Greg Nathan’s Franchise Relations Tip #1

Why franchisees don’t listen to good advice

The saying, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” may be a cliché. However, when it comes to franchise relations there is scientific evidence to back it up.

If you are a franchisor, you have probably been frustrated that franchisees don’t appear to take on board your good ideas. And yet they seem to listen to similar advice from their peers!

Psychologists call this the “inter-group sensitivity effect”. While franchisees feel connected to each other by their shared experiences and challenges, they may see you as an “outsider” who doesn’t understand their needs. When you are perceived as an outsider, superior expertise or knowledge is irrelevant.

So how do you override this outsider effect?

Your authority to be listened to largely comes from others believing you are acting in their best interests. In other words, they believe you care. For franchisees, this especially means you care about their profitability.

So next time you want to enlighten a franchisee with a good idea, preface the comment with something like, “Because your profitability is important to me, I have something that I wanted to share with you. Is that okay?” (There are good reasons why asking for permission is also a great idea, but that’s a topic for my next tip).

Greg Nathan
Managing Director
Franchise Relationships Institute
www.FranchiseRelationships.com

In my next tip, I am going to share some frightening statistics with you about how well franchisees understand what is expected of them as a member of their brand.
Until then, happy franchising.
Greg Nathan
Managing Director
Franchise Relationships Institute

PS.  We’ll be digging in deep on topics just like these at Profitable Partnerships Boot Camp on May 25 & 26 in Denver.  Hope you can join us!

Attendees will earn 300 Education Credits towards completion of the
Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) accreditation or CFE re-certification
by attending this program.