THE EVOLUTION OF THE
FRANCHISE SALES LEAD
Transforming Franchise Recruitment
Strategies for Delivering Increased Lead
Generation
Closings and Recruiting Better Franchisees

THE EVOLUTION OF THE Matt Alden, CFE | President
Franchise Solutions & Franchise.com
FRANCHISE SALES LEAD
MODERATOR
Marc Kiekenapp | President/CEO
Kiekenapp & Associates
PANELIST
Michael Haith| CEO & Founder
Franchise Sherpas
PANELIST
Thomas Scott| Content Marketing & Lead Generation
Franchise Performance Group
PANELIST
Amit Pamecha, CFE| CEO & Co-Founder
FranConnect
PANELIST

The Evolution of the
Franchise Sales Lead
Leads/Prospects/Buyers
[BEHAVING DIFFERENTLY!]
IFA Convention 2013 The Evolution of the Franchise Sales Lead

The Evolution of the Leads/Prospects/Buyers
Franchise Sales Lead [BEHAVING DIFFERENTLY!]
Why is Behavior Changing?
M = From 0% to 1/3 Traffic & Leads…

The Evolution of the Leads/Prospects/Buyers
Franchise Sales Lead [BEHAVING DIFFERENTLY!]
Why is Behavior Changing?
More Accessible than Ever Before
Less what You Say About Yourself,
[TODAY] = More what Others are Saying
About You.
POWER for BUYERS!
[when you controlled the info, you knew their questions]
IFA Convention 2013 The Evolution of the Franchise Sales Lead

The Evolution of the Leads/Prospects/Buyers
Franchise Sales Lead [BEHAVING DIFFERENTLY!]
What it Means for FranDev… How
to Compete for Buyers?
PEOPLE & PROCESS
Intuition | Adaptability | Flexibility
[Prospect Intel & Sophistication Levels Highly Variable]
CONCEPT APPEAL & PERFORMANCE
I19 | Validation | Reputation
[Appeal = Clear Evidence of Credibility & Marketplace Performance]

The Evolution of the
Franchise Sales Lead Lead Generation
Social Technology
[Embracing Transparency]

WHO’S BUYING
FRANCHISES TODAY?
Marc Kiekenapp
Kiekenapp & Associates

Who’s Buying Franchises Today?
• 52% of today's franchise units are
now operated by multi-unit
franchisees
• Experienced multi-unit/multi-brand
operators continue expanding in
spite of the economy!
• They have access to capital
• Portfolio investment buyers
• Legacy buyers
• Equity partnerships who grow and
flip businesses
• Career transition

Survey Results of High
Producing Multi Unit Owners
• Consider allowances that reasonably address the
larger business relationship that this
“partnership” will create
• ROI is key to the decision
 Be prepared to build proformas
 Experienced franchisees can help

Survey Results of High
Producing Multi Unit Owners
• Decisions are based on logic
 Successful business model
 Detailed earnings claims
 Talking with High Producers
 Share key metrics with prospects
 They want to speak with operational minded
staff that talk their lingo

Incentives for Multi Unit
Franchisees
• Franchise fees
• VetFran fees
• Financing
• Royalty fees
• Reduced ongoing technology fees
• Transfer fees
• Marketing fees

FDD
Financial Performance Representations
(Item 19)

Survey Results of High
Producing Multi Unit Owners
• Relationships are key
• They want access to the CEO/COO
[This is a balancing act]
• The process is slower and it takes an
experienced sales professional to read
between the lines
• Patience is “Golden” [they will move at their
own pace]

Attracting and Marketing for
MU Owners
First Steps
• Create a Profile of ideal candidate
• Select Area Development Markets
• Target Market to the areas and candidates
you want in your system
 Purchase Lists
 Portals [on site & email]
 Deploy multi faceted campaigns
 Conduct Webinars

Research Process
• Information quickly [FDD is usually requested upfront]
 Be prepared and ready to respond with the
information
• Financial Information about the operating units
 Prepared packets approved by legal
• Validation from existing multi unit owners
 Experienced multi unit owners know how to
do this very well
 Make sure your system is ready for the calls
 Make sure you know what your franchisees
are saying

Sales Team Experienced and
Knowledgeable
• Decisions are logic-based [much less emotion-based]
 Successful business model
 An understanding of how the business
operates [They want to speak with ops-minded staff
that talk their lingo]
 Detailed FPR’s
 Talking with high producers
 Share key metrics with prospects

