First Gear is local moving franchise Two Men and a Truck International’s in-depth training program that helps take a new franchisee from signing their franchise agreement to opening their doors. This is done through a variety of methods, including phone calls, Skype conversations, role-playing, and instructor-led events.
Program Details
New franchisees are paired with a Field Training specialist to work with them through the entire First Gear timeline. This includes finding a location, purchasing trucks, and getting the proper authorizations.
Prior to the new location opening for business, franchisees are asked to attend two instructor-led courses: “Gearing Up” and “Franchise Essentials.” Each course is anywhere between three and five days long and goes more in-depth with each department to give franchisees as much information and as many tools as needed to successfully run the franchise.
When the new franchise is ready to open, the corporate office sends two employees, one from Operations and one from Sales, to help with this training. These employees stay for a week to provide as much instruction as possible. The skills the corporate team and the franchisees practice range from how to pack a truck properly and how to address a customer to answering phones and staying safe while on the job.
The Operations manager and Sales manager of the new location work together during training to understand each other’s roles and build their relationship as a team. From the beginning, they’re the ones to whom questions are directed and who take on the manager role early in the process. For operations, they are essentially trained on how to train—without a strong foundation, the skills won’t be learned and held to the standard franchisees initially were given. For sales, the training that was happening over the phones before the visit will amp up and give them a realistic expectation of what is going to be happening once the phones go live.
With the exception of the franchisee completing a budget plan and some operating software training, this program is more hands-on rather than completing coursework.
The First Gear process works to build up franchisees and their employees to the standard Two Men and a Truck holds all franchises and employees to, and also aims to get those who are new to the system oriented and acquainted with the company’s software, policies, and values.
After the visit, the corporate office team continues to mentor and coach franchisees by analyzing sales numbers, helping minimize costs and maximize profit, all while supporting them through their first few months of business.
Results
Since the inception of this process, 135 locations have been successfully opened, expanding the company’s footprint in the process.
