1851 Magazine and FranConnect Team Up on 2017 Franchise Sales Trends Report

To help break down the barriers to franchise ownership and create more transparency in the industry, FranConnect and 1851 Magazine have teamed up to present the 1851 Franchise Sales Trends Report.

Over the past few months, FranConnect aggregated all of its 2016 data from the largest franchise CRM system—which was culminated from nearly 500 franchise brands--in preparation for a comprehensive look at franchise sales. The 1851 Franchise Sales Trends Report, which is powered by FranConnect’s Franchise Sales Index, was born out of a conversation between Keith Gerson, the President and Chief Customer Advocate of FranConnect, and Sean Fitzgerald, the Chief Development Strategist at No Limit Agency*. Armed with decades of experience in franchise development, Fitzgerald expressed his interest in seeing aggregated data from FranConnect’s robust database. Doing so would give them an opportunity to look at statistics from hundreds of brands, yielding a true indicator of franchise metrics based on actual results versus self-reporting.

“After we discussed this idea further, I began to undertake the compilation of literally millions of data points based on areas initially identified by Sean of being of particular interest and importance. This information continued to evolve far beyond just the basic franchise development statistics—where it could be segmented out and extended into all aspects of franchise company performance,” Gerson. “While most reports utilize information compiled from surveys, the 1851 Franchise Sales Trends Report was put together from real data pulled from some of the biggest brands in the franchising. We’re excited about the specific insight the FranConnect Franchise Sales Index brings to light and our ability to help interpret its significance.”

A highlight of some of the initial data reveals that in 2016, franchisors utilizing the FranConnect system reported signing 5,892 new franchisees. They also generated 491,383 leads, resulting in 5,892 buyers—a 1.01 percent lead-to-close ratio. This means, that out of every 100 people inquiring into investing in a franchise, approximately one moves forward. The report also discovered the top sales deal sources. Franchise development websites resulted in 43 percent of sales; portals accounted for 26 percent; and referrals were 20 percent.

Click on image above for the full 1851 Franchise Sales Trends Report...

FranConnect is the most comprehensive franchise management software on the market. The company’s robust software suite makes franchise management much easier. From sales to marketing to financial analysis, FranConnect helps manage business operations so franchisees can focus on what they do best—growing their businesses.

As part of the study, a total of 487 franchise brands use FranConnect’s Franchise Sales Management Module as their CRM to effectively manage their sales process and to track their franchise sales results. By tapping into the power of technology and the efficiencies that software solutions offer, more and more franchisors can now make their expansion goals a reality.

“If there is anything that I’d like to see come out of the analytics and insights that will come from our efforts, is to break the 1% closing effectiveness cycle by that franchisors believe to be the gospel by focusing on the leading key performance indicators that will ultimately improve the sheer number of franchise net growth," Gerson said.   

This 1851 Franchise Sales Trends Report is just a sampling of a more comprehensive report that has been  compiled from FranConnect. In the months ahead, 1851 Magazine and FranConnect will continue to dive deeper into their findings to shed light on the latest trends and numbers in franchising.

To view the full 1851 Franchise Sales Trends Report, click here.