Managing a franchise business successfully today takes the skills of a top salesperson, an accountant, an operations manager, and a marketing guru all at the same time. Fast-growing franchises require new unit operators and experienced chain executives to simultaneously manage data from multiple sources while hitting proforma objectives.
But following a franchise system’s standardized business procedures and operating KPIs to increase profitability is often difficult in a post-COVID-19 world. And if the past year has taught businesses anything it’s this: you must make decisions quickly and you must know your numbers.
One way franchises can increase their operational success and minimize location failure is through the use of automated decision intelligence.
What is decision intelligence?
Decision intelligence is defined as the integration of experiential knowledge, managed data science, and best-practice decision theory to create a framework on what to do—and not to do—day-to-day in an operating franchise.
As technology science usage continues to expand in the franchise market, its integration into the system success factors that are linked to human experience supplies the highest level of franchise training and education when it is needed most. Field training managers provide important franchise engagement, but they’re not able to help when decisions need to be made in the now. Franchisees need real-time, proactive advisement systems that can simultaneously process large amounts of data, best practice KPIs, and organizational experience in a simplified, easy-to-understand format.
Decision intelligence solves business problems by balancing data, benchmarks, and the human experience. Focusing on one of these drivers as an isolated operating influence minimizes its overall capacity to help.
Automated data collection without analysis, consolidation, and franchise system playbook integration is just wasted thought.
5 Ways to Use Decision Science to Increase Franchise Success
1. Make sure your decisions science model operates in real-time.
Understand that if your data is not available in real-time, it’s already too late. Post analysis of action step decisions is a rear-view mirror action model. Educational and helpful yes, but only useful for the next decision.
2. Buy best-of-breed franchise applications instead of a single software suite.
As franchise organizations expand their universe of technology vendor partnerships, buying one company’s suite of applications reduces your ability to maximize your ROI because you are not investing in best-in-class software. No franchise management software company today sells the best franchise management system, accounting, CRM, royalty management, or sales support platform.
Using a decision science model to help your franchisees to be more successful means being software independent. The best franchise organizations use holistic decision intelligence systems that are agnostic, allowing them to select the best software for all of their operational needs, both today and five years from today.
3. Build human playbooks and visual automated coaching platforms with your franchisees.
When implementing decision science programs in your franchise system, make sure you integrate your data collection and decision theory KPI models with your franchisee human experience. Your systems should help create a proforma playbook that is operationally useful and visually understandable to the average franchisee. Building franchise success systems that no one uses is a wasted investment.
4. Franchise success models must be adaptable—when deploying a decision intelligence approach, always be agile and open to change.
Managing a franchise means being agile. Your model and systems must be able to grow and change with you as your market and business evolve. Best practices direction, proforma comparison reviews, financial statement analysis, real-time coaching instruction, and human facilitation require adaptability and flexibility.
5. Combine decision intelligence systems with one-to-one, personalized training programs to maximize your ROI and franchise success.
Independent studies have shown that when you deploy educational coaching systems and training platforms, you should simultaneously implement a one-to-one support program that works in tandem with the automated, gained knowledge. You shouldn’t only depend on the decision intelligence system, but instead, use it as a packaged tool in collaboration with your franchise system in-office training and in-field training manager.
Franchise organizations are complex and constantly evolving. In order to be successful, you need overarching decision intelligence systems that are easy to understand, adaptable, and can interact with all of your existing—and future—software. Using these systems will help you educate your team members, and create understanding at every level of your organization in real-time, as events happen.
Decision intelligence systems are the gateway to increased franchise success: open the door and walk-in!
Want to learn more?
Interested in learning more about leveraging decision science to increase your franchise success? Request a personalized demo of our software-agnostic TruOI Operational Intelligence Platform to connect with a member of our team.