Episode #36 - Branding Your Franchise
The Franchise Manual Podcast
My Podner in this episode is Jordis Small and she’s going to talk with us today about branding. Branding is a word that is used in many contexts and sometimes misused and misunderstood. Jordis promises to clear all of that up for us today. This will be a fun ride Note: Ms. Jordis is recovering from a nasty cold and she lost her voice. The voice is scratchy but the content is GOLDEN. Time Stamps Jordis Small Intro 00:00:32 Segment 1 00:02:42 Get to know Jordis Small Segment 2 00:18:00 Topic Segment – Branding Your Franchise Segment 3 01:14:12 ...
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Episode #35 - The Challenges of Scaling to Over 50 Units
The Franchise Manual Podcast
My Podner in this episode is Tom Wells and he’s going to talk with us today about the challenges of scaling a brand over 50 units. It’s a moving target and things change, and he’s going to share some REALLY COOL stuff with us today. Time Stamps Tom Wells Intro 00:00:31 Segment 1 00:02:13 Get to know Tom Wells Segment 2 00:27:05 Topic Segment – Challenges of Scaling to Over 50 Units Segment 3 01:06:27 Quickdraw Questions Topics Discussed in this Episode Key areas franchisors miss in their first year: This ultimately comes down...
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Episode #34 - New Franchisor Pitfalls
The Franchise Manual Podcast
My Podner in this episode is Michael Peterson and he’s going to talk with us today about the mistakes that new franchisors typically make during their first year of operation. Some of these mistakes can be quite expensive, while others can lead to the death of your entire system. If you are a newly minted franchisor, or if you are about to start your journey, this is one that you won’t want to miss. Time Stamps Michael Peterson Intro 00:00:31 Segment 1 00:02:37 Get to know Michael Peterson Segment 2 00:20:39 Topic Segment – New Franchisor Pitfalls ...
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Episode #33 - The Franchise Expo
The Franchise Manual Podcast
My Podner in this episode is Tom Portesy and he’s going to talk with us today about how to maximize the return on your investment at a franchise expo, how to avoid the pitfalls, and best practices that will help you represent your brand in the best light. Time Stamps Tom Portesy Intro 00:00:27 Segment 1 00:03:41 Get to know Tom Portesy Segment 2 00:18:22 Topic Segment – The Franchise Expo Segment 3 01:03:42 Quickdraw Questions Topics Discussed in this Episode What is a franchise expo Short history of the expo How to manage...
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Episode #32 - Marketing to Prospective Franchisees
The Franchise Manual Podcast
Jackie Hoegger talks with us today about how to market to prospective franchisees. This conversation spans topics such as website design, digital marketing, even down to how you treat your existing franchisees. This is our first episode on the topic of marketing and we came out of the chute with a GREAT one.
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Episode #31 - The Franchise Operating Manual
The Franchise Manual Podcast
What franchisors should know about their franchise operating manual.
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Episode #30 - Site Selection, Real Estate, and Build-Out
The Franchise Manual Podcast
My Podner in this episode is Brendan Charles and he’s going to talk with us today about what franchisors should be teaching their franchisees about site selection, real estate negotiations, and build-out. Bad decisions in these areas can be detrimental to the success of the location.
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Episode #29 - Creating Customer Loyalty
The Franchise Manual Podcast
My Podner duo in this episode is Andy Erskine and Bob Gappa of Management 2000, and they’re going to talk with us today about the importance of customer loyalty, what drives it, and how to manage it.
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Episode #28 - Generating Franchisee Leads
The Franchise Manual Podcast
Red Boswell talks with us today about how to generate franchisee leads. This is one of the hottest topics with franchisors. This discussion will benefit both new and seasoned franchisors.
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Episode #27 - Franchising 101
The Franchise Manual Podcast
My Podner in this episode is Rob Vinson and he’s going to talk with us today about Franchising 101 – Where to start when you backed into franchising by accident, and don’t know where to go.
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My Podner in this episode is Red Boswell and he’s going to talk with us today about how to generate franchisee leads. This is one of the hottest topics with franchisors. This discussion will benefit both new and seasoned franchisors.
Red is a unique character, and I mean that in a good way. This guy has been driven to make money ever since he was a kid. Starting in grade school when he was selling NFL pencils for a profit, into hos twenties when he build up a pet services franchise system all the way up to 148 units. He’s been operating in the world of franchising practically his entire adult life. He’ll give us more details in just a few minutes.
Red now gets to fuel his business building passion as President of the International Franchise Professionals Group (IFPG), The World’s Largest and Most Respected Franchise Consultant Organization. .
| Time Stamps | |
| Red Boswell Intro | 00:00:28 |
| Segment 1 | 00:02:05 |
| Get to know Red Boswell | |
| Segment 2 | 00:29:45 |
| Topic Segment – Franchisee Lead Generation | |
| Segment 3 | 01:01:50 |
| Quickdraw Questions |
Topics Discussed in this Episode
The cost of a lead
- The average cost of a lead in 2019 is $10,000
- That number does not including commissions
- That number includes large companies that don’t need to spend anything for leads because their brand is so well knows that they don’t need to advertise to get leads
- Small companies usually pay a lot more to generate leads since their concepts usually don’t have any brand recognition
16 sources of leads
- Direct mail
- Online
- Brokers
- Referrals
- Consumer / Clients
- PR
- Industry / Conversions
- Prospecting
- Buying leads
- Live events / Expos
- Mobile / Roadside
- Upgrade / Multi-unit Operators
- Past leads
- Guerilla marketing
- TV Radio
The marketing mix is a moving target and is different for every concept. There is no silver bullet, one size fits all solution for the marketing spend mix.
Do a lot – do it for a long time – test and measure
Every option will involve one or all of these three
- Time
- Money
- Resources
The trick is to utilize the options that require the resources you have the most of.
Red’s Favorite Five
Red says that every solution must be customized to the individual concept, but if he HAD to pick his favorite five, the would be:
Brokers
- Best option for any size franchisor
- You pay to be a member then pay a commission per close
- Many broker groups won’t accept smaller start-up concepts
- Big saver of time and resources
PR
- Hire a PR firm
- Find one who is familiar with the world of franchising
- IFA members a plus
- Validate with their past clients
Industry Conversions
- Converting existing business people who are struggling
- You never know who may be disenchanted with operating their own concept and who would love to convert
- These are cold calls usually
Live Events / Expos
- Usually between $5k and $10K per event
- Use common sense and work it hard
- Energy – follow-up – is key
Online
- You could make online all five
- PPC Pay per click / Banners
- SEO of your own franchise site
- Develop a GREAT portal that grabs and tracks leads and conveys the information well. Portals tend to generate a lot of volume with lower quality, but still worth the spend
- Social media posting
- Big data targeting
- Job boards – make a job advertisement with the tag “some investment required” – describes a dream job
Bonus Source: Guerilla Marketing
- Example: flyers on every windshield at the local franchise expo
Common mistakes made by franchisors as it relates to lead sources:
- Lack of infrastructure – be able to walk away from your business for 6 months
- Don’t try to run your business and franchise it all by yourself
- Franchise Development person
- Marketing person
- Onboarding / Training person
- Field support person
- Lack of good ops manuals
- Not charging enough for the franchisee fee in order to pay for the costs associated with lead generation and other expenses
- Negotiate a broker commission too low – nobody will show your system if the commission is too low
- Seek wise counsel
Books Mentioned
- Franchise Management for Dummies
- Becoming a Strategic Business Owner
- How to Win Friends and Influence People