9 mistakes not to make when setting up a Franchise CRM or Extranet
Many IT projects or collaborative tool implementations encounter significant difficulties. At the time they are launched, one-third of them are doomed to failure.
The successful adoption of a tool CRM FRANCHISE or FRANCHISE EXTRANET requires a rigorous method that guarantees successThe success of your project is not only a technological issueThe human factor is essential.
At Cerca ex Franchise on Cloud, we master both aspects of project management for you. ensure a reliable solution and adopted very quickly by all stakeholders in your brand.
Analysis of these failures reveals that they follow strangely similar patterns and scenarios.
That's why Cerca ex Franchise On Cloud supports you in setting up your CRM or Franchise Extranet with A rigorous method to ensure your Franchise CRM project is a resounding successThe term “franchise software” is more commonly used to emphasize the importance of adopting management software with expanded functions to cover all aspects of the franchisor's business.
But let's return to the types of mistakes you should avoid. In the types of failures, we generally observe management deficiencies and project management, a lack of clarity regarding objectives and expectations, an inability to grasp warning signs which always precede failure, and very often stubbornness fueled by the conviction to pursue a project even though failure is becoming increasingly evident. It therefore results from bad decisions on behalf of the management.
Here are 9 mistakes that are causing your digital transformation and the implementation of your extranet or franchise CRM to fail:
Mistake #1: Believing that you know how to manage change because you manage operations
Change management is very different from operations management. In operations management, you manage in a known environment that you control. We know what needs to be done to make things work.
When it comes to change management, we are in unknown environment, driver and passenger. Many of the actions to be taken and obstacles encountered along the way are discovered as we move forward. That is why management practices must be different. If you want an analogy, it's like driving a car. Operations are like driving in a straight line: you avoid obstacles on the road and accelerate as fast as possible.
Change is like driving around a bend. You slow down at one point and then speed up at another. You don't know the whole bend when you enter it. Maybe it's tighter than you thought.Nowadays, managers must know how to operate in both contexts, otherwise they put their professional future and the success of their business at risk.Any change is halted in the chain of command at the level of the person who does not know how to lead change.
Mistake #2: Forgetting to be a leader
Believing that employees naturally follow their managers is another mistake. Employees naturally follow their leaders, not their managers. A leader knows how to provide a vision and a roadmap, and knows how to motivate and inspire. A manager is there to get results and ensure that those results are achieved. Ideally, a very good manager is also a leader, but this is not always the case.
When it comes to change management, your ability to be a leader is as important, if not more important, than your ability to be a manager. Your position in the hierarchy does not guarantee that you will be followed. If you want proof of this, look at how citizens accept decisions made at the highest level of government.
If a head of state is not a leader, he will not be followed. You need to know how to present change. You need to know how to explain it and give it meaning correctly. You need to know how to manage fears and disagreements. You need to know how to manage it correctly in your area of activity.
Mistake #3: Going too fast, or the good student's mistake
When managing change, as with any project, we want to move quickly. It's natural. It's necessary. But the mistake, in wanting to go fast, is to rush. For example: we present the project quickly because we don't have time for details. We rush through the presentation—but we're satisfied that we got it done quickly.
Don't be surprised if, later on, when it's time to take action, you hear comments such as, “I don't see the problem; what we were doing before was fine.” A change that goes smoothly and is completed on time starts slowly and then accelerates more and more.
Starting off at full speed will generate more and more resistance and make your work increasingly difficult. You need to differentiate between the areas where you can move quickly: putting content online, visit report templates, the directory, news. In short, professional content for a launch that does not reveal the glaring gaps in your role as franchisor. Other areas may require time: testing with a few test franchisees, deliberately not opening all features at the same time, rewarding early adopters, etc.
Mistake #4: Believing that managing change is all about training and communication
When people are asked what change management entails, we often hear that it is a mix of training and communication.
While communication and training are vital ingredients in change management, if you think that this is enough to drive change, you are likely to fail. This forces you to work with only two tools, when you need many more.
For example, when someone has decided that they will not change, they will generally not be persuaded simply through communication and training. Another example is that you may have someone who is willing to change and well trained, but who could fail when faced with real-life difficulties arising from a system that is too complex for them.
Once again, neither communication nor training will be of much help. In fact, there is other tools Communication and training are not the only factors involved; others include managerial attitude, coaching, workshops, the arrangement of workspaces and times for sharing information, the freedom to make mistakes, and the ability to make decisions without systematic hierarchical constraints, to name but a few.
This is also one of the reasons why all models based solely on these two activities tend to produce uncertain results.
Mistake #5: Focusing too much attention on those who resist the most
Those who resist the most are often those who cause the most trouble.It is often those who have acquired expertise that secures their status and who do not want to see the adoption of tools that share knowledge and reduce their power.
But generally speaking, even though they can cause harm, they are not the most numerous. If your attention is focused on those who resist, you risk ignoring the majority who accept change, and wasting a lot of time unnecessarily.
