Franchise customer service

Exemplary customer service is one of the most, if not the most, important components of a franchise. It could be the one straw that breaks the camel’s back and sends the franchise either soaring or sinking. But what exactly is good customer service?

There are many parts of excellent customer service – or client relations - , and it goes much further than a wave hello and a wave goodbye. Client relations is a multi-faceted part of a franchise’s relationship with the biggest stakeholder it will ever encounter in its business life. Clients must be handed the best possible good or service in a pleasant, yet still professional, manner.

Client relations starts even before the customer sets foot in the door.

Both the franchisor and franchisee need to create the “customer service culture” in their franchise. They need to know two important facts: firstly, what does their business do and secondly, what does the business believe in.

A food franchise’s culture could be something along the lines of, “We are here to bring our customers fresh and tasty fast food at an affordable price”.

If a franchise is in existence for its clients, then one of the franchise’s prime goals would be to deliver the best fries and the best client relations.

What the business believes in could be what helps business get to this prime goal: reliability, consistent product and constantly looking for ways to improve through feedback from clients in addition to constantly working hard.A franchise’s team members must like actually coming to work and doing their job. This will come about through the creation of a pleasant working environment, where team members are given exciting rewards for the achievement of collective workplace goals. Picking the right members is a major part of any team’s success. It is inevitable that some team members will naturally pick up and run with a particular franchise’s goals more than others. However, the right leadership and mentoring, all team members will all be able to reach at least the minimum standards expected by the customers and this will allow some individuals to shine.

From time to time, it may be required for a franchisor or franchisee to have a “catch up” with their team and train them on great client relations.

Both team members and team leaders may require a quick refresher course to review and build on their current skills. One effective way of doing this is to introduce a training program that requires ongoing examination. This will encourage team members to regularly interact with the training material they have been given.

The only way a franchise will be able to determine how good their client relations skills are and to adjust any areas that need adjusting accordingly is from the horse’s mouth: the client. Franchises not only need to prepare themselves and be willing to embrace client feedback, but they need to ensure systems are in place for this to happen.

A client’s communication with a franchise can occur either by word-of-mouth or in the written form.

The team members of a franchise need to understand that they must be friendly and professional at all times when they encounter a complaint from a client and they should embrace this as an opportunity to learn and grow. They must learn that a client’s complaint is not an attack on them personally, but a criticism of how a particular good or service was delivered.

Mechanisms need to be put in place to allow all franchise client feedback to be handled properly and efficiently.

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The Franchise Council of Australia is a not for profit membership organisation that is the peak body representing the franchising sector in Australia.