Franchisors should also be heavy on the award side of motivational material. Award certificates and plaques should be given out to franchisees who perform above expectations. Each franchisor needs to take a look at their business model and find ways to best motivate the team. In our franchise company we came up with several ideas and continually innovated to find new ways to use awards to strengthen or franchise family. Awards will be given out for:

Largest Increase In Customer Base;

Highest Credit Card Volume;

Largest Corporate Account Volume;

No Complaints Award;

Best Above And Beyond The Call Of Duty Story;

Biggest Community Effort;

Most Hours Worked Award;

Franchisee Of The Year, Quarter, Month;

Most Improved Service Award;

Most Dedicated Employee; Etc.

The goal here is for each franchisee to receive two or three awards per year on average, which they can hang up in their stores which makes customers feel confident in their abilities. This is a major ego booster, but should not be sent when they are not earned, that will back fire. Here are some more interesting awards we have given out in our franchise:

Suggestion Of The Year;

Scout Of The Year;

Training Crew Of The Year;

Competition Crusher Of The Year;

Largest Account Sale Of The Year;

Best Sales Technique Innovation Of The Year;

Most Market Penetration In One Year;

Computer Consultant Of The year;

Best Publicity Piece Of The Year;

Best Supplier Of The Year.

The franchisees should give out awards to their employees, customers, schools, public officials, etc. Here are some ideas:

$100 Scholarship Program Per High School;

Most Positive Customer Of The Year;

Most Loyal Customer Of The Year;

Best Account Of The Year;

Most Referrals Of The Year by a customer, Five Of These

Best Salesperson Of The year;

Best Quality Control Employee Of The Year;

Best Image Of Employees; Best Promptness Of The Year.

Examples of public officials awards are:

Best Environmental Public Servant;

Public Safety Award;

Best Innovation For Steam Lining Government;

Tax Payers Best Friend Award;

Small Business Persons Best Friend Award

Remember in franchising it is about promoting brand name, promoting teamwork and communication. You can solve all these goals thru awards as part of your overall strategic plan to build strong family unity in your franchise system. Think about it.