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“They’re matching people to businesses, but not people to people,” a colleague told me this morning while we were discussing franchise sales over the telephone.
And that’s a problem.
It’s a disservice to the people who buy franchises, and it ultimately gives franchising a bad name. Doesn’t do any good for franchisors, either!
It’s not about the business
Typical scenario: A prospective franchisee say she likes selling services to consumers, or he says he wants to sell products from a retail location . . . and from there it’s easy enough for a development agent, or a franchise broker, or a matchmaker to suggest (or even emphasize) one or more franchise businesses to buy. Good businesses, too (except it’s not about the business).
In other words, the prospect gets “matched” to a business.
That seems to make sense, but why doesn’t it work? (And we know it doesn’t work because there are too many franchise failures).
Typical scenario: After a year in the business, the franchisee says: “I had no idea it would be so difficult to sell my services to consumers. Or that consumers would be so nasty!” Or, “I’m not used to waiting for business to come to me. It’s boring. I want to get out there and make things happen, but I’m stuck in this store.”
It’s about skills, values
All too often, franchisees discover that even if they had the interest in a particular business, they don’t have the skills to build that business successfully. Or they don’t have the talent. Or they don’t see eye-to-eye with the franchisor’s philosophy for developing the business. They don’t share the franchisor’s values.
What now?
That’s when dissatisfaction creeps into the franchisor/franchisee relationship. And from there things usually get ugly.
Typical scenario: The franchisor (or sales representative) tells the franchise prospect, “We can teach you everything you need to know to succeed in this business.”
Generally, it’s not true.
Not everyone is capable of learning every skill
Even the best franchisors can teach skills only to the degree that a franchisee is capable of learning those skills. Some franchisees can attend sales training every week for a year and still won’t be able to sell successfully. Some people – in spite of education, charm, money – won’t ever be able to master the skill of selling. Or the skill of negotiation. Or the skill of people development. Or whatever skill may be required to succeed in a particular franchise.
Similarly, franchisees and franchisors don’t always share the same values. When the franchisor’s motivation is profit first (for the franchisor) and the franchisee’s motivation is profit first (for the franchisee), that’s going to get ugly, too!
Match to the people, not to the business
The shame of it all is that skills and values can be identified upfront, but usually they’re not. And that’s how franchise prospects are matched to businesses, not to other people in those businesses.
Atypical scenario: Franchisor knows the personality profile of the chain’s top performers. The profile denotes specific skills and values. The franchisor then seeks and approves only franchise prospects that satisfy the profile of the top performers.
It’s not hard to do!
In fact, it’s common sense, but many franchisors pay no attention to it, which is one reason why critics say franchisors really don’t care about the long-term success of franchisees; they care only about collecting franchise fees.
Get personality insights upfront
“Why not find out in advance if the franchise prospect’s skills and values match the skills and values that are required of people who operate a specific business successfully?” asked my colleague, who specializes in personality profiling. ”Why not get that information before selling a franchise?”
In other words, match the people to the people, not the business.
Instead of selling a franchise to someone just because he says he has the desire – and, of course, the money – why not dig a little deeper? Find out if the prospect possesses the skills and values of the already successful operators within the franchise network.
Sell to those people!
What’s so difficult about that?
Meet Franchisors That Agree
Many franchisors do indeed seek to find prospects that they can match to the people who are already successful in their franchise networks. I’ve written about several of these franchisors and you’ll find their stories at FranchiseCentral.com/blog. If you’re a franchisor and you don’t know how to identify the skills, values and behaviors of successful franchisees in your network, or you’re a franchise prospect and you’d like to know more about your own skills, values and behaviors before you buy a franchise, let me introduce you to my colleague, Craig Slavin, founder of Franchise Navigator. He can help you!
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Thank you, thank you, thank you … as I knew I was missing pieces of the puzzle and this fills a big hole for me.