Best practice field visit management means not only a structured agenda with clear objectives, but an agenda that is mutually agreed by the field manager and franchisee in advance of a visit.
An agreed field visit agenda is beneficial and important for many simple reasons, not least:
- Field visits are for franchisees and the franchisor, so it is important franchisees have an opportunity to contribute to the agenda.
- Franchisees [quite obviously] appreciate knowing what the franchisor wants to talk about in advance, and vice versa.
- Both parties then have an opportunity to prepare properly for the field visit.
- It provides a foundation for a much more productive and mutually-rewarding meeting. This is important as the true costs of a field visit are significant for not only a franchisor but also a franchisee.
An agreed field visit agenda in advance should be formalised as part of the field visit process, ideally including a minimum time-frame.
Field visit programmes are expensive to operate yet have the potential to contribute massively to both franchisor and franchisee objectives and value creation. This practice of agreeing a structured field visit agenda (with both parties’ input) in advance, is an important part of the field visit process and programme.
Relevant questions:
- How is field visit agenda setting handled? Do your franchisees input sufficiently into the process? Do your field managers approach it similarly?
- Are your field visit agendas mutually agreed in advance?
About the Franchising Best Practice 500 Series
This is part of a series of franchising best practices. Franchize Consultants is sharing and publishing these best practices weekly for the betterment of franchising. We know that better knowledge and execution of franchising best practices leads to bigger and more valuable franchisor and franchisee businesses.
We have assembled the first 40 best practices into The Best Practice Handbook, which is available for purchase.