Sales Team Experienced and
Knowledgeable
• Understand the business
 Real Estate
 Build Out
 Operational
 Financial
 Employees
 Food/Product Cost
 Marketing
• Legal
 A full understanding of the FDD

EMERGING FRANCHISOR
FRANDEV SURVIVAL GUIDE
Michael Haith
CEO & Founder
Franchise Sherpas

SUCCESSFUL BEHAVIORS FOR
EMERGING FRANCHISORS
• The Top 10 Successful behaviors of the „new age‟
1. Who are YOU?
2. Cultural Story Telling
3. Community Profile
4. The Cover -The Home Page
5. The Story-Content
6. Finally! Lead Generation
7. Make it easy!
8. A Sales Process that builds trust
9. Trained Sales People
10. Metrics-Measure Everything

CANDIDATES WANT…… YOU!
• Reflection of the Founder(s)
• Describe yourself

CANDIDATES WANT CULTURE
• Candidates want culture
– What makes your culture unique

CANDIDATES WANT COMMUNITY
• The members of the community

YOU + CULTURE=COMMUNITY

HOME PAGE-EMOTIONAL CONNECTION
• The ONE shot at an emotional
connection!

CANDIDATES WANT THE STORY!
• Benefits communicated through third
party

LEAD GENERATION
• PR-in house or PR-Firm
• Portals
• Brokers
• Social Media
• Trade Shows

CANDIDATES WANT SIMPLE
• Simple requests

CANDIDATES WANT TRUST
• Understand your candidates
• Know how to Sell!
• Don‟t waste money!!

TRAINED SALESPEOPLE!
• Design and follow a structured process
• In House vs. Hiring Vendor

MEASURE EVERYTHING!
• Invest
• Question
• Understand Metrics
• Mystery Shops
Lead Generation Costs
– $20-50 per lead
– Conversion program and costs 10% lead to
CQ
– Application $300-500 per CQ
– Conversion ratio and costs 3-5%

HOW IS FRANCHISE
LEAD GENERATION
CHANGING?
Thomas Scott
Franchise Performance Group

HOW MANY LEADS DOES IT TAKE
TO RECRUIT A SINGLE FRANCHISE OWNER?

CONTENT LENGTH FOR TOP 10 RANKING

CONTENT LENGTH FOR TOP 10 RANKING
Froyo franchises NOT on page 1 132
Froyo Franchises on Page 1 1407
Printing Franchises NOT on Page 1 363
Printing Franchises on Page 1 984
Carpet Cleaning Franchises NOT on Page 1 421
Carpet Cleaning Franchises on Page 1 1107
Home Care Franchises NOT on Page 1 395
Home Care Franchise, Page 1 1004
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
Word Count on Home Page

Q: Why Does
Favor Longer Content?
A: Google doesn‟t prefer more content because
they feel it is more valuable; they prefer content
rich sites because the data shows you like it

FRANCHISE FRANCHISE
LEAD
GENERATION
= BUYER
GENERATION
If you don’t sell consistent with how
people buy, they don’t buy.

A CHANGE IN THE WAY PEOPLE SEARCH

LEAD GENERATION:
intersecting people who need
what you have at the point they
are looking for it
BUYER GENERATION:
Engaging buyers with the
information they want in the
format they want when and
where they are looking for it

TRADITIONAL FRANCHISE LEAD GENERATION
Email Franchise Radio or
PPC
Campaign Portals Print
Lead Source Lead Source Lead Source Lead Source
Conversion Form Conversion Form Conversion Form Conversion Form
Franchise Franchise Franchise Franchise
Salesperson Salesperson Salesperson Salesperson

NEW FRANCHISE LEAD
GENERATION Lead Generation
New Franchise
ORGANIC XM EMAIL BRAND
PPC PORTALS
SEARCH RADIO BLASTS SITE
Franchise
Company
Website
LEAD
Your Brand Story
FORM Goes Here
FRANCHISE
RECRUITER

CHANGE #1 DIFFERENT
FRANCHISE WEBSITES
Change From This:
To This:

CHANGE # 2:
BRAND STORYTELLING
Single most important part of
your lead generation is your
Internet Content Strategy.

