At Code Ninjas, Operations and Development Collaborate on Sales

We asked David Graham, founder and CEO of Code Ninjas: "In what ways does your development department work alongside your operations department to enhance the recruitment process?" Here's what he told us.

Our entire team is deeply passionate about the idea that we are a "franchisee support" organization. This means that everything we do from a franchise development standpoint is to create successful franchisees, not just sell units, though our development team is great at that too.

An example of this would be their involvement in New Franchisee Training (NFT). At NFT, the franchise development team works with the franchisees to gather helpful information on how we can make our process smoother and more effective. From the franchisee's perspective, the development team often is the most trusted member at HQ.

Because the franchisees knew development team first, getting honest, constructive feedback from franchisees is easier for them. This also gives them a chance to see the franchisees who have not followed the plan, and lets them identify "less than helpful" character traits in people that they may have missed initially. By doing so, they can more effectively filter out people in the development funnel who are not going to follow the plan and work well on the team.

Another way operations plays an active role in enhancing the recruitment process is at discovery day events. This event is invitation-only and we require every attendee to complete a checklist to secure their space. Because we make it an exclusive club, the space is coveted and we often have people racing to do their paperwork to secure the last spot.

During that event, the operations team goes over different topics related to their particular departments. We cover topics in vendors, daily operations, compliance, training, and curriculum. We don't give away brand secrets and we don't talk about revenue, but everything else is on the table. We make it clear that today is their day to ask whatever questions come to mind and to get to know the team, because after today they should have made their decision.

When prospective franchisees come in for discovery day, it's all hands on deck. The entire team gets involved in making the franchisees feel important and showing them we are listening to their concerns. We make introductions to the support specialists and compliance officers and tell the prospects this is going to be the team dedicated to their success. This reiterates our core DNA of franchisee support and makes them more comfortable to move forward.

We've found that our development team receiving feedback from NFT, and the operations team getting early exposure to prospective franchisees at discovery day, are two great ways to bridge the gap between the franchise development and operations teams.

 David Graham is the founder and CEO of Code Ninjas, a concept that teaches computer programming (coding) to children aged 7 to 14. Learn more at their website or call 855-446-4652.