The year was 2002. I lived outside of Milwaukee and had just been hired by Valpak as a Franchise Business Coach (FBC). Even though I had over 20 years of franchise experience already, I had never been an FBC.
My territory was Canada. It was just a little less than 4,000 miles between the two farthest cities – Nanaimo B.C. and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. I had about 25 franchisees throughout Canada and had the opportunity to visit every one of them - except for Laura.
At one point, Laura and Trevor both worked for the same Valpak franchisee – eventually buying his territory. In effect, they split the territory in half. To make this happen, Trevor lived in Laura’s territory and Laura lived in Trevor’s. Both swore that the other person had a better territory. At the end of the year, Trevor made well over $100,000 while Laura barely $25,000. Trevor took advantage of all of the opportunities of support that Valpak programs offered. Laura argued about every one of them.
She claimed that “her territory was different.” I agreed that her territory was different. EVERY territory is different. Trevor would have been successful in ANY territory. Laura would have issues in EVERY territory.
I realize that every territory is different. But I disagree that this fact has anything to do with anyone’s success!
Over the years, I’ve had a chance to work with hundreds, probably thousands, of franchisees. The ability to hire and retain employees usually rested with each franchise owner themselves.
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- What was their environment like?
- How was their culture?
- Were they respected by their teams?
- What did former employees say about them?
- When someone walked in their office or jumped in their truck, what was that person’s experience?
- How did they treat employees?
- How did they treat vendors?
- How did they treat people at corporate?
- In the past decade, was the Code of Values part of their way of doing business or something they stumbled over when going to a Dwyer Group/Neighborly meeting?
- Were they mentors for others?
- Did they take advantage of programs being offered or tell others that this program, like all others ever introduced, didn’t work?
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When I got my weekly update from CareerPlug last Friday, I reviewed it and two items, virtually, slapped me in the face and reminded me of Laura:
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- Ghost Accounts
- Franchisees who are using text messaging
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There are only 72 franchisees who use texting. Of the top 20 franchisees who use texting, 15 are Molly Maid franchisees. And, Molly Maid has hired more people than anyone else. Rounding out the 20 are four Window Genies and one The Grounds Guys franchisee. Yes, texting really helps one’s hiring program.
The Ghost Account number leaves me speechless. There are 907 franchisees who have never signed up for CareerPlug. THIS IS FREE! For absolutely NO money, a franchisee gets:
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- Applicant tracking system
- A career page
- Job posting to corporate career page
- Configurable pre-screen questions
- Standardized job descriptions for their brand
- Interview guides
- Comprehensive reporting
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Again, this is free. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Laura (my franchisee in Canada) wouldn’t sign up either. The CareerPlug programs, and support have never been better.
Is your territory “different”? Absolutely! All the more reason to take advantage of all of CareerPlug’s best practices.
