Franchise Update Magazine Issue II, 2011 | Page 43
“How important is a
conversion strategy to your
development plans?”
Mike Hawkins
Vice President of Franchising
The Dwyer Group
Conversion franchising is
the foundation for The
Dwyer Group development plan. A franchise
conversion program has
allowed us to be proactive in generating
leads for our franchise development team,
rather than hoping enough leads come in
through normal lead generation channels.
The key to implementing a conversion
franchising program is for a franchise to
have good systems, training, and support
programs in place to offer existing independent business owners. With these
three things in place, a franchise can look
at what types of businesses and industries
they want to do conversion with.
One type of franchise conversion is
to find independent business owners already in their industry who can benefit
by implementing better systems that can
help their business grow. Most independent business owners don’t have good
systems, business skills, and usually don’t
have coaches to assist them in growing
and managing their business. Another is
to look for compatible businesses that can
add your franchise as an additional division or profit center. Because of today’s
economy, many independent business
owners are open-minded about finding
additional ways to bring revenue into
their business.
The principles for building a more
successful business are the same whether
it is a franchise or not. If a franchise has
better systems than an existing business
owner has, the business owner should see
the value of joining a franchise company.
They should determine that they don’t
have the time, money, or expertise to develop these systems on their own. If the
franchise has a good vendor program for
their current franchisees, these vendors
can help an independent business owner
bring more to their bottom line. Once
a franchise identifies where they would
like to do conversions, they can begin to
take an aggressive marketing approach
through direct mail, industry trade shows,
and advertising in industry magazines.
There are special benefits that come
from converting independent business
owners to franchisees. First, the business
owner already has a business generating
revenue and income that is normally supporting their current lifestyle; they don’t
need the franchise to support their living
standards. Second, many times they have
existing sales volume they can roll in and
begin paying royalties immediately; many
conversions can have very large roll-in
sales volume.
In addition to all of the current lead
generation methods franchises have available today, adding a conversion program
provides another avenue for finding and
adding great franchisees. Also, a franchise’s
systems can change and improve an independent business owner’s business and
personal life for the better. It’s a win-win
for everyone.
Ken Hutcheson
President
U.S. Lawns
Conversion franchising
played an important role
in the early development
of U.S. Lawns. The conversion “pioneers” and
our customers validated our business
model and were instrumental in testing
the sales and operational systems unique
to commercial landscape management.
They were already committed to the
industry and armed with a high degree
of confidence.
The only hurdle to transitioning their
business from an independent operator
to a franchise was trust. Trust that the
business model would take their business to the level they desired. Trust that
the individuals involved would follow
through with their commitments. It’s an
effective recruiting strategy if you can
deliver on the trust factor. Conversions
can still be challenging, however, if you
cannot provide significant ongoing value
to these formerly independent operators.
Today conversion franchising remains
one of several important components of
the U.S. Lawns growth strategy. Our vision 25 years ago was to be the industry
leader. We succeeded, and it remains
our vision today. We have respect for
the independent operators who are the
backbone of the fragmented landscape
industry. We also see opportunity for
them. Our market provides high-volume,
year-round revenue, as opposed to seasonal or cyclical income available from
residential market segments. For many
independent operators, moving into the
commercial management market can be
the key to reaching their personal and
business goals.
The transition from residential to
commercial can be difficult if they don’t
have access to the resources required to
satisfy the needs of the market and the
customer. We supply these resources, such
as the ability to efficiently serve multi-site
customers nationwide, which will provide
immediate impact and continued value
to the independent operator’s business.
Our challenge, then, is not in attracting conversion candidates—it’s selecting
the individuals who own these businesses
who have the drive, passion, values, and
personal skills to build the business at the
pace, to the size, and with the values that
fit the culture of U.S. Lawns and align
with our overall development plans. This
selection process, designed to “weed out”
the complacent, unqualified operator, has
become far better refined in our most
recent phase of growth.
How important are conversions to our
future development plans? As we move
through the next phase of growth, they’ll
be as important as they have been in the
past. They are only one component of a
complex and magical mix of franchisees,
home office team members, and customers that create the culture of our company
and lead us to our vision. n
Franchiseupdate I ssue I I , 2011
Grow Market Lead
Challenge
the pros
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