Franchisor Marketing Tip No 2: How to Attract Profitable Franchisees

There are many ways to find your ideal franchisees to grow your network and Sally Butters, Director of Media at Coconut Creatives, highlights just a few for Franchise Expo.

A basic understanding of franchising

First and foremost, prospective franchisees must already have some degree of knowledge of the franchise industry otherwise valuable franchisor time is wasted in explaining to ‘wanabe’ business owners the logistics of a franchised business rather than the benefits of their specific franchise offering.

Identifying well-prepared prospective franchisees is the first step in determining whether or not they are worth spending valuable time and resources on pursuing.

There are two ways that you can achieve this:

1. Concentrating your franchise advertising efforts towards on/offline channels which are designed specifically for franchise searchers.
2. Ensuring that your advertising messages in other media clearly explains what a franchise is.

That way, franchisors should almost always attract a well-informed prospect.

What is the driving force?

Once a prospect’s knowledge level has been determined, franchisors must identify the driving forces behind their desire for a franchise. There are many reasons why individuals want a franchise but they all have one overriding reason; they are dissatisfied with their current situation. All prospective franchisees are looking for some kind of fulfilment, whether it is a change in career, daily routine, family life, relocation or just simply the desire to be their own boss.

When franchisors understand that every unique enquiry they deal with is from a dissatisfied candidate, their approach to them changes along with the chances of converting them. Make sure that one of your key qualifying questions in the first conversation you or one of your franchise recruitment team has with a prospective franchisee reveals what they desire from joining your franchise network.

Your offering

I have seen many different types of ‘teaser and taster’ franchise information packs or prospectuses both good and not so good along with long-winded and complicated ‘franchise steps’ and sales lead processes. The general rule here is to keep it brief and simple. Ideally, you want to lead a prospect from one trust-building contact to another, so don’t provide every intimate detail about the franchise in the post, on the telephone or via email in one chunk. To truly convince a prospect to part with their hard-earned capital, you need them to want more information and you want them to experience it at first hand. A face-to-face meeting at your pilot franchise is the best way to achieve this (see my previous article on Harnessing the Power of a Pilot Franchise).

Do YOU want them?

While it can sometimes seem a struggle to get those first few franchisees, lessons can be taken from established franchisors who, due to experience, no longer pursue every possible sales lead and now take the time to consider whether those individuals are suited to their franchise. Much like a job interview process, these franchisors go through a selection process and only progress those key enquirers that truly fit the bill. Be in control of your franchise recruitment process and you will grow a successful franchise network.