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The key to fostering a mutually profitable franchise relationship is understanding (i) the basic principals of franchising and (ii) how the franchisor and franchisee work together toward a common goal – the success of the franchise business.

Designing critical elements of training before you sell franchises is essential if your franchisees are to succeed. Not only will effective training contribute to your brand’s quality and consistency, prospective franchisees are impressed when they see you’ve committed to robust training throughout the organization.

Divorcing a franchisee is the act of removing a franchisee from, or asking the franchisee to leave, the franchise system. It can be messy and difficult, just like divorcing a spouse. But sometimes it's the only solution.

There are three ways in which you can accomplish the split:

1. The most desirable option would be to transfer the franchise to another qualified franchise prospect. This can be done while the original franchisee is still occupying the location in order to facilitate a smoother transition. If this is not possible, you can send in a management team to manage the location until a new franchisee is found to take over the location.
2. A less desirable option is to close the location down through court action against the franchisee.
3. The third option would be to allow the franchisee to continue operating independently from the location using a different brand not associated with the franchise system. This is not recommended, for reasons which are outlined below.

Transfer of the Franchise

This is the best method of removing a non-system franchisee from the franchise system, because you are in control of the process.

• The franchisee pays for the ads, advertising that the franchise business is for sale.
• The calls from the ads and any other leads are taken by the franchisor or its agent.
• The franchisor processes the candidates as it would any candidate for an unopened location, using the same recruitment criteria.

A key problem that franchisors face is the pricing of the franchise business. If left to the franchisees, they tend to overvalue their business. For this reason, it is best to enlist the services of an outside third party that specializes in evaluating companies, to determine the fair market value of the business.

Ideally recruitment of a new franchisee can be done while the existing franchisee is still managing the business, however there will be times when the relationship has deteriorated to the point where the franchisee's presence will be a deterrent to both the transfer of the franchise and to the system as a whole. When this occurs, the franchisor is faced with two possible actions:

1. Place a manager in the location to manage the business until a suitable transfer candidate is found. In this case, the costs of the manager would be paid for from the gross sales of the location. Any losses would come out of the price paid by the transferee for the business. Any profits would go to the franchisee.
2. Close the location. This option would undoubtedly result in legal action being taken by the franchisee. Before considering this option, BE SURE that your documentation is strong enough to support taking such drastic action.

Closing the Location

There may be occasions when the continued operation of the location by the franchisee is so detrimental to the franchise system that yuou are forced to take immediate injunctive action to force the closure of the location. Be prepared for the following:

• Thorough disclosure of all documentation justifying the need to close the location. It will be helpful if you can prove that the franchisee is negatively affecting the reputation of the brand and that your other franchisees are suffering financially as a result.
• A legal challenge by the franchisee to prevent the closure. This will add to your legal bills. However, if you have properly documented the problems you will probably get the injunction. It has to be black and white, however, with no grey areas, otherwise you stand little chance of success.

As part of the injunction you will also file a suit for damages which may include:

• Loss of royalty revenue due to the location being closed.
• Payment of royalty revenue in arrears, as by this time the franchisee will undoubtedly have stopped paying royalties.
• Your costs for the legal action.

It is NOT TRUE that the courts take the side of the franchisee because of the David & Goliath syndrome. The courts always look at fair dealings. So if the franchisor has been fair in all of its dealings with the franchisee, and the franchisee has not been equally fair in its dealings with the franchisor, then the courts will find in favour of the franchisor.

Allowing the Franchisee to Operate as an Independent

This is never recommended. If the franchisor allows this to happen, it will mean the destruction of your franchise system. At no time should this be considered as a viable option.

_{Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay}

Contrary to the belief of many franchisors, legal issues are not usually the result of inconsiderate, selfish franchisees, although there are isolated instances of these. Most legal issues arise due to three actions or omissions on the part of the franchisor:

1. Failure to provide complete disclosure of material facts to potential franchisees.
2. Failure to recruit the right type of franchisees.
3. Failure to provide ongoing support, communication and training.

Disclosure Fails

Most jurisdictions have full disclosure legislation which demands that Franchisors provide Franchisees with full, true and clear disclosure of all material facts related to:

• The Franchisor,
• The Franchisor's owners, directors and officers, if they are critical to the success of the franchise and/or the Franchisee's location,
• The Franchisor's financial health,
• The Franchisor's ability to manage the business as indicated by:
  • length of time operating the franchise business
  • length of time within the industry
  • whether the Franchisor or any of its key people have been insolvent or involved in a legal action against them relative to the awarding of franchises,
• The Franchise Agreement and the key clauses which govern the Franchisor/Franchisee relationship.

