Title: Franchise Development Techniques to Increase Qualified Leads
1 Franchise Development Techniques to Increase
Qualified Leads
Presents -
2Increase Qualified Leads
Getting franchise leads is important, but more
important is getting qualified leads, these are
leads who are most likely to convert to a sale.
Otherwise, a lot of time, effort, and money is
wasted on the wrong candidates. Here are some
sales and marketing techniques that can increase
qualified leads.
3Define your target prospects
Its hard to sell if you dont know who you
should sell to. Creating franchisee buyer
personas are a key component to any franchise
sales and marketing strategy. By defining exactly
what types of franchisees are successful for your
organization, you can create a targeted approach
to exactly when, where, and how to reach
qualified leads, ensuring youre spending your
dollars in the right places to reach the right
people. Note A buyer persona is a
representation of your ideal customer based on
research and data from your existing customers.
4Have a franchise recruitment website
It is important to have a dedicated website for
franchise recruitment. Candidates who land on
your website should be able to quickly identify
if your brand appeals to them through easy
navigation, discoverable information, and
engaging content. The website should guide
interested prospects to complete an inquiry with
full transparency of next steps. Based on
your franchisee buyer personas, your website
should include content that speaks specifically
to these defined targets. For example, if one of
your franchisee personas is millennials, be sure
you have content that explains how its a great
opportunity to embrace their entrepreneurial
spirit without all the risks that come with
starting their own business from scratch.
5Work with your marketing team
If you build it, they arent just going to come.
A franchise recruitment website does not
magically bring qualified franchise candidates to
the hands of your franchise sales team. Its
important that sales and marketing work together
to qualify and engage with leads. Here are a few
marketing tactics to consider generating targeted
leads
6Email Communications
Create email campaigns that engage with your
leads. Keep them updated on relevant company
news, invite them to events, suggest they reach
out with questions. If a prospect shows interest
and they never hear from you again, youre the
one putting an end to that relationship.
7Paid Advertising
Even small budget for paid advertising can go a
long way. With Google AdWords you can target
keywords and phrases for people investigating
franchising and guide them to your franchise
recruitment website. You can also use franchise
specific media outlets, such as the International
Franchise Association, Franchise Update Media,
and World Franchising, just to name a few to
schedule dedicated email blasts, newsletter ads,
and more.
8Social Media
Social media has to be a part of every business
now, and its a great storytelling tool. You can
showcase your current franchises to show how
wonderful it is to be a part of your brand.
Consider paid advertising on platforms that are
most engaging for your brand.
9Consider a Franchise Development Company
Franchise development companies work with your
sales, finance, and operations teams to grow your
franchise. They work with franchisors to attract
qualified leads and with candidates to help them
find a brand thats a good fit. Some development
companies specialize in certain type of
franchises. Do your research to discover if and
which development company may be a good fit for
you.
10Use Technology
The more you grow, the harder it will be to keep
track of your leads with spreadsheets.
Fortunately, there are franchise development
tools to help you and your team grow you brand in
an organized, efficient way, managing every
aspect of the engagement process with franchisee
candidates. A good lead management system will
have a CRM and include automated workflows, email
campaigns, status tracking, source tracking, and
reporting.
11Franchise CRM software and why you need one
A franchise CRM software is an important tool
that is used in franchise business development. A
franchise CRM system helps boost franchise sales
by qualifying franchise leads and prioritizing
sales activities. As the number of franchises
leads increases, emails and spreadsheets can no
longer organize sales activities effectively.
This builds the need for software that organizes
customer contacts and manages the franchise sales
pipeline. A franchise CRM software centralizes
information and helps the entire sales teamwork
as a well-oiled machine.