Profitable Partnerships

Improve Your Franchise Relationships and Change Your Life

Greg Nathan

• Publisher: PublishDrive
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780646402710
• eBook ISBN: 9780645695205
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Franchises
• Index: Business

Profitable Partnerships is a "must read" for potential franchisees, existing franchisees and franchisor executives. It is written by psychologist Greg Nathan, regarded as a foremost international expert on the people issues in franchising.

The book is full of practical ideas, checklists and inspirational stories to help you secure a bright future in the dynamic franchising industry.

Many leading franchise companies insist their franchisor executives and franchisees read this book as part of their induction to franchising.

Table of contents

• A Word from the Author
• This book is for you
• Awesome power
• Technically speaking
• Different perspectives on a good franchise
• The relationship in practice
• Human issues
• Wise decisions
• No jargon —just common sense
• The good, the bad and the ugly
• Three human needs
• The human face of franchising
• It’s not personal?
• Gaining a competitive edge
• The commercial imperative of working together
• Communicate or perish
• The value of commitment
• The franchisees who went on a motivational strike
• Good relationships prevent costly disputes
• Two sides to every dispute
• In summary
• What business are you in?
• Consistent customer service
• People love to talk
• The customer who ate maggots
• Neglect standards at your peril
• The different contribution of each party
• The franchisee’s role
• Running a profitable business
• Growing a base of happy customers
• Supporting the franchisor’s brand
• The franchisor’s role
• Credible and positive leadership
• Helping franchisees achieve their goals
• Protecting the strategic position of the brand
• In summary
• The franchisee from hell
• Keeping customers happy
• The self-serving bias
• From franchisee to franchisor
• The landlord who lost face
• Domineering people
• Why aggressive behaviour is not useful
• How to let off steam safely
• In summary
• The myth of independence
• The myth of subservience
• The myth of equal power
• The myth of franchisee compliance
• The myth of system infallibility
• The myth of the franchisee customer
• In summary
• Friendship and friendly are not the same
• The CEO who lost his Mercedes
• Franchisees as business partners
• The Pygmalion Effect
• The road to hell is paved with good intentions
• Cognitive Dissonance
• People often think differently about the same issues.
• In summary
• Research findings
• An inability to deal constructively with conflict
• Poor communication skills
• Unrealistic expectations
• Lack of supportive networks
• It takes two to Tango
• Lessons from these four factors
• In summary
• When perception meets reality
• The franchisee’s perspective
• The franchisor’s perspective
• Feeling misled
• Questions to consider
• Tips for franchisors
• In summary
• Six distinct stages
• 1-The Glee Stage
• 2-The Fee Stage
• 3-The Me Stage
• 4-The Free Stage
• 5-The See Stage
• 6-The We Stage
• From dependence to independence
• In summary
• Frank’s words of wisdom
• It doesn’t pay to give advice
• ‘Yes butting’
• Active listening
• Empathy blockers
• How to be an active listener
• The difference between assertive and aggressive
• How to be more assertive
• Focus on interest not positions
• Keeping an open mind
• Warning signs of impending conflict
• The process of mediation
• The role of the Franchise Agreement
• Warning — Don’t put your emotions in writing
• The email trap
• Communities are built on trust
• In summary
• Power shifts from the past to the present
• Life is not so simple
• Should franchisees have more say?
• Preventing strategic disintegration
• Operational strategists
• Attributes that add value
• The two elements of a good decision
• Three types of decision making
• The Frustration Effect
• Which approach is best?
• Habits can be dangerous
• Knowledge struggles
• In summary
• Two types of FACs
• Independent Franchisee Associations
• Who pays
• Common concerns of franchisors
• What the research tells us
• The runaway FAC
• Make it a joint exercise
• Structure, purpose and powers
• Agenda
• Credibility
• Preventing conflict
• Sharing power
• Predictors of successful FAC meetings
• The role of the chairperson
• In summary
• The dangers of habituation
• The field manager’s role
• Why visits may be wasted
• The six steps of effective field visits
• Common mistakes made by field managers
• Common mistakes made by franchisees
• How to maximise the value of field visits
• The early months
• Different philosophies of field reviews
• Reviewing franchisee competence
• Why criticism hurts
• Giving feedback
• Setting goals for improved performance
• In summary
• The birth of a franchise system
• From family to corporation
• Barriers to building successful corporations
• From corporate success to bureaucracy
• External market challenges
• Why people resist change
• The myth of painless change
• Emotional reactions to change
• Why change programs fail
• Anticipate emotional reactions
• BOHICA
• Are you a hardy or a softy?
• Making friends with change
• In summary
• Failure on the outside
• Franchisor stress
• Franchisee stress
• Stress and your health
• Don’t get ICED
• The Three Bubbles of Coping
• The good news
• Subtle Energy
• Be choosy with your friends
• It’s healthy to care
• Daily tips for your personal bubble
• Holidays
• Achieving greater life balance
• What’s driving you?
• Some basic human motivations
• When strengths become weaknesses
• Incorporating positive values
• Smiling and crying
• The balanced individual
• Where to start
• How do you measure success?
• In summary
• Why me?
• Where preparation meets opportunity
• Thousands of decisions
• Turning obstacles into stepping stones
• The self-fulfilling prophecy
• The power of written goals
• The laughing doctor
• The power of purpose
• How thinking rules behaviour
• Selecting staff
• What’s your vision?
• ‘Future Search’ goal setting exercise
• In summary
• The rule of thirds
• Why franchisees go off the rails
• The RACE to success
• High Performance Franchising Indicator
• In summary
• Measuring franchisee satisfaction
• What franchisees want
• Keeping the CEO’s finger on the pulse
• A checklist for franchisors
• The seven deadly sins of franchisees
• In summary
• About the Franchise Relationships Institute