Challenge the Pros

Over the past few years, The Lube has been able to reap the benefits of technology, using it to gather feedback from prospective franchisees and fans in real-time, which has helped further our development nationwide.

Silos are good for one thing, and one thing only: holding stuff back.

How can you help prospects with questions to ask and what information they should be seeking from franchise development people and franchisees?

Massage Envy Spa has always been transparent when it comes to sharing its franchising opportunity with prospective franchisees.

To better position us to reach our 2012 goal of doubling franchise awards, we recently revamped our lead follow-up processes to increase the speed and effectiveness of our prospect follow-up.

Franchisee satisfaction is a pillar of our business. It is both a point of emphasis and a source of great pride for the our executive team and support staff.

With 2011 winding down, how are you leveraging people, budgets, brands, and resources to meet development goals?

What are you doing to create a compelling, response-driven recruitment website for your brand? Things are moving fast in new technologies and the ways people are using them to communicate.

"How important is a conversion strategy to your development plans?" Conversion franchising is the foundation for The Dwyer Group development plan. A franchise conversion program has allowed us to be proactive in generating leads for our franchise development team, rather than hoping enough leads come in through normal lead generation channels.

How are technological changes affecting how you recruit, and how are the latest tools changing how your development department does its job?

As a franchisor, what are some things you are doing (or considering doing) to help give your franchise development people enriched selling opportunities in today's economy?

These days, social media is one of the key ways brands nurture relationships with their loyal customer bases. In a lot of ways, a brand's social media presence serves as an overall indicator of the health and strength of a brand. For a brand like Denny's, which has nearly 97 percent brand awareness and a 57-year history, most franchise candidates come to us with some experience with and affinity for the brand.

"Explain your development strategy as it relates to recruiting single-unit versus multi-unit franchisees. Do you look for both? Why or why not?" During the past five years, most franchisors have changed their concept of the ideal franchise candidate. Today larger franchisors are focused more exclusively on recruiting multi-unit/multi-brand players, rather than the single-unit operators most systems were built on. As an established, nearly 40-year-old brand, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen markets franchising opportunities toward the top-tier multi-unit/multi-brand category franchisees, while simultaneously considering single-unit candidates. We currently have more than 1,900 locations in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and 27 foreign countries.

"In light of the current job market, how do you attract and retain top talent in your corporate office/sales development department?" As the leader of a franchise company, attracting, retaining, and motivating our team are among my very top priorities. After all, franchisors are service organizations and service organizations are only as good as their people.

"Are you using social networking (MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blogs, etc.) to recruit new franchisees?"

I'm amazed at the resiliency I see in the franchising industry. While so much of the business world is whining over the daily reports of the latest economic upheaval, I look around this industry and I see calmer, cooler heads prevailing. Take franchise recruitment and development, for example. This is no time to panic.

Unfortunately for many business owners, the economic forecast looks gloomy for this year and perhaps next. At Clix, we have taken an active approach toward understanding the state of the economy and planning our development for the next 12 to 36 months.

"How has the capital market for franchise financing changed in the last 3 to 6 months, and what are you doing differently in franchise sales in the next 3 to 6 months?"

How Are You Toughing It Out In Your Industry/Category During These Lean Economic Times?