Why your manual is obsolete
Nobody’s reading paper books any more. Bookshops and libraries are closing down. Everybody’s into ebooks, video and interactive digital technology. So why are businesses, franchisors and trainers still relying on franchise manuals, either paper-based or, nearly as bad, loads of documents plonked into an intranet?
Especially when we all know that “success lies in following the system”?
Now there's a better – and surprisingly cost-effective – way to create or transform your manuals that will help you to bring your employees, customers or franchisees up to speed faster, engage them more effectively, supercharge their performance and avoid costly mistakes – oh, and save you time, money and effort.
7 tips for getting much more from your manuals
1. Put your “manual” online, not in a book.
This way, your people can access the information anywhere (on site, in a vehicle or at home as well as in the office) and quickly find the information they need using the search function (see Tip 2). The advantages of an employee, customer or franchisee intranet for you is that you can use multimedia to dramatically improve your training and compliance, and update or add to the “manual” any time so everybody’s on the same “page”.
2. Have a search box.
Once you’ve digitised your “manual”, the next step is to add search functionality so your people can find the information they need quickly and accurately rather than having to leaf through dozens of pages.
3. Use multimedia, not monomedia
Research shows that videos, graphics, slides, animation and interactive digital are far more effective than loads and loads of text for getting critical knowledge, guidelines and instructions across. What’s more, an interactive learning environment is more fun and therefore more likely to be referred to and used.
4. Include everything that is critical, and nothing that isn’t
In our experience, too many manuals contain too much information that just isn’t relevant. Cut to the quick, present your content in an interesting, engaging way, and your people will thank you for it.
5. Explain why
People are not robots. All of us respond more positively to instructions and guidelines when they can see a reason and understand the need for them. Your manual should help them see the big picture, and in particular how their actions could affect the way they work and the results that can be achieved.
6. Use examples
We all relate to real-life situations, especially when they show problems, not just solutions. Examples help us see that others have the same problems we do.
7. Write for your audience
Chances are that you haven’t selected your franchisees on the basis of their ability to understand complicated terms or digest masses of complex text. So understand what your audience is looking for and keep it simple – but never, ever talk down to franchisees.
I provide a full range of franchise documentation services including writing and upgrading franchise manuals, more effectively systemising your business processes so they can be replicated effectively every time, developing franchise intranets, and recommending better ways to educate, train and develop your franchisees.
Contact me
for a free initial consultation and assessment of your needs and potential.
I'm Robin La Pere, no ordinary business and franchise consultant. Before I became a consultant, I was a teacher, a writer and creative director in the advertising industry, a marketing manager in the corporate world, and a franchise manager and later a business owner.
This somewhat diverse background has given me a strong interest in people learn and what motivates people to do the things they do. And I've used this interest and the knowledge and skills I've developed to produce better ways to train everyone from employees, customers franchisees and trainees, and give them the tools they need to generate better results.
As a consultant, I don't simple create easy-to-understand plain-English documents, I take training and development resources to a whole new level. In fact, my innovative multimedia content is designed to lift engagement and performance to a level not previously thought possible.
If you're looking to develop or improve your business, franchise or organisation, I recommend you
take advantage
of my free Initial Consultation to discuss some of the ways I can help you.
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A major strength of franchising is that it’s based on tried and true business models. Trouble is, in this fast-changing business environment, what’s tried and true one year may be tired or irrelevant the next.
Not surprisingly, one out of three franchisors is concerned about the viability of their business model.
The 'Business Model Canvas' has emerged as a powerful tool for developing and updating business models. Recognising that franchise businesses differ in several ways from other business types, I have come up with a new version of the Business Model Canvas designed specifically for franchises.
Send me your email and I'll email you my e-book The Business Model Canvas for Franchisors: