Franchise Recruitment

Objective: Grant the franchise to qualified buyers on Discovery Day or soon after
Length of meeting: 30 minutes to 2 hours



Overcoming buyers' cold feet

Feeling butterflies in personally uncomfortable situations is a human condition. We all know and have experienced this. It means we care and really want to do something right - whether it's our first step on stage in a community performance, preparing for the city league tennis championship, addressing an audience of 500 people, moving to a new city, taking on a new job... or getting Discovery Day approval to buy a franchise business!

Why am I bringing this up now? Because when closing time starts "closing in," reality hits some buyers like a sledgehammer...

Objective: Grant the franchise to qualified buyers on Discovery Day or soon after
Length of meeting: 30 minutes to 2 hours

Executive review committees typically are composed of senior franchise executives who review a candidate's qualifications before granting them a franchise. If you are a founder just starting up your franchise, employ a close business associate, franchise consultant, or other trusted advisor to be a part of your review committee. They can help in your decision-making process and provide greater credence to your professionalism.

At the conclusion of Discovery Day, it's the committee's decision on whether to extend a franchise offer or to disqualify a candidate. Successful franchisors prominently position this venue as the final qualifier in granting new franchises to prospective buyers...

Objective: Attend Discovery Day at your headquarters for executive approval of the franchise

This is part of an ongoing series about making the most of your Discovery Day presentations. Previous articles on Discovery Day, as well as other excerpts from my book on building a world-class franchise system, are available online in past issues of this newsletter.

This week I offer some guidelines for cross-checking your Discovery Day program. In the next issue I'll provide additional tips.

1) Get financing pre-approved
Before investing time and money in a home office visit, Discovery Day attendees should get their funding in order through a third party or direct financing program. Clearing this obstacle paves the way for a more productive Discovery Day...

Objective: Attend Discovery Day at your headquarters for executive approval of the franchise

Discovery Day is show time! Whether you have one franchise or a thousand, this special event propels your sales process to a crescendo. It's "Confirmation Day," where serious buyers come to you ready to join your franchise with the blessing of your approval committee. It's always my favorite stage of the process, when everything becomes real for your candidate and you. The journey of rigorous courtship has led both candidate and franchisor to your altar of consummation.

To ensure success, your Discovery Day must always meet or exceed the buyer's expectations. Anything less, and you must clean up your act quickly. Invest whatever it takes to make this event work...

We asked James R. Walker, Chief Development Officer at The Johnny Rockets Group, how his company is using technology to identify, reach, and track prospects. Here's what he had to say.

At Johnny Rockets we use technology not only to drive leads for prospective franchise candidates, but also to ensure that we are spending our franchise recruitment dollars in the most efficacious way possible.

We have found that online franchise lead portals are one of our most effective methods for securing new candidates. We also like the traceability these sites provide us. We use as many as six different online lead portals to drive leads to our sales management system, which immediately segments the lead by a number of qualifiers including liquid capital available, as well as the candidate's targeted geography...

Objective: Candidate gains insights and understanding of the opportunity from owners

1) Review the results of your candidate's conversations.

"Tell me about the owners you spoke with. What did you learn from them? Any surprises? Who did you identify with? Who did you feel most comfortable speaking with? Why? Were franchisees satisfied with our support services? What were some of the benefits they were enjoying as owners? Can you see yourself achieving your goals in our business?"

2) Know how to respond with assurance and conviction when a prospect dwells on a particular franchisee who is facing problems, unhappy, and falling short of financial expectations.

"As discussed, we have star performers as well as a few struggling...

franchise sales, franchise development, diversity, local marketing, franchise recruitment, community marketing, toppers pizza, chris cheek


Diversity, Community Are Crucial in Growth Plans at Toppers Pizza

By Chris Cheek

We asked Chris Cheek, chief development officer at Toppers Pizza, what role diversity plays in his brand's recruitment and development process. Here's what he had to say.

If you're a franchisor looking for experienced, successful multi-unit franchisees, consider attending Franchise Update Media's 2014 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference (MUFC) next month, April 23-25 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The conference is dedicated to meeting the needs of multi-unit operators - including discovering new concepts and deal-making. That's why so many franchisors sign up as sponsors and exhibitors (see the current list of franchisor sponsors here.)

But don't take our word for it. Here are some thoughts from past franchisors about why they continue to attend, sponsor, and exhibit at this annual event:

"Our sponsorship resulted in two new deals last year."
Greg Vojnovic, Chief Development Officer, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen; 2014 Co-Platinum Sponsor

"Jersey Mike's Subs has been coming to Franchise Update Media's Multi-Unit Franchising Conference since 2008...

Frances Allen, executive vice president and chief brand officer for Denny's since July 2010, is no stranger to big brands. Over the past 25 years, she's logged successful stints as a senior marketing executive at Dunkin' Donuts, Sony Ericsson, PepsiCo, and Frito-Lay. During that time she spearheaded brand repositioning initiatives, led new product introduction strategies, and launched expansion into international markets. At Denny's, Allen is responsible for the overall direction of the brand's marketing strategies and initiatives, positioning, advertising campaigns, menu development, and restaurant image.?We asked her about her role and its relationship to franchise development and recruitment.

Describe your role as EVP and CBO...

Objective: Determine franchisability of candidate and pre-sell Discovery Day

Begin by asking the candidate what they thought of the FDD, and whether the information it contains was helpful. Review the material, answering the candidate's specific questions. It is important that you provide accurate answers. When in doubt, get the right facts to your candidate later rather than winging an answer. The legal consequences are too risky to play it by ear. Wrap up this discussion with, "Now that you understand what our FDD is all about, do you feel comfortable with how our franchise program works?"

