Cousins Maine Lobsters Wins Franchise Update's Franchise Innovation Award for Most Innovative Operations Team

Cousins Maine Lobsters recently took home one of Franchise Update's annual Franchise Innovation Awards in the category of Most Innovative Operations Team. They won the award for their Brand Immersion Training & Onboarding Program, which provides a comprehensive learning experience for its franchisees by teaching them about the lobster and food truck industry.

The program gives franchisees a multi-faceted hands-on experience that acclimate new owners to the business and the CML brand, providing education and insights from the beginning of the product lifecycle to the post-consumer visit reviews. Franchisees can initiate food truck fabrication, secure and prepare their commissary space, complete training and onboarding, and launch their business within as little as 90 days. The thorough training plan is conducted over the course of 21 days, with the final phase occurring throughout the year as needed.

Here are the four phases of Cousins Maine Lobster's new franchisee onboarding and training process. 

Training in Maine - Every new franchisee travels to corporate headquarters in Portland, Maine to learn about the history of the lobster industry, meet with company co-founders and spend time with the leadership team. They are taken on a boat with fishermen to experience firsthand lobster fishing and the work involved. Franchisees bait and haul traps, review every lobster caught to ensure they are within legal limits, and learn how every lobster harvested for CML has been responsibly sourced. They then visit the local processing plant and then meet with the supply chain team at the distribution center. The Maine training experience gives franchisees and their teams a complete understanding of the history and food quality proposition of Cousins Maine Lobsters.  

Training in a company market - Every new franchisee is required to train in a company market with the Franchise Operations, Training & Quality Assurance team so they can learn all aspects of owning and operating a Cousins Maine Lobster food truck. This includes an overview of the truck's maintenance and operations, how to book events and develop third-party relationships, and market themselves on social media. Franchisees also learn all aspects of the menu, recipes and food preparation, as well as proper cleanliness and food safety standards.  

Training their home market - The final phase is grand opening training in the new franchisee’s market, which takes place one week prior to the opening. The week starts with teaching staff members about menu preparation requirements, followed by training on operations for preparing the menu, how to drive and operate the food truck, and prepping for service. Later in the week, they conduct order simulations and host a private event to allow the team to experience the pace of orders and food preparation. A soft launch takes place on Friday before the grand opening, and opens on Saturday under the supervision of the corporate training staff. The staff monitors the new team's progress and doesn't depart a market until they believe the franchisee is fully prepared to operate independently.

Ongoing Learning & Development – In addition to the live experiences, Cousins Maine Lobsters has also created an entire platform of video-based training for franchisees to execute continued training as a refresher for their teams on demand as new managers and crew are hired.  The corporate team also travels to the new franchisee’s market throughout the year, working with food truck teams, conducting audits, and providing additional training on areas of opportunity or new products or processes.

Results

This onboarding process gives Cousins Maine Lobster franchisees the confidence and skills to build, operate, and launch the business efficiently and effectively. In many cases, they are onboarding, training, and launching a new franchise in approximately 90 days. The company is differentiating itself from other food brands with this comprehensive education and training program and setting its franchisees up for success.

“Our multifaceted training approach is about igniting passion, fostering growth, and laying the foundation for a successful journey with Cousins Maine Lobster,” said Mike Carmody VP of operations. “We are spending time with franchisees at corporate locations, in their market, and here at home in Maine where they are fully immersed in the lobstering industry.  The combination of these trainings coupled with our new announced compliance visits allows for constant education and employee development.”