STAR Awards
Runner-Up Most Responsive Brand PJ’ s Coffee of New Orleans
From startups to legacy brands, franchisors want to find the right people to grow their systems. The 2025 STAR Awards put franchise recruitment and lead-generation efforts to the test and celebrated the brands that stand out from the rest.
The awards were announced at Franchise Update Media and the International Franchise Association’ s Franchise Leadership & Development Conference in Atlanta in October. While the techniques and strategies varied among the category winners, each franchisor attempted to make the recruitment process easy and convenient for candidates.
Top franchisors were honored for their excellence in Franchise Development Website and Online Lead Form Submission & Follow-Up. Awards were given for five different investment levels: up to $ 100,000, $ 101,000 to $ 250,000, $ 251,000 to $ 500,000, $ 501,000 to $ 1 million, and more than $ 1 million. In the event of a tie, winners were selected based on their responses to telephone calls from potential prospects.
Awards were also given for Overall Best Franchise Development Website, Overall Best Online Lead Form Submission, Most Responsive Brand, and Runner-Up Most Responsive Brand. Bright- Star Care was named the Most Responsive Brand and won the award for Overall Best Online Lead Form Submission & Follow-Up. PJ’ s Coffee of New Orleans won for Runner-Up Most Responsive Brand and Best Franchise Development Website in the $ 501,000 to $ 1 million range. Tropical Smoothie Cafe took home the title for Overall Best Franchise Development Website.
Winners of the Franchise Innovation Awards for Franchise Development were also announced at the event. The four categories were: Most Innovative Onboarding Program, Most Innovative Lead Generation Program or Platform, Innovation in Support of Franchisee Profitability & Validation, and Most Innovative PR or Social Media Campaign.
Here is a look at each category winner and thoughts from executives about their successful franchise development strategies.
Most Responsive Brand BrightStar Care
Shelly Sun Berkowitz Founder & CEO BrightStar Care
BrightStar Care won the top overall STAR Award for Most Responsive Brand. The recognition was based on the results combined by mystery shoppers, who pose as ideal candidates and contact franchisors through company websites. The mystery shoppers contacted more than 100 brands. Each franchise was evaluated with a list of standard criteria. See page 52 for more about the 2025 Mystery Shop.
Shelly Sun Berkowitz, BrightStar Care’ s founder and CEO, says the brand immediately connects with a candidate following an inquiry and has a personal interaction with the prospect within hours. She credits Ruth Chavez, senior manager of franchise development, with guiding candidates through the sales process by personally contacting each lead.
“ This award means we have a process that is treating our prospects the way we want all brand stakeholders to be treated,” Berkowitz says.“ We care about our clients and our caregivers and want to deliver the highest quality care. This commitment to our customer experience also shows in how we are treating our franchise prospects, who will be the ones providing the higher standard of care in their communities. We are beginning our journey by showing what excellence looks like and what our expectations are of ourselves and of our franchisees.”
Lory Schwartz Franchise Development Manager PJ’ s Coffee of New Orleans
After a franchise candidate contacts PJ’ s Coffee of New Orleans, they receive a text, email, and phone call within 24 hours. The company also has multiple other points of outreach. Franchise Development Coordinator Lindsay Lambert responds to each prospect inquiry.
“ This award confirms for our team that we are putting our best foot forward and presenting our opportunity with accuracy and excitement,” says Lory Schwartz, franchise development manager.“ We are honored that so many individuals wish to learn more about our brand, and we take their interest seriously. We appreciate being recognized by our franchise peers as they know how hard we all work to create opportunities to share what we do.”
Overall Best Franchise Development Website Tropical Smoothie Cafe
Cheryl Fletcher Chief Development Officer Tropical Smoothie Cafe
Tropical Smoothie Cafe sought to create a website that authentically reflected the brand while clearly communicating the franchise opportunity to an audience of sophisticated candidates. Beyond being a lead-generation tool, the site is designed to educate prospects about Tropical Smoothie’ s brand story, highlight the simplicity of the business model, and showcase the brand’ s strong national momentum. By aligning design, messaging, and functionality, the site gives candidates an idea of what joining the system feels like from the first interaction while attracting experienced operators and business-minded investors.
The website features bold visuals, vibrant storytelling, and intuitive navigation to share the Tropical
Issue 4, 2025 | Franchise Update | 45