of people around the world. One of the most critical parts of having a franchise is franchise training program and the platform that delivers content to new franchise owners.

While you know the ins and outs of your business and brand, your new franchise owner and employees do not. That is why having a solid training program in place is critical from the moment you decide to franchise and scale your business.

Here are a few of the components that every training program should include;

1. Training Curriculum
2. Presentations
3. Solid Structure
4. Good Training Environment
5. Follow-ups

1. Training Curriculum

Items in your training curriculum need to include technology and computer training, how your brand is marketed and the ways you deliver your value proposition to the market, what is acceptable for customer service standards and more.

You’ll need to also include training on how your inventory is handled, the point of sale systems you use and policies that employees should follow throughout the work day.

2. Presentations

If you’re conducting the presentations then you should have a plan in place before the day of the presentation. Being prepared is key in making sure that you present the information in a way that everyone involved can understand it and will stay engaged.

This could be the first initial impression your new franchisees are getting of the brand they are working with and it’s imperative that it is a good one. Regardless of what you think is happening, your franchisees are judging you in this presentation and constantly gauging whether they feel buyer’s remorse for making the franchise investment.

Incorporate visuals into as many aspects of the presentation as possible, people like to SEE in presentations, not READ off the PowerPoint. Take the time to deliver a solid presentation and you will realize the return for years to come.

3. Solid Structure

It’s best to have a solid structure in how you are training or presenting the material needed for a successful franchise. Start with the basics and perhaps share a bit about how the brand came to be, what the brand stands for, and why they should be proud to work with a powerful brand such as yours. You also want to go over any set rules or regulations and structure them so that it’s received well.

4. Good Training Environment

How Can You Provide a Good Training Environment? The environment that your new employees and franchise owners train in can make or break their training experience. When you’re setting up the environment you want to make it comfortable for learning but not so relaxing that they fall asleep in class. Be sure to provide plenty of breaks for getting up and moving around so that everyone can keep on task and try to make the setting as professional and welcoming as possible.

If you don’t have a fancy office to hold training at, consider a conference room with the trainees at a hotel close to your office, they are inexpensive and can do the trick. Also, consider group projects together to help the team start to work together as they will when they are in the business location.

5. Follow-ups

Always provide follow-up training for your managers, owners, and employees. Have a contact number or a website/email for the owners to contact you when they have questions. There are going to be questions that pop up as they begin to work in the brand and franchise itself. They need to know they have the support required to make this a success.

Nothing is worse than having questions you need to be answered for a new job and there’s no one there to answer them. You can also add follow-up training classes to help expand on different aspects of the job.

You can learn more about creating a fantastic training program for your franchise by contacting us.