If you own a franchise, you know it’s a great business model for investors who want a solid ROI without the hassle of reinventing the wheel (or reinventing the fast-casual dining restaurant).
But the success of a franchise opportunity depends on each location’s ability to provide a seamless experience, indiscernible from other franchises in the same family.
Create a unified franchise training experience
To create a dining or shopping experience that is closely tied to its sister locations, your franchise business needs staff training that’s closely tied, too. Ideally, franchise staff would receive training from one unified source. It would contain the same information and be shared with each staff member at the right moment in their training journey.
And the benefits of identical training don’t stop with the staff. Sales pitches to prospective franchisees or investors benefit from a coordinated approach. When your sales team is in lockstep, you’ll see a steadier stream of investment.
Use an LMS for franchise staff training
Learning management systems (LMS) are the ideal way to deliver online training for your franchise staff, regardless of location. You can create different LMS instances for each franchise location and link them in a franchise directory. And you can map your online training to be precise and consistent, giving each staff member the training they need at the ideal point in their learning journey.
Below we’ll explore how coordinating your employee learning and investor pitches via online training can grow your franchises at the individual outlet level and companywide.
How to deliver online franchise training with an LMS
An LMS makes it simple to coordinate all of your staff training with the click of a button. Here’s how.
What is an LMS?
Learning management systems are online training software that lets you create and deliver learning materials and document learning outcomes. A good LMS includes a simple-yet-powerful course builder and features that promote learning, like:
- Private messaging
- Discussion boards
- Gamification and leaderboards
- Learning content library
Choosing an LMS with solid tracking and reporting features is also essential. That way, you can measure the outcomes of your training programs and share your results with investors and stakeholders.
Encourage coordinated processes in your franchise business
Whether onboarding new employees or upskilling existing staff, coordinated training is essential in a franchise.
Onboarding new franchise staff
In any business, the onboarding process is crucial. Not only do you need to spark enthusiasm in your recruits, but you also have to ensure they know your franchise processes well. With each generation of new employees, your franchise risks losing its trademark uniformity of customer experience. So new staff must understand how your company presents itself, communicates, and serves customers.
Retraining existing staff
Existing staff benefit from coordinated training, too. Upskilling staff who are ready for promotions allows you to ensure quality control at every level of your org chart. A centralised approach to learning gives each member of management the same training, so they approach each process in the same way and retain their high procedural standards.
A considered and coordinated training experience is also good for your bottom line. When your new or experienced employees understand their roles and feel empowered to do them well, you’ll enjoy lower staff turnover rates and save money replacing staff members.
How an LMS delivers franchise training
When you use an LMS to deliver your staff training, each member receives the same online training regardless of location. You can create a learning journey for each job role so employees get the training they need when they’ve completed – and passed – prerequisite training.
An LMS can help you hit industry compliance training targets like health and safety training or encourage staff to expand their skills and knowledge on industry best practices.
If staff members need to catch up on their online training, an LMS will alert you to missed courses or underperformance. That way, you can access a track record of your learners’ progress and address learning gaps when you find them.
Well-orchestrated staff roles are critical to the best franchises, and with an LMS, you can train your entire staff to function in harmony.
Connect with other franchised businesses
A learning management system also allows you to build stronger connections with other franchises in the family. After all, franchising is a joint venture, and you need your entire team on board to make it a success.
Within an LMS, you can create a franchise directory. All franchises can be listed, making it easy for franchise managers to browse franchises and build professional connections with one another. Linking your locations in a franchise directory ensures each site operates in collaboration.
Staff can connect with colleagues in the same job role at other locations. Your LMS can encourage healthy discourse and helpful sharing so employees feel supported in their roles and invested in the company culture.
Help investors see golden franchise opportunities
When you’re looking to expand your franchised business or encourage investors to sign a franchise agreement, online training courses can be a great way to spark interest from investors. You can use your LMS to create exciting materials about your franchise opportunities and share them with prospective franchisees.
Even paperwork is more straightforward with a learning management system. In an LMS, you can share your franchise agreement, franchise fee data, or intellectual property with franchise owners. You can grant access to sensitive documents like franchise agreements to specified user roles and allow users to share, download, and edit documents based on their role.
And when it’s time to create that next franchise investment success, every franchise owner will have constant access to the guidelines, standards, and processes files they need to build their new businesses.
Expand your franchise empire with LearnRight
Consistent training encourages steady growth in a franchise business model. With LearnRight, you can provide prospective franchisees, staff, and franchise owners with a unified training experience that allows your franchise opportunities to thrive.
Book a tour of LearnRight and discover how easy it is to centralise learning in your franchise.
