10 Ways To Close Deals Faster

Try a few of these selling tips to sharpen your process and accelerate your inquiry-to-close cycle. These techniques are speeding deals for franchisors. See what makes sense for your development approach, and you can enjoy more closes in less time.

1. Develop an engaging, powerful website to replace your franchise recruitment package and offer electronic delivery of your FDD. This streamlines your sales process by several days.
2. Provide a response time frame for your initial prospect inquiries in your packet cover letter or email, e.g., "Please return the application within five days or we'll assume you are no longer interested in our opportunity."
3. Break your full application into two forms. This can prompt faster--and additional--responses from qualified candidates.
4. Establish a "Decision Day" time frame with your prospect after you receive and discuss their application with them.
5. Provide the steps of your franchise approval process to coordinate with the agreed-upon Decision Day. Set up all future conversations by telephone appointment.
6. Get preliminary financing pre-approval from a third-party lender by setting up a phone call between the lender and the prospect.
7. Review disclosure documents prior to the Discovery Day visit. Let your prospect know that material changes to the franchise agreement are non-negotiable, and that it is written to protect the good franchisees and the quality standards of your system. If they are using a general attorney, emphasize the benefits and cost savings of using an experienced franchise attorney. Provide the prospect with suggestions on how to speed their review, e.g., book a two-hour appointment with their attorney to go over the documents together at their office. Unfortunately, many attorneys do not give FDD reviews top priority, which can delay and drag out the sale. Keep on top so your deal doesn't hit a wall!
8. During scheduled calls, review your program with focused conversations about your core areas of training, marketing, field support, products and services, and territory and site selection assistance. This can be more expedient and productive for candidates learning about your concept than having general discussions that move aimlessly about in various directions.
9. Date your franchise agreement with a deadline for returning the documents with an accompanying check for the total franchise fee. Because you are removing their desired territory from the buyer market, let the candidate know they need to close the deal within one week after executive committee approval. You can always extend the offer beyond this, depending on the circumstances.
10. If you aren't closing a franchise in person, schedule a telephone close to guide the candidate through the document signing, and use overnight delivery for the contract and the money. This frequently reduces the transaction time.

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.