In fact, among the seven rules of behavior that a change manager must know, there is one that applies here, and it is this: It is always easy to oppose your superiors, but it is much more difficult to disagree with your peers. What does this mean? Quite simply, if we look at organizations, it is very easy to disagree with “your boss.”
It is almost normal to think that “management is asking too much” or “is unaware of what is going on.” On the other hand, it is very difficult to disagree with your peers. Let's imagine that, for some reason, a large office has to move from one building to the one across the street. Nothing serious, just a reorganization of space. And let's say that one of the people in the office protests... but the rest of the office responds that they don't see what the problem is. The position is very difficult to maintain, as this employee does not have the support of his peers, and his attitude will not last long.
That's why spending too much time with those who resist the most is usually a mistake. The real battle to be won is actually that of the majority. The minority will follow.
Mistake #6: Not knowing how to minimize the impression of change
This requirement may seem strange. It is often the trap of the most ambitious, and therefore a formidable trap.
Even though people say change is difficult, the truth is that life is constantly changing. After all, try to find things in life that don't change... Everything changes all the time.
The world today is different from what it was ten years ago. Laws change. Taxes change. Equipment wears out and needs to be replaced. We get older. We move house. Children are born and grow up.
Companies reorganize themselves as they grow or decline. Technology is reshuffling the economic deck. But everyone considers some things to be changes and others not to be.
For two different people, the same thing will be considered a change by one and “normal” by the other. Ask yourself the following question: You have to leave for three days for a meeting in Atlanta..
Is it a big change, a small change, or just routine for you? What about for the people you know in your organization? Or for your family? The concept of change is therefore subjective. That is why it is possible to accentuate or diminish the impression of change.
When you know how to make a change appear minor, you will proportionally increase acceptance of the project.
On the other hand, if you don't know how to go about it, you can make any project or development seem like a major change that is likely to upset everyone.
Mistake #7: Believing that the real reasons for resistance will be addressed in meetings
This is very rarely the case. There are, of course, situations where lies or distorted truths may be presented to you. But even if this does not happen, the facts and opinions presented are necessarily selected.
In short, you won't learn everything from meetings.
In fact, here is a list of things that will rarely be communicated to you in this context:
- Personal difficulties based on the fear of not being able to successfully navigate the required change.
- The things your employees think you already know (after all, you are a manager).
- All obstacles that we think we cannot overcome. In the example above, the project team assumed that a tablet application could only be the same as a PC application.
- All the real obstacles that will prevent the project from succeeding, but which the field team did not perceive due to a lack of knowledge about the project or because they did not think of a more comprehensive solution (such as reorganizing spaces).
When you base your change policy or project actions on this type of meeting, you may encounter resistance later on without understanding why.
Mistake #8: Not distinguishing between different types of resistance to change
Failing to distinguish between different types of resistance to change will make your life difficult. Each is resolved in a different way with its own tools. First, there is thenegative bias.
This is the person who refuses to look at and understand the change that is being asked for, because they “know” that it won't work, because “things are different here.”
Then there is the person who has fear of the unknownbecause change takes her out of her comfort zone.
There is also the person who resists changebecause she sincerely believes—rightly or wrongly—that there is a problem with the proposed project.
Finally, you can find someone who has no preconceptions, who understands and agrees, but simply fails to implement the requested change.
You therefore need to be aware of the different types of resistance to change and know how to resolve each case. Without this understanding, you will struggle to do anything effective, or you risk “copying and pasting” approaches that are not suited to your context.
The successful adoption of a CRM FRANCHISE or EXTRANET FRANCHISE tool requires a rigorous method that guarantees success..
The success of your project is not just a matter of technology. The human factor is essential At Cerca ex Franchise On Cloud, we have expertise in both aspects of project management to guarantee you a reliable solution that will be quickly adopted by everyone in your organization.
With our “success” guarantee, Try Cerca ex Franchise On Cloud for 30 days free of charge and with no obligation. (includes access to our solution and a dedicated project team to set up your platform).
Our “success” guarantee is the result of 15 years of experience in the franchise and associated trade sector.
Mistake #9: Relying solely on common sense to drive change
In change management, common sense is vital. It is not always present—unfortunately—but it is vital. However, it is not sufficient.
Common sense allows you to make decisions based on what you see. Why is it insufficient? Because change management has one key characteristic: When a step is omitted (or done poorly, which amounts to the same thing), the harmful effects appear much later on..
The most obvious example is when you forget to make sure that middle management has been properly brought into the loop. It is only much later, when you need these intermediaries, that you discover that there is no one you can really rely on. By then, it will be too late to correct the situation.
However, change management is not a sprint. It is more like a long-distance race, or even a triathlon. As in a triathlon, there are different phases that require different actions and resources, while conserving your strength.
Change management is a process. which will take place over time, which has clearly defined phases during which certain specific actions must be performed in the correct order.
Having a process is extremely important.
It forces you to take the right actions at the right time, so as not to cause problems later on. If you build your change management without a method, you increase the likelihood of discovering difficulties later on that will be much more difficult to address.
