The group I have been partnering with has been working with a local (Louisville, KY) franchisor to help with their marketing efforts. We’ve met with the franchisor four or five times, and we seem to struggle with getting our arms around everything his franchise needs from a marketing aspect. They need a lot at this stage, but our approach has been to offer certain things while pointing him in the right direction on others. (Most franchisors have similar needs so this project isn’t vastly different from the ones we may face with others as we move forward.)
It dawned on me during a bike ride last week that our approach is flawed–he doesn’t want us to point him in the right direction for this or that; he wants us to take over solving marketing problems for him. He wants the “easy button” where he can push it and we make his life easier. Isn’t that what we all want when we seek out a solution to a problem? Don’t we want someone to magically fix it? I believe we’re going to be much better off if we take the “easy button” approach with him and his franchisees than we will by offering some of the services and providing guidance on the rest. What do you think?