The purpose of this summary is to provide transparency into the general topics of discussion. Conclusions/decisions are not generally made during the meeting; therefore discussions referenced here will not have conclusions.
The meeting was held via conference call on Friday April 8. All MFAC members were in attendance: franchisees Steve Santacruz, John Labuda, Vane Lucas, John Opalko, Reggie Kellum, Carl Keating, Bob D’Orazio, and Sam Younis; and Peter Markovitz, Ron Nall, Shant Assarian, Nathaniel Erwin, Dr. Jennifer Nicholls, Matt Solomon, and Jason Condello of the HQ team. The agenda for the meeting and summary points were as follows:
Instructor Training
A discussion around HQ’s efforts to develop additional training for Instructors. The modules contemplated are currently being categorized into two levels:
- Level 1 – Learning center basics, Team Teaching, First Look, shadowing.
- MU courses, CD discussions, practical exam.
- Re-do practical exams to make them clearer in intent yet be a bit more flexible in execution.
- Level 2 – Advanced instruction-based training to improve instructional practices and targeted for promotion to Lead Instructor.
- Construct modules, HQ Instructor training sessions, practical exam.
- The MFAC provided several specific recommendations for HQ to consider.
- Planned future development:
- Construct modules
- Team Teaching
- Assessment Evaluation
- Revised practical exams
- Instructor binder materials
- Resource documents from construct modules.
- Currently no plans for Instructor learning plans (literacy tests) in M2.
- Special certifications – How do we prepare employees to be qualified Instructor trainers, how do franchisees know if an Instructor is qualified to teach Calculus/AP statistics. A topic that HQ is aware of but is not an immediate focus.
Mathnasium Career Ladder
A discussion took place on what systems can be developed to build and develop talent.
- Beginning of a process to formalize and standardize roles and responsibilities in learning centers. This will lead to the development of processes, tools, and materials for recruitment, training & on-boarding, and career advancement.
- A larger vision on the talent life cycle was discussed.
- An MFAC meeting in May will focus on the details of a potential internal job board to help match available talent within the Mathnasium system to open positions.
Marketing
A general update on marketing was provided.
- PPC update
- A regional model was tested but did not yield good results.
- Another regional test is underway with a different strategy and a different vendor (smaller in scale than the first).
- Creative materials
- Working with an advertising agency to refine branding/messaging.
- Seasonal campaigns (summer, back to school, winter).
- The Warning campaign was refreshed in the interim along with Child Readiness materials and three options for summer.
- Will evolve to have consistent branding and messaging in all materials which may require the retirement of many of the materials that exist today.
- New hire dedicated to Lead Conversion systems to provide more sales support/training/systems.
- Download Depot improvements underway – design/functionality upgrades.
- Testing of structured direct mail campaigns at opening to begin shortly.
Progress Reporting
HQ previewed progress reporting functionality on which development has begun.
- We shifted away from what had been developed last year to remove Marketo from the process and improve the user experience.
- Creation of a new Progress Report Manager within M2.
- Will not rely on any other software other than Salesforce.
- Reviewed mock-ups of what the interface will look like and how it will function.
- Discussion around whether Assessment information should be included, such as last Assessment date.
- Discussion on the data that will appear on the reports and the related timeframes. If all goes well, expected deployment is October 2016.
- The MFAC provided several specific recommendations for HQ to consider.
4 Comments To "Summary of the April 2016 Mathnasium Franchisee Advisory Committee (MFAC) Meeting"
#1 Comment By Mona Goyal On April 19, 2016 @ 11:30 am
There is lot to look forward to. I’m excited to see what the Progress Report Manager would look like. Hopefully it would be shared in the convention too with all of us.
Also, very much excited about the instructor training and new marketing plans.
#2 Comment By Elana Daigle On April 20, 2016 @ 8:41 am
Thanks so much!!!
I feel as though you guys are trying to improve things for the “group as a whole.”
You are appreciated!!
#3 Comment By Ann Stengel On April 21, 2016 @ 7:56 am
Appreciate your efforts!
#4 Comment By Jennifer Faulkner On April 28, 2016 @ 3:22 pm
Look forward to the improvements to Progress Reporting, and am glad to hear the interface will remain within Salesforce and not Marketo.
Can you elaborate on the structured direct mail campaign for new centers that is being tested?
Very pleased to see timely and editable marketing material in Download!