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Author: Evan Hackel

A dynamic, innovative, thoughtful and inspiring leader with 30 years of experience in franchising, distributed networks and cooperatives. Successful history of: (i) turning around a $700 million distressed franchise system into a $2.0 billion revenue business in four years, (ii) reviving and re-energizing a $3.5 billion revenue franchisor and (iii) founding three franchise systems. Experienced corporate board member.

Currently, a consultant to some of the largest franchise systems in North America. A franchise industry leader, widely published, keynote speaker, member of the New England Franchise Association Board, and Co-chair of the International Franchise Associations Knowledge Share Task Force.|A dynamic, innovative, thoughtful and inspiring leader with 30 years of experience in franchising, distributed networks and cooperatives. Successful history of: (i) turning around a $700 million distressed franchise system into a $2.0 billion revenue business in four years, (ii) reviving and re-energizing a $3.5 billion revenue franchisor and (iii) founding three franchise systems. Experienced corporate board member.

Categories
Advice Leadership Strategy

New Leadership Ideas Shaping the Business Landscape

Leadership concepts continually evolve as organizations navigate fresh challenges and opportunities. In recent times, several innovative leadership ideas have surfaced, gaining momentum in the business realm. Here’s an overview of some of the latest trends.

Purpose-Driven Leadership

Purpose-driven leadership centers around aligning an organization’s mission, values, and objectives to make a positive impact on the world. Leaders adopting this approach focus on instilling a sense of meaning and purpose for employees, customers, and stakeholders. The rising popularity of purpose-driven leadership reflects a growing desire to work for organizations committed to societal and environmental well-being.

Agile Leadership

Agile leadership emphasizes flexibility, adaptability, and responsiveness. Leaders embracing this style empower their teams to make swift decisions in response to changing market conditions or customer needs. Well-suited for dynamic environments, agile leadership fosters a culture that thrives on quick and effective action.

Inclusive Leadership

Inclusive leadership aims to create a diverse and inclusive workplace where all employees feel valued and supported. Leaders practicing inclusive leadership build relationships with individuals from diverse backgrounds, fostering a culture of respect, openness, and the encouragement of diverse perspectives. The appeal of this approach lies in the recognized benefits of a diverse workforce, including heightened innovation and improved financial performance.

Authentic Leadership

Authentic leadership involves leading from a foundation of self-awareness and emotional intelligence. Leaders who embrace authenticity prioritize honesty, transparency, and vulnerability, striving to build genuine relationships with their employees. This approach gains popularity as employees seek leaders they can trust and relate to.

Servant Leadership

Servant leadership emphasizes meeting the needs of employees, customers, and stakeholders. Leaders adopting this style empower and support their teams, providing resources, guidance, and removing obstacles hindering optimal performance. The growing popularity of servant leadership stems from the acknowledged benefits of prioritizing the needs of others, including increased employee engagement and loyalty.

Ingaged Leadership

Ingaged Leadership, a philosophy developed over 30 years, encourages individuals in an organization to become personally and deeply invested in the enterprise. It goes beyond giving directions or leading by example, fostering a profound connection to the organizational mission. Ingaged Leadership has demonstrated significant effectiveness in enhancing profitability and success.

For a deeper understanding of Ingaged Leadership, I recommend reading my latest book, Ingaging Leadership: The Ultimate Edition.

Conclusion

These emerging leadership ideas prioritize relationship-building, positive impact creation, and prioritizing others’ needs. As organizations confront new challenges and opportunities, these innovative leadership concepts offer fresh perspectives on leading teams and driving success.

Categories
Best Practices Sales Training Skills

Is Remote Training Putting Your Company Data at Risk?

 

By Evan Hackel

Data security has come a long way since December 2005, right? That was the month when somebody popped open a car trunk and stole a laptop that contained the records of 230,000 Ameriprise Financial customers.  Suddenly, data security became a big concern, executives heard the word “firewall” for the first time, and companies scrambled to protect themselves.