Failure to comply with the provisions of this legislation can result in severe penalties including:

• The return of the initial franchise fee
• Any losses incurred by the Franchisee up to the point of dispute
• All costs associated with construction of the franchise location
• All inventory costs
• All legal costs.

A 2000 ruling in Alberta Court of Queen's Bench (Marshall v. Little Mac Enterprises Incorporated and the Security Company of Excellence Incorporated Action #0903-00468) illustrates the importance of disclosure. This case is significant for three reasons:

1. It clearly analyzes the elements of what may or may not constitute a franchise and therefore be subject to the Franchises Act.
2. The broad interpretation given to the Act by the Court.
3. The awarding of damages to the Franchisee in the amounts envisioned by the drafters of the Alberta Franchises Act. In this case, the Franchisee launched an action before large amounts were expensed by the Franchisee. What is significant is that the Court awarded the Franchisee costs incurred which were the initial franchise fee and the interest associated with financing the franchise fee.

Even if disclosure is not required in your jurisdiction, it is important to provide full disclosure to all franchise candidates regardless of their geographical location. Full disclosure sets a positive tone to the relationship between the parties.

Recruitment Fails

Recruitment tragedies are the major reason for deterioration of the Franchisor/Franchisee relationship. Rushing the recruitment process, or recruiting individuals who do not fit the profile, will result in a mismatched Franchisee who will not follow the operating system and will result in an inordinate amount of work for the Franchisor as the Franchisor develops the necessary documentation for termination. You will usually know within the first six months if you have made a bad recruitment decision. When this happens, it is important to first focus on assisting the Franchisee in developing the business from their location. Document all your efforts! That includes all visits to the franchise location, all telephone calls, emails and communications with the Franchisee, all support provided by outside services (e.g. advertising agencies), and all requests for assistance or other services made by the Franchisee and your response to these requests.

Document Everything!

Documentation will enable you to provide evidence of your efforts to assist the Franchisee in establishing and growing their business. It is good business practice to document all communications, support and assistance with all of your Franchisees from the very beginning of the relationship. Apart from your efforts to assist the Franchisee in developing the business from their location, you will also be documenting and giving written notice to the Franchisee of any and all breaches of the Franchise Agreement committed by the Franchisee. Your notice should set out the following:

1. Each breach and the section of the Franchise Agreement that the breach relates to.
2. The length of time that the Franchisee has to rectify the breach.
3. The consequences of not rectifying the breach within the given time.

Your documentation should include the Franchisee's response and efforts made to cure the breach, and what actions you took if the Franchisee failed to remedy the situation. If you want to ensure compliance, the prescribed penalty must be assessed if the Franchisee does not cure the breach. DO NOT indicate a consequence which you do not intend to follow through on. If you are unsure of the actions that you can take, consult your franchise lawyer.

Be prepared to take the ultimate action – divorce – if the Franchisee continues to breach the provisions of the Franchise Agreement. Providing for the final termination of the Franchise Agreement can be traumatic for both the Franchisor and Franchisee. This is the case even if the Franchisee has become a problem and a liability. If you have followed all the proper steps as noted above, termination will not be a huge expense. There will be costs associated with the removal of a non-system franchisee, but you can reduce these costs by proper documentation and proper support throughout the relationship.

Support, Communication and Training Fails

Failure to provide proper support and training can present a serious problem for the Franchisor, since the Franchisee's breach will be as a result of the Franchisor's poor operating practices. Obviously the thing to do is to ensure that you manage the franchise system so that all members of the system benefit. If, however, you find yourself in the opposite situation and the Franchisee is in breach as a retaliatory action, then focus on doing the following:

1. Immediately meet with the Franchisee and work out a plan for them to rectify the breach so you can resume providing the necessary services. Make this a workable plan for both parties and STICK TO IT. Make sure that it isn't one-sided.
2. Document both the breach and the actions that both parties will take to resolve the breach and strengthen the relationship. Both parties should sign off on the document to indicate their intent to carry through.
3. Develop and implement an internal plan of action to assist the Franchisee in building and growing the business.
4. Be constant and consistent in the support provided until all breaches have been resolved. Give the process at least six months, during which time you should document all of your efforts to assist the Franchisee.
5. If after six months the relationship and breaches have not improved, it's probably time to end the relationship.

