COMMUNICATION AND PUBLICITY AS TOOLS IN THE COMPLIANCE BATTLE

Nothing irks franchisees more than losing points in a quality assurance inspection for violating a rule they did not know about. Nothing works better in achieving full compliance within your franchise system than constant communication about fellow franchisees’ successes and failures.

Franchisees Want to Comply. Keep Communications Clear.
If non-compliance in your system is focused on a handful of typical violations or deficiencies, a regular program of communication about those issues is in order. Franchisees, by and large, want to comply with their obligations. If you want to change their behavior in certain areas, you have to tell them what they should be doing. A regular “best practices” newsletter article is one way to approach this problem. Another is a contest or raffle to incentivize compliance with a particular standard. No matter what tool you choose, you must keep up a steady program of clear communication about the issues that need to be focused on by your dealers.

Get the Good News Out
Publicity about a dealer’s violations is impolitic, so you need to publicize franchisees’ successes rather than their failures. Communicating about deficiencies and violations that exist in your system is necessary, but you cannot expect morale to prosper if you hold up a violator as an example. Instead, you need to hold up the successful franchisee as an example. District and regional managers who regularly congratulate their charges for perfect quality assurance scores, sales increases and other positive events do two great things. First, they hold up an example to weaker franchisees. Second, they boost morale by offering congratulations where it is due.

Positive reinforcement and discipline (where necessary) can solve some of your compliance problems. Regular communication about system requirements and kudos to franchisees who regularly score high or who correct a deficiency are essential tools in the compliance battle.

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