Following up on and handling leads

Following up on and handling leads

After any busy franchise event you are guaranteed to find bundled in your folder countless business cards, names scribbled on scraps of paper and, not to mention, feeling like you have misplaced something important. It is easy to kick back and relax once the hard work is done, but remember how you follow up and handle your leads is crucial in the post event stage. Brian Duckett, Managing Director of Howarth Franchising, demonstrates how you can make the most of your leads and ultimately, increase your chances of transforming them into franchisees

Anecdotal evidence from potential franchisees tells us that a large number of requests for information go unanswered by franchisors. To spend money on marketing activities and then to fail to follow up leads generated by those activities would seem to be senseless. However we do know that a number of franchisors will admit, when questioned, that they do not follow up leads as assiduously as they should. What makes them throw away the chance of contacting a prospective franchisee?

Here are some common reasons:

•    It is often difficult to contact the enquirer by phone unless the recruiter is prepared to make phone calls in the evenings or at weekends outside the normal working day
•    It is not unusual to have to make a number of contact calls before being able to speak to the applicant. It requires a great level of commitment to keep making the calls until contact is made
•    All recruiters know that they will be lucky if they recruit two franchisees from every 100 enquiries so the process is, by its very nature, time-consuming and potentially frustrating
•    Recruiting franchisees is often only part of the manager's responsibilities and other activities may appear to demand priority attention

Take a firm grip

It is critical that all opportunities are persistently followed up if you are to hit even the two out of 100 rate.
A clear lead-tracking process, carefully monitored by senior management, will assist in making the most of the enquiries.
If you feel that you or your staff cannot give the time or commitment to following up all the leads then consider passing on that role to one of the specialist recruitment or support agencies that exist to provide this service.

Transform your leads: The recruitment process

The most effective way to handle franchise enquiries is to have first established a clear recruitment process detailing all the steps likely to occur from first contact to sign-up, then to document it and follow it to the letter. Whilst there are almost as many recruitment processes as there are franchisors, the principles of developing those processes are the same. A typical recruitment programme will include some or all of the following activities, although not necessarily always in this order:

•    Prepare a detailed franchisee profile and start marketing
•    Response to initial contact
•    Initial qualification on 'must have' attributes in franchisee profile
•    Despatch of prospectus and application form
•    Follow-up phone call
•    Review of application form
•    Group presentation
•    First meeting
•    Franchisee accompaniment
•    Draft business planning
•    Disclosure documentation
•    Second meeting
•    Franchise offer
•    Receipt of deposit
•    Completion of franchise agreement or 'agreement to agree'

The franchise system itself, the culture of the franchisor company and the requirements of the franchisee profile will all influence the eventual structure of the process.

Track and record

In the same way that a franchisor produces a franchise operations manual to specify the procedures and processes that a franchisee must follow, they should also have a franchisor operations manual that defines the procedures to be followed by the franchisor's staff. One of the most important sections of this manual will refer to the recruitment process.
Lead tracking is an important part of every recruitment process. Whilst there are a number of software programmes aimed specifically at the franchise sector any database can be developed to provide the necessary information.
•    Every contact from a potential franchisee should be recorded as the first part of the recruitment process. This first record should include basic information such as their name and contact details and the source of the lead. This latter information is useful for monitoring the results of various marketing activities.
•    Each stage of the recruitment process should be identified on the database and completed as each activity occurs.
•    Define the information that is to be given and collected at each stage of the process and record that it has been completed. In the same way that a franchisor will have certain key qualifying questions to ask of potential franchisees at an early stage so also will the applicant have questions to ask the franchisor.

First and foremost franchisees will probably want to know how much they will need to invest in the franchise and how much income it is likely to generate. The franchisor in turn will want to know whether the potential franchisee has or will be able to raise the funds needed for the investment and also whether the franchisee is likely to be satisfied with the potential income opportunity.

The recruitment manager can satisfy both the needs of the franchisor and the franchisee through judicious questioning and giving of information. It is at this stage that the franchisor is most at risk of making a statement that is later 'relied on' by the franchisee and could later result in an action for misrepresentation. It is important that the franchisor controls the flow of information at every stage as the need to obtain further information is often a key driver in getting the applicant to move to the next stage of the process.

•    Set timescales for each element of the process and then apply them. Those timescales that relate to the franchisor's activities can be applied rigidly whereas those relating to the potential franchisee are very much in the applicant's control. However if the timescales are communicated to the franchisee and then prompts given if they are not fulfilled it will allow the franchisor to drive the process forward at something like his own desired pace.
•    Record the outcome of each and every contact including details of key information given and received by both parties.
•    Copies of any documentation given to or received from the applicant should be kept on file. It is important that where a franchisee may have taken information from a website, a copy of the contents of the website should be archived each time changes are made to it.

This article is adapted from “How To Turn Your Business Into The Next Global Brand – Creating and Managing a Franchised Network” by Brian Duckett and Paul Monaghan. Published by How To Books at £12.95, copies are available from books@howarthfranchising.com