"Psychic" technology for franchise companies: knowing what franchisees don't know ... before they don't know it.

Do you consider yourself a psychic? Oh, wait, someone probably knew I was going to ask that. In any case, it's safe to say that 100 percent of U.S. franchise companies wish they had the elusive "sixth sense" to predict franchisees' questions and concerns. No, this isn't a reference to the ability to "see dead people" or pinpoint Jimmy Hoffa's whereabouts. Rather, it's about how franchise companies can be equipped to anticipate franchisees' needs, before they are even raised, without tarot cards or a magical crystal ball.

It doesn't take a psychic to predict where this is headed. The key to "proactive powers" for franchise companies lies in new advances in technology. With new systems designed specifically for franchise firms, it's now realistically possible for franchise organizations to stay 10 steps ahead of franchisees, particularly in terms of questions they are likely to ask and issues they are probably going to raise.

For example, from the time of the initial opening of the location and beyond, franchisees tend to pose similar questions to the franchise company at certain stages of franchisee life. Franchise companies often ask how they can communicate important information to all franchisees at once, to avoid being repeatedly inundated with the same questions.

The answer: Use the technology of the extranet system to be proactive. Experienced franchise companies can anticipate questions that franchisees may ask and provide the answers ahead of time. Doing so increases franchisee productivity and saves the time and stress of answering each question individually. It allows communicating with the entire franchise system in one "fell swoop."

Knowledge is Power

Most franchisees might have no idea what kind of information they are lacking. Franchise companies make themselves available to answer questions around-the-clock, but franchisees might not avail themselves of the franchise system's offer because they don't know what questions to ask.

With knowledge and experience of previous inquiry patterns, franchise companies have the power to predict the type of question, the time that it's most likely to come up in the franchisee's life cycle and even have an answer prepared ahead of time. For example, franchisees typically inundate franchise organizations with multiple, repetitive questions during the build-out process. With advances in technology, franchise companies can provide franchisees with status reports on the construction of the storefront that they can access any time of day or night.

One proactive technology application is a "24-7" help desk that allows franchise organizations to recognize patterns of commonly-asked questions, which can automatically be transferred into a frequently-asked questions directory for new and established franchisees to access. This technology offers franchise firms a tool to organize franchisees' questions by frequency, category and franchise system responses. The patterns typically show that certain questions apply to all franchisees, some of whom don't even know it yet.

Additional innovative technology tools that franchise organizations can utilize to be proactive include:

Mentor Forums

Mentor forums are useful for established, top-performing franchisees to relay key operational information and specific advice to the entire franchise system. As many franchise companies already recognize, franchisees trust the advice they receive from peers more so than from the corporate office. A mentor forum offers the perfect way for veterans to assist rookies in a peer-to-peer feedback format. It's proactive because franchise companies don't have to constantly react to franchisees' questions--they are already being answered by peers.

Vendor Involvement

Message boards monitored by vendors are another practical use of technology to field commonly-asked questions directly from franchisees in a centralized forum environment. Vendors can address upcoming issues that only the vendor would be aware of, once again without having to involve the franchise system. This direct form of communication takes the franchise company out of the middle when it comes to franchisee relationships with vendors.

Use of Multiple Mediums

Since all franchisees are different and rely on various types of communication, the proactive approach allows franchise companies to issue information summaries via multiple mediums. Mediums such as flash announcements, instant messaging, electronic calendar notifications, video and audio streaming are often combined to increase delivery and retention of information at the franchisee level.

From Dusk to Dawn

With many franchise concepts, standard business hours are not the norm. Many franchisees are busy operating their businesses day and night. Having around-the-clock access to the technology gives the night owls and early birds the same advantage and access to information as those who are the nine-to-five banker's hours types. Franchisees can run reports day or night as a form of proactive self-analysis that can be done without having to turn first to the franchise company.

Archives Access

Once the technology is put in place, franchisees can check out archived questions and answers in a searchable directory. Franchisees are provided with access to archives to research previously addressed issues without having to ask about them again and the benefit is three-fold. The archives save the franchisee and franchise organization time, reduce stress about burning questions and decrease repetition and redundancy.

Survey Says ...

New technology provides franchisees with applications for "self analysis" to help evaluate sales patterns, bottom line, operational issues and marketing trends. Once again, this type of tool allows franchisees and franchise systems to prevent problems before they happen.

For example, with the ability to track franchisee sales numbers, a franchise firm can easily create benchmarks for best practices in the areas of sales and operations. If a franchisee's numbers don't add up after an in-store audit, or sales are slumping, the franchise organization can proactively create goals and standards that apply to the entire franchise system.

Overall, the entire category of "proactive technology" applications keeps franchisees connected with the franchise system in an unobtrusive way. Likewise, franchisees are truly appreciative when the franchise firm is automatically responsive to their needs. Often, franchisees who didn't pay close attention during training are too shy or embarrassed to ask what they consider as "stupid" questions, not realizing that the majority of their peers are thinking the same thing. The proactive approach via new technology allows franchisees to save face.

By taking advantage of this approach, franchise organizations can drastically improve communications with franchisees. By having answers prepared ahead of time to anticipated questions and making them accessible to franchisees at any time, this significantly cuts the risks of frustration throughout the franchise organization. By recognizing that a question posed by one franchisee will likely apply to the entire system, a franchise firm can communicate important information to everyone in an effective manner without having to consult a psychic.

Dan Martin is president and CEO of IFX Online. He can be reached at 858-724-1024 or [e-mail].