As a franchisor, this may seem a strange thing to wish for this Christmas, but we sincerely hope that our Aspray property claims management franchisees manage to get some quality rest, rather than bringing home the bacon non-stop.
Whilst we know that our dedicated loss assessing team of franchisees will most likely be super-busy heading out to see customers in need of expert help with their home and commercial property insurance claims, especially if temperatures dip, storms whip up, or flooding occurs, there is a reason for wishing them some brain downtime.
Franchisees & the unconscious brain
To explain, as an experienced and supportive franchisor, Aspray wants its franchisees to truly excel with their business ventures, whether they have been established for just a few months or are one of the franchisees who recently picked up their long-time customer service excellence awards at our recent National Franchise Conference.
For our franchisees to build their property insurance claims businesses on strong foundations, and then flourish as we know they can within our franchise model, they need to be working on the business and not just in the business. That means making the most of their unconscious brain and not just their conscious brain.
How franchisees can benefit from brain downtime
There’s a very good chance that Archimedes did coin the term ‘Eureka’ in the bath, as that is one of the places in which our brain most enjoys unconscious time. Alternatively, it may be whilst in the car, or on a train journey, or maybe sitting in the garden – anywhere that we might say we go to ‘switch off’, not recognising that, for our unconscious brain, that really means switching on.
When our project management franchisees are relaxing, away from the burst pipes, flood-damaged homes, post-fire devastation in homes and commercial properties, and scenes of vehicle impacts, they should be getting rid of what has been termed ‘cerebral congestion’. Expert Tim Kreider has stated that downtime is as important to the brain as Vitamin D is to the body. Whether we are napping, recharging, holidaying or just relaxing, we are giving our brains some vital refreshment and allowing the mind to wander.
Why franchisees need a wandering mind
Whilst we are in a state of relaxation, the brain makes random links between thoughts and things that have happened to us, which can be a hugely positive boost for creative thinking and problem solving. It can also enable us to think back on conversations we have had – perhaps with an insurer’s loss adjuster in the case of our loss assessing franchisees – and potentially come up with new, innovative ways to provide an even more efficient service for their customers.
It can also allow us to formulate better arguments, better approaches, and more compelling ways of putting our clients’ property damage insurance claims case across. It can boost our confidence, by allowing us to run through conversations in our head and silently answer any objections. It can allow us to run back through past negotiations and consider where further improvements could be made in similar situations in the future – after all, the pursuit of excellence should never end and nobody should become complacent.
As well as then delivering better cases and arguments, which in turn may enhance customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth recommendations, mind wandering could allow our franchisees to focus on how to shape their next few months or further develop their business plan. As we said earlier, working on a franchise business is as important as working in it.
So, we do wish our franchisees a busy few weeks over the festive period, but also hope they get that long soak in the bath, or have their feet up on the sofa, doodling or daydreaming away. If they do, they could start 2020 with a bang, recharged not just physically but also mentally, with all the great thoughts that their unconscious mind has delivered, to create even bigger positive impacts in their franchise territories and to the benefit of insured home and commercial property owners.