Intranets 101: How Franchise Companies Can Make the Most of Their New 'Best Friend'

"What have you done for me lately?" - a familiar question franchisors consistently hear from their franchisees.

Franchisees have an insatiable appetite for information on how to better run their businesses. Yet no matter how much information and support you provide, they keep coming back for more; a good thing, considering your success is directly tied to their success.

Fortunately, today's technology offers a practical, cost-effective solution to satisfying franchisees' never ending desire for useful, up-to-date information to help them make the most of their business. Through the use of Intranet technology, franchise companies can provide franchisees with a 24-hour "lifeline" to virtually any information they might need for the business via a private, password protected website and support system.

In addition to providing a myriad of mission-critical business solutions, Intranets provide franchisors with freedom from worries of an overwhelming amount of franchisee issues and questions to resolve within the limits of the typical business day. In other words, why spoon-feed your franchisees information on a 9-5 basis when you can "post" valuable information accessible long after you've gone home? In an ideal world, franchisees would be able to always help themselves. With Intranet systems, that fantasy becomes reality.

In fact, today's Intranets are ideally suited to enhance communication and support between franchisors, franchisees, approved suppliers and company-owned locations. More than just secure sites where you can post the latest manuals, marketing materials, price lists and supplier information, today's Intranets are dynamic, content-driven sites that promote instant access to information and exchange of ideas. If communication is the key to building a successful franchise network, then Intranets are the key to building successful communication.

The key to implementing a successful Intranet support system for your franchise network does not lie in the technology itself. Rather, it lies in the manner in which the technology is applied. Online bulletin boards, quick polls, chat rooms and document forums are surprisingly simple to implement. The trick is to design a system that franchisees, suppliers and management actually use. Given the practical, political and legal elements inherent in the franchisor-franchisee-supplier relationship, this task is easier said than done.

Take it Slow
Having been involved in the development and implementation of Intranet support systems for approximately 90 franchise organizations over the past four years, I can tell you that when it comes to implementing Intranet strategies, a "phased" approach works best. Utilizing the "walk before you run" philosophy, franchisors should consider a "warm-up" period in which to establish a foundation of franchisee users and make them comfortable with basic web technology before introducing more sophisticated features. (Reminds me of the time I tried to make Jell-O gelatin out of a box when I was a kid. The instructions said to empty the powdered Jell-O into a pot, add water and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Then, the instructions said to place the super-hot liquid Jell-O into a mold and put it in the refrigerator for two hours. I figured I'd get to eating the Jell-O much faster if I simply bypassed the boiling water part and went directly from the box to the refrigerator. Alas, my Jell-O has been in a liquid, unformed state since 1968.) Like Jell-O, Intranets must appeal to franchisees before they will use them. You've only got one chance to get them onboard and make them true believers in technology. As such, implementing a phased Intranet strategy and sticking to the plan is often times the best way to gradually increase comfort levels, acceptance and greater Intranet usage one step at a time.

Three Elements of Intranet Success
To simply the process, I advise franchise companies to implement their Intranet strategy in three key phases: 1) Design and Development; 2) Initial Implementation; and 3) Ongoing Maintenance.

Here are some tips relative to each phase:

Making the most of design and development:

1. Obtain input from your franchisees. It's important to consider what your franchisees need when it comes to accessing information on your Intranet. That's why you should involve them in the design and development of some of the feature sets of your Intranet from the very beginning. Bring your most influential franchisees on board and/or consider seeking out your Franchise Advisory Council for input. These people are invaluable when it comes to determining the structure and content of your Intranet, and they can help promote your Intranet to other franchisees once it's up and running.

 

2. Incorporate networking capabilities. Consider incorporating private or group discussion forums into your Intranet that either allow franchisees to communicate with your support team privately, or share information, ideas and tips with other franchisees using a bulletin board or chat format.

 

3. Standardize as much as possible. Design your Intranet so that the only application required to access it is a major web browser like Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. (Your franchisees will typically have one or the other already.) In addition, consider posting documents on your Intranet in a common document format such as PDF (Portable Document Format) instead of Microsoft Word (or other program). That way, users will be able to view and print any PDF document using a free browser plug-in called Acrobat Reader, regardless of whether they have the application that was used to create the original document.

 

4. Incorporate a webmail section and preprogrammed user address book. For those franchisees that prefer individualized support outside of a bulletin board format, consider incorporating a built-in webmail module and preprogrammed user address book containing profiles of your corporate team, as well as franchisees and approved suppliers. Tie in the module to a central log that can verify receipt of messages transmitted through the system.

 

5. Develop a User Policy agreement. Before you even begin to think about rolling out your Intranet, you need to develop a user policy agreement that provides guidelines on how your system can be used. You may want to notify users upfront that this is your Intranet that you own and control, and point out that personal attacks, defamatory language, or unproductive commentary is not accepted. Further, you will want to state that you have the right to remove a user's access to one or more sections of your Intranet in the event your user policy agreement or franchise agreement is in breach. It's a good idea to require that your users sign and return the user policy statement in advance of receiving their password access to your Intranet.

