Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2013 | Page 54

Grow Market Lead

Challenge
the pros
“How do you set standards
and measure performance in your
brand’s sales and development
department?”
Taylor Wiederhorn
Vice President
Franchise Marketing & Development
Fatburger

Fatburger sets development standards
based on a variety of
different types of target markets and development standards
designed specifically
for those markets. In domestic markets
where Fatburger already has a footprint, the criteria are based on a calculation of factors including the existing number of units and how much
room there is in that arena for new
restaurants to develop.
In existing domestic markets, Fatburger allows single-store and multiunit operators to develop new units
after determining that market’s ability to handle additional units. We also
allow development of alternative venues in current markets, which in some
cases allows for additional units in an
already “full” market. The development
standards in existing markets are based
on the unit growth percentage that we
believe can be achieved without oversaturating the market.
In areas where Fatburger has no
footprint, the company will enter the
market only after it finds the appropriate multi-unit franchisee to develop it.
Development standards for initial and
new developments are not based on unit
growth percentage, but instead on the
number of total units determined by
the franchise development team and
the multi-unit franchisee.
 Fatburger measures franchise sales
performance using metrics based on the

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development of new units by existing
franchisees, the development of new
units by new franchisees, the number
of new markets sold for development
(domestic and international), the number of units sold for development (domestic and international), the number
of co-branded units sold for development (domestic and international), and
by revenue from the sale of franchises
in domestic and international markets.
We also gauge sales performance by
the type of unit sold (food court, freestanding, in-line, end-cap, drive-thru,
airport, college, train station, etc.).
An additional way we quantify franchise sales performance is by comparing ourselves with the competition.
By measuring our franchise growth
against the growth of direct and indirect competitors across the domestic
burger markets, we are able to determine our own performance within the
sector. Then, to obtain a broader view
of Fatburger’s sales performance, we
measure our franchise sales relative to
the performance of franchise sales for
the entire food and beverage industry.

Jeff Platt
CEO
Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park

We first pay close attention to our leads to
determine how many
we are driving and
where they originate.
Most important, we
evaluate the effectiveness of our marketing initiatives by
conducting a comprehensive analysis
of the results achieved in comparison
with the amount of money spent. For

example, if we spent $100,000 on franchise marketing and closed 50 deals,
that’s an average marketing cost of
$2,000 per license sold. We compare
last year’s marketing spend and cost
per deal to ensure that we continue to
improve on the efficiency and ef