How much better off would your business or franchise be if you could lift sales on average by even as much as, say, 5% over the next year?
What if I told you that other businesses and franchises have been able to increase their sales by that much — and more — by tweaking just ONE thing?
Their operations manual.
Your manual is more than your bible – it’s your business or franchise system’s DNA, the very essence of your business, all the systems and methods you’ve painstakingly developed and proven over the years. Everything your franchisees need to kickstart their businesses and avoid the mistakes you made. Everything your employees need to perform to their fullest potential.
But is that happening? Or are you frustrated because your employees or franchisees aren’t following the systems and performing as they should?
The solution is staring you in the face. How do we go about finding out what we need to know? Do we go to the library and take out a book? No. We go on to Google and type out our question or keywords. Or we watch a how-to video on YouTube.
Savvy business development and training professionals have recognised for a while now that to really engage your students, to understand and meet their learning needs, you need to turn to the same things they turn to meet their own learning needs.
Technology and multimedia.
That’s the only way you’re going to win your franchisees’ or employees’ hearts and minds – and stop getting totally frustrated that they just don’t seem to “get it”.
You may want to hang on to your paper manuals simply because they give you something of substance to give your franchisees in return for buying a franchise. But you’ll also digitise them and make them searchable online so your franchisees or employees can find what they need, when they need it. And if you really want them to be engaged and perform, you’ll create a living manual with videos, infographics, interactive learning media, apps, quizzes and even games, to name just a few of the amazing tools you’ll have at your disposal.
The good news is that all this technology and multimedia doesn’t have to be expensive.
Last week, I created a range of how-to videos for a franchise client’s intranet by getting one of my team to use a smartphone to record the client’s employees doing various tasks in the kitchen of his café. The employees enjoyed “performing” and my team member enjoyed using her videography and editing skills to create training modules that will make a real difference to my client’s franchise.
Want to engage your people and revitalise your business?
First, revitalise your operating manuals! Whether you have an existing manual that's not working or you need a completely new manual...
Send me the form to receive yourFREE Manual Evaluation Report >
Don't forget to also send me your manual. You can send it by email to robin@noordinary.co.nz or share it with me on your Dropbox, Google Drive or other shared drive account.
I’m Robin La Pere. I call my business “No Ordinary Businesses and Franchises” because ordinary businesses just can’t cut it in the modern world.
I’ve found that by helping business owners and franchisors to lift their companies above the ordinary, they can lift their employees’ or franchisees’ performance to new levels.
I’ve also found that one of the simplest ways to lift performance is to create operations “manuals” that employees and franchisees actually want to use and engage with.
My 3-step process for creating more effective manuals
Step 1: Evaluate what you’ve got
If you already have a manual or manuals, send them to me and I’ll come back to you with a FREE Evaluation Report. I'll give you my professional opinion on what works and what doesn't work. I’ll also share my recommendations on the best ways to improve your manuals.
If you don’t already have a manual, tell me about your business and what you’d like to achieve, and I’ll provide you with a suggested framework and contents for your new manual.
COST: FREE
Step 2: Involve your people
It’s essential before starting out on your manual redevelopment that I understand what you want to achieve with the manual and what your people need from it. That means talking with you, your team and the people who will be using the manual.
Step 3: Create the ideal mix
Different people learn in different ways, so it's important to use a mix of techniques and media to get your message across. My team and I combine our understanding of your needs and the needs of your people with the most effective multimedia training tools available, creating a new kind of “manual” that will fully engage your people and revitalise your business.
Take the first step now!
I give you my undertaking that the contents of your manual and any information provided by you will be treated in strictest confidence and will not be passed on to any third party or used by us for any purpose other than evaluating your manual and making recommendations for improving it.
