EN 
SV I meet many franchise organizations in my work, and I want to highlight a communication scenario that, even after 20 years in the industry, still surprises me.
It’s not uncommon for a chain to put all its energy, budget, and resources into communicating with the end customer — the consumer. They fine-tune ads, test headlines, optimize email campaigns, and segment social feeds. Everything must be perfect — the right message, the right timing, the right channel.
And of course, it should be.
But let’s pause for a second and ask an obvious question: Who is actually your primary customer?
The Franchisee – the Overlooked Primary Customer
Here’s a simple overview that many franchisors often forget — or consciously ignore:
For you as a franchisor: The franchisee is your primary customer. They have a contract with you, pay fees, must follow your systems, and represent your brand every single day. You deliver services, support, and brand guidance to them.
For the franchisee: The end customer — the consumer — is their primary customer. They run the store, restaurant, or service location and deliver the products and experiences of the chain.
For the chain as a whole: The end customer is actually your secondary customer — they are reached indirectly through the work of the franchisees. Yet franchisees are often treated as an extension of the administration, an operational layer, rather than the business partners and customers they actually are.
And that shows — especially in how internal communication is viewed and valued.
Marketing Department vs. Support Office – a story of double standards.
The Marketing Department has a full toolbox:
- Clear target groups and personas
- Well-planned campaigns with A/B tests
- Careful segmentation and channel optimization
- Design, copy, and timing down to the millisecond
- Continuous follow-up and data-driven adjustments
- All to ensure that no “unnecessary noise” disrupts the message
The Support Office, on the other hand:
- “Ask Lisbeth at reception, she’ll post it…”
- “I don’t have time to pick and choose…”
- A quick email to everyone, regardless of relevance
- A PDF buried somewhere on the intranet
- No thought given to target group, timing, or follow-up
- No analysis of what is actually read or understood
- Mass-sending everything to everyone — in every channel, all the time.
And then comes the complaint:
“They never read what we send anyway!”
Surprise..!
A Concrete Example
Imagine you’re launching a new product:
To the end customer:
The marketing department has worked on it for three months. The budget is 1 million SEK. You’ve tested five different messages, segmented by demographics and behavior, chosen optimal channels, and you track every click and every conversion. As soon as something isn’t performing, you tweak, adjust, act.
You never hear anyone say: “Customers out there are just too slow — we already sent the info, why aren’t they buying?”
No, of course not. Instead you hear: “What can we improve? How do we make it clearer? How do we make it easier to find?” and so on.
To the franchisee:
The product manager sends an email on a Friday afternoon with a 47-page PDF.
The subject line: “Info about Q2 launch.”
It goes to all 150 franchisees at once—whether they run a big-city restaurant or a small convenience outlet in a rural area.
No follow-up.
No confirmation anyone has understood it—or even opened it.
Two weeks later, people are surprised that the launch is inconsistent, that some units don’t even know the product exists, and that the customer experience varies wildly between locations.
What went wrong?
Not the product.
Not the franchisees.
But the communication — or the lack of it.
Why Does This Happen? Five Psychological Traps
1. Proximity to Money
The end customer feels more “real” because they generate visible, direct revenue. The franchisee is seen as “one of us” rather than as a customer.
2. The Contract Illusion
“We have a franchise agreement— they must read what we send.”
But a contract doesn’t guarantee attention, understanding, or — most importantly — engagement.
3. Internal Culture
Internal communication has traditionally been viewed as an administrative task, not as strategic marketing or customer care.
4. Resource Allocation
The budget goes to “real marketing” (toward the end customer). Internal communication gets whatever is left — if anything.
5. The Measurability Trap
ROI on consumer communication is easier to measure in direct sales.
The value of engaged, well-informed franchisees is harder to quantify — even though it is just as business-critical.
The Consequences – a Chain Reaction
When franchisees are bombarded with irrelevant, poorly structured information, the inevitable happens:
Step 1: They stop reading
Step 2: Important messages are missed
Step 3: Implementation of new initiatives becomes inconsistent
Step 4: Engagement drops
Step 5: The brand is delivered inconsistently
Step 6: The end customer receives a poorer experience
Step 7: Sales are negatively affected
Ironically, poor communication with the primary customer (the franchisee) leads to worse results with the secondary customer (the end customer) — the very thing the organization was trying to optimize in the first place.
Surveys we’ve conducted across various chains show that franchisees receive 30–40 emails per week from head office, yet only read 10–15% of them.
It’s not laziness — it’s information overload and lack of relevance.
