A recent chat with Joe Mathews revealed Joe’s top two criteria for measuring a franchise system’s health:
1. Local Financials, and
2. Franchisee satisfaction
I think Joe nailed it. I do want to discuss how localized social media can impact your local financials soon. But for today, let’s dig deeper into franchisee satisfaction.
Helping your franchisees engage in and market their businesses via social media will improve their satisfaction and retention.
Your Zees are constantly bombarded with messages about how they should be doing something in social media. They are inundated with “gotta do it” ideas from their peers, their kids, The Wall Street Journal, and Oprah.
But none of those sources of information can be resources for success the way a franchisor can. Be the hero! Give your ‘zees tools and guidance to grow their businesses via social media and keep them satisfied.
Social Media Satisfaction by Franchisors:
- Give guidance on using SM platforms to increase their business; NOT just a policy!
- Provide a library of content (photos, articles, YouTube videos) for your Zees to share with their local connections.
- Supply a tool to make engagement by zees fast and easy.
- Use a tool for the franchise system to speak on the Zee’s behalf (for Zees not apt to dive in themselves).
At Engage121, I speak with franchisors each day about solving business problems – including franchisee satisfaction – using social media tools. Please contact me to discuss further.
Social Geek Blog 
Nice post! Definitely agree with your points. All franchisees should be taking advantage of social media in my opinion and when they are so busy and often don’t possess much of the know-how especially when trends are constantly changing – it would be very beneficial for franchisors to step up to the plate and assist as much as possible.