Franchising isn't right for everyone, so make sure your prospect understands and buys into the franchise way of doing business...

Stories are the basis of human communication and decision-making. We use stories to relate to one another and make sense of the world around us. At the root of the massive changes to Google's search algorithms in the past three years has been a push to help people find the stories they are searching for when they type in a search query.

When prospects begin to do online research, they type in questions or key phrases to get at the stories that help them understand the franchise brand and how the model works. They want to understand the history of the company, how the brand came to be, where the brand is going and who is leading the charge. They want to hear stories about who the customer is, and why customers choose this brand...

Objective: Qualify the prospect, build rapport, and establish the process
Length of conversation: 45 to 60 minutes

Now's the time to start pre-closing your prospect. As franchise pros stress, "The best close starts with the opening!" This is the most opportune time to set expectations and take control through leadership. Use this process to "establish the ground rules" and you will identify better candidates, build more credibility and confidence, and increase closing success.

1. Define your role in the process."My role is to educate you about our franchise, and to explore this opportunity with you to see if we're the right fit for each other. This is a franchise partnership, and we're interested in candidates who can be successful, satisfied owners...

Online reviews, smartphones, and social media are not passing fads. Can they be useful to your franchise recruiting and development efforts? Or are these things just distractions from the true work of sales and recruiting, and best left to the marketing department?

We believe that effective management of your online presence, including social media, is a critical component of your franchise development strategy. Why? Because there is no better way to illustrate that your organization knows how to get found and manage customers at the local level, where it really counts.

Gathering customer insight has traditionally been a marketing function, but your franchise development team cannot afford to be out of the loop in regard to socially driven customer intelligence...

The face of America's franchise owners is changing. In the traditional franchise model, the franchisee purchases a brand and follows an operator's manual. They stick to the proven methods of success - regardless of their local market or individual background.

While this model works for many, an increasing number of entrepreneurs are seeking a more individualized approach. Today's franchisees not only want to run a business with the backing of an established franchisor, they also value the prospect of investment and expansion, the ability to capitalize on a brand with their own business savvy. Instead of entering the franchising business with the intention of owning a small shop, today's franchisees are interested in managing a growing and expanding business...

Objective: Qualify the prospect, build rapport, and establish the process
Length of conversation: 45 to 60 minutes

This meeting with your prospective candidate is the most important step in the recruitment process. It's your first real "date," the one that determines whether you two have what it takes for a serious relationship. Your prospect certainly is interested in your franchise. They responded to your franchise offer; were previously interviewed by you or your qualifier; reviewed your initial franchise package and website; and submitted their RFC, providing their personal information, work history, and financial statement.

This 30- to 45-minute session presents the opportunity for you to speak more openly with these motivated respondents...

Objective: Pre-qualify the inquiry and sell the application

Most young franchisors have their sales executive initially screen and pre-qualify prospects. This makes sense during the start-up period when dollars and people are scarce. As soon as feasible, however, I strongly recommend using a qualification specialist to perform the initial follow-up of inquiries. This person can be worth their weight in platinum! Thirty percent of franchisors now employ qualifiers, according to Franchise Update's 2014 Annual Franchise Development Report. You'll save time, money, and increase sales performance.

The qualifier focuses on timely follow-up of every lead, eliminating poor and mismatched inquiries, and setting phone appointments for quality prospects to speak with your development professional...

The foundation of your successful selling program starts with your sales process. It's the anchor to embracing, guiding, and closing quality candidates who will help you build your system. It's the tightly honed script that ensures successful production from initial contact to closing. It's the Broadway hit performance that every night leads audiences from opening curtain to standing ovations; the World Series champions who mastered the execution of their game plan. Franchise development is no different: follow the plan, the plan works. This is the playbook to success for top-performing recruitment programs.

Every sales process must be refined to work most effectively for each franchisor's concept, franchise program, and franchise candidates...

Best-selling business author and trainer Zig Ziglar once said, "People don't buy drills, they buy holes." He meant that people often make decisions with their end result in mind. Think about any big decision you've made -- there's almost always a deeper purpose lurking in the background. You send your kid to college because you want them to have a happy and prosperous life. You buy a home so you can foster a healthy and fulfilling family life.

When it comes to buying a franchise, which is almost always an intense, emotionally charged decision, people go even further than buying the "holes." They're buying a personal story about how the franchise adds value or solves a problem that is worthy of the risk. The narrative candidates tell themselves about what's possible influences their entire decision-making process...

Franchisee validation is driven by three factors. The first is unit-level economics. Are franchisees' financial returns meeting their expectations?

The second factor is the quality of the franchisors' training, support, and performance management systems. Would franchisees say the value of the tools and support they receive is greater than or equal to the royalty dollars invested?

The third factor is the quality of the franchisor-franchisee interpersonal relationships. Do franchisees, employees, and leadership of the franchisor trust each other and work toward crafting mutually profitable campaigns, offers, and solutions? Do franchisees feel they are heard and understood? Does information routinely flow up and down the organization or just funnel down from on high? Would franchisees say they are informed about issues important to them? Would they say they feel like an integral part of a team or more like the low man on the totem pole?

The way franchisees would answer these questions speaks volumes about the culture of the franchise organization...

Audit your advertising and increase results

What you don't know, you can't measure. And what you can't measure, you can't improve! Successful recruitment programs invest in marketing intelligence and monitoring tools to 1) determine their most productive selling sources; 2) create compelling, direct-response advertising for each media source selected; and 3) stay ahead of or in step with the competition.

Good news for you smart execs! Many franchise companies still don't track their marketing performance - which provides competitive advantages for those intelligent franchisors who do successfully monitor, measure, and modify their lead generation programs. By knowing where you are and where you want to go, you build the shortest road to get there...