But how much has computer security really improved? You have to wonder. Only a few years ago, the records of 74,000 current and former Coca-Cola employees were compromised when laptops were stolen from company headquarters in Atlanta.

That’s really bad. But the most pressing question is, how secure is your company data? And because we are a training company, we need to ask . . .

Are your training platforms exposing your company to attacks from hackers?

It’s a troubling question, especially if you deliver training to employees in multiple locations:

  • Your trainees are logging onto Wi-Fi in Starbucks and other public places across the country. Does that expose you to risk?
  • You’ve got a powerful new distributed system that lets employees do their training on their smartphones. But is that safe? What if one of your trainees loses a phone? Does that put your company data at risk?
  • You maintain stringent security in company headquarters, but what’s going on in your regional offices? Can you be sure that laptops and workstations are secure? Remember the hard lesson that Coke learned when company laptops were lifted in Atlanta.

Proactive Steps to Take

It’s reassuring to know there are ways to make sure remote laptops, tablets and phones do not give hackers access to your company data. Here are some defenses to keep in mind:

  • Remember, the cloud can be a great defense. When your training materials reside in the cloud – in effect, on servers that are maintained by your training company, not by you in house – it is virtually impossible for hackers to use them as entry-points to get into your company’s servers or company records. And if your training modules are organized in separate “silos” so that trainees can access only one training area at a time, you have even more security.
  • Be sure that trainees are using two-step encrypted passwords to log into your system. “Two-step” means that each trainee must enter two individual credentials to start training – such as a username and a strong password that passes muster. “Encrypted” means that the username and password are “scrambled” so they cannot easily be copied over Wi-Fi or by remote hackers. Also, let trainees know that they are required to log off as soon as they complete different training units. That prevents phone thieves from stealing phones and having easy access to your training materials.
  • Make sure robust security protocols are being followed in all company locations. You know your company and its structure better than we do, so you know the obstacles you might be facing in this area.  To make sure that protocols are followed, you might have to deliver regular security training to divisional or regional supervisors. You might also need to have your training director take on the role of security officer by making sure that company security directives are being followed.

Prevention Is Better than Fixing a Breach

One certain thing is that it is much better to take preemptive steps to protect your security than it is to repair the damage after a breach has taken place. When selecting a training development company for distributed training, the best course is to choose one with the expertise to build security defense into your plans from day one.

Categories
Human Resources

Training Smarts: What Kind of Bilingual Training Do You Need?

 

At first glance, you might think that designing bilingual training is simple. You have a workforce that speaks both English and another language, so you make sure your training materials are offered in two languages.

But the fact is that if you are a training director at your company, there are several kinds of bilingual training you should know about. Each tries to accomplish a different goal, and each requires a different kind of training design. Here’s a quick overview . . .

Bilingual Training Type 1: OSHA-Mandated Safety Training for Spanish-Speaking Workers

If your business requires workers to comply with OSHA-mandated standards for job safety and some of your workers speak primarily Spanish, it is your company’s responsibility to offer them Spanish-language training. Another way of saying this is that if OSHA compliance inspectors visit your company and find violations, you can’t defend yourself by saying that you believed you only had to provide safety training in English. To learn more about OSHA-required training, CLICK HERE.

Bilingual Training Type 2: Training for Workers Who Will Use Two Languages on the Job

This is required if you’re training employees who will have to speak two languages – Spanish and English or French and English, etc. – in order to perform their jobs. These workers could be customer-service representatives, call center personnel, retail salespeople and all other employees who need to be fluent in two languages. Designing training programs for these functionally bilingual employees requires a thorough assessment of the demands of the job, the development of a working job-related vocabulary of terms to be used when performing the job, and more.

Bilingual Training Type 3: Technical Training for Employees Who Will Continue to Speak their First Languages on the Job

You need this kind of training if you have technical skills to teach but do not require employees to speak English extensively on the job. If you’re training native Spanish or French-speaking employees to assemble products or pick orders in your warehouse, for example, your priority is to create excellent training materials that teach the right skills in the language they understand.  As you can see, this kind of training will look and function differently from the Type 2 training that we described above.

