Grow Market Lead
42
Sales
smarts
By Marc Kiekenapp
Grading Your
Sales Effort
A
How will you score in 2013?
re you making the grade? Is a
“C” okay for your company?
Are your competitors scoring
higher?
With 2013 already trending to be
one of the best years in the recent past,
we need to make sure we are prepared to
take advantage of the new year to grow
our franchise brands. We need to take a
look at our systems and procedures and
create a “scorecard” for success. Today’s
franchise buyer expects the best in marketing materials, in systems, and in profe ssional sales consultants who can guide
them to a franchise that can meet their
financial goals.
The franchise systems that
will be most successful in
the upcoming year will
have taken the time
and invested the
capital to implement the critical
changes they need
for success. They
will also have tracked
these five key components to franchise development success (and more):
1. A profitable franchise system with
happy franchisees.
2. A franchise development marketing
program targeted for success.
3. An FDD that delivers a clear message to the candidate.
4. A CRM system that allows you to
make informed decisions on marketing
and sales consultant training.
5. A trained and informed franchise
development team of professional consultants.
Profitable franchise units are the foundation of a successful development plan.
When the franchise system is operating
efficiently and the majority of the system
Franchiseupdate Iss u e 1 , 2 0 1 3
is profitable, it allows the brand to move
forward with the development effort. Too
many franchise systems haven’t taken the
time to develop the proper systems and
procedures that allow them to create the
reporting systems needed to assist franchisees; these systems should not invest
in franchise development marketing until they are confident these components
are in place.
Understanding 1) the profile of your
target franchisee, and 2) the geographical
area you want to develop is the beginning
of your marketing process. Once you
have an understanding of whom, what,
and where, you can then
implement a targeted
franchise development plan. There
are several marketing strategies
to help you focus
your marketing
budget wisely and
not invest in areas
you are not seeking
expansion.
The FDD has become
even more important as a tool
when working with sophisticated franchise
buyers. The FDD allows you the opportunity to present important information
such as company experience, sales income,
operational information, and many other
key points to informed buyers in a legal
format. The correct and legal disclosure
of this information also will allow the
franchisor to share this information in
marketing materials, providing interested
buyers with a faster, more organized document they can use to make an informed
business decision.
A contact management system is critical for a franchise system committed to
franchise development. Without gath-
ering the information about advertising
media results, sales team pipelines, and
individual sales consultant results, it is
difficult to determine what step (or steps)
in your process is not working and needs
attention and additional training.
The franchise sales team is the conduit
through which all information is conveyed
to the candidates. The franchise sales
consultant is the face of the franchise
company with prospective candidates
researching the concept. The role of the
sales consultant has always been 80 percent of the reason that a candidate chose
your franchise concept over a competitor’s.
Professional relationship-building is a key.
During the past five years, my company, Kiekenapp & Associates, has conducted the mystery shopping for attendees
at Franchise Update’s annual Franchise
Leadership & Development Conference.
The results each year are shocking as we
experience the same lack of professionalism, lack of follow-up, and lack of enthusiasm. In most cases, there’s not even
a simple, scripted first conversation with
a candidate to assess their interest level
and financial capabilities. While the same
15 to 20 companies score well year after
year, others don’t seem to improve.
We’ve made the investments in websites, CRM systems, and marketing plans
to attract new franchisees—all without
addressing the biggest key to success, our
sales team. What are you doing to help
your franchise sales team do a better job?
Are you doing any or all of these five essential things?
1. Weekly sales meetings
2. Pipeline reviews
3. Training seminars
4. Role playing
5. Mystery shopping
Mystery shopping can be a positive
exercise and help your system in granting more franchise units in 2013. Invest in
your sales team, and the results will bring
more qualified franchisees into your system. A customized training program can
be effective only when you know what
your team requires to do a better job.
Help your team of sales professionals be
the best they can. Institute your training
program today!
Happy Selling,
Marc