Self-Assessment: What Does It Look Like in Your Organization?
Answer these questions honestly:
- Do we have a resource budget for internal communication that reflects its importance?
- Do we segment our messages for different franchisee groups (new/experienced, different markets, different concepts)?
- Do we measure reading rates, understanding, and implementation of internal communication?
- Do we conduct recurring internal surveys and feedback loops within the network?
- Do we have a dedicated communication strategy for franchisees and frontline units?
- Do we offer two-way communication where franchisees can easily provide feedback and ask questions?
- Do we follow up to ensure that critical information has actually reached and been understood?
If you answered “no” to more than two questions, you have a communication challenge that affects your business more than you might think.mmunikationsutmaning som påverkar din verksamhet mer än du tror.
The Solution: Treat the Franchisee as the Primary Customer They Are
The difference between customer communication and franchisee communication should, in reality, be zero. The principle is the same: send the right message to the right recipient, in the right way, at the right time.
It doesn’t matter whether the recipient is a franchisee or a customer waiting in line — the outcome depends on how well you communicate.
Here’s what that means in practice:
1. Segment Like a Pro
Different franchisees have different needs:
- New vs. experienced
- Different markets and geographies
- Different business units or concepts
- Different roles (owner, store manager, staff)
2. Relevance First
Only send what is relevant to the recipient.
A franchisee in Stockholm doesn’t need information about local campaigns in Malmö.
A seasoned operator with five units doesn’t need the same onboarding material as a newcomer.
Less is more. Always.
3. Give the Content Some Love
Invest in clarity, a consistent internal tone of voice, and user-friendly content with images, good copy, and videos — exactly like you do in external communication.
If it’s important enough to communicate, it’s important enough to do well.
4. Timing Matters
When are franchisees and staff most receptive?
Not during the lunch rush.
Not on a Friday afternoon.
Think like a marketing manager: when does your audience have the time and mental space to absorb the message?
5. Follow-Up and Analysis
Measure reading, understanding, and implementation.
Adjust based on data — just like you do with consumer communication.
6. Budget and Resources
Allocate time and money in proportion to the importance of the relationship.
If the franchisee is your priority the communication with them should also be a priority – not an afterthought.
From “Email and Chat Chaos” to a Unified Communication Platform
This isn’t about sending more emails. It’s about building a structure where communication is:
✓ Relevant – messages with purpose, easy to understand, and clear about what needs to be achieved.
✓ Targeted – the right role, the right location, the right responsibility.
✓ Two-way – not just “sending out,” but enabling dialogue and feedback.
✓ Trackable – you know who has read, understood, and taken action.
✓ Alive – not buried in folders and PDFs.
✓ Integrated – part of the daily workflow, not an extra burden.
With a modern, role-based chain platform like Chainformation, you can communicate just as professionally internally as you already do externally. Same logic, same precision — just a different audience. And not a less important one.
The platform enables you to:
- Segment communication by role, workplace, region, and concept
- Track reading and understanding in real time
- Create two-way dialogue with structured feedback
- Integrate communication into operational processes and daily routines
- Measure the impact of your internal communication
Case: When Communication Became Professional
A restaurant chain in the UK with 85 franchise units faced the same problem: important information wasn’t getting through, implementation was inconsistent, and frustration grew on both sides.
Before:
- 30 emails per week to all franchisees + countless chat threads across different platforms
- 8% read rate on critical information
- 3–4 weeks from central decision to local implementation
- High variation in customer experience and service between locations
After implementing a structured communication platform:
- 12 relevant messages per week (segmented)
- 76% read rate on critical information
- 5–7 days from decision to implementation
- Significantly more consistent customer experience and fewer bad reviews
- 23% higher NPS from franchisees
The difference?
They started treating the franchisees as paying customers.
Conclusion: Communication Builds Loyalty
If you run a franchise — big or small — the franchisee isn’t just your brand partner.
They are your customer.
And just as you would never accept sloppy communication with your end customer, you shouldn’t settle for it internally either.
Every time you send an unstructured email,
Every time you publish a poorly packaged PDF,
Every time you “let Lisa post it,”
—you undermine the relationship with your most important business partner.
Communication builds loyalty.
And loyalty is what holds a chain together when the market shifts.
The question isn’t whether you can afford to organize your internal communication better.
The question is whether you can afford not to.
Want to see how your franchise communication can become as effective as your marketing communication?
Contact Chainformation for a review of your current processes and concrete recommendations for improvement.
