You have multiple company-owned locations showing that your concept could be successfully replicated in additional locations or territories, and you have your franchise disclosure document (FDD) and financing in place. What do you need now? Franchisees, of course!
While recruiting franchisees is important to growth, it is also important to note that the offer and sale of franchises is highly regulated. You should consult with your franchise attorney as you design your sales process, including, among other things, how you will handle franchise validation (in which prospects ask franchisees about their experience), your review of the prospects’ business plans, and other critical aspects of the sales process.
In both the design of the sales process and the generation of leads, the consideration of the target franchisee (one who would find value in your business and has the qualities that you believe are necessary to succeed in your business) is critical.
A Great Sales Process Includes the Following Elements:
- Utilizing experts and technology for optimal solutions
- Mapping the sales process
- Leveraging sales personnel (including the number of salespeople needed based on your lead flow as well as the benefits of a sales qualifier)
- Evaluating key franchise sales metrics to assess how the process is performing
Key Elements of an Effective Franchise Sales Process
- Map the process: Even the best brand advocates and sales professionals might leave something out after presenting over months or years. The legal implications within franchising as well as the opportunity cost of skipping a key step with a potential franchisee make this critical. Then moving from a manual to a technology platform will provide even more key consistency.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for Homework: At BrightStar, we designed “homework” into stages of our virtual brochure sales platform for franchisee prospects to complete – this was a powerful way for us to determine if the prospect could follow a process. If they won’t follow the sales process before they write a check, they most certainly won’t follow business processes after they invest and join the franchise family.
The Three Critical Parts of Franchise Sales
- The franchise prospect evaluates the concept logically, so the business model needs to make sense (industry level information, unit level economics, ROI, return on life and other data).
- The buyer will evaluate the concept in terms of the trust they see in the brand. The person they do business with must be credible. New franchisors are marketing the vision of the Founder – so the Founder should be a big part of the process early on to establish that credibility.
- An emotional connection to what the franchisee will be doing is key. For example, BrightStar Care offers an opportunity for a franchisee to make money by making a difference in the lives of families.
“I can’t stress enough how much a great sales process influences great results. Having an outside advisor or consultant review your process for missing pieces is incredibly helpful. We found, for example, that we knew “our story” so well that we were leaving out important passages that a prospect would want and need to know.”
Shelly Sun Berkowitz, Grow Smart, Risk Less
Community Q&A