Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2014 | Page 52

Grow Market Lead

BY DEBBIE SELINSKY

STAR Power

Top performers in franchise recruitment honored
BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE

1. CertaPro Painters
2. Wild Birds Unlimited
BEST OVERALL PROSPECT
RESPONSIVENESS

1. PostNet

F

ranchise Update mystery shoppers, posing as qualified
prospects, surveyed attendees at the 2014 Leadership & Development Conference for best practices
in lead generation, follow-up, and recruitment.
Mystery shoppers scored 146 franchisors on their telephone
responses, 147 on their recruitment websites and responses
to website inquiries, and 147 on social media implementation,
judging how well—and how quickly—franchise sales and development staff replied to qualified inquiries. (For areas where
brands need to improve, see page 46.)
The resulting STAR Awards (Speaking To And Responding) were presented at a special awards dinner at the conference, held Oct. 15–17 in Atlanta. Multiple award winners
were CertaPro Painters, PostNet, and Wild Birds Unlimited.

BEST WEBSITE PROSPECT FOLLOW-UP

1. Christian Brothers Automotive

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE
1st Place: CertaPro Painters

1. Great Clips, Sport Clips (tie)

The winner of three STAR Awards
this year, CertaPro Painters celebrated for about 10 minutes before getting back to work, says Peter Barkman,
vice president of franchise development for the Philadelphia-based brand.
“We’ve been franchising since 1992,
and one of our core values is practicing continuous improvement. So we’re
pretty good at never believing our
Peter Barkman
own hype. We’re very proud to receive this award, but it’s also humbling because we see so
much more we can do better. I’m glad, because it gives me
something to do.”

BEST FRANCHISEE SATISFACTION

2nd Place: Wild Birds Unlimited

2. Signal 88 Security
BEST TELEPHONE PROSPECT FOLLOW-UP

1. PostNet
2. CertaPro Painters, Denny’s (tie)
BEST SOCIAL MEDIA IMPLEMENTATION

Food Brand: East Coast Wings & Grill
Retail Brand: Wild Birds Unlimited
Service Brand: CertaPro Painters
Emerging Brand: FirstLight Home Care
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Franchiseupdate ISS U E IV, 2 0 1 4

Paul Pickett

“We’re excited about this award because we’re a really small team that
gets a lot done,” says Paul Pickett, vice
president for franchise development
for the backyard bird feeding and nature specialty concept. Along with the
brand’s prompt and efficient response
to candidates comes a large amount
of respect, he says. “We respect their
interest and their time and feel strong-