CLIENT ACQUISITION
Anna Wilds, CFE
Live a life you LOVE living. A Plan for Your Money + Time Freedom. Master Franchise Consultant 20+ years
Introduction:
As a business owner, getting customers is a COMBINATION OF BOTH MARKETING AND SALES EFFORTS. It is a joint effort between a franchisor and a franchisee to attract customers to the business and to sell a product or service.
As a franchisee, you have the marketing might of a national company with branding and proven marketing strategies working for you each and every day.
Depending on the franchise, marketing strategies may include traditional marketing like
National marketing and branding falls to the franchisor to develop and implement. Most franchises have a national Advertising Fund that each franchisee is required to pay into. The fund is for national advertisements and promotions like we see on TV and social media.
There is still local marketing that franchisees are to do. Each franchisee plans an annual marketing budget, and the HQ Marketing staff can be a big help with this.
Unless it is an online sale, the sales transaction occurs in a franchisee’s local market. This means the majority, if not all, of the sales responsibilities, fall to franchisees. This doesn’t mean the franchisees, themselves, fill the sales roles. It is part of the business owner’s duties to have the infrastructure and the team players in place to accommodate customers. More on that below.
? Branding is what immediately comes to mind with a franchise in terms of marketing. This can cover everything from the logo and tagline, signage, store decor, product design, wrapped vehicles, business cards, and merchandise to uniforms. It typically includes many operational aspects of the business from how phones are answered and the experience customers have when engaged with the business.
? Traditional marketing includes many things from mailers, door hangers, expo materials, and billboards to print and TV advertisements. The HQ Marketing department may design this collateral but it is up to the franchisee to pay for it and have it distributed in the local market.
? Online marketing may include search engine optimization (SEO), website development, content production, pay-per-click advertising, appointment scheduling, blogs, and the full range of marketing opportunities on the Internet.
? Social media marketing is frequently handled for franchisees by the HQ marketing team. Some franchises provide the content for the local franchisees to post on their accounts. Other franchises manage all aspects of the social media presence for their franchisees including reputation management.
Content may include customer testimonials, educational videos, paid advertising, localized special offers, e-newsletters and so much more.
SALES: (Primarily the Franchisees’ role)
To help franchisees get local business, some franchisors develop NATIONAL ACCOUNTS. I’ll explain how this works by giving an example.
Example: Say a painting franchise has a national account with a big box store (Best Buy or Target) or a franchise chain (maybe Jimmy Johns or Ace Hardware Stores). The franchisees in the markets where these businesses are located will do the painting work for those “contracted” businesses.
Call centers are a big plus for franchisees when franchisors have these. The call center agents are trained to convert INBOUND sales calls to appointments for franchisees. Some franchisors have the call center agents make OUTBOUND sales calls to prospect for franchisees and set appointments. There is a cost franchisees pay for this service.
Who Does The Sales?
Who exactly in the local business performs the sales duties depends on the business model of the franchise.
Franchises will make it clear what role a franchisee is to play in the business. As we have discussed in other Franchise Alerts, depending on the business model of the franchise, owners may be involved on a full-time basis in daily operations and/or sales, or serve in a full-time management role, or have a limited time commitment while managing managers.
Example: Hair salon franchises are not looking for people who cut hair to be owners. Hair salon franchises are examples of “Executive Franchises.” The role of the owner is to be a business owner. This includes executing the business plan and the marketing plan, hiring the team members (hair stylists), and managing the business by the numbers.
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Some franchise business models are flexible when it comes to the role of the owner. Some owners will have skills and abilities that fall more to the operational and financial side of the business. Some owners may have talents in the sales and marketing side of the business.
In this case, the owner works in the role that allows performance at his or her “best and highest use.” The owner then HIRES the other skill set. This could be a General Manager (GM) to manage the operational side of the business. It could be a Sales Manager who handles going out and getting the business.
For some franchises, the owner may HIRE BOTH a GM and Sales Team Leader from Day One. The franchise business model will be clear about this.
? Key Takeaway #1:
Understand how franchisees GET CUSTOMERS. Know what role the franchisor has (primarily a national marketing function), and know what role the franchisee has (primarily a local sales function).
? Key Takeaway #2:
Understand in what role the franchise BUSINESS MODEL places the owner. Is the role clearly defined as owner/operator, management, sales, or can it be flexible?
The owner may work “in” the business in a customer-facing sales and/or operational role.
Or, the owner may work “on '' the business in a management role and HIRE A SALES Manager and/or a GM. B2B franchises cater to business owners or decision-makers in commercial enterprises. The role of the owner is typically to network extensively in the business community to build and nurture relationships. These relationships are what drive sales.
B2C franchises employ a lot of traditional marketing techniques like home shows, mailers, wrapped vehicles, and call centers as well as leveraging online and social media platforms. The owner may be in a customer-facing role providing estimates (sales) or hire people to consult with or sell to customers.
Retail franchises - brick-and-mortar franchises that operate out of a physical location drive sales in multiple ways. One of the most important is location. Site selection, lease negotiation, and buildout are where many franchises shine. Franchisors realize franchisees aren’t experts in these areas. This is where franchisors can be a huge help.
? Key Takeaway #3:
Be sure to select a franchise that matches your skill set and desired role in your business.
? If you want to be in an operational management role, pick a franchise that has you doing this the majority of the time.
? If you want to manage managers, pick a franchise that provides for this.
? If you want to be a hands-on owner/operator doing it “all,” you have plenty of options from which to choose.
? If you want to be in a sales, networking, or customer-facing role, pick a franchise that has the owner performing these duties.
BOTTOM LINE:
It’s all about the business model of the franchise.
As a franchise advisor, I build people’s ideal business models and then match those models to franchises that are a fit. If this is of interest to you, below are several options for you to learn more or to engage with me directly.
It’s been my pleasure providing insight into how franchisees get customers .