Telling Isn’t Teaching and Knowing Isn’t Doing: Why Franchisee Professional Development Must Go Further
- jantimms3
- Apr 29
- 6 min read
If you think your job ends when you “deliver the training,” you’ve already lost. That might sound harsh but it’s one of the most common, costly mistakes franchisors make.
You roll out the new training. Everyone logs in or shows up. There’s some good feedback. A few nodding heads.Then… nothing changes. Franchisees go back to old habits. KPIs stay flat. You’re left wondering, “Didn’t we already train them on this?”
Here’s the truth: Telling someone what to do doesn’t mean they’ll do it.
And even if they understand it, that doesn’t mean they’ll apply it when it matters.
If you want to build a high-performing network, the real work begins after the training session ends in how you drive engagement, embed learning, and reinforce new behaviours. Because in franchising, knowing isn’t doing… and training isn’t transformation.
Let’s explore why traditional approaches to franchisee learning fall short and what you can do instead to create lasting behaviour change that drives real results.
The Fatal Assumption: "We Trained Them, So They’ll Do It"
It’s one of the most dangerous assumptions in franchising and it’s costing brands millions in lost opportunity every year.
👉 "We trained them, so they should be doing it by now." How many times have you heard that? Maybe even said it yourself?
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Here’s what actually happens:
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Without structured, ongoing reinforcement, information turns into memory dust and good intentions are overwhelmed by reality.
The assumption that franchisees will automatically apply what they’ve been taught is a dangerous shortcut - one that leads straight to stalled initiatives, wasted investment, and a growing gap between brand strategy and field execution.
⚠️ Silent Killer Warning: Great initiatives poorly implemented is one of the 12 biggest reasons franchise systems plateau and it almost always starts right here, with the belief that "training = results." |
Why Traditional Training Fails to Deliver Real Impact
Even when franchisors invest heavily in training, the outcomes often disappoint. Not because the content was wrong. Not because franchisees didn’t care. But because traditional training assumes that delivering information equals driving change and that’s simply not how human behaviour works.
The hard numbers tell the real story:
40% of learners fail to transfer what they’ve learned back into their day-to-day operations.
70% of those who initially apply learning falter within just 12 months.
Only 50% of training investment results in any measurable business improvement.
In other words, half of the time, franchisors are paying for training that doesn’t change a thing.
Why? Because traditional training often stops at the wrong finish line:
It focuses on awareness, not application.
It measures attendance, not adoption.
It assumes one exposure is enough, instead of building in reinforcement and repetition.
People don’t learn new behaviours because they heard a good presentation. They learn because they practise, apply, reflect, and adapt - repeatedly, in real-world conditions, with structured support.
In franchising, where consistency and capability are everything, relying on traditional "one and done" training models is a blueprint for frustration, underperformance, and wasted potential.
If you want franchisee training to stick and to drive real commercial outcomes, you must design for behaviour change, not just knowledge transfer.
Introducing WICKAM: The Foundation for FAST Track Accelerated Learning and Action
If telling isn’t teaching and knowing isn’t doing - then how do you bridge the gap between franchisee learning and franchisee action?
You build it into the design of your training from the ground up. You don’t rely on motivation. You don’t hope they’ll "figure it out" later. You engineer success into every step of the learning journey.
That’s exactly what the WICKAM framework is designed to do.
Developed through years of research and tested across franchise networks, WICKAM identifies the six essential conditions that must be met for learning to transfer into real-world behaviour change:
🔹 WORTHWHILE Learning must feel valuable, relevant, and essential, not optional or "nice to know." 🔹 INTERACTIVE People don’t learn deeply by listening, they learn by doing, practising, and applying during the learning process. 🔹 CONVENIENT Franchisees are busy. If training is hard to access, badly timed, or overwhelming, it won’t stick, no matter how good the content is. 🔹 KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER The learning must be designed not just to inform, but to equip franchisees with tools, techniques, and know-how they can immediately apply. 🔹 ASSESSED If you don’t measure whether franchisees understand and can apply what’s been taught, you’re guessing, not leading. 🔹 MEASURED True success isn’t what happens inside the training room, it’s what happens afterwards. Progress must be tracked against real-world behaviours and results. |
As Napoleon Bonaparte said:
"If you listen you will forget. If you write it down, you might remember. But only when you implement do you truly understand."
This is the heart of WICKAM. It’s not about delivering more information. It’s about structuring learning so that franchisees act, apply, and master, because mastery only comes through doing.
When you build these six conditions into your franchisee learning programs, you don't just deliver information - you drive transformation.
You turn passive participants into active implementers. You embed skills, habits, and behaviours that stick - not just for a week, but for the long haul. You move from "training events" to "performance systems" that fuel network-wide growth.
👉 Over the next series of posts, I’ll show you how to bring the principles of WICKAM to life — tackling the real barriers that stop franchisee learning from turning into franchisee action.
Because in franchising, the brands that win aren’t the ones who train the most.They’re the ones who turn learning into doing faster, smarter, and at scale.
Action Steps: How to Shift from "Telling” to "Teaching for Change"
Changing the way you think about training isn't just a philosophical shift - it's a practical one. If you want franchisees to apply what they learn (not just nod along politely), you need to design learning that makes action inevitable.
Here’s how to start shifting today:
Design with behaviour change in mind — not just knowledge delivery.
Before you create a single slide or handout, ask yourself: "What specific behaviours do we need franchisees to do differently because of this learning?" Build backwards from the action you want - not forwards from the information you want to share.
Make learning practical, interactive, and scenario based:
Franchisees don’t need more theory. They need real-world practice applying the new skills or knowledge inside their business environment. Case studies, simulations, role-plays, and guided exercises beat passive listening every time.
Reinforce learning immediately after the session ends
Don’t assume that because they "got it" during training, they’ll remember and apply it tomorrow. Follow up with structured action steps, coaching conversations, check-ins, and quick wins that help cement the new behaviours.
Embed measurement and accountability from Day One
Set clear expectations: "Here's how we’ll know this training made a difference. "Track real-world actions - not just quiz scores or attendance logs. Recognise and celebrate early adopters who apply new learning visibly.
Make learning continuous, not one-off
No matter how good a training session is, it fades without reinforcement. Use bite-sized refreshers, coaching moments, peer learning groups, and ongoing challenges to keep the momentum alive.
Bottom Line: Training isn’t complete when the session ends - it’s only complete when behaviours change.
If you design franchisee learning with that goal in mind, you won't just tick the training box - you’ll build a network of confident, capable, action-driven operators who fuel your brand’s success.
Are you a franchisor tired of delivering training that gets forgotten and ready to build franchisee learning that drives real action and results?
The Franchise Growth Bundle is the perfect place to get started. Inside, you'll find everything you need to begin implementing WICKAM-driven professional development in your network:
A hardcopy of the bestselling book, The Ultimate Franchising Success Formula
Full access to the audiobook version, so you can reinforce strategies anywhere, anytime
Two months membership to the Get Smart Learning Academy, packed with proven frameworks you can start using straight away
And to make sure you're focusing your time and energy where it counts, you’ll also get access to the Five Magic F’s Success Diagnostic - a powerful tool that provides a clear, personalised roadmap for your franchisee development priorities. No more wasting time on irrelevant content. No more guessing what needs to change.
Download your Franchise Growth Bundle and Success Diagnostic here Because in franchising, it’s not what your people know that matters - it’s what they do with it. |
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