As a new or emerging Franchisor, the process to develop your pipeline and recruit your first franchisees can be challenging. Figuring out how to generate leads, what you can and can’t say to prospects, and how to close a deal is all part of a learning process. The Franchise Genesis Marketing and Sales program offers you the ability to gradually learn these skills and keeps you from feeling lost and overwhelmed.
Franchise Genesis also works with established franchise brands who are looking to outsource their franchise sales department and better leverage company resources. We will deliver results through cost-effective and focused sales and franchise qualification processes and proven third party franchise sales resources. Our franchise experts have refined the models used for selling and marketing franchise opportunities.
Digital marketing can offer a better way to facilitate marketing management on a worldwide market while improving local marketing efforts, compared to traditional public relations and marketing materials.
A digital franchise marketing plan allows you to:
We use several channels to generate leads for our clients:
When a lead comes in, someone from our sales team will reach out and have a quick introductory call. If our team fails to reach a lead, we will leave a voicemail, send an email and continue to try and contact them.
After the initial introduction an interested candidate will be requested to fill out a Client Questionnaire which helps in the qualification process.
As soon as the Client Questionnaire has been received and the prospect has been qualified, we will send them the Franchise Disclosure Document and answer any initial questions they might have.
Once the prospect has been fully disclosed and is interested in continuing with the discovery process we will make the introduction to the Franchisor.
There are several challenges common to franchise marketing regarding the balance between local and centralized marketing policies. Learning to recognize these challenges can also help you prepare to overcome these common hurdles in franchise marketing.
Both franchisor and franchisee must understand their roles in promoting the brand. A franchisor provides centralized guidance on achieving a brand identity that already has some momentum. Franchisees, however, must market on a local level to thrive. It's important to ensure that the core brand is not an overpowering local strategy and that local policies maintain a consistent on-brand experience.
Create a branding guidebook featuring colors, themes, and core values while taking feedback on marketing strategies used successfully by franchisees. This guidebook will help create and share the most effective marketing strategies.
Make sure your franchisees know what goals they are trying to reach. Setting the right goals can help everyone maintain an on-brand mindset. Contrarily, unclear goals are among the biggest causes of brand disharmony. Clear goals also allow each franchise to operate within the bounds of the brand design while seeking solutions that work uniquely with their location, suppliers, or customer base.
Define the brand with clear goals that every location should strive to meet. Set goals that benefit the entire organization and provide tools to help meet those goals. Then review the efforts and provide on-site support to any locations struggling with specific goals and milestones.
A great franchise brand has a unified theme but leaves room for each location to set itself apart. This theme allows your customers to seek out each location, knowing that they will find a familiar and satisfying venue, but also remember each franchise for what makes it unique and special, providing both brand consistency and differentiators.
You can unify and set apart the franchise brand with website design - giving each location a separate page off the corporate homepage, but it can also be done with individual branding strategies.
Inbound and outbound marketing is also a balancing act, and nearby franchises can oppose each other for the top spot without realizing it. Unbalanced inbound to outbound strategy or conflicting approaches to content will not only muddle the brand but can also dilute your total marketing efforts.
Your franchise must share a strategy for both inbound content marketing and outbound marketing efforts. Allowing you to truly optimize your online presence, sharing unified keywords to the homepage, and sharing regional keywords based on each franchisee's location or local theme.
Aptly managing an enterprise marketing campaign across multiple locations has become a matter of big data and concise evaluations. Not every team is equipped with the tools and insights to keep track of all the marketing data involved in a central franchise and network of franchise locations. Marketing with insufficient data means lost opportunities even if your strategy is well-aligned.
Invest in advanced and concise data tracking tools for your team. Optimize your marketing using the latest franchise and multi-team marketing software and integrate the right CRM with your marketing KPIs. Hone your lead funnel and conversion experience, and track your shopper trends. Armed with great data, you can build a greater enterprise marketing strategy.
If you are looking to convert more new franchisees to open further locations, lead cultivation at this level is important. A brave and well-prepared prospective business owner must fully commit to purchasing a franchise. These leads consist of new investors looking to be their own boss and old hats looking to put their investment somewhere truly valuable. Without solid lead nurturing, you may have difficulty building trust in your brand and converting your best franchise leads.
Optimize your outreach to franchise leads and improve your visibility for those self-directed business leaders ready to leap into business ownership. These leads often prefer information centers and self-directed demos - paired with responsive staff chat and support. You may also consider boosting your local visibility to attract local business investors.
Growing your business into a network of franchise locations is a rewarding project. Whether you are new to franchising or are ready to take your franchise marketing strategy to the next level, Franchise Genesis is here to help. Contact us today to schedule a consultation by seeking the form at the bottom of every page or call us directly for a human conversation.