Make sure your franchise system is prepared for, and has a procedure in place for, divorce from a franchisee. By demonstrating a sincere attempt to resolve the differences and assist the franchisee in business building, you will be able to minimize the financial consequences of divorce. And remember - the best way to prevent legal issues is by managing your system to avoid the "Fails" outlined above.

_{Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay}

Franchisees often look to their franchisor as a "parent figure" - a pillar of strength to lean upon and a chief source of advice, knowledge and creative inspiration. If you as a franchisor fail to live up to this larger-than-life image and do not provide sufficient advice and direction to your franchisees, they will feel they are being shortchanged on the basic services that they are paying for.

As a franchisor, you can offer needed guidance to your franchisees through a structured communications program that is carefully organized and administered. The franchisor would serve as coordinator of the program. Franchisees' questions and problems are submitted to the coordinator who would then (i) route them through the proper channels in the organization and (ii) always follow them through to a satisfactory conclusion.

Ongoing communication is the essential tool needed for this system to function. Communications methods can include:

1. Phone calls - a good place to start, as personal contact is the basis of effective communication.
2. Video conferencing (Skype, Facetime, etc).
3. Email and text messaging.
4. Snail mail - not as effective these days due to its inherent inability to meet expectations of speed and instant gratification.
5. In person meetings.
6. Ongoing collaboration among franchisees.
7. Regional meetings and conventions.
8. Franchisee advisory councils.
9. Social networking.

Phone calls and video conferencing

The telephone is still one of the most effective tools for motivating, instructing, and guiding franchisees. It is your key resource for keeping in personal contact with them, through:

• pre-arranged phone calls,
• cold calls (which can elicit a more honest, less rehearsed conversation),
• conference calls with several franchisees who have expressed similar concerns,
• Skype or Facetime video calls which provide a more personal face-to-face environment.

Email and snail mail

If you don't make regular written contact with your franchisees by email and regular mail, they may begin to feel stranded and isolated. They may experience lower morale, which could lead to a drop in performance and corresponding downturn in sales. Therefore it is important that a regular policy for mail and email contact be established which can include:

• regular newsletters with monthly or quarterly reports, Q&As, business tips, and items of interest;
• flash bulletins with important and timely news;
• personalized letters which reduce the distance and establish rapport between franchisor and franchisee;
• report forms to be completed and submitted by a franchisee - communication is a two-way street, after all.

In-person meetings

It is vital to establish one-on-one personal contact to further the franchisor-franchisee relationship. In-person meetings can help you achieve the following purposes:

• troubleshooting issues that the franchisee is having with the system, with business goals, with marketing, etc.;
• sales support to help the franchisee achieve targets and grow the business;
• service support to help ensure that the franchisee is providing the highest level of quality to customers;
• training of staff and management;
• overall guidance and direction.

Ongoing collaboration among franchisees

Inter-franchisee cooperation is an invaluable tool for strengthening the franchise system. If pre-existing behaviors or attitudes are hampering lines of communication between you and a franchisee, it can be difficult to achieve your desired results. That is when you want to enlist the aid of one or more successful franchisees to help out their peers who are struggling. The "weaker" franchisee may be more willing to accept business coaching and assistance from a fellow franchisee with a proven track record.

Cooperative pairings of this sort can be accomplished by setting up a "buddy system" where franchisees can seek advice from each other on specific topics, or can mentor each other to achieve certain goals.

Regional meetings and conventions

Conventions and regional meetings offer an exciting forum for communication between a franchisor and its franchisees. For franchisees, they offer an opportunity for discussing issues, problems and methods of operation. For the franchisor, conventions and regional meetings provide the means to present sales promotion programs, advertising campaigns, future developments and other important plans to a large number of franchisees at one time. Their motivational appeal is unmatched. It is therefore imperative that these types of meetings be properly planned and carefully executed to ensure that they fulfill their potential and meet the expectations of the participants.

Franchisee advisory councils

A franchisee advisory council gives franchisees a means of providing valuable feedback to the franchisor on how they believe the franchise system can be improved. The council asks franchisees for input which is then evaluated in terms of its applicability to the franchisee community as a whole. Suggestions for changes and improvements which will benefit all franchisees are then presented to the franchisor. The franchisee advisory council gives all franchisees a change to not only make their concerns heard, but also to be a part of the decision-making process.

