This is intended for the Director of Operations or main point of contact at the Franchisor Level. Successful adoption begins with the Director of Operations assuming a new role of encouraging a culture of “Risk Management.” A strong culture of Risk Management will hopefully lead to a higher Average Rate of Compliance. The higher the rate of compliance, the better the adoption. To achieve this desired outcome the Director of Operations will be successful if they educate, promote, encourage, and hold franchisees accountable for insurance. Rikor has been around long enough to know what works well and what doesn’t.

To effectively incorporate insurance monitoring into your current process, we recommend the following steps:

• Inform Franchisees: Communicate to all franchisees that Rikor monitors insurance on your behalf. This establishes clarity about the monitoring process and sets expectations for compliance.
• Regular Reminders & Automated Communications: Be sure to turn on “Insurance Monitoring” in your system to send regular, standard, and frequent reminders to franchisees regarding their insurance obligations. This ongoing communication is essential to ensure they remain aware of their responsibilities. By leveraging Rikor's automated communication system to send out reminders and updates. This will help streamline the process and ensure that franchisees receive timely notifications.
• Review Reports: Set aside dedicated time to log into the RMS™ and review the reports generated by Rikor. This will allow you to stay informed about the insurance status of your franchisees and make necessary updates to your team.
• Leadership Decisions: Understand that while Rikor provides monitoring, it is ultimately up to the leadership at your brand to determine the necessary actions if a franchisee fails to provide adequate insurance.
• Continuous Improvement: Make insurance compliance a part of your ongoing operational strategy. Regularly assess and refine your monitoring processes to enhance compliance and reduce risk exposure.

Rikor remains confident in its mantra and approach to achieving this new culture. Rikor remains committed to minimal friction and potential flexibility.  Minimal friction, to Rikor, means we do not encourage or force ‘Existing Franchisees’ to re-write their policy mid-year to achieve 100% compliance (unless egregious coverages are missing which put the zee and zor at risk). Additionally, we do not recommend any strong language or other means of coercion during the first 12 months of commencing this new cultural change. Potential flexibility is needed with insurance because, in very unique circumstances, the franchisee may insist on their agent. For whatever reason, these situations do arise, and Rikor suggests letting the few-and-far-between Zee insist on saying, ‘No” to their proposal from Rikor.

The most successful leaders of change have also educated themselves in insurance.  Frequently, franchisees can get quickly frustrated with insurance issues due to a lack of insurance knowledge. 

Being able to answer basic questions is critical to resolve questions that are asked. Some common heated questions such as:

• What are the dangers of working with subcontractors?
• Hey, I just got audited, what the heck is this all about?
• Why are correct classifications so important?
• Why is my insurance quote higher than that of other locations?
• How is another local agent promising such a low rate?
• Why are my auto rates so expensive?
• How do I look for problematic exclusions in my policy?

Often enough, the franchisee will experience a deeply emotional response when they feel unfairly treated. Having the response readily available helps them understand what is happening. If the Director of Operations doesn’t have the answers to common insurance questions, the anxiety and frustration can be shifted to the insurance agent. This can lead to mistrust and non-participation. So, it’s best to be informed and ask questions of the agent should one arise.

By following these steps, you can effectively integrate insurance monitoring into your existing processes and foster a culture of compliance within your franchise network.