Claire Robinson shares her top tips and advice for successful franchisee recruitment.
As some of you may know, as well as being the CEO of the Approved Franchise Association and Managing Director of Extra Help, I also work as a franchise consultant, and one of the areas in which I find businesses really seem to struggle is franchisee recruitment. After all, it’s hard enough to recruit staff for your average business but searching for the right people, who can be trusted to adopt your business model as their own and become highly effective brand ambassadors, requires even more care and attention, in some ways.
It’s very tempting, especially when you first franchise your business, to be flattered by anyone who wants to buy into your brand. However, if it’s not the right fit, it can end up with disastrous consequences and, sometimes, it’s easier to get rid of a spouse than an unwanted franchisee! Quality, not quantity should always be your strategy as, ultimately, one high-performing franchisee is worth a lot more than ten under-performing ones.
With this in mind, here are my top tips for smooth and positive franchisee recruitment.
Promote your business in the right places
Marketing is of paramount importance when you’re trying to attract the attention of potential franchisees. Platforms such as Elite Franchise and the main aggregator sites, such as Franchise Direct, Franchise Local, Point Franchise and Franchise Supermarket, are always worth using. In my experience, this is where most of your leads will come from and you can be sure your competitors will be advertising on those sites too. It’s always worth remembering that your potential franchisees will have plenty of other options, so a strong marketing presence will keep your business at the forefront of their minds. There are many other forms of advertising you can use as well, for example, franchise magazines and other platforms, such as Franchise Resales.
However, attracting their attention is only the beginning – you also need to keep it! This is where social media platforms, such as Facebook and LinkedIn are useful. However, in my experience, these platforms tend to attract more people who are looking for employment, rather than buying a franchise, so do make sure any social media posts are very specific, in order to avoid timewasters. Consistency is the key here, so take the time to regularly update your own website, along with any other sites where you advertise or promote your franchise opportunity, to improve your Google ranking.
When promoting your business online, it’s crucial to ensure you highlight your franchise’s key USPs. Why should a potential franchisee choose your business over that of your competitor? Focus on the questions or initial objections a potential franchisee may have and try to overcome them in an easy, succinct way.
Organise Discovery Days to introduce the opportunity
Discovery Days are a valuable way for franchisors and prospective franchisees to meet and get to know each other. They also enable you to sell your franchise and get people excited about the opportunity. Usually, they take the form of an informal day spent with the franchisor, finding out more about the franchise and meeting key members of the head office team, suppliers and existing franchisees. It’s an opportunity for the prospect to ask questions and find out more about the day-to-day running of the business and for both parties to decide whether it’s an appropriate match.
Obviously, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has not been possible for franchisors to organise face-to-face Discovery Days. Some franchisors are now holding them online and platforms such as Zoom, Skype and Microsoft Teams, which many of us had barely used prior to lockdown, have been a godsend throughout this time.
Keep on top of leads
It’s important to remember that if you get an enquiry from a potential franchisee, they are likely to be considering several other opportunities at the same time, so you must respond to them as quickly as possible and start to build a dialogue. As your database grows, keep in contact with these prospects with regular news and updates, so they get to know your business and are aware of your latest announcements and successes.
Organise online training
Traditionally, many franchisors would have organised face-to-face training, usually lasting at least two days and involving a residential stay. This works because the franchisee is taken away from their everyday distractions and given time to fully absorb the workings of their chosen franchise. However, at present, this is very difficult to organise in a COVID-compliant way, so more and more franchisors are turning to online training or, sometimes, a combination of both. For example, my own franchise business, Extra Help, reduced the two-day training down to one and we now conduct some of our training online, where appropriate, saving the franchisee from an overnight stay.
Personally, I believe that face-to-face training is still important but others may disagree – perhaps it’s because I’m Generation X! However, there’s no denying that offering online training will be an advantage to your business and enable you to recruit more successfully. It will overcome any objections that potential franchisees may have about travelling and mixing with people during the pandemic and enable them to get up and running more quickly.
Extend the opportunity to existing franchisees
If you want to grow your franchise network, why not offer your existing, successful franchisees the opportunity to buy further territories? There are several benefits of using this strategy. You have already established a strong working relationship with these people; they thoroughly understand the workings of your business model and need no training or time spent with them to get up and running. This not only frees up your time and allows you to focus on other aspects of your business, but it offers your existing franchisees the chance to grow their own businesses organically.
Hire a franchise consultant
If you’re really struggling with your recruitment, why not hire a franchise consultant? Franchise consultants can help with every aspect of franchising, with some even managing the entire process on your behalf, saving you valuable time, which can be allocated to looking after existing franchisees. In fact, even if you’re right at the beginning of your franchise journey and haven’t worked out your franchise model or produced any documentation yet, they can still help you.
In conclusion, there is no denying that an efficient, easily-replicated business model is vital to the success of any franchise network. However, it is worthless without the right franchisees to implement it, and that’s why recruitment should be at the forefront of every franchisor’s mind. In many cases, franchisors may need to use multiple recruitment methods to attract the most suitable candidates and, with the absence of face-to-face options currently available, online recruitment methods are becoming more and more prevalent. As these methods are proving to be so effective and time-saving, I will be very surprised if franchise recruitment ever returns to the way it was and our world is sure to be infinitely more digital from now on.
