Playing Well Together

Kahala Corp. moves fast. When we first spoke with Chris Prasifka in late March, he was executive vice president to the CEO. Two weeks later he was president of Kahala Franchise Corp.--and charged with leading the franchisor and its 13 brands from 4,600 units to 10,000 units by the end of 2010 (an average of 170 units every month for 32 months).

What a great time to be in the franchise development business! We have the advantage of an election year, talk of recession, high interest rates, poor housing starts, and rising unemployment rates.

Every year thousands of franchise companies pour money and other precious resources into lead generation and sales with varying degrees of success. But few rise to the top.

Over the last year or so, the folks at Franchise Update have started to spot some curious trends around young people entering the franchise community.

In franchising, no one has to be reminded of the importance of making deals and signing fabulous new franchisees. But unless you actually open new units, inking the deal is only part of the story. This important distinction--between units sold and units opened--led us to examine six franchises that grew by more than 100 units between 2005 and 2006 and ask them how they did it.

Last issue we discussed how to benchmark your marketing and lead generation process. This time let's explore key metrics for monitoring your sales process.