advice training

Our panel of experts offers advice on a range of issues for franchisors  

Robert is managing director of Cirrus Tenant Lease Services, commercial property consultants, and is responsible for the expansion of the Cirrus brand outside North America.

My franchisees cannot re-negotiate the quoted rental rates, even with the economic downturn. What advise can you give to help them?

Firstly, the commercial property agents who have not been made redundant are going to be the best negotiators.

Secondly, landlords in many markets have lowered their quoted rental rates compared to a year ago. Unfortunately few business tenants develop a negotiation strategy, so ensure you focus on this with your franchisees. Whether you are negotiating a commercial property lease or any other contract, there are a some key principles to follow.

Few prospective tenants look at the negotiation from the landlords perspective. Who is the landlord, what are the vacancy rates in their other properties, will they be liable for empty property rates, what are their chances of renting the premises if you don’t take it and, more importantly, why would you be a good tenant for the landlord to have?

Headline rent is important to the tenant, and it’s usually the most important aspect to the landlord. So consider other points that are going to be of real value to the tenant that the landlord is now prepared to let you have?

Now is the time to be creative in how you structure your offer. Make an offer on the rental being asked and for an extended rent-free period, but also think about alternative rent reviews (not just upward rent reviews typical in commercial leases), monthly rather than quarterly in advance payments, capping service charges and landlord’s costs, and lease breaks.

Charlie Lawson
Charlie Lawson is the national director of BNI.  Charlie’s expertise is in generating referral business through networking, and his passion is to see businesses grow. BNI is a franchise business, with nearly 15,000 members across the UK and Ireland.

How can I help my franchisees through difficult economic times?

The current economic climate affects every franchise business, and franchisees need all the support they can get to make sure the phone keeps ringing with customers. The best way to do this is encourage them to get out networking.

This can be a challenge however, as many franchisees don’t network enough because they either feel it takes them out of their comfort zone or they have misconceptions about it. You can ease their worries by explaining that there are different types of networking available depending on what suits them.

For example, there is ‘casual contact networking’ – organisations such as the British Chambers of Commerce operate along these lines. Essentially, you go to a networking event, and all number and types of businesses will be there. Another type of networking is ‘strong contact networking’, like BNI, which is much more structured. For example, there will only be one person per profession, attendance is expected, and you would be expected to contribute in terms of opportunities to do business. 

Whatever type of networking is right for your franchisees – insist they go out and do it. My suggestion would be to encourage them to visit their local BNI group – it will give them a chance to promote their business and see if it would work for them and their business. 

Networking is all about building relationships – it is often the case that the person you are networking with won’t be the person you end up doing business with, instead it is someone that they know who will become your next best client.

Remember: never stop networking – or you’ll soon be not working!

John Andrews
John is marketing director at E-NABLE. He has a long history of rolling out membership and incentive programmes, and marketing campaigns for blue chip companies. His responsibilities include partnering with clients to develop programmes that deliver ROI, brand integrity and a loyal client base.

How do I support my franchisees online?

Centralised corporate websites may seem easier to control but do not give your franchisees the sense of ownership that should be an integral part of any franchise opportunity.

Moreover, not offering franchisees their own websites and online marketing tools may result in them taking matters into their own hands – and ultimately out of your control. In the network marketing industry, not only has this recently been proven to damage brands, it has even led to legal issues and court cases.

But rather than looking at the negative motivations, let’s consider the positive reasons as to why franchisors should embrace the opportunity to enable franchisees to represent themselves. There is a whole host of search engine benefits that can be derived from such a strategy, effectively giving your brand more leverage to get itself ranked online, especially when it comes to local searches, for example, ‘tyres in Swindon’ or ‘printing in Dorset’.

The other big opportunity lies in email marketing. By provisioning franchisees with their own websites and lead-capture tools, you are creating an opportunity to build email marketing data rapidly and cost-effectively. Many companies spend thousands of pounds trying to build this type of data, whilst your franchisees can do it for you for free!

Jenny Nguyen
Jenny is marketing manager of Signposter.com, a revolutionary online business helping franchises and SMEs buy, plan and manage outdoor advertising campaigns. Jenny has a depth of experience in advising businesses on how to use outdoor media in their marketing strategies. 

How do I get the best results from my marketing budget?

In the current economic climate, every business must consider how its marketing budget can be used more effectively. Some mistakenly believe that cost-cutting or doing less is simply the only viable strategy. However, the businesses that thrive choose to shift to new strategies and consider how they can optimise the marketing mix.

As a franchisor, your strategy will almost certainly be targeted at two discrete audiences – potential franchisees and customers who bring in revenue. As a result you need to consider a multi-media advertising approach, which includes a distinct combination of both on and offline advertising.

All too often more traditional ‘tried and tested’ advertising methods are overlooked in favour of cheaper online alternatives. But consider this before taking the online-only approach:

1. I can reach some of my audience online, but how am I communicating to those potential customers who aren’t sitting in front of their computer?
2. If I’m only advertising online, do I give the impression of a trusted and recognisable brand?
3. Online advertising sends leads to my site one-by-one. But how can I generate mass awareness cost effectively?

Marketing best practice would be to combine online with an offline presence. For example, you might continue your search engine optimisation and online networking activity alongside highly targeted billboards to build localised awareness for your brand.

Billboards start from as little as £240 for two weeks and reach an average of 140,000 potential customers, all in your area. By combining both on and offline advertising you reach more people and make your marketing budget work much harder.