100% Retention Case Study
100% Retention Case Study
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Company profile:
Company profile:
SRP Inventories provides professional property inspection reports for landlords, lettings agents, and housing associations
Optimisation results:
Optimisation results:
Retention of franchise trainees: 100%
Skills Demonstrated
Skills Demonstrated
Retention strategy, messaging strategy, direct sales, training and development
Problem
Problem
Upper management issued a shocking new mandate. I had volunteered to train new property inspection inventory clerks when the company needed to find good quality staff and expand the team. I had never trained anyone in this field before, but I could see a path to making it work. The first 3 went well and my role was now a combination of fulfilling day-to-day property inspections, and facilitating the training methods I had devised to new team members. After 15 successful training programs, which took an average of 6 weeks of regular sessions coupled with management’s commitment to support trainees with as much time as they needed, the company was growing. I had recruited a few contacts looking for career changes and, when they faced obstacles in their learning curves, told them that I know they can succeed because I know them for who they are. They can do this. Trust me, just keep going. And that encouragement and support saw them through.
The company had been considering strategies for growth and decided to pivot to a franchise model. I was asked if I would train the new franchisees and said, “Sure!” with excitement. “Great,” replied the company owner, “and they need to be ready to go in 2 weeks of coaching.” “Two weeks?!” I blurted out incredulously. I sunk back in my chair, introspectively pondered for a few seconds, then sat upright and continued, “We’ve never done it in two weeks before. It will be a big challenge, but I think there might be a way.” Then came the real challenge.
Every franchisee came into the program with elevated confidence. “All it is, is “saying what you see.” How hard can it be?” They usually found out on the Thursday of their first week, when the realisation hit that they had spent four full days practicing, the week was coming to an end, and they could just about complete their inspection on a single, simple bedroom – if they were one of the more advance learners. Plus, there was only one week remaining before they had to be ready to move onto the sales and marketing portion of their program. Every franchisee seriously considered quitting and the entire project at this stage. My first franchisee told me he was going to call the head office over the weekend and fill out the forms to cancel the franchise agreement. Personalising to the tactic I had used with previous trainees, I told him, “I’ve gotten to know you over the past week and I see the traits of the type of person who is successful in this field. Plus, you have top rung leadership experience in multi-million pound global corporations. You’re more than capable. Just stick with it.” It didn’t work. We parted ways at the end of the day with him willing to give the next day a chance, but he would make the call the head office tomorrow if he didn’t see significant improvement. I had to think fast.
Insight
Insight
There was not enough of a relationship history between me and the franchisee to overcome their doubt of completing the seemingly insurmountable competence curve required in 2 weeks of training. I needed a stronger foundation on which to quickly earn their trust.
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
I had learned through our interactions (pseudo customer interviews) that the franchisee was from a tough corporate setting and believed in solid data and high probabilities of success only. So, if I speak the franchisee’s language, they will be willing to take a chance and continue their training program.
Solution
Solution
Upon reflecting on past training programs, a pattern emerged in the phases of learning and development each trainee experienced: conviction of ability, relaxed persona for the first few days, sudden shock in the realisation of how many days had lapsed and remained, extreme decline in self-belief to learn the requisite skills, a motivational talk from me, returning on the next training session with renewed attentiveness and vigour towards learning, a dramatic leap in competence within a 2-4 sessions.
I explained to the franchisee that I had trained 15 people with the same techniques I was teaching him. Every person went through the same cycle of growth. I couldn’t explain exactly what happens during the process, but there comes a point where a person just “gets it”. And I promise that if the franchisee truly applies himself during and outside of our training sessions, they will just “get it” too.
Impact
Impact
The plan worked! The franchisee recommitted to giving his all to the training program. Their moment of just “getting it” came, and they passed this phase of their training program in 2 weeks and 3 days.
I oversaw the learning and development flywheel of 4 subsequent franchisees in the same way and overcame potential retention challenges when they arose. I coached the franchisees to completing their training in an average of 2 weeks and 4 days, and all went on to launch their businesses.
Testimonial
Testimonial
Dawid Combrinck
Head of Operational Excellence @ Quinta Do Lago
"I’ve had the privilege of working with Ammiel as a facilitator to my learning. I’m very, very particular with the statement ‘facilitator to my learning’ because I find him to be somebody that encourages learning. He engages people by identifying their preferred learning style rather than pushing his style onto somebody else. His eloquence, his intelligence and his knowledge of his subject is above par and a cut above what I've been exposed to in my professional career. I would, without a moment’s hesitation, recommend Ammiel as a trainer or facilitator in either a formal or informal setting. Whether it’s a structured classroom setting or ad-hoc speaking, he'd be phenomenal and he'd absolutely blow the crowd away."
"I’ve had the privilege of working with Ammiel as a facilitator to my learning. I’m very, very particular with the statement ‘facilitator to my learning’ because I find him to be somebody that encourages learning. He engages people by identifying their preferred learning style rather than pushing his style onto somebody else. His eloquence, his intelligence and his knowledge of his subject is above par and a cut above what I've been exposed to in my professional career. I would, without a moment’s hesitation, recommend Ammiel as a trainer or facilitator in either a formal or informal setting. Whether it’s a structured classroom setting or ad-hoc speaking, he'd be phenomenal and he'd absolutely blow the crowd away."
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