How to Draft Support Commitments in a Franchise Agreement

When preparing to franchise your existing business, simply saying “we provide ongoing support” is not enough. Franchisees need to know whom to contact in different situations and what they can expect from head office. Head office, in turn, must avoid making open-ended promises it cannot fulfil. In a healthy franchise network, support is not assistance left to goodwill, but a contractual obligation with a clear scope and process. Rather than looking at how to build a team, this guide focuses on defining the support you will offer and making it measurable.

1. Turn a general promise of support into a list of services

Start by listing the problems that managers resolve day to day in your existing business. Advice on product preparation, referring a software fault to the relevant provider, reviewing local marketing materials and interpreting business data are all different types of support. Grouping them under a single heading such as “advice” leaves both parties’ expectations unclear.

Answer the following questions for each service:

• Scope: What will head office help with?
• Requests: Through which channel should requests be submitted, and what information must they include?
• Deliverable: Will the service involve written advice, an online meeting, a site visit or technical guidance?
• Limits: Which tasks will head office not undertake?
• Fees: Is the service covered by existing payments, or does it carry an additional charge?

For example, the phrase “accounting support” could suggest that head office will prepare franchisees’ tax returns. If the service is actually limited to explaining how to generate sales reports, say so explicitly. The franchisee’s responsibility to engage their own accountant should not be confused with head office’s reporting assistance.

Also specify whether support is provided on request or according to a regular schedule. A monthly review meeting is not the same obligation as responding to a support ticket raised when needed. Clarify from the outset whether site visits include travel, accommodation and a follow-up report.

2. Distinguish between responding and resolving the problem

Timing is one of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of support commitments. Acknowledging a request, starting a specialist review and fully resolving the problem are separate stages. Applying the same deadline to all three can create unrealistic obligations, particularly where external service providers are involved.

Set out support hours, the definition of a working day and when the clock starts in a schedule to the agreement. For requests submitted with incomplete information, specify what further information will be requested and how this affects the calculation of deadlines. However, head office should not be able to suspend the support process indefinitely because of a minor omission.

Assign priorities according to the impact on the business. A software fault that prevents sales from being processed should not receive the same priority as a query about a promotional image for next month. Define the circumstances in which the emergency contact channel should be used.

Where an external provider needs to intervene, make head office’s own obligations specific: forwarding the ticket, monitoring progress and keeping the franchisee informed. Do not guarantee a resolution deadline that is outside your control. Equally, do not turn a statement that “a third party is responsible” into a clause that removes all of head office’s follow-up duties.

3. Place commitments within Türkiye’s legal framework

Türkiye has no dedicated law governing franchise agreements exclusively. Nor is there a general franchise register that franchisors must join or a mandatory pre-contract disclosure document system specifically for franchise sales. This does not mean that support promises have no legal significance.

The Turkish Code of Obligations, Law No. 6098, is relevant to contract formation and the performance of obligations, while the Turkish Commercial Code, Law No. 6102, is relevant to the commercial relationship. The principal basis for the duty of good faith is Article 2 of the Turkish Civil Code, Law No. 4721. The provision of accurate, non-misleading information about support during negotiations is assessed within this framework.

Depending on the nature of the relationship, the Law on the Protection of Competition, Law No. 4054, and, in relation to trade mark use, the Industrial Property Code, Law No. 6769, also apply. Support provisions cannot, for example, be used to set a franchisee’s selling prices unlawfully.

Compare promotional presentations and meeting notes with the support provisions in the agreement. Telling a prospective franchisee that “on-site help is always available” while offering only limited remote advice in the contract creates a serious mismatch in expectations. Explain significant restrictions on support before signing; do not leave them solely to an operational document sent later.

Also define how the support schedule relates to the agreement and the procedure for amending it. Do not assume that core services can be reduced unilaterally. Have a lawyer review the final wording in light of the particular relationship.

4. Design the recording, review and corrective action process together

Measurable support does not require complex software, but it does require traceable records. Each request should record the issue, the time it was opened, the person responsible, the response provided and the reason for closure. Important requests resolved by telephone should also have a brief summary recorded.

Head office closing a ticket does not necessarily mean that the franchisee’s problem has been resolved. Define how the franchisee can request a further review and to whom the issue should be escalated if it remains unresolved. Repeated delays call for an analysis of the causes and a corrective action plan, not merely an apology.

The process may also be affected if the franchisee fails to provide the necessary access or share requested records. Set out these mutual obligations to co-operate; do not automatically attribute every delay to one party. Regular reviews of support records help identify both gaps in service and misunderstood commitments.

Practical takeaway: Before making your first franchise offer, prepare a one-page support table. For each service, record its scope, request channel, response time, deliverable and whether it carries a fee. Do not make a firm contractual promise to provide a service that you cannot clearly explain or consistently deliver.