What is your vision for the future of your franchise? Could it be something like one of these?

• You have built a successful business of your own, and now you want to see it become a franchise and bring success to other people.
• You have created a product or service that has the potential to change the world, and you want to put the power of a franchise behind it.
• You want to make an inspiring contribution to improving people’s lives with a franchise that centers on health, exercise, and nutrition.
• You want to build a blockbuster franchise that will provide long-term security to your family.

Whatever your dream is for your franchise, I want to tell you a secret . . .

You are going to achieve that dream by training people

Training is the secret. It alone will empower your franchise to achieve critical building-block goals like these:

• Grow more quickly by improving employee performance in critical functions.
• Build profits by increasing sales, as measured by average sale size, closing rates and repeat business.
• Satisfy customers, as evaluated by your Net Promoter Score and other measures.
• Cultivate an inspiring brand that communicates your unique promise and helps it take life in the marketplace.
• Create a company that is known for customer and employee safety.
• Sell more franchises, because potential buyers want the security of joining a franchise that offers training that assures their success.
• Open new franchise locations more efficiently and quickly, and with greater success.
• Sell more by learning to use the marketing and advertising tools that your franchise provides.

 How Can You Develop and Deliver Training that Hits those Goals?

Identify the jobs and functions that will bring you the biggest payback if you train the people who perform them. Consider working with a team of experienced training designers who know what kind of training will improve those functions, and who also know how to deliver it.

But in this article, I would like to focus on another critical strategy that has the potential to make your franchise vision take flight . . .

Use a modern Learning Management System (LMS)

A full-featured LMS lets you take control of your training processes in ways that were impossible only a few short years ago. It puts you in control of what is happening in your franchise-wide training by allowing you instant access to a range of statistics like these:

• Training penetration. How many of your employees in each location have started training programs? How many of them have completed training?
• Training participation. How many employees do you have who are taking training, how many of them have completed certification programs, and which of those employees are contributing most to sales and profits?
• Training effectiveness. Which of your training programs is creating the greatest levels of improvement in employee performance, which can be measured by online customer reviews, repeat business, and other measurables?
• Training delivery What percentage of employees in every location are taking live training, computerized training in your company training center, or training on their phones? Which of those groups is most likely to complete training and achieve measurable performance improvements?
• Training’s impact on the bottom line. Which of your training programs are increasing sales and profits in locations where they have been used . . . and which are not?

If you measure factors like those before and after training, you can gain a deeper understanding of the impact that your training is having on your profits and operations.

Your LMS Can Energize Communications Too

Your LMS can automate training in amazing ways, offering new communications options that can include:

• Short weekly or monthly podcasts of key information that are emailed to all current and potential franchisees.
• Emails that remind employees to use the skills they learned in their training.
• Fun games that work like Jeopardy and other popular game shows that are emailed to all current and potential franchisees.

Training Is the Secret to Making Your Vision Come to Life

There is no mistake about it . . . training is the key to making your dream take life in the real world. Put the power of a modern LMS to

work for you and see how high it can fly.