How An Enterprise LMS Can Improve Your Franchise Training ROI

How An Enterprise LMS Can Improve Your Franchise Training ROI
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Summary: How do franchises manage the costs associated with training hundreds or thousands of employees across the country? By leveraging an enterprise LMS to deliver training quickly, consistently and affordably. Learn how eLearning will make your franchise training ROI soar!

How To Boost Franchise Training ROI With eLearning

Training your franchise is one of the most important aspects large-scale companies focus on. McDonald's, one of the world’s largest franchises, does business in more than 100 countries around the world [1]. This includes 37,241 stores, serving around 69 million people every day. So, how do they do it?

Their CEO, Steve Easterbrook, says it’s all about “strategic partners who share our values and vision to accelerate our growth and scale across diverse markets” [2]. The question is, how do franchises ensure that their partners (that’s suppliers, franchisees and even customers) understand their vision and promote their values? How do they create a community of brand ambassadors?

Some say the answer lies in an up-to-date and consistently delivered franchise training program. Any franchisor, though, will tell you that there are a few challenges to that. Especially when it comes to the ROI of training.

The Challenges Of Franchise Training

Franchise training is far from a novel idea. In fact, most (if not all) franchisors have a compulsory training program for new franchisees. And we can confidently say that many of them have experienced these 3 challenges at some stage of their journey.

Infrequent Learning Opportunities

More often than not, franchise learning takes place as a one- to a five-week course, covering key information about the brand, operations, and supply chain. The franchisee and a few of their staff might even learn a few practical skills, like how to operate machinery or use a CRM system.

This is probably a good start. But what happens when new products are launched, the brand vision changes or updated software is introduced? Not to mention that suppliers and new franchise employees need to be trained, too. The problem is, frequent partner training can be expensive, and tends to come with a host of logistical nightmares.

Logistical Nightmares

What makes a franchise, well, a franchise? Multiple stores located across a city, country, or even the world, definitely have something to do with it. But dispersed locations can be a logistical challenge for franchise training ROI.

This is because delivering traditional classroom-based training often requires travel, accommodation, catering, even stationery. Of course, there’s the instructor’s fee, too. All of this comes at a big cost. And this cost is a major downer on your ROI.

Inconsistency Across Locations

With 500 franchise employees or more, delivering consistent training can be a real challenge. This is particularly true for governance and compliance training, where the stakes are high. For example, an optometry franchise might need to educate its franchisees on new safety procedures to protect clients from harm, and also protect the company from legal trouble.

Of course, consistency is important for other training purposes, too, for instance, new products. For example, an insurance company that introduces a new policy would need all franchisees and their customer-facing employees to understand its details.

The tricky part is reaching all business partners and all of their employees with the same information, delivered in the same way and at the same time. The good news? Modern technology offers a solution to all of these challenges, as well as a boost to ROI for franchises.

Boost Your Learning ROI With An Enterprise LMS

Traditional classroom-based learning is only one part of successful franchise training. But, if you’d like to see your franchise training ROI head in an upward direction, it’s time to consider online franchise training with an enterprise LMS, like TalentLMS.

We’re going to give you the reasons why it's important to be backed up by real-life case studies. Let’s dive in.

Case Study 1: Saving Money By Saving Time

You already know that traditional classroom-based training takes time. And time is money. Every employee who spends time traveling to training is spending time away from work. This has a negative impact on their productivity.

The solution seems to be online, franchise training courses. This was the experience of Ernst & Young, who reduced training time by 35% when they introduced eLearning to their program. Online training saves time because employees get to learn at their own pace, rather than the pace of a large group.

Case Study 2: Cutting Costs On Training Logistics

What if you could reduce or eliminate the travel, venue and facilitation costs associated with on-site training workshops? Even better, what if reporting was automated and available on demand? This order isn’t as tall as it might seem.

By incorporating eLearning into their business training approach way back in 2000, Dow Chemical trained over 40,000 employees across 70 countries and saved around $2.7 million in the process [3]. A large portion of their savings was in training handouts, classroom facilities, and administration.

Now, their LMS is used to deliver online courses, like the Set Your Course program for distributor sales representatives in the U.S., without any of the usual logistic costs of on-site training.

Case Study 3: Improving Consistency And Frequency Of Learning

One of the most inspirational examples of improved franchise training ROI is Heartland Dental. What sets them apart is that they’ve shifted 90% of their training to an online environment.

The result? An $18.5 million saving in time and training costs, and consistently delivered courses designed to support doctors in their professional development. Thanks to a modern training approach, Heartland Dental is able to offer frequent and accessible learning opportunities to 875 affiliate doctors across the U.S.

Conclusion

It’s easy to see that a business-focused LMS is a must-have for improved franchise training ROI. Not only will training costs be reduced, but learning will become more frequent and consistent across stores, too. So, embrace eLearning in your franchise and ensure that you’re getting the most out of your LMS investment.

References:

  1. Franchising Overview
  2. McDonald’s Corporation Announces New Developmental Licensee for Its Business in Taiwan
  3. Dow Chemical: The World's Biggest Classroom
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