CHANGE #3: ORGANIC SEO
Awareness Franchise
Interest
Leads are
Franchise Industry Info here
Franchise Category
Franchise
Comparative Shopping
Buyers are
Brand Name
here
Brand Research

CHANGE #4: PPC
56
60
Merging PPC with Organic
SEO and content marketing
50
produced a 43% Increase
40
30
18 14
20
10
0
Leads from PPC Leads from Organic Search page with both PPC ad and organic ranking
Leads from

CHANGE # 5: FRANCHISE PORTALS
• Ad content matters!
• All portals rank differently organically
• Linking direct to your website can
create a breakthrough
• Using downloadable reports or white
papers can improve lead quality
• Portal Email campaigns produce
better leads than portal advertising

CHANGE #6 RETARGETING

CHANGE #7: SHORTER FORMS
• Long forms are a recipe for disaster
• Shorter the form, the higher the
conversion rate and the more closes
• 70% of information on forms is
inaccurate*
• Forms giving someone a download
produce leads that go farther in the
sales process
• Forms need to be on EVERY PAGE
*source: John Henning, Lead
Scheduling Service Survey

IMPROVING YOUR
FRANCHISE RESULTS
BY OVER 200%
Amit Pamecha, CFE
FranConnect - Captivate
CEO and Co-Founder
Amit @ franconnect.com

KEY TRENDS
• 2012 was one of the best years in the
last 4 years for most franchise systems
• Qualified lead volume up in 2012
• Improved Financing scenario for
mature franchise system with strong
Item 19

5 IDEAS FOR 2013 AND BEYOND

YOU ARE LIKELY TO SPEND A FORTUNE ON LEAD
GENERATION
Traditional Non-Traditional
Brokers SEM/ Google PPC
Referrals SEO
Internet Portals Social Media
Email Blasts City Specific Seminars
Print Advertising Monster, Career Builder
Trade Shows Real Estate Firms
TV Advertising XM Radio
What is the one common buyer behavior across all these activities?

100% of Your
A Majority
Prospects Will
Will Visit Your
Google You
Franchise
After Seeing
Website
your Franchise
Advertising

MOST FRANCHISE SYSTEMS DO A TERRIBLE JOB
OF CAPTIVATING THEIR PROSPECTS
Average time Visitor to
Bounce Rates spent by Prospect
of 50% or prospects – conversion
Higher less than 2.5 rate of less
minutes than 1.8%

Idea #1: Engagement
Your Franchise Development Website is
your #1 Asset for generating more leads
and signing up more franchises!

THE SALES PROCESS
Given the small team sizes, most
franchise systems do not rigorously follow
a structured awarding process
• More than 50% leads do not get a follow-up call for
more than 4 hours
• No qualifier in place for most systems
• Lack of relationship building and trust
• Forcing “ALL” applicants through a boring multi-part
brochure
• Lack of time sensitivity in a deal

Idea #2 The Development Process
Implement a structured awarding
process that is transparent to the
candidate and to your team!
Your process should be flexible to
accommodate different kinds of
candidates

Idea #3 Dashboards and Performance
Management
Measure Every Metric
Given the lost deals and royalty revenues
at stake, flying blind is not an option

MEASURE EVERY METRIC WITH CUSTOM DASHBOARDS FOR INCOMING LEAD
ANALYSIS, PROCESS ANALYSIS, LEADS KILLED, ROI AND COSTS AND YOUR OWN
CUSTOM REPORTS

Idea #4
Reduce the cycle time involved
• Best Practices
- Responding to all leads within 1 hour
- Educating them prior to phone calls
- Electronic FDD Receipt (not just delivery)
- Online Financial Qualification Forms
- Early Validation

Idea #5
Implement Technology for Cost
Savings, Lead Generation and Higher
Closing Rates
– CRM Systems
– Email marketing tools
– Virtual Brochures
– Video Conferencing
– Candidate Information on
LinkedIn, Google, Zillow

THE EVOLUTION OF THE Matt Alden, CFE | President
Franchise Solutions & Franchise.com
FRANCHISE SALES LEAD
MODERATOR
Marc Kiekenapp | President/CEO
Kiekenapp & Associates
PANELIST
Michael Haith| CEO & Founder
Franchise Sherpas
PANELIST
Thomas Scott| Content Marketing & Lead Generation
Franchise Performance Group
PANELIST
Amit Pamecha, CFE| CEO & Co-Founder
FranConnect
PANELIST