Bilingual Training Type 4: Bilingual Training Designed to Teach Employees to Perform their Jobs Primarily in English

This type of training teaches native speakers of foreign languages to speak English with your customers. For example, you are hiring a number of healthcare workers from the Caribbean who speak Creole French and would like them to be able to speak English with your clients and patients. One focus of this kind of training is developing a working vocabulary of English terms and phrases that they will need to use when doing their jobs.

About Evan Hackel, Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker, Podcaster

 

A 30-year franchise veteran. Evan is the leader behind the launch of three successful franchise businesses. Evan managed a portfolio of franchise brands with systemwide sales surpassing $5 billion in five different countries. Dive into the world of “Ingaged Leadership,” a concept Evan not only coined but passionately advocates for. For the budding minds, his illuminating book, Ingaging Leadership Meets the Younger Generation, bridges the generational leadership divide. Recognized and revered in leadership circles, Evan’s insights have positioned him as a trailblazer in leadership and success.

 

Evan is the CEO of Ingage Consulting, a leading franchise consulting firm focusing on growing franchise systems. Reach Evan at (781) 820-7609 or ehackel@ingage.net

 

 

Categories
Sales Training Skills

How to Sell Many More Franchises by Investing Just a Litle More Time

By Evan Hackel

Do you want to sell more franchises? Of course you do.

But do you know what is stopping potential buyers from signing up for your franchise? The problem is probably that you are too eager to close the deal. You are desperate to get a commission, you are impatient to welcome that new buyer into your family, you might even be hungry to get your hands on the money they invest.

Those motivations are natural, only human. The problem is, they are scaring away the prospects who can smell your desperation from a mile away.

People buy franchises when they have a dream of a better life that matches the dream that you sell them about your franchise.

Let me repeat . . . When the client’s dream matches the dream you are selling, then you have a match made in heaven and a likely sale.

So the key is to help the prospective buyer to create a vivid, emotional personal dream that is in sync with what you have to offer. Let’s explore how you can make that happen.

Why that Dream Match Rarely Happens

Too often, we start a sales conversation with a five or 10-minute chat in which we barely scratch the surface about what a prospect is hoping to achieve by buying your franchise. Those conversations typically go like this:

• “Why do you want to own a franchise?” we ask. And the prospect replies, “I want to be my own boss” or, “I want to be in business for myself.”

• “What kind of franchise are you thinking about?” we ask. The prospect answers. “I want to own a gym, I have always been into fitness.” We then move quickly into describing our offer. And here’s a little secret. At this moment, the prospect’s eyes are glazing over. Just when you want him or her to be most excited about learning about your franchise, his or her mind is wandering.

Here Is the Better Way

Instead of spending only five or 10 minutes scratching the surface, spend at least 30 minutes digging deeper. Ask them about their passions, their fears, their hopes, their dreams. Get them to open up and share their stories, their feelings, their fantasies. Make them laugh, make them cry, make them feel something. Then, and only then, show them how your franchise can make their dreams come true.

Categories
Advice Human Resources

How to Free People So They Learn More from Training

It’s a common misconception that employees will enjoy training because it gives them a chance to kick back and get away from their desks. But in reality, your training is probably causing conflicts like these for your trainees:

  • “I get 100 emails before lunch every day, some of them critically important… what am I supposed to do, just disappear during training?”
  • “I’m onboarding three new associates this week… and I’m expected to go sit in a classroom all day long?”
  • “I’m hoping to close a big sale next week… and my company expects me to go to another state for training?”

You get the idea. Training can cause conflicts for executives, middle managers, salespeople, front-line staffers, and just about everyone else. If you don’t address the problem, you’re only causing people to resent training before it even begins, and to resist it even more after it starts. But there are ways to resolve the conflict.

