Franchise Update Media Group Announces STAR Award Winners for 2010

Franchisors with Best Recruiting Practices Honored

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 27, 2010 - Franchise Update Media Group (FUMG), the leading industry resource for franchise development, announces the winners of its annual STAR (Speaking To And Responding) Awards, which recognize excellence in lead generation, recruitment, and industry-wide best practices in franchising.

The winners received their awards at the Franchise Leadership & Development Conference, which was held in Atlanta the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, Sept. 22-24, 2010. The top three franchises were recognized for best practices in the following categories: Telephone Prospect Follow-Up, Website Recruitment and Website Prospect Follow-Up. The franchise that performed best in all three categories also received the Best Overall Performance award.

"These annual awards highlight successful lead generation and prospect qualification practices, which are always the franchise industry growth drivers, and are especially important in today's challenging economy," said Therese Thilgen, president of FUMG. "We feel that this recognition not only validates the successful strategies of the winners, but also provides examples for other franchises in developing and improving their processes and practices."

The awards are determined on the results compiled by mystery shoppers, who pose as ideal candidates, and contact franchises by telephone and through the company's website. The mystery shoppers contacted over 100 brands, with each franchise evaluated according to a list of standard criteria for each category.

For Best Telephone Prospect Follow-Up, the response time and qualification performance using best sales practices were evaluated. Best Recruitment Website involved rating the recruitment site for best lead generation practices; and the Best Website Prospect Follow-up evaluated response time and qualification performance by phone and email contact.

The winners for 2010 are:

Best Telephone Prospect Follow-Up

• First Place: BrightStar Franchising, LLC
• Second Place: Denny's
• Third Place: Play N Trade Video Games

Best Recruitment Website

• First Place: Maaco Collision Repair and Auto Painting
• Second Place: Signs Now
• Third Place: Allegra Network LLC

Best Website Prospect Follow-Up

• First Place: Donatos
• Second Place: Hurricane Grill & Wings
• Third Place (tie): Denny's and PostNet International

Best Overall Performance

• Denny's

About Franchise Update Media Group

Founded in 1988, Franchise Update Media Group (FUMG) produces online franchise sites, magazines, research, books and conferences in franchising. Targeting franchise audiences online, in print and in person, FUMG delivers a unique combination of education and lead-generation sources that helps franchisors, multi-unit franchisees and suppliers achieve their growth objectives. For more information, please visit www.franchiseupdatemedia.com.