Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2016 | Page 47

Shopping for Improvement
mobile-friendly websites for our alwaysconnected, always-changing business
environment. Additionally, they need to
incorporate a social marketing strategy
to build local brand presence and consistency through social channels such as
Facebook and LinkedIn.
Our recommendation is to conduct a
self-audit of your site using the following
as your quick-start guide.
1. Benchmark your current metrics
• Number of visits/visitors/unique
visitors (monthly average)
• Bounce rate (monthly average)
• Time on site (monthly average)
• Top-performing keywords (in terms
of rank, traffic, and lead generation)
• Number of inbound linking domains
• Total number of new leads/form
submissions (per month)
• Total amount of sales generated
(per month)
• Total number of pages indexed
• Total number of pages that receive
traffic
2. Determine your goal
This step, while it may seem simple,
can often take the longest. Your goal must
be clear, concise, and targeted.
• Why would you consider a redesign?
• What is working/not working that
you need to address?
• What are the top 3 goals you expect
from this website?
3. Audit your brand message
• Is your brand message clear on the
website? Why or why not?
• What is missing?
• What needs to be done to fix it?
• What needs to change?
4. Evaluate your audience
• Do you have a clearly defined target audience?
• Is the specific audience that you want
to attract defined and personas built?
• Does the tone of voice for the content on your website align with your target audience persona? If not, what needs
to be fixed?
• Does the content on the website
align with the needs of your audience?
If not, what needs to be fixed?
Summary
There is no silver bullet in the franchise
development business, and building an

Social Mystery
Shopping Results
64% had consistent branding on
local pages on Facebook (38% last
year)
23% communicate the franchise
opportunity somewhere on their
Facebook profile (30% last year)
20% had some level of activity in
the past week on LinkedIn (28%
last year)
engaging website is not a one-time task.
It is an evolution that should continue to
grow and change as a franchisor’s brand
and audience change. If franchisors can
sit down and ask themselves these quickstart questions, the path to improving
traffic and conversions will become clear.

Franchisee
Satisfaction

N

BY ERIC STITES

ew data from franchisee satisfaction research firm Franchise
Business Review (FBR) shows
a strong correlation between “engaged
leadership” and higher franchisee performance. FBR looked at franchisee satisfaction data from 53 brands that attended
the 2016 FLDC. When compared with
industry benchmarks, the brands attending the FLDC significantly outperformed
other brands.
A total of 9,353 franchisees participated
in the study and represented more than
30,000 business units. They were asked
more than 50 questions related to their
business performance, satisfaction with their
brand, and general business demographics. Satisfaction was measured across eight
key areas: training and support, franchise
system, leadership, financial opportunity,
core values, franchisee community, selfevaluation (franchisee performance), and
general overall satisfaction. Thirty-three
of the survey questions were rated on a
100-point scale known as the Franchisee
Satisfaction Index.

Findings
Data from the 53 FLDC brands was
compared against FBR’s benchmark data
representing more than 350 franchise
brands across all industry segments. Here
are the findings:
• Better performance overall. The
Franchisee Satisfaction Index (FSI) score
of 75.9 for the FLDC brands was 8%
higher than the FBR Franchise Sector
benchmark of 70.4.
• 25% higher income opportunity.
Franchisees of the FLDC brands reported
annual pre-tax incomes 25% higher than
other franchisees. Their reported annual
pre-tax income was $102,990, compared
with $82,546 reported by other franchisees across all industries.
• Eight areas of strength. The FLDC
brands outperformed the FBR Franchise
Sector benchmark in all eight key areas.
Looking at trend data over the last three
years, the franchises that attend the FLDC
have shown a solid improvement in all
categories year-over-year, improving on
average by 5% to 10% from 2014.
• Brand core values and franchisee
enjoyment were the highest-performing
areas. Based on responses to the 33 benchmark satisfaction questions, the FLDC
brands’ franchisees scored them highest
in the following areas: brand core values
and franchisee enjoyment, which included
community engagement, general overall
satisfaction, and self-evaluation. Questions
asked relating to these areas, along with
the overall FSI scores given were:
I enjoy being part of this organization. (87.3)
I enjoy operating this business. (86.5)
I respect my franchisor. (85.2)
My franchisor acts with a high level
of honesty and integrity. (84.0)
My fellow franchisees are supportive
of the brand. (82.5)
I would recommend my franchise to
others. (86.1)
• Challenges within training and
support, financial opportunity, and
leadership. Based on responses to the
33 benchmark satisfaction questions, the
FLDC brands’ franchisees scored them
lowest in the following areas: financial opportunity, training and support, and leadership. These findings were not surprising
since many franchisors, including those
that are the top brands, struggle with the
same three areas. It is important to note
that the scores the FLDC brands received
are still above FBR’s benchmark. Ques-

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