Here are some proactive and humorous ways to resolve conflicts between work and training:

  1. Ask Employees to Help Design the Training that Will Work Best for Them: Do your middle managers really want to travel away from their home offices? Do your salespeople want to leave their territories and sit in meetings without immediate access to incoming phone calls? There are alternatives. Videoconferencing can let you run a virtual group training class for only an hour a day, for example. Interactive online training can allow salespeople, customer service people, and other staffers to fit training in and around their other work. And you can mix and match different delivery systems to minimize the conflict between learning and work.
  2. Help Trainees Stay on Top of Work During Live Sessions: Have you ever been in training classes where attendees are secretly checking their mobile devices and hoping nobody will notice? Everybody becomes irritated – the trainer and the trainees too. But there are some straightforward ways to help trainees stay on top of work during live sessions. For example, you can encourage trainees to take notes on their laptops or tablets, or you can provide them with a list of tasks they can work on during breaks.
  3. Use Humor to Break the Ice: Humor can be a powerful tool for breaking the ice and getting people to open up. You can use humor to lighten the mood during training sessions, or you can use it to help trainees feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. For example, you can start a training session with a funny video or cartoon, or you can use a humorous anecdote to illustrate a point.

Remember, training doesn’t have to be a chore. By taking a proactive and humorous approach, you can help your trainees get the most out of their training experience and minimize conflicts between work and learning.

 

Categories
Human Resources Operations

Don’t Let Great Young Ideas Slip through Your Fingers!

An excerpt from my new book Ingaging Leadership: The Ultimate Guide

An executive I know hired a young woman for his marketing department and put her to work managing some current campaigns. He found out 18 months later that she was a bona fide expert about marketing on social media—she practically lived on social media. She could have brought so much more to her new employer from day one, yet that extra value went completely untapped for a year and a half.

Call that knowledge loss, call it money wasted, or call it something worse. Whatever you call it, it’s bad. How did it happen? Since I don’t work for that company I can’t say for sure, but it was presumably because the top executives there were all Baby Boomers. It likely never occurred to them that a new younger generation worker had ideas they needed to hear.

Is your management failing to acknowledge the contributions of younger workers? If it is, here are some steps to take to be sure you’re discovering and tapping into the unique insights and skills your younger workers possess.

  • Strategy One: Uncover hidden skills during the recruiting process. It’s a mistake to screen job applicants by only saying, “Here’s what you’ll have to do on the job…can you cut it?” Instead, ask questions like, “We’re recruiting a team to market our new app—what do you think we need to do?” Or, “We are currently using the XYZ platform to track ad usage in our franchise locations—do you know of anything better?” To use a Zen kind of paradigm, be the student, not the teacher. The things you learn could be very valuable indeed.
  • Strategy Two: Invite comments and ideas during new employee training. Training is an ideal time to ask new hires important questions like, “How strong do you think our brand is” or, “Do our competitors do something better than we do?” If you ask questions like those, you let new employees know that you are a company that values honest and open input, and training is the place to do it. After an employee begins working for you, he or she may want to communicate big ideas only to a supervisor, where they could potentially die. Or worse, he or she might never voice those big ideas at all.
  • Strategy Three: Get some reverse mentoring going. Reverse mentoring has become popular in many organizations. The idea of reverse mentoring is usually to have an older executive mentored about technology by a younger, tech-savvy employee. I would recommend widening that lens and having younger workers keep your senior executives up to speed on things like marketplace trends, new products that have entered the marketplace, and news about “hot” competing companies. The wider you can cast your net for ideas from young employees, the more you benefit.
  • Strategy Four: Reward the big ideas and information that younger the generation brings. If an employee delivers a valuable piece of information to you, offer recognition, feedback, or increased responsibilities. Treat it like gold. If you don’t, that bright young mind is likely to think, “Why should I tell my company anything? They ignored me the last time I did.” It’s up to you to offer the recognition that keeps information flowing.

Remember that younger associates have ideas, information, and skills that you need. Are you listening to them? If you aren’t—let’s face it—the fault lies with you. Open the doors, let the information in, and watch your company improve in ways you could never imagine.

Categories
Growth

How to Sell Franchises in the Post-Covid Era

 

By Evan Hackel

The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted many aspects of life and business, but it did not change the core reasons why people buy franchises. If you want to attract and convince potential franchisees, you need to understand their motivations and adapt your sales strategies to the new reality.

