The Six Steps to Selling Success: Summary

By: Steve Olson
Published: August 4th, 2014

In previous issues of this newsletter, we've covered many components and aspects of The Six Steps to Selling Success from Steve Olson's best-selling book "Grow to Greatness," a guide to building and sustaining a successful franchise brand. Amidst the daily grind and necessary tasks involved in franchise sales and development, it's easy to lose touch with the big picture. That's why this week we present a summary overview of those steps. Pin a copy to your wall, keep one in your wallet, make it your home screen. However you do it, remember it's always wise to take a step back to broaden your perspective, and that there's always room to fine-tune your franchise sales process and improve the skills of your team.

The Six Steps to Selling Success

1. Pre-qualification
   • Present a brief description of your franchise opportunity
   • Confirm basic contact and qualification information
   • Screen candidate with key probing questions
   • Describe candidate profile you are seeking
   • Present next step in investigative process
   • Instruct candidate to return RFC application within 5 days
2. Program Review
   • Highlight topics and objectives of session
   • Review prospect's RFC with qualifying and probing questions
   • Ask for and address general questions, deflecting premature ones for later
   • Discuss ownership benefits and advantages
   • Share mission statement, culture, and values
   • Summarize training, operations, marketing, and management
   • Describe ideal candidate you are seeking
   • Assign task(s) to involve prospect in your business
   • "Start the close" by establishing expectations and your six-step process
   • Review next step and prepare prospect for FDD
   • Set time for next meeting
3. Disclosure Review
   • Highlight topics and objectives of session
   • Answer candidate's FDD questions, reviewing key areas
   • Discuss prospect's assignment and give another
   • Review funding options and recommend lending sources
   • Probe with more open-ended questions
   • Pre-sell Discovery Day
   • Review next step and prepare prospect for franchisee calls
   • Set time for next meeting
4. Franchisee Validation
   • Review franchisee conversations
   • Review preliminary approval of financing
   • Review prospect's assignment
   • Probe with more open-ended questions
   • "Set the close" with invitation to Discovery Day
   • Provide profiling survey to complete
   • Prepare buyer with Discovery Day checklist
   • Provide filled-out agreements to satisfy 5-day FTC rule
   • Set time for Discovery Day at headquarters
5. Discovery Day
• Give welcoming introduction and reaffirm expectations and approval process
• Provide agenda for the event
• Tour local franchisee operations
• Meet with training, operations, marketing, and real estate executives
• Visit with president/CEO and senior executives
6. Awarding the Franchise
   • Review Committee meets and awards approved franchises
   • "Close the close" by approving buyers and extending one-week offer
   • Set time for telephone closing, or in-office closing for local buyers
   • Provide overnight delivery account for returning signed documents
   • Countersign documents and welcome new franchisee into your system

This is an excerpt from my Amazon.com best-selling book, "Grow to Greatness: How to build a world-class franchise system faster." To order copies, click here.

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