Social networking

Set up a Twitter stream, Facebook page, Youtube channel, and Google + circle to keep in touch with your franchisees and keep them up to date with the information, guidance, and resources that are important to their business. Social networks establish instant and ongoing communication with franchisees, area representatives and other members of your franchise team.

_{Image by Tumisu from Pixabay}

In a previous post, we discussed how developing a good questioning strategy can help franchise support representatives to solve franchisees' business problems. This article covers the next step - implementing a solution.

1. Determine the implementation timeframe.

Often franchisees will have predetermined expectations about how, and when, their support representative will help them implement a solution to a problem. These expectations are sometimes not realistic. It is therefore important to clearly define and understand the franchisee's timeline expectations by asking questions such as:

• "What is your anticipated time frame?"
• "Are there any other deadlines?"
• "Could we do this in stages?"
• "Have you ever implemented anything like this before?"
• "If so, how long did it take?"
• "What process did you go through?"
• "How much preparation do you expect your employees will need in order to implement?"

2. Establish the criteria.

Once the problem has been defined and a solution has been settled upon, the franchisee will probably be eager to develop a set of criteria for assessing the success of the proposed solution. Your role as a Franchise Support Representative is to assist in developing a set of reasonable criteria for evaluating the solution. Some questions to ask when guiding franchisees are:

• "What do you think the criteria should be for assessing whether this solution is working?"
• "What indicators should we be looking at?"
• "Which of these criteria is most important to you?"
• "Is there general agreement on these criteria?"
• "How much of an improvement or increase are you looking for?"
• "How will you measure that?"
• "What is the minimum benefit you realistically expect?"

3. Gauge the level of resistance to change.

In many cases, the solution envisioned by the franchise support representative and that envisioned by the franchisee can be quite different. You need to get a sense of what the franchisee expects and also of his/her adaptability to change. You can take the measure of the franchisee's flexibility to alternative solutions through questions such as:

• "What kind of options would you be willing to consider?"
• "If we come up with a different solution, how would you feel about that?"
• "How locked in are you / your employees to this type of solution?"
• "Is there any reason why you might not want to try that approach?"
• "How much of a change are you / your employees willing to accept?"

4. Know who the decision makers are.

To gain a complete understanding of a given problem and of the process proposed to solve it, it's crucial to know who is responsible for making key decisions for the franchisee. You can determine this by asking questions such as:

• "Which people will have the most impact on this decision?"
• "How do they get along?"
• "Do you see any potential for conflict in this situation?"
• "Whom should we keep informed of our progress?"

5. Determine both internal and external conditions.

Decisions for change are often affected by internal and external conditions not directly related to the problem but which nevertheless have tremendous bearing on it. To find out what those conditions are, you could ask:

• "Are there any other changes going on in your franchise at the present time?" (or that have recently transpired)
• "Is the money for this program contingent on anything?"
• "Do you foresee any change in personnel in your organization that might affect your decision?"

6. Formulate an implementation plan.

After gathering all of your information and settling on a solution to the problem, the next step is to formulate a clear plan to implement it, making sure that each player knows his/her role and is committed to it. Every good plan entails three basic elements: goals, strategy, and schedule. Make sure your plan includes:

1. A clear statement of the goals to be reached,
2. A statement of the proposed methodology to reach those goals, including who has "ownership" of the various elements, as appropriate, and
3. A time frame for achieving the stated goals.

If you fail to develop a thorough implementation plan, there is little chance that your solution will be implemented.

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

As a franchisee support representative, one of your most important problem-solving tools is a well developed questioning strategy. You can use thoughtful, well-crafted questions to define a franchisee's problem and to determine the franchisee's needs. But a good questioning strategy has a far broader purpose: it will help you gather useful information about the wider forces surrounding the problem.

Your questions should be crafted to help you to find out:

1. the magnitude of the problem;
2. the dollar cost of the problem;
3. any preconceptions the franchisee has as to how to solve the problem;
4. the time frame and logistics of implementing a solution;
5. whether the proposed solution can be carried out with available resources;
6. the degree to which the franchisee is open to change;
7. the key players in the decision making and the role each one plays;
8. the internal and eternal conditions affecting the problem-solving process.