 

6. Keep it simple. Keep in mind the basic philosophy that "you shouldn't have to read a manual in order to access the manual." Simple navigation and ease-of-use is critical to an Intranet system's success. Use icons whenever possible. Understand that the average franchisee simply wants to access information they need as quickly and easily as possible.

Instituting careful implementation:

1. Form a Beta Test Committee. Consider forming a Beta Test Committee consisting of influential Franchise Advisory Council members and/or individual franchisees who would be the first to access your Intranet to provide feedback on its features and overall application. You'll score big political points by involving these franchisees in discussions relating to "how" and "when" to roll-out your system to the remainder of your franchise network. Plus, they will be able to assist you in promoting your Intranet to users who may initially be reluctant to go online.

 

2. Promote your Intranet. Consider debuting your Intranet at your regional meeting or national convention. Take the opportunity to show how simple the system is to access and navigate. More importantly, take the time to show franchisees how "they" will benefit from the system. Use signs, posters and memos to regularly inform users regarding the "wealth" of information available 24/7 on your Intranet. Provide reluctant franchisees with testimonials of franchisees who are regular users of your Intranet. Conduct initial contests and giveaways for users who log in the most times and/or utilize the system for key support.

 

3. Bring in the "big guns". Franchisors who have high-level sponsorship report much higher initial adoption rates. An email, memo or speech by the CEO introducing your Intranet and its features lends tremendous credibility. More importantly, it forces management to start using their computers, some for the very first time.

 

4. Post valuable information. Place "vital" documents and information on your Intranet and only your Intranet. Phone directories, price lists, employee vacation schedules, company events, operations manuals, marketing materials and newsletters should all be available on the Intranet and nowhere else.

 

5. Roll out in groups. Consider rolling out your Intranet to limited groups of franchisees at first. Sign up franchisees by region, state or related concept first so that they will immediately be able to network with like-minded franchisees. This will also allow you to handle the volume of users in phases as they gradually come online.

Maintenance: an ongoing process

 

1. Keep adding meaningful content. To encourage frequent franchisee Intranet visits, add meaningful content on a regular basis. In addition to operations manual updates, consider posting regular news items, announcements, regional sales reports, online training courses, quick polls and even a "quote of the day" or "tip of the day" from the CEO or other franchisees.

 

2. Promote topic-oriented online discussions. Promote new and helpful topic-oriented discussions each month utilizing a shared bulletin board or chat format. Focus franchisees on a specific topic such as "New Product Ideas" or "Generating New Customers - What works for you?" or "Topics you'd like to discuss at our upcoming convention." Keep the number of topics available at any one time to a minimum (perhaps 2 or 3) and substitute new topic-oriented bulletin boards or chat areas every few weeks, or after they've run their course.

 

3. 'Byte' your lip. Don't jump into an online chat or bulletin board at the first sign of trouble. Most franchisors are weary of allowing franchisees to network using a live chat or bulletin board format because they feel that one franchisee's negative comments could insight negative comments from all franchisees. However, in 99 percent of the cases when a franchisee posts a negative or critical comment, as long as you bite your lip and hold off responding yourself, other franchisees jump in and rebuff the initial franchisee's negative comment. Believe me, if you hold off jumping in with an immediate retort and/or refrain from deleting the user's comment, other franchisees will come to your aid.

 

4. Evolve your Intranet. Take the opportunity to develop new features based on franchisee input. In the beginning, franchisees will be impressed with the fact that all of the manuals, vendor information and newsletters are online and in color. Later, however, franchisees will need new features to keep them coming back for more. Consider an online chat or bulletin board called "New Intranet Features You Would Like" and note the features that generate the greatest response. Work with your programming team to incorporate useful new features that add value to your system and consider debuting new features at your regional meetings or annual convention. When you do introduce new features, milk them for all they're worth.

 

5. Promote third party participation. Once your franchisees are online, consider granting industry experts or approved suppliers restricted access to your Intranet. Doing so will allow these "outsiders" the ability to sponsor a discussion forum with your franchisees or purchase a banner advertisement to promote their products or services.

Technology is changing our world and revolutionizing the franchise industry. So say hello to your new best friend: the Intranet system. Embrace it with all you can, and you and your franchisees alike will reap the rewards 100 percent, including an increased bottom line.

About the author: Daniel P. Martin is founder and president of IFX Online.com, the leading applications service provider for franchisor-franchisee communications systems. Martin has 18 years of franchise structuring and management experience (including hands-on experience as a franchisee) and five years of Intranet development and hosting experience. Since debuting its Intranet system in 1996, IFX has built, developed and hosted systems for more than 90 franchise organizations.