The Four Main Motivations of Franchise Buyers

People who buy franchises are looking for four things:

  • Profitability: They want to make money from a proven business model that has a strong market demand and a competitive edge. You need to show them how your franchise concept can generate a high return on investment and a steady cash flow.
  • Passion: They want to enjoy what they do and be proud of their business. They want to align their personal values and interests with a brand that they love and respect. You need to show them how your franchise concept can fulfill their passion and purpose.
  • Protection: They want to reduce the risk of owning a business and avoid common pitfalls. They want to benefit from your expertise, guidance, and support. You need to show them how your franchise concept can provide them with comprehensive training, a reliable system, and a responsive network.
  • Partnership: They want to join a community of like-minded entrepreneurs who share their vision and goals. They want to collaborate and learn from other franchisees and franchisors. You need to show them how your franchise concept can connect them with a culture of trust and teamwork.

The New Challenges and Opportunities of Franchise Sales

The pandemic has changed the way people communicate and interact. You can no longer rely on traditional face-to-face meetings and events to sell your franchise concept. You need to leverage technology and create virtual experiences that can engage and persuade potential franchisees.

Here are some tips to sell franchises in the post-Covid era:

  • Use multiple channels: Reach out to potential franchisees through various platforms, such as social media, email, webinars, podcasts, and online ads. You need to create consistent and compelling messages that showcase your brand value and differentiation.
  • Create interactive content: Provide potential franchisees with relevant and useful information that can answer their questions and address their concerns. You need to create interactive content, such as videos, quizzes, surveys, and testimonials, that can capture their attention and interest.
  • Offer personalized solutions: Understand the needs and goals of potential franchisees and tailor your solutions to their specific situations. You need to offer personalized solutions, such as financial assistance, flexible terms, and customized support, that can meet their expectations and preferences.
  • Build trust and rapport: Establish a relationship with potential franchisees and make them feel valued and respected. You need to build trust and rapport, such as by using video calls, sending handwritten notes, and giving feedback, that can foster a sense of connection and loyalty.

 

Categories
Skills

Powerful Delegation Strategies for Franchise Success

 

By Evan Hackel

Delegation is a fundamental skill for all successful business professionals. However, I contend that it is especially critical for franchise owners aiming to manage multiple franchise locations while ensuring their overall success and growth.

Many franchise owners struggle with delegation. They often follow a familiar pattern:

  1. Starting Small: An owner begins by purchasing a single franchise and invests significant effort to make it thrive. This hands-on approach becomes ingrained as they continue to closely oversee every aspect of the business.
  2. Scaling Challenges: Transitioning from a sole location owner to managing several or many franchises can be daunting. Even within a single location, growth can pose similar difficulties.
  3. The Supervisor’s Dilemma: As the business expands, one supervisor cannot be everywhere. At this juncture, the owner faces a crucial decision: hire competent employees, trust them, and delegate responsibilities.
  4. Shifting Supervision Styles: The same hands-on supervision that led to initial success must evolve. Effective delegation requires relinquishing some control.

Steps Toward Successful Delegation

  1. Define Roles Clearly: Before hiring, establish a clear vision for each role. Are you hiring someone to open new locations, manage staffing (HR), or oversee retail and sales? Seek individuals with relevant experience, aptitude, and skills for specific tasks.
  2. Choose Delegatable Individuals: Look for candidates who embrace input and suggestions. During interviews, assess their attitude. Will they be open to delegation?
  3. Effective Communication: Ensure candidates understand instructions promptly. Effective listeners who grasp expectations quickly are valuable. And remember that if you have to repeat instructions, that can lead to micromanagement.
  4. Training and Trust: Provide comprehensive training in critical job skills. Once confident in your team’s abilities, loosen your grip on details. Shift focus from working in the business to working on its expansion.

Remember, successful delegation empowers growth and frees you to tackle broader business challenges.

