Building Organizational Trust with Franchise Communication Software

As with any relationship, the keys to effective franchise partnerships are trust and communication. Today’s post explain how FranchiseSoft’s franchise communication software helps you build both for better strategic and operational performance.

Research shows the value of strong franchise communications

A new study by the Management Decision journal highlights the power of quality franchise communication software.

In this report, Fernández-Monroy et al. (2018) sought to determine the influence that internal communications and trust had on the satisfaction and performance of franchise partnerships.

According to the authors, the purpose of their study was “to propose a conceptual model for building successful franchise partnerships” (Fernández-Monroy et al., 2018, p. 1051). The conceptual model they proposed was uncontroversial: basically, they posited that franchises with healthier communication and greater trust would perform better than those without.

To test their hypothesis, researchers first analyzed the quality of the relationship that the franchisor maintained with their franchisees and suppliers. A mail survey of 592 franchises was conducted. Franchisors filled out structured, self-administered questionnaires, and researchers collected, synthesized, and analyzed the data using structural equation modeling (Fernández-Monroy et al., 2018).

Results indicated that communication between franchisors and franchisees is strongly related to high levels of trust, which in turn is related to high levels of relationship satisfaction. More importantly, Fernández-Monroy et al. (2018) concluded that “developing satisfactory relationships between partners improved strategic and operational franchise outcomes” (p. 1051).

These findings build on previous research on the link between trust and performance, which had previously been deemed “plausible but not proven” (Sako, 2006).

Put simply, better communications between franchisor and franchisee leads to greater trust and stronger professional relationships, which in turn increases satisfaction and performance.

Building organizational trust at the executive level

Science says that communication builds trust in franchise partnerships, and trust enhances performance. So how do you go about it?

Franchise communication software is a strong start. We offer a number of features that help franchisors enhance trust and communication with franchisees. You can see them all in our demo. But here’s a taste:

Centralized communications.

Make calls, compose emails, or send SMS messages from a single dashboard. All incoming messages can also be accessed from this dashboard, which means you can reduce your response time without frantically cycling through phone checks, email inbox refreshes, or social media log-ins to stay on top of all channels. Easily log correspondence from here in case you need to refer back in the future. In and of itself, this feature will do wonders for improving internal communications and making your franchisees feel like help is always just a few clicks away.

Powerful support service.

Let franchisees know that their problems matter to you with FranchiseSoft support. All support requests are directed to a secure help desk that is organized by a powerful ticketing system. Frequent tasks such as ticket assignment and closure are automated so your support staff can free up their faculties for more intensive problem-solving. And franchisees can also access FAQs, instructional videos, manuals, and step-by-step procedures while they wait for support. There’s no way to build organizational trust than by offering help to those in need–especially when franchise support is often a major selling point for franchisors.

Book a free franchise communication software demo

The best way to understand what our franchise communication software can do for you is to see it in action. If you’d like to learn more, book a free demo by calling 888-302-3676 or visiting our website now.

References

Fernández-Monroy, M., Martín-Santana, J. D., & Galván-Sánchez, I. (2018). Building successful franchise partnerships: The importance of communication and trust. Management Decision, 56(5), 1051-1064.

Sako, M. (2006). Does trust improve business performance? Organizational trust: A reader, 267-294.