Determining the Magnitude of the Problem

Sometimes a Franchisee's responses do not adequately convey the urgency of the problem. In these cases, you must probe beneath the surface by asking "feeling-finding" questions strutted to determine the degree of importance the problem holds for the Franchisee. Some good examples of these probing types of questions are:

• "How important is ________________ to you?"
• "How important is it to solve the problem now?"
• "Do others feel as strongly about ___________ as you do?"
• "What priority would you give this, on a scale of 1 to 10?"
• "How valuable would a solution to this problem be to you?"

The Cost of the Problem

Economics are a strong factor that will sway the franchisee, either toward a given solution or against it. Therefore it is important to determine the difference between present costs versus the costs of the solution you are advocating. To determine this difference, you should be asking frank, fact-finding questions regarding finances and the assumptions the franchisee is using to arrive at his/her estimation of costs. Later, you can use these same assumptions in justifying the costs of your solution. Some typical questions might be:

• "What expenses do you incur when this happens?"
• "What is the average cost of each ________?"
• "How much are you paying now?"
• "What do you charge for each _________?"
• "Does that include maintenance costs?"
• "What dollar value would you put on that?"
• "What is your total labour cost for those employees?"
• "Does that include fringe benefits?"

Important factors to inquire about are: labour, waste, lost sales, maintenance and repair costs, supplies, depreciation, and cash flow.

Uncovering the Preconceptions

Franchisees will often have a preconceived vision of the solution to a problem. Before you offer your solution, assess where they are in their thinking by asking questions such as:

• "What experience have you previously had with this?"
• "What are your current thoughts on solving this?"
• "What impressions did this experience leave on your employees?"
• "What do you think your employees already know about this kind of project?"
• "Do you think any of the people involved might have some misconceptions about the way this problem should be handled?"

Always give serious consideration to your franchisees' thoughts and preconceptions in implementing or modifying a solution.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Whether you are a Franchise Support Representative dealing with franchisees, or a teacher helping a student work through the reasons why he/she has trouble with math, the steps to effective problem solving are essentially the same:

1. Gather information and define the problem.
2. Determine the probable causes of the problem, after considering all possibilities.
3. Develop alternative solutions, then choose the “best” fit.
4. Outline an action plan for implementing the solution.
5. Follow up during the implementation process to see how successful it is.

Gathering Information and Defining The Problem

A “problem” occurs when there is a discrepancy between what one expects will or should happen and what actually does occur. The deviation is usually caused by some sort of change. Defining the problem entails gathering sufficient information to sort out why the unexpected occurred, instead of what you would reasonably expect to happen. Gathering information begins with the following inquiries:

• Who are the individuals involved in the problem?
• What are the factors that make up the problem?
• What is the source of the problem?
• When did the problem begin and how long has it persisted?

Determining Probable Causes

From the information you have collected from the franchisee when defining the problem, you can generally extract its probable causes. Your goal is to determine at which point the business operations strayed from the desired path. You should pinpoint any changes that may have been causative, then move on to developing possible solutions.

Developing Alternative Solutions

Questioning and information gathering to this point have focused on the past. Once you move to the present – to identifying the problem – it then becomes possible to look toward the future and to formulate solutions.

• Clearly state the problem as you see it, the nature of the discrepancy between what should have happened and what did happen.
• Consider the cause of the problem and determine the resources that are available for solving the problem – for instance, money, personnel, materials and time.

You must operate within this framework to develop a solution that is practical and constructive. The search for solutions begins with an examination of both the franchisee’s experience and your own in dealing with similar or related problems. You should also invite suggestions from other individuals who have a stake in resolving the problem. Always consider all possibilities for solutions, particularly novel or “offbeat” approaches. Embedded within these are often the seeds of truly great ideas.

One recommended strategy for arriving at an optimum solution is to brainstorm options with your Franchisees, formulating as many ideas as possible and noting these down without comment. Judgment should be withheld until the next phase, that of choosing the best solution. The brainstorming approach encourages the development of a large number of options and often results in one idea leading to another - perhaps better - idea. Moreover, brainstorming is an excellent exercise for getting to the roots of a problem as well as learning more about your franchisee's thinking patterns. The solution that is ultimately chosen must address the problem within the constraints of available resources. Each potential solution must be evaluated in this light.

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It is natural for franchise support representatives to feel that if you present our ideas clearly and logically and with the best interests of Franchisees at heart, they will accept your expertise and follow your suggestions to build their business. Therefore it comes as a surprise when you find out that some Franchisees will always resist change, no matter how reasonable the recommendation.

Resistance is Futile?

