One area where many franchises should take stock and resolve to do better is with their internal ecommerce systems and strategy.

During these unstable economic times, franchisors should take a hard look at their existing marketing plan and make the necessary adjustments to generate a modern-day, impactful, and cost-effective strategy that benefits their brand, both nationally and locally.

The use of franchise portals for lead generation has been a significant part of many franchisors’ marketing budgets for more than 10 years. This lead source has been one of the most consistent and highest volume producers of leads and deals.

Customer retention is one measurement of the effectiveness of your loyalty program and a critical component to the growth of your business.

In RQM, repetitiveness is important and its means remaining persistent and consistent with the marketing message whether it’s two units or 200 units.

Alignment is a continual process, not a once a year affair.

Engaging franchisees is obviously important to every franchise system’s success, and the most critical medium to achieving that engagement is live interaction and face-to-face connection.

One of the reasons antitrust law is such a headache to comply with is because what is or is not permissible has changed over time.

When an individual buys a franchise, he or she purchases the years of experience and the proven operating system of the franchisor. One franchisee expressed it this way, “What I have learned from the franchisor was worth ten times what I paid for the franchise.” In any new business, much time and money are spent in trial and error, but a proven franchise may eliminate many of those start-up problems, allowing one to open a franchise with little or no previous experience in a given industry.

All franchise systems face significant challenges at one time or another. How those challenges are managed and even used to strengthen the franchise system separates the great franchisors from the rest of the crowd.