Grow Market Lead
Sales
smarts
BY MARC KIEKENAPP
Total Support
Awarding qualified franchises is a team effort
B
uilding a strong franchise
system through unit growth
is a team effort requiring
participation from the entire
organization. To succeed more often in
attracting and capturing the best possible
candidates for your system, it is essential
that all departments contribute.
Most franchisors don’t take the time to
educate and involve all their key department heads in the development process.
But without this interaction, conflicts
can arise about the capabilities of new
franchisees, with blame for any failures
placed on the franchise development
department—even though operations
didn’t want to be involved in the selection process. These conflicts usually occur when a new franchisee is struggling
after a few months and the discussions
start focusing on whether the franchise
was granted to the right person. This can
create divisions within the organization,
finger-pointing between departments and,
ultimately, bring the wrong candidates
into the organization.
Get support from support
It takes a “village” to build a franchise
system, not just one department working
in a vacuum. Development should have
a complete understanding of the attributes a new franchisee should have for
the support team to develop them into
the operator of a highly productive unit.
So when is the last time your company sat down and seriously discussed
who should be in the system, what skills
they really need, and what personalities
just won’t be successful? We all seem to
be more focused on the number of franchisees brought into the system than on
the qualities or personalities most likely
to succeed using the system.
When attracting new franchise can-
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Franchiseupdate ISS U E I, 2 0 1 4
didates into your system, it is very important to create a process that fully
educates them on the skills they’ll need
to operate your franchise model. A key
part of that process is to involve the
support departments in the qualification process. With the support of your
operations team during qualification,
Educate and
train your
franchise
support team
to assist and
be involved in
the process of
granting new
candidates their
franchise.
you will be able to attract candidates
who are better qualified and produce
franchisees who have a thorough understanding of the business.
Educate and train your franchise support team to assist and be involved in the
process of granting new candidates their
franchise. The most important event for a
franchisor is growing the system by adding new franchisees. It is important for
everyone in the company to show their
support during the process and help the
candidate feel not only valued, but confident there is a qualified team in place
to assist them in the future.
In today’s selling environment, it is
difficult for only one person to carry the
process from beginning to the close. During the research process, candidates are
seeking much more detailed information,
and they’re more skeptical than ever before. Because of these changes, franchisors
that involve more human resources in the
process are building positive momentum
and confidence early, which allows candidates to move ahead more quickly and
be better able to project how they can be
part of the organization.
Six ideas to try
After you’ve made the determination that
the candidate is financially qualified, understands the business, and has reviewed
the FDD, here are six ideas to consider.
1) A conference call with two or three
franchisees, to discuss what it takes to
succeed in the system.
2) A conference call with marketing
to discuss how you drive customers to
buy your products or services.
3) A conference call reviewing the
training provided to new franchisees to
assist them in operating the business.
4) A conference call to demonstrate
how your IT systems will assist them in
operating the business.
5) At the office visit or on discovery
day, 15-minute one-on-one meetings
with executive team members to learn
why each candidate wants to be part of
your system.
6) Finally, a meeting of key management team members to review each
candidate’s visit and make the decision
to grant them a franchise or not.
The more information you can transfer
to your candidates during the entire process, the more it will help them to build
confidence in your franchise opportunity.
Introducing and involving your entire
staff will bring you more sales because it
gives candidates time to bond with the
people who will help ensure their success.
Your franchise support team is the
most important asset your company has
to offer the candidate, but this has not
generally been a priority for franchisors.
Instead, most tend to talk about programs,
rather than the people who make them
work and build trust in the effectiveness
of those programs. Interact to your fullest potential with both your staff and
candidates and award more qualified
franchisees in the future.
Happy Selling,
Marc