At Amada, we do things differently than other companies. In fact, our training and support begin even before someone becomes a Franchise Partner. So how does it work?
While we welcome professionals from all fields if they are a good fit, many of our new owners come to us from a medical device or pharmaceutical sales position, so they are experts at relationship building. They are high performers in the transactional space, which is an asset as so much of owning this or any business is about selling it. In Amada’s case, it is selling to prospective clients, their families, top-tier caregivers to recruit them, resource personnel not currently in their network—really selling to the community as a whole.
But what most salespeople haven’t done is own and grow a business. This requires an entrepreneurial mindset and skills that will ensure they are totally successful. That’s what we teach them. A burning desire to make it work is one thing, but it’s also having the training, blueprint, technology, relationships, and consistent access to support in every area that makes for a highly successful Franchise Partner.
The Call
One of the first things we do with a prospective Franchise Partner is have him or her participate in a weekly (live) call lasting 45 minutes to an hour. We plan on several of these, walking them through every aspect of our franchise department so they are clear on what they’ll get if they come aboard. We also tell them they need to be great at three things—something we call our Three Pillars of Success:
- They need to be great at caregiving.
- They need to be great at sales.
- They need to be great at operations.
All three components are integral to Amada’s success. If you only have one or two legs of a three-legged stool, it will fall over. Our training and support are structured around converting savvy salespeople into savvy business owners, emphasizing these three fundamentals.
About #1: Caregiving
When we talk about caregiving, we’re talking about recruiting, onboarding, and retaining the most qualified caregivers. Amada’s reputation is in part based on attracting and the most skilled, competent, motivated caregivers in each market, and training them in the Amada Way. Our training helps prospective Franchise Partners know precisely how to do that. The conversation includes challenges in a fluctuating labor market, as well as using technology to facilitate hiring efficiency.
About #2: Sales
As mentioned, most prospective Franchise Partners come from the sales arena. They are experts at what they do. We break that down and talk about our vertical markets: for example, the medical vertical and legal/financial vertical: eldercare attorneys, Long-Term Care insurance agents; mortgage professionals…anyone in the financial space. We want to build relationships with these professionals to create new referral channels.
In these calls, we also cover how to market everything and talk about our national strategic account initiative, which leads to a leg up in your market when it comes to generating revenue.
About #3: Operations
In all the years of refining what we do and how we do it, we’ve learned to pace and prioritize operational training, essentially to provide it in modules. In other words, we give our Franchise Partners the information they need when they need it. If offered too soon, we’ve learned people can go into information overload, not retaining all they should. For that reason, as a prospective Franchise Partner moves forward through the discovery process, operational training begins in-house the day the agreement is signed and the fee is paid.
“How Amada Supports Its Franchise Partners,” written by Matt Smith, Vice President of Training and Support for Amada Franchise Inc.
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