What you hear, and who you hear it from
Mostly from the franchisees who talk to you most — which isn't the same as the network.
Most franchisors have a good sense of how their network feels, and most are broadly right. But that sense comes mainly from the field team and the franchisees who speak up: the advisory council, the regular callers, the ones at every conference.
Disengagement rarely announces itself. Franchisees who are starting to drift take up new initiatives more slowly, volunteer less, and take longer to return calls. What a survey shows you is where that is happening — which groups, which regions, which parts of your support — before it shows up in renewals. Knowing how franchisees feel protects your renewals and your next round of growth, and much of it comes back to the field team who look after them.
What franchisees do, and what you get
A short online survey, answered in confidence, and a picture of the whole network rather than its loudest voices.
The questions cover what decides whether a franchisee feels the relationship is working: how they get on with the field team who support them, whether that support is actually useful, whether they believe in where the brand is going, and whether they understand what they pay for and what they get in return.
Who asks the question decides the answer. A franchisee raising a problem with the person who approves their refit and writes their compliance report is making a calculation, and often enough it says to keep quiet. An independent survey, answered in confidence, takes that calculation away — and asks every franchisee the same questions, so you hear from the quiet majority, not only the few who always call.
You can use our standard questions, or have our psychologists build them around your network — your support model, your fee structure, the initiatives you are rolling out.
Comparison, not a score
What is useful is how groups of franchisees differ, not the headline number.
A single satisfaction score tells you very little. What is useful is comparison: across the network, against last year, and between groups — newer franchisees against established ones, one region against another, multi-unit owners against single-site.
A network-wide dip in one area and three unhappy franchisees in one region are different problems, and they need different responses. Without the comparison you can't tell which one you have — and the loudest voice usually decides.
Anonymity matters more here than in any staff survey, because franchise networks are small enough that a narrow cut can point at individuals. A network of thirty franchisees can't be split by region and tenure at the same time without identifying people. So groups are only reported where there are enough franchisees in them to protect the people answering — which is also what makes franchisees willing to answer honestly in the first place.
The franchisees you hear from most don't speak for the whole network.
What happens once the answers are in
Our psychologists tell you what to keep doing, what needs attention, and who should act on it.
We analyse the results statistically and separate the areas of high satisfaction — the things to keep doing — from the areas of risk that need attention, then recommend what to change.
In a franchise network, those recommendations tend to split three ways: what your field team should do differently, what head office should change, and what to say to the network about the results.
That last part matters. Franchisees who answer and then hear nothing conclude the exercise was for head office's benefit, and answer accordingly next time. A summary of the findings and the actions that follow is usually enough; the detailed cuts by region and tenure are management information. Run periodically, the survey then shows whether the changes worked — and tells your franchisees you meant it.
The evidence behind it
Research on franchisees themselves, and a survey designed and analysed by psychologists.
Franchisee satisfaction has been studied in its own right. A study of 307 franchisees across four industries found that more satisfied franchisees performed better, were more committed to the system, got on better with their franchisor, and were more likely to stay. (Morrison, Journal of Small Business Management, 1997.) It treated franchisee satisfaction as a form of job satisfaction — the same basis this survey is built on.
Research also points to what drives it. A study of a convenience-store franchise system found that the franchisor's communication was central to franchisees' trust and overall satisfaction. (Chiou, Hsieh and Yang, Journal of Small Business Management, 2004.) In most networks, that communication runs through the field team.
Our satisfaction surveys are designed by organisational psychologists and analysed statistically rather than summarised by hand. Psych Press has developed and published psychometric instruments since 1995, in-house and in partnership with universities and international test publishers.
Who it suits, and who it doesn't
Networks that want a representative picture of how franchisees feel, before they need one.
It suits
Networks large enough to compare groups of franchisees; franchisors who want to hear from the whole network rather than its most vocal members; and networks about to ask franchisees to take up something new, where knowing the mood first matters.
It isn't built for
A very small network, where you can talk to every franchisee yourself and the numbers are too small to compare groups safely. Nor a disagreement with one franchisee, which needs a conversation, not a survey.
Where you want to know how your franchisees' staff feel, our climate and exit surveys ask them, and the culture survey shows how far each location has drifted from the way your brand means to work. When a franchisee decides not to renew, the exit survey can ask them why.
Frequently asked questions
Will franchisees answer honestly?
More honestly than they answer you, which is the point. The survey is run by someone outside the relationship, and responses are confidential, so nothing a franchisee says comes back attached to their name at their next field visit. Questions about specific, recent things also get more reliable answers than questions asking someone to rate a relationship in the abstract.
Can we tell which franchisees are unhappy?
No, and that is deliberate. The moment franchisees think their answers could be traced back to them, the honest ones stop answering honestly. What you get instead is where dissatisfaction sits — which groups, which regions, which parts of your support — and that tells your field team where to spend its time and what to talk about when it gets there.
Our field team already knows how the network feels. What does this add?
Coverage and comparability. Your field team knows a great deal about the franchisees who talk to them, and what it hears is shaped by what franchisees think is safe to say. A survey asks everyone the same questions, in confidence, so you can compare groups and see change over time.
Should we share the results with the network?
Usually a summary, yes. Share the headline findings and what you are going to do about them. The detailed cuts by region or tenure are management information, and most franchisors keep them that way.
How often should we run it?
Regularly rather than once, so you can see whether what you changed made a difference. How often depends on the size of the network and how much is changing in it; we will suggest a rhythm when we scope it.
What does it cost?
It depends on the size of the network, whether we use standard questions or build them for you, and whether it runs once or regularly. We scope it with you. The figure worth setting it against is a single non-renewal: a unit to re-sell, a territory to refill, and months of your development team's time.
Start a conversation with us
Tell us how you find out how your franchisees feel now, and roughly how many you have. We will tell you what we would ask, how we would report it, and what it would cost. A scoping call is free and carries no obligation — or send a message and we'll reply by email.
Or call us on +61 3 9670 0590.