Technical support for franchises in Mexico: how to agree the terms

When franchising a business in Mexico, promising ‘ongoing support’ is not enough. You need to turn your expertise into a technical support service that every franchisee can access, even as the number of outlets grows. Defining its scope, responsibilities and timescales before offering the franchise helps build a network with clear expectations and prevents every enquiry from depending on the founder’s availability.

1. Distinguish ongoing support from initial training

Initial training prepares franchisees and their teams to run the business. Ongoing technical support helps them apply the business model when questions, departures from standard practice or situations requiring guidance arise. It is not the same as an audit either: monitoring identifies problems, while support involves helping to resolve them within the agreed scope.

In Mexico, the Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property (LFPPI) specifically regulates franchises. Article 246 requires the agreement to be in writing and to set out the details of technical and operational training, as well as the method or manner in which the franchisor will provide technical support. It also covers criteria, methods and procedures for assessing performance and the quality of services provided by both parties.

Support should therefore not be left as a vague sales promise. The agreement must describe how it will be provided; a schedule can set out the operational details. Pre-contractual information and sales presentations should be consistent with those commitments.

The law is no substitute for designing your service: it is up to the parties, with legal advice, to agree the channels, coverage and responsibilities.

2. Create a support catalogue you can deliver

Start by reviewing the enquiries currently handled by the people who know your business operations best. Categorise them and determine which require a response from head office, which can be resolved through documentation and which should go to a specialist supplier.

For each service, prepare a summary covering:

• Purpose: the problem it helps resolve.
• Scope: the activities head office will and will not undertake.
• Delivery method: remote support, a scheduled visit or an exceptional intervention.
• Responsibility: the role responsible and who provides cover.
• Deliverable: documented guidance, a diagnosis or an action plan.
• Cost: included in the agreed fees or subject to an additional charge agreed in advance.

For example, support for a sales system might include reviewing its configuration and referring faults to the supplier, without covering equipment repairs or guaranteeing the availability of external services.

Avoid confusing operational guidance with individual tax, employment or legal advice. If you will not provide those services, say so explicitly. Similarly, clarify who pays travel costs when an unscheduled visit requires someone to attend in person. A transparent exclusion is better than apparently unlimited coverage that you cannot sustain.

3. Establish how support is requested and handled

Choose a main channel that retains a history of each case. This could be a support ticket platform or a managed email inbox with an internal log. What matters is that support does not become scattered across personal conversations.

Ask for enough information to get started: the outlet, contact person, description of the problem, when it arose and relevant evidence. Avoid requesting unnecessary personal data or passwords through informal channels.

Set priorities according to operational impact. A question about a procedure does not need the same treatment as a fault that prevents sales from being recorded. For each category, establish support hours and separate commitments for:

• Acknowledgement: confirming that the request has been logged.
• Initial response: beginning the review or requesting further information.
• Follow-up: communicating progress and next steps.
• Closure: documenting the solution or the reason the case was referred to someone else.

Do not confuse response times with resolution times. If resolving the issue depends on third parties, explain how their involvement will be coordinated. Also specify whom to contact if the initial support does not resolve the problem, and what happens outside normal support hours.

4. Check your capacity and improve the service

Before committing to timescales, record how much time actual enquiries from your outlets take to handle. Consider their complexity, the need for specialists and the possibility of receiving several requests at once. This information will help you assess whether your team can sustain the service you offer.

Regularly review outstanding requests, recurring problems, compliance with response commitments and reopened cases. Do not measure speed alone: closing a request without resolving it can conceal an unmet need for support.

When a question keeps coming up, turn the answer into a useful resource for the whole franchise network, without disclosing any outlet’s confidential information. Keep these improvements consistent with contractual commitments, without unilaterally reducing what has been agreed.

Practical takeaway: before offering your franchise, draw up your support catalogue, assign responsibilities and test the support process. Promise only the support you can provide and document.