 

Categories
Human Resources Operations

Why Your Bottom Line Depends on Your Front Line

How do you get the right things to happen on your front line? Here are three critically important steps to take.

First, Hire the Right People

You need to hire front-line people who are friendly and outgoing. But you also need to identify – and screen for – the specific traits, aptitudes and skills that your front-line people need to have. Simply hiring high-potential people is not enough.

Second, Provide Effective Training

When many companies plan their training for front-line employees, they list dozens and dozens of skills they want to teach, then they design training that covers them all. That’s logical, but it usually doesn’t work. If you try to convey too many “must have” skills or information, your employees will feel overwhelmed and, in many cases, will learn hardly anything.

Instead, pinpoint a small number of critical tasks and skills and focus on them first. Maybe the cashiers in your store should look up and greet customers when they enter. Or perhaps the service writers in your car dealership should learn good listening skills so they can focus on what customers are telling them. If you focus on the most critical skills first, you can then move on to “nice to haves” and get a bigger ROI on your training.

Also consider using blended training. In a store setting, for example, that can mean having salespeople go online to take training, then take classes to reinforce the fundamentals that they need, then work one-on-one with a supervisor or manager who says, “Let me take you over to the cash register, and let’s see how you can apply what you learned.” Well-designed blended training teaches lessons that “stick” with your front-line staff.

Third, Develop Metrics and Measure the Results of Your Training

To make sure your training is moving the needle, you need to know what you will measure and how you will measure it. You can measure how effectively employees are using the most important skills you taught them, or you can keep an eye on reviews that your customers are posting online. You can also look for changes in your Net Promoter Score.

 

Categories
Best Practices

Tapping the Formidable Power of Intrinsic Motivation

by Evan Hackel

Intrinsic motivation, at its core, is the drive to engage in work beyond external rewards; it’s about finding joy, satisfaction, and value in the task itself. This sense of internal fulfillment fuels individuals to perform their best, not for a pay raise or a promotion, but because they genuinely enjoy what they do and find it meaningful. This contrasts with extrinsic motivation, driven by tangible rewards or avoiding punishments. Both have their place in an organization. However, research has consistently shown that when employees are intrinsically motivated, they produce higher quality work, exhibit greater creativity, and have higher levels of job satisfaction.

Building an Intrinsic Motivation Ecosystem

Creating an environment conducive to intrinsic motivation is a central element of Ingaged leadership. The core of this ecosystem rests on three pillars: autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

Autonomy

Autonomy is about giving employees control over their work decisions. This sense of freedom is a powerful motivator. When employees feel they have agency, they take ownership of their tasks and become dedicated to producing quality results. Autonomy fosters a sense of trust between leadership and staff, reinforcing the belief that employees are competent and capable. Implementing autonomy might mean giving teams the freedom to decide their work methods, allowing flexible work schedules, or entrusting individuals with significant projects.

Mastery

Mastery refers to gaining comprehensive knowledge or skill in a subject or task. An Ingaged leader should encourage continuous learning and skill development. This could involve facilitating access to professional development courses, encouraging knowledge sharing within the team, or creating a work environment where making mistakes is seen as a part of the learning process. As employees gain mastery, they derive satisfaction from their growth and competence, which further fuels their intrinsic motivation.

Purpose

A sense of purpose, understanding how one’s work contributes to the broader organizational goals, is a crucial element of intrinsic motivation. It involves showing employees the “big picture,” how their work is essential in the grand scheme of things. To foster a sense of purpose, leaders should regularly communicate the organization’s mission and vision and articulate how each team’s efforts contribute to these objectives. When employees perceive their work as meaningful and impactful, their passion and motivation are kindled intrinsically.

About Evan Hackel

As author, speaker, and entrepreneur, Evan Hackel has been instrumental in launching more than 20 businesses and has managed a portfolio of brands with systemwide sales of more than $5 billion.  He has spent most of his career in the franchising and cooperative space. He has consulted with some of the largest and smallest franchises and cooperatives in the world.  He is the creator of the Ingaged Leadership concept.