If you own a franchise you would be wise to stay in constant communication with your fellow and local franchisee counterparts. You should call up once a week and simply say; Hi. It is important to call up and just say hi to your fellow franchisees because it will remind them that you are always near by. You will get something positive out of the phone call such as:

A good lead

A streamlining technique

A way to handle a new employee

Someone who will listen

A time efficient way to attract new customers

A mistake which was made, that you can avoid

You can also talk about the worst customer of the week, The most ridiculous complaint of the year. Your fellow franchisee who normally cannot talk about such things will be glad to have someone listen to his story. The fellow franchisee might laugh and call her "the customer from hell." Business owners when they get in the room with other business owners often tell the stories like this at meetings. In franchising you have a built in group of folks who know exactly how you feel and what you are talking about. Customer from hell stories always get a laugh with the new franchisees. It is important to know what the other franchisees in your system, especially those in the region are doing. You should keep abreast of what your other franchisees are doing. For instance:

What major corporations are their customers

What government accounts do they service

How many employees are they running per shift

Who are their crew leaders

What kind of volume are they doing

When are they planning on going on vacation

Who are their family members; Etc.

These are very important because customers will come up to you and ask you questions about them. They might also make statements about the other franchisees. It's always nice when you know what they are talking about.

You can also use their major accounts for name dropping. It will help you in your sales. If you know how busy they are, you will also know if they can handle any more work or if they will be able to help you on a joint account. By knowing their names and family, you won't look uninformed when a customer engages you in conversation about them. Think about franchise team building, because in franchising it is about more than just a brand name, it is about team work.

"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs