WHAT ARE FEEDBACK LOOPS AND HOW CAN FRANCHISES DEVELOP THEM?

In order to maintain a successful franchise, it's important to develop feedback loops. What are feedback loops and how can they be used by franchises?

A feedback loop is the part of a system in which some portion (or all) of the system's output is used as input for future operations. Take, for example, customer or employee feedback. The feedback serves as an output of your products or services, which can then be fed back into the future development of the business, which you can then again capture feedback on and continue to iterate upon. The “A.C.A.F. Customer Feedback Loop” illustrates this process in detail:

Source: Hubspot.com

To be consistently successful, franchises must rely on the feedback from both customers and their franchise owners to develop or improve processes. It's important for franchises to distinguish between and separate these two feedback loops.

Customers vs Franchisees

Many franchises fall prey to confusing their franchisee needs with customer needs. This can lead to building products or services that do not actually satisfy the end customers' needs. When this happens, it creates a negative feedback loop in which the franchisee is unhappy and the customers are unsatisfied. To avoid this, franchises need to focus on collecting feedback from both customers and franchisees. By doing so, they can develop a positive feedback loop in which everyone is happy - the franchisees, and the customers.

Where to Start?

So, what are some ways that franchises can collect feedback? One way is to survey key customers who will help provide constructive and informative feedback. Polling the right clients with the right questions can provide valuable insight into questions such as:

• what should you offer?

• how should you price?

• what is most valuable to the end customers you’re selling to?

This can be done in person, via email, or even through social media. Another way to collect feedback is to hold focus groups with both customers and franchisees. This gives you a chance to hear directly from the people who are using your product or service and get their honest opinions. Finally, you can also use data analytics to track customer behavior and see where there might be room for improvement. Tools like Talkwalker, or Repustate specialize in sentiment analysis to analyze how the web is thinking about your brand. Transitiv is working to address tracking actions that lead to customer satisfaction with the new franchise intelligence FIT™ Platform.

No matter which method you choose, it's important to make sure that you're collecting feedback regularly. This way, you can always be sure you're building the products and services that will keep both your customers and franchisees happy.

What are some other ways that franchises can develop feedback loops? Share your thoughts in the comments

AUGUST 23, 2022