Franchise Update Magazine Issue III, 2011 | Page 39

By Marc Kiekenapp

Pick Up the Phone!
CRM systems are great, but…

T

echnology has allowed us to
track our lead sources, assist us in buying advertising,
organize our day, notify us
when to make a call, and send emails.
Some systems even dial the phone for us.
Technology also gives us all the reports
and information we can possibly digest
to use for training, changing ad copy, and
tracking our sales staff’s activity. And it
allows us to work more leads than we
could handle with a paper filing system
or a box of index cards.
But are we going too far expecting the CRM system to
sell our franchises for us? Is it
replacing the soft touch and
individual contact with
“people”? Or is the real
purpose to manage the
sales team? What
about the can-

didate who wants
to investigate at their
own pace? Or the candidate who
doesn’t want to complete an application
without feeling more comfortable with
the new relationship? Without picking up
the phone and communicating with candidates, important information, relationships, and trust aren’t shared and created.

Technology can’t replace
relationships
Don’t misunderstand me. CRM systems
are a fantastic tool for working with our
candidates! There are franchise suppliers with wonderful systems that assist
in making contact with candidates who
don’t want to talk on the phone initially.
But implementing a CRM system that
is used to replace “good old-fashioned”
hard work and dialing the phones is
one of the biggest mistakes we see
when mystery shopping franchisors’ sales qualification systems.
Let me explain with an example
of how it feels to be the candidate
trying to move forward without
“human contact.”
We called a franchisor and requested information. We were referred back
to the website to complete an initial
form and someone would contact
us shortly. Okay, so they didn’t want
to talk to a prospect that called in?
Hmmmm! They requested more
information before we could
have a phone conversation,
so we completed the form,
only to start receiving the
first of 11 emails in 11 days
asking us to watch a video
that didn’t load and to complete a
full financial application form that no
one in their right mind would complete
without talking with someone first. We
literally begged for a phone call, which
was finally scheduled only by email communication and required homework to
get to that point.
This was not an isolated case! Why
do we torment candidates with information or processes they don’t want? We
can’t forget that some candidates want

to talk sooner rather than later, that not
all candidates are created equal.
CRM systems have been one of the
best innovations to assist in following
up with candidates, delivering information, and creating reports to help
us manage and train. If you don’t have
a CRM system, you need one. When
checking references, research the options carefully. Talk with franchisors
that have sales qualification processes similar to yours and that have a
similar franchise offering. There are
numerous choices, so make sure you
purchase the system that best suits
your franchise system.
People buy from people! If you want
to outperform your competitors, pick
up the phone and reach out to your
candidates. If the reason you are using
a CRM system is so the sales person can
work 200 to 300 leads and cut down on
outgoing calls, you are losing sales. Use
the CRM syst