5 Star Franchisee Satisfaction Award – what’s it all about?

Regular communication within a franchise network is essential to nurture growth and a positive, supportive culture.  Whilst the majority of franchisors would like to say they have a great relationship with their franchisees and provide many opportunities for them to voice their opinions, it is not always possible to provide an opportunity for franchisees to share what they really think, through an anonymous survey.  This is where the WorkBuzz engagement platform comes in.

In partnership with the bfa (British Franchise Association), Work Buzz run a franchise trend analysis survey. 

This survey generates benchmarking recruitment and support data to help franchisors in their strategic business decisions. Once the surveys are completed, the franchisor receives a bespoke, anonymous, tailored report.

Why enter?

For Swimtime, we entered to: -

• be benchmarked for our franchisee support against industry standards, we wanted to know how we could improve our offering to our franchisees
• improve franchisee relations and network performance by obtaining objective feedback
• we also wanted the recognition for what we do, the support that we provide and use the feedback to improve our relationships with existing franchisees as well as demonstrate to potential new franchisees exactly what to expect
• gain publicity for the Swimtime franchise offering as well as for the brand overall

We also entered because it is FREE to enter and the criteria equal for all entrants, businesses large and small, new and established.

What is measured?

There are 5 main measurements: -

• Training & Support
• The business model
• Culture and Relationships
• Leadership
• Overall satisfaction

Franchisees answer a number of questions under each of the main headings.

What we gain from the experience

Having entered for 3 consecutive years I can share that it is a great way of focusing on what and how, you support your franchisees.  One year we narrowly missed out on achieving the benchmark and I was gutted!  Due to the level of feedback I’m happy to say that we were able to take the feedback on board, focus our efforts in the right area’s which have resulted in us smashing it this year, not just “making the grade”, we were a finalist and then went on to win our category of Best Franchise in the Children’s Sector.

I’d recommend entering the Workbuzz 5 Star Franchisee Satisfaction Awards to any Franchisor who truly believes in building strong, supportive and positive relationships with franchisees.