Greg Nathan's Franchise Relations Tip #13

What Are People Saying About You?

Ever wondered what people say about you when your name comes up in conversation?
This is your personal “brand” and

what people say will largely be influenced by how you have affected them in the past through your actions. Know one thing. They will gladly pass this on to others, especially if you have annoyed or upset them!

The scary bit is that those who hear these stories about you, even if they have not even met you, will also talk with some authority about you. In this sense, your personal brand is your reputation. And I am sure you will agree that reputation is important in business.

Franchise brands work the same way. Except now, if you are the franchisor, there are many other people who have the right to call themselves you! It’s sort of like sharing the same family surname. Remember at school if you had a brother or sister and they were popular, you could bask in their glory. But if they had a problem reputation, and someone asked whether you were related, well the smartest thing would be to change the subject.

The most important principle of franchising

One of the most fundamental and important principles of franchising is this – you and your franchisees share the same brand. Everyone’s actions affect everyone else”s reputation. So you all depend on each other to do the right thing. The technical word for this is interdependence.

Parents know the value of the family reputation. It’s why they nag their kids about good manners. They know they have a responsibility to educate their family on what’s important and to instill a sense of family pride based on doing the right thing and standing for something worthwhile.

In the case of my brand, the Franchise Relationships Institute (or FRI as some people refer to us), we want to stand for thought leadership, practical ideas for building profitable partnerships, and being absolutely trustworthy. I expect all my team to understand these values and to behave in a way that is consistent with them. We talk about these ideals constantly and we measure ourselves by how well we deliver on them.

So, what do you want people to say when your company’s brand comes up in conversation?

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.

Register for Profitable Partnerships Boot Camp! May 25 & 26 in Denver. Hope you can join us!

Greg Nathan

Managing Director
Franchise Relationships Institute
www.FranchiseRelationships.com

PS. If you haven’t yet booked for our next Profitable Partnerships Boot Camp you better get on your bike. The early bird discount will soon run out. Click here for details.

PPS. I got a kind email from Omar Borrego, COO from Knockouts the other day. He attended my CFE program at the IFA Convention which is a cut down version of the Boot Camp. Thought I might share and extract. He said, “Attending your function in San Antonio and reading your works have been the best things I could do to boost my career and add more value to our Franchise.”
Thanks Omar!

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

Greg Nathan, Managing Director of Franchise Relationships Institute

Often described as the international thought-leader and expert on franchise relationships, no one understands the unique challenges and rewards inherent in the franchisee-franchisor relationship like Greg and his team of psychologists at Franchise Relationships Institute. They have spent the past 20 years researching the science of successful franchise relations.