Payroll Vault Takes Home 2021's Top STAR Award for Franchise Recruitment

The overall winner in this year’s annual STAR Awards competition was a service brand: Payroll Vault. STAR Award winners represent 2021’s best practices in franchise recruitment practices, which include phone response, website, and franchisee satisfaction performance.

Payroll Vault’s win for Best Overall Performance put the franchise “on cloud nine,” said Marilyn Manning, director of franchise development. “Last year we were in constant reaction mode. It wasn’t day to day or week to week, it was hour by hour.”

Payroll is an essential element in every kind of business, and as the economy struggled with the impact of the pandemic the brand’s business took off. One of its advantages was built-in, says Manning. As many companies struggled to adjust to going remote, Payroll Vault was already there.

“Everything we do is fully remote,” she says. That advantage was just one of Payroll Vault’s strengths that elevated the brand to the top of the heap in this year’s STAR Awards competition.

When it comes to evaluating candidates, Manning prides herself on being a quick and keen reader of people, adjusting her approach to the individual circumstances of each potential franchisee, and being realistic about what the business requires – even if it means a candidate might not go forward with a contract.

“Recently, we had an excellent candidate just getting ready for a discovery day. His wife was expecting their first child. I said, ‘Are you sure?’ He called me back to say they were going to delay.”

As Payroll Vault approaches its 10th anniversary with 67 locations in 33 states, this past year was one of its biggest ever.