At first it is natural to label the resisting person as stubborn and even irrational, and to respond by reiterating your suggestions or vehemently justifying your recommendations. But in examining the nature of resistance, it is important to understand that resistance is:

• a reaction to an emotional state deep within the person;
• not necessarily an evaluation of the suggestion on a logical, rational level;
• a predictable and natural emotional reaction which serves to protect the individual against stressful situations;
• often a necessary phase of the learning process.

It is only natural that the Support Representative would wish that resistance on the part of the Franchisee would simply disappear, for on one level it makes your task that much more difficult. But don't turn into Locutus of Borg - resistance is not futile. In fact, it can serve a valuable purpose as a learning tool. Countering the objections of a Franchisee and working through an issue with him/her can be a tremendous stimulus to growth – both on their part as business people and for the relationship as a whole. For true learning to occur, it is necessary that all feelings of resistance on the part of a Franchisee will have to be expressed directly, before he/she can accept and use your counsel.

Dealing with Resistance

Key skills required to deal with resistance are:

• the ability to identify the signs;
• being able to view resistance as natural, that it is a sign that the learning process has begun;
• supporting the Franchisee in expressing all of his/her feelings and objections;
• not internalizing the resistance or seeing it as a personal attack.

Forms of Resistance

Resistance can take many forms. Here are some of the most common.

1. The Franchisee persists in wanting more information. No matter how much is given, it's not enough. While some of the questions will undoubtedly be reasonable, at some point it will exceed reasonable levels and you will begin to feel impatient. This reaction is a good barometer for judging when a simple need for information crosses the line to become resistance.

2. "I need to give you more details." A corollary to item #1 is when the Franchisee insists on giving you way too much information. For instance, you may ask "How did this problem start?", and the response might be, "Well, I think it all began about five years ago on a Friday afternoon in May when… "

3. Time pressure. The Franchisee indicates that he/she would really like to implement the suggested change, but not right now - the timing is not right, we're far too busy, we're short-staffed at present, etc.

4. Practicality. This refers to situations when the Franchisee protests that he/she is living in the "real world" and is facing "real world pressures". The implication, of course, is that the Support Representative is not on the firing line, and is overly idealistic and impractical.

5. Verbal attack. The most blatant form of resistance is an angry verbal attack by a Franchisee. Your response to such an attack may be either to withdraw or to respond in kind. Both of these responses indicate that you are taking the attack personally rather than seeing it as just another (though highly unpleasant) form of resistance.

6. Confusion. When a Franchisee asks for help, he/she is likely sincerely seeking clarification. But if the Franchisee continues to claim lack of understanding after you explain the situation once or twice, the "confusion" could just be a form of resistance.

7. Silence. The silent approach is one of the hardest for Support Representatives to deal with. You may talk to the Franchisee until you're blue in the face and be met with little response or just a passive silence. He/she may reply that he/she has no particular objection to what you're proposing – but be warned, silence doesn't mean consent. In matters important to business, a Franchisee is sure to have some response.

8. Intellectualizing. Rather than focusing on the practical matters of implementing a change, the Franchisee may begin exploring theory after theory about why things are the way they are. This intellectualizing is actually a means of escaping the reality at hand and is a form of resistance.

9. Moralizing. Moralizing resistance can be recognized through the use of certain key words and phrases such as "those people should", "they need to understand", etc. When you hear a Franchisee taking this tack, it is probably a defence against the reality of the change.

10. Compliance. Beware of the Franchisee who expresses a desire to get to solutions quickly, with no need or desire to discuss problems. Likewise the Franchisee that implies "whatever you do is fine with me". While the compliant Franchisee who totally agrees with you and seems eager to know what to do next seems like the ideal situation, compliance of this sort can be one of the more difficult forms of resistance. Typically an absence of reservations is part and parcel of a "low energy agreement".

11. Methodology. A Franchisee's persistent questioning about the methods of implementing a change can represent a legitimate need for information. But once you have established the credibility of a proposed change, repeated questions on the part of the Franchisee about implementation strategies, or suggestions of alternate methods, may be a form of resistance that will impede progress.

12. Flight Into Health. This occurs when a proposed change is being discussed as a resolution to a problem, yet partway through the discussion it appears that the Franchisee no longer has the problem you were addressing in the first place. It has now magically disappeared, so there is no longer any reason for the change.

REMEMBER – Resistance does not actually mean "No".

Image by Herbert Bieser from Pixabay