Franchise Update Magazine Issue III, 2012 | Page 37

Franchising Conference, Restaurant
Finance & Development Conference,
and attend the Restaurant Leadership
and IFA conferences. We also have a
very informative franchise recruitment
website where we offer interactive webinars four to six times a year. We also
welcome potential prospects to contact
our franchise team directly by phone or
email for any inquiries.

process has many stages and is generally
measured from interest to real intent,
and then completion of the franchise
application. We provide each of our
candidates with a number of resources,
including an FDD, sales literature, and
franchisee testimonials.

What tools do you use to transparently provide information to
prospects after initial contact and
throughout the process? Our online

the expectation for regular communication has increased from both sides. We
live in a much more collaborative time
today, where information is passed back
and forth quickly and regularly by email
and the expectation for prompt response
and feedback is expected.

portal and franchise webinars have been
excellent tools for us to communicate
with potential prospects. Each webinar
lasts about 20 minutes and includes a live
chat feature for participants to submit a
question anytime during the presentation. After the webinar, we use an email
string where we share current and relevant
news alerts on Denny’s. Our recruitment

What is changing in terms of how
existing franchisees need to communicate? Over the last several years,

What are the three most important
keys to creating open and transparent communication channels
with your existing franchisees?

1. Regular coordination and communication.

By that I mean that communication cannot be a one-way street. Franchisees and
the brand need to work together to come
up with marketing and menu ideas that
receive buy-in from both parties.
2. Mutual respect. A franchise partner
chooses to work with a brand because they
have a passion for the product and what
the brand stands for with consumers. And
the brand is selecting the franchise partner
because we believe they can succeed in
growing the brand through their franchise
locations. Maintaining this mutual respect
comes from regular communication and
collaboration, as outlined above.
3. Feedback. The feedback from the
franchise community is essential to
develop successful programs moving
forward. We solicit feedback from our
franchisees regularly to understand what
is working in their eyes and what we can
improve upon. We take that feedback
to heart as we develop new programs
for the brand. n

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Steve Olson is President of Franchise Update Media Group.
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*During 2011 April & May dates for franchise and retail business books

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