The Complete Franchise Onboarding Process From Start to Finish

The franchise onboarding process may be temporary, but its impact is long-lasting. It paves the way for every franchisee and sets the course for the rest of your relationship. Get it right, and you both succeed. Get it wrong, and you could be in for a bumpy ride.

But how exactly do you “get it right”?

In short: through careful preparation and standardization. By following a faultless step-by-step approach, you can onboard your franchisees quickly, effectively, and confidently.

The franchise onboarding process in 6 steps

In the rest of this article, we’ll walk you through the complete onboarding process, from essential pre-onboarding tasks to post-onboarding support.

Let’s get stuck in.

1. Pre-onboarding: resources and tech set up

Much like a high school teacher, you’ll need to prepare your training materials and resources before your students rush into your classroom. There’s nothing worse than making it up as you go along.

Bearing this in mind, there are a number of resources you’ll need to create or refine:

• Operations manual. This is your business-in-a-box, and your franchisees’ most valuable resource. Even if you already have an operations manual to hand, it’s important to review it before every onboarding kickoff. Check that it’s up-to-date, informative, and reflective of your current branding and operations. You’ll also need to make sure that it’s easy to access and understand. For tips on how to digitize your operations manual — and augment it with AI — read our dedicated blog here.
• Knowledge base articles. It can be helpful to break out your key standard operating procedures into bitesize, step-by-step knowledge base articles. This enables your franchisees to flick through key procedures without having to scan the entire manual.
• E-learning courses. As well as providing written manuals and articles, you’ll need to craft compelling, trackable learning pathways for your franchisees. This may include training programs centered around your operations manual, dispute handling, health and safety, data security, branding, recruitment, and technology suite. We’d recommend housing these pathways on a learning management system. This allows you to track franchisee progress and pass rates, which is vital for pinpointing knowledge gaps and avoiding non-compliance down the road.
• Onboarding project spaces. Guide your franchisees through the onboarding process with a project management tool. This will help your franchisees understand and prioritize their upcoming tasks. It’ll also enable you to track progress and milestones.
• Automated processes. To make your life easier, automate any repeatable tasks with a business process automation tool. For instance, you might create e-forms for gathering franchisee feedback, requesting marketing materials, or reporting tech issues. We'd also recommend configuring a franchise royalty management workflow, as this will speed up franchisee sales reports and payments in the future. 

In addition to creating these standardized resources, you’ll need to set up your franchisee on your franchise management software (FMS). This means creating their profile, assigning the appropriate user permissions, and setting a bespoke theme (if applicable).

You may also want to build a unique onboarding page with buttons and widgets to all of the essential resources listed above. This will make it easier for your franchisees to navigate your system and find the information they need.

2. Day one: introductions and training

Welcome your franchisee on day one with a series of introductory meetings. You want to make them feel like a valued member of your system from the very start.

From there, you can invite your franchisee into your franchise software and direct them to the key training, documents, and policies that will kickstart their onboarding journey.

3. Unit set up: mapping and provisioning

To avoid any conflict with the rest of your system, map out your franchisee’s sales territory. This will dictate where they can conduct their business. It’ll also narrow down potential building locations — if applicable to your business model and services.

Though your franchisee will foot the bill for the unit provisioning and building work, they may require your guidance. As franchisor, you can advise which suppliers to reach out to for equipment, inventory, and materials. You can also assist with any recruitment efforts if needed.

4. Pre-launch: marketing and PR

Before officially launching, you’ll need to craft a marketing strategy and promotional campaign with your franchisee. This should be unique to the unit, location, and community while also adhering to your franchise’s branding and messaging.

As this will be your franchisee’s first campaign, it may be helpful to provide branded marketing collateral and templates to work with. Consider reaching out to local media outlets and well known figures to drive interest, too.

5. Launch phase: on-site support

To ensure operations run smoothly during the grand opening — and in the weeks following — schedule some on-site visits.

While you don’t want to be overbearing, a watchful eye during this stage may iron out any inconsistencies and bad habits. This is necessary for maintaining operational excellence.

6. Post-onboarding: building a strong network

The onboarding process has come to an end. But that doesn’t mean you can dust your hands and leave your franchisees to go it alone.

As a franchisor, you must provide ongoing support. That means:

• Continuing to provide training and professional development opportunities.
• Keeping in touch via an intranet and communications platform and in-person meetings.
• Ensuring regular feedback loops, financial reports, and site audits.
• Creating online spaces for franchisees to collaborate and support each other.
• Hosting annual events and conventions.

As your system grows, you may also consider setting up a franchise advisory council. This empowers your franchisees to discuss challenges, ideas, and best practices. It’s also a great way of giving autonomy to your network and strengthening your relationships. Indeed, 78% of brands that have a positive relationship with their franchisees also happen to have a franchise advisory council.

Own the onboarding process with Claromentis

At this stage, you’re probably thinking: “this is far too much work for one franchisor.” And we wouldn’t blame you.

But if you want your franchise to continue to grow and succeed, this work is essential — regardless of how grueling it may be.

Though it’s impossible to trim the process down to one or two steps, you can make it easier to manage with technology.

A comprehensive franchise management software empowers you to consolidate and manage all of your policies, brand assets, training, processes, and communications. Acting as the heart of your franchise system, it streamlines and standardizes the complete onboarding process. Leaving you with more time to strategize and support your booming business.

Here are just a few ways the Claromentis FMS can simplify franchisee onboarding:

• Create a brand-aligned, user-friendly franchise intranet that centralizes content and communications.
• Build standardized e-learning courses with the integrated learning management system.
• Store policies, manuals, and agreements in an AI-powered policy management application to improve compliance.
• Organize every onboarding project within an intuitive task management application.
• Automate onboarding processes, such as unit registration, health and safety audits, and marketing requests.
• Write or AI-generate engaging blogs and news articles.
• Restrict content access and personalize intranet experiences with granular roles and permissions.

Have we piqued your interest?

To find out more about our unique franchise management solution, book a quick discussion call with one of our experts.