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Franchise Sales & Development

Franchise Sales, Franchise Development, Mutual Evaluation; regardless of how you phrase it, franchise sales is a challenge! Consider this; in order for your prospect to make a buying decision they must also make a decision to completely change their life.

What is Franchise Development

To begin, lets establish terminology. If you have been exploring the idea of bringing in outside franchise experts, you have likely heard the terms franchise sales and franchise development  used both seemly to refer to the same thing, and at other times obviously referring to two different subjects. The reason for this dissidence is that the latter of the two can be used with two completely different meanings.

On one hand, the term Franchise Development is typically a euphemism for franchise sales. It is used as such because franchise sales is in many ways counter-intuitive; a franchise development professional is constantly looking for reasons not to sell a given prospect a franchise. That is not to say that other salespeople are not professional or discerning, but rarely do salespeople have a legal obligation to disclose the name and contact information of all of their current and a some of their past customers! A franchise development professional truly is “developing”; every time they help the right person into a franchise, or recognize a poor candidate, they are developing the longevity of the brand.

Alternatively, Franchise Development can be used to refer to the process of taking a small business and turning it into a franchise (which we cover under the franchise startup section of this site). There is nothing inherently “right” about either usage. For consistency’s sake, however, we will use Franchise Development solely to address the various aspects of the franchise mutual evaluation and sales process.

Outsourced Franchise Development

Many franchisors make the decision to outsource their franchise development process. Some start in the business that way and never change, and some don’t make this decision until they have established a base of franchisees. Still others attempt to make a go at it alone and realize that either franchise sales is not their forte or they simply do not have the time available to commit to a real franchise sales process.

If you are uncertain if outsourcing is the right solution for you, you may find reviewing the reasons to outsource franchise development helpful.

Choosing Your Partner

If you are considering outsourcing, its important to select the best outsourced franchise development solution.  Where you are in the life-cycle of a franchisor, what expertise you have in-house, and what type of franchise program you offer will all play into the decision of if outsourcing is the right choice, and what company is a good fit.

If you are in the process of franchising, your franchise consultant will most likely be intimately involved in most of your day to day decisions; what executives to bring on, how to market your franchise, what information should be contained in the FDD, how to write your Operations Manual, and much more. In this case you need to have access to individuals with real-world franchisor experience. If, your system is more mature and you are simply considering out your sales efforts, your consultant will need to have a deep and nuanced understanding of the mutual valuation process, and the character traits that you value in a prospective candidate, or who succeeds well in your system. In this case you simply need a true franchise sales expert.

Lead Generation

Regardless of if your franchise development team is in-house or if you decide on an outsourced solution, franchise lead generation is pivotal to success in a franchise business.

Understanding where your particular brand can best source prospective franchisees, and evaluating the ever-changing landscape of both franchise lead generation and your individual brand is critical for sustained growth. Franchise leads can come from many sources including portals, franchise brokers, your website, and even your franchisees.

The Franchise Sales Process

Many franchisors do not understand how necessary a complete, documented, and followed franchise sales process is. If you are at the point of selling franchises, you’ve already went through the exercise of developing an Operations Manual, and likely at a very detailed level. Franchise sales should be approached from this same mentality.

Franchise Development is our specialty. We have taken several brands to the top of the sector. As you consider taking the next step in the growth of the franchised brand, we sincerely hope that you consider Franchise Beacon as your potential growth vehicle.