Many learning and development leaders are wrestling with a frustrating reality. Franchise field support training programs are more sophisticated than ever, yet franchise training performance in the field still varies widely. LMS platforms are mature. Onboarding paths are well documented. Content libraries are full. And still, execution breaks down after the initial ramp-up phase—especially in post-onboarding training environments where field support coaching becomes the primary reinforcement mechanism.
In a recent episode of the Training Impact Podcast, Jeff Walter sits down with Angela Cote, founder and CEO of AC Inc, to unpack why that happens and what organizations can do differently.
The conversation shifts attention away from courses and content and toward a role that quietly determines whether training actually works over time: field support. For organizations that rely on franchisees, partners, or independent operators, this discussion is especially relevant because it exposes a gap that traditional training strategies rarely address.
Angela’s perspective is grounded in lived experience, not theory. She grew up inside a franchise system that scaled to nearly 500 locations, giving her early exposure to the operational realities of growth, standardization, and brand consistency.
Her professional career began in field support, working directly with franchisees during periods of expansion and helping open new locations across Western Canada. This role placed her at the center of franchise relationships, where training, operations, and human behavior intersect every day.
Later, Angela became a franchisee herself, operating units for nearly two decades. That experience fundamentally reshaped how she viewed support. From the owner’s seat, she experienced the difference between being evaluated for compliance and being supported through decision-making, prioritization, and growth.
After her family’s brand was sold to private equity and her father exited the business, Angela began working more broadly across the franchise industry. What she encountered was consistent. Brands had invested heavily in onboarding, systems, and learning platforms. What they had not invested in was developing the people responsible for reinforcing those investments in the field.
AC Inc was founded to address that gap.
One of the clearest insights from the podcast is Angela’s explanation of a disconnect many organizations feel but struggle to name.
Franchisors often say, “We do everything for them.” They list onboarding programs, learning paths, operational manuals, conferences, and technology. From a training standpoint, these investments are real and meaningful.
Most of these organizations already operate structured franchise training programs designed to establish consistency and accelerate time to competence across independently owned locations.
Yet performance still varies. Engagement declines after the first year. Some operators plateau. Others comply with standards but never fully take ownership of the business.
Angela’s point is not that training is ineffective. It is that training alone does not sustain performance. Once franchisees are operating independently, the system depends on field support professionals to help owners translate knowledge into judgment, habits, and decisions.
When that capability is missing, field visits default to what feels measurable and safe. Checklists. Audits. Surface-level observations. The system remains compliant, but performance stalls.
For learning and development leaders, this is a critical reframing.
Field support is often treated as an operational function rather than a learning one. Angela challenges that assumption directly. Field support professionals are, in practice, the primary reinforcement mechanism for training after onboarding ends.
If those professionals are not equipped to coach, contextualize, and guide, even the strongest training programs struggle to stick.
This dynamic is especially visible in franchise environments, but it also mirrors what happens in broader partner ecosystems. In extended enterprise models, organizations depend on people they do not directly employ to deliver consistent outcomes. Authority is limited. Influence matters more than enforcement.
Angela’s work positions field support squarely inside this extended enterprise reality. Coaching becomes the mechanism through which training is sustained over time, not a separate or optional function.
During the podcast, Angela describes how undertrained field support professionals often default to compliance because they lack a broader framework for value creation. She shares the familiar example of a field visit that centers on a burned-out light bulb.
The problem is not that standards are unimportant. The problem is that compliance becomes a substitute for coaching when the support professional does not know how to engage the business more deeply.
This dynamic is especially damaging with high-performing operators. When field visits fail to evolve alongside the franchisee, perceived value erodes. Engagement drops quietly. Support becomes something to endure rather than rely on.
Angela argues that field support professionals must be trained to recognize where a franchisee sits on the performance spectrum and adapt their approach accordingly. Struggling operators need structure and clarity. Overwhelmed operators need prioritization. High performers need strategic perspective.
That kind of situational coaching does not happen by accident. It must be developed intentionally.
For L&D and enablement teams, the episode offers several practical takeaways that extend beyond franchising.
First, training does not end at onboarding. Most organizations treat onboarding as the primary learning milestone. Angela’s perspective highlights that the real work begins after the doors are open, when people must apply what they learned under pressure.
Second, reinforcement matters more than volume. Adding more courses rarely solves engagement problems. What matters is whether someone is helping learners make sense of training in the context of real decisions.
Third, coaching is a trainable skill. AC Inc treats coaching as a certifiable discipline, not a personality trait. Field support professionals can be taught how to guide conversations, build trust, and hold accountability without defaulting to enforcement.
These lessons apply equally to customer-facing enablement environments, where education must drive adoption, behavior change, and long-term value rather than simple completion.
The podcast conversation introduces the problem and reframes the role of field support. For readers who want a more structured exploration, the companion case study titled:
AC Inc.: Turning Field Support Into a Strategic Engine for Franchise Performance
provides a deeper look at how these ideas translate into a formal training model. The case study examines learner types, training structure, and best practices aligned with the LatitudeLearning Training Program Roadmap.
It also explores how AC Inc helps organizations overcome common training and operational challenges by elevating the field support role rather than layering on more content.
What makes this episode compelling is that it speaks to a universal challenge in learning and development. Knowledge transfer is rarely the issue. Application is.
Angela Cote’s perspective reminds training leaders that systems succeed or fail in the moments where people interpret, prioritize, and act. Field support professionals sit at the center of those moments in franchise and partner environments.
By treating field support as a learning audience and coaching as a core capability, AC Inc offers a practical path forward for organizations struggling to turn training into sustained performance.
🎧 To explore the full conversation, listen to the Training Impact Podcast episode featuring Angela Cote of AC Inc.
📄 Download the companion case study: AC Inc.: Turning Field Support Into a Strategic Engine for Franchise Performance
🌐 Learn more about AC Inc. on their website: https://fieldcoachexperts.com/
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