How To Generate Franchisee Leads | Franchisee Recruitment

Red Boswell talks with us 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 ? Generating Franchisee Leads
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
Print
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

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