The Truth About Franchise Development Series: More Leads Do Not Equal More Deals

Get me more leads, they say.

If you read part one of this series, then you know it’s not that easy. Or is it?

Why do franchise sales leaders want more leads? Well, in their mind, more leads equals more deals. This is true to some extent, but it certainly doesn’t tell the whole story.

Many franchise industry leaders fight this claim by saying that it only takes one lead to get a deal. Just one. But, you will need much more than one lead and one deal to achieve your franchise sales goals.

Let’s start with the foundational pieces of lead generation: positioning, messaging and execution.

Do you clearly know or have you clearly defined your positioning in the sales process? Why would I buy your brand? What are your points of differentiation? Hint: It’s not just your building or your AUVs.

How do you tell your story? Where do you tell it? What does your Website say about you? Would you buy your brand based on what your franchise development site says?

Where are you buying your ads? The same franchise trades that everyone buys? Portals? PPC?

In a sea of sameness, it can be hard to stand out.

So, you are yelling at everyone--your team, your vendors--to get me more leads. But the truth is, leads may not be your issue--or, it may not be as simple as pinpointing leads as the source of your pain.

This is why messaging is so important. Your message, your story and your brand biography will ultimately impact the type and strength of leads you get in today’s marketplace. If your story sucks, so will your brand. If your story is believable and emotional, then you can attract the attention of would-be buyers.

To build leads, you have to build a story. So, where do you start your story? What is the pathway? Here's the thing--brands don’t sell brands, people do, and a franchise is full of people willing to tell the story if you are invested in them telling the story. Do you know who is validating and who is bashing your brand?

The validators should be celebrated. There should be a budget that goes toward building relationships with them, especially since 84 percent of your future deals will come from customer and franchisee referrals. But, you should invest in the angry, too, because they will impact those leads before they even turn into a lead.

Let’s simplify; there are two routes you can choose. You are going to go out to eat. There are two restaurants in town. One is new and opened last month; one has been there since you moved to the town. You know about this new restaurant and are considering going to it tonight. Route one, you go on Yelp and the first few reviews say save your money. Route two, your buddy says he went last night and the food and service were horrible. Do you go to the new restaurant or go to the established one?

Duh.

This happens with your brand, my brand, everyone’s brand--whether you like it or not. Solutions around validators is a critical element to growing your business.

From a story standpoint, this is where you can separate what you can control and what you can’t. You can control your Website. You can control your content. You can control your press releases. The more story pieces you put out there to define the story, the more opportunities you will have to solve questions or concerns that come up from your prospects.

Now, back to leads.

What you want are the right leads. You want leads to help you grow in concentric circles around existing locations. You want leads who are capable of scaling their business.

Your instinct is to go to sources that promise leads, yet the promise should be in candidates. However, candidates are the silver bullet, and that as a guarantee doesn’t exist.

Franchise leaders complain that the portals suck, but they are forced to go back to the portals because they need to hit lead numbers to prove to their leadership that they are hitting the indicator before the goal. Should portals be eliminated from your sales system? No. Why? Franchise sales index reports that portals are still producing leads that turn to deals--maybe not a ton, but still a few (depending, of course, on your category and investment range).

To get more leads, you need to create more visibility of your story. This is execution. You also need to think outside the box--be where people search you; be where other franchisors are not clouding the space; and be where your ideal candidates are, in the town and in the match of demographics.

The truth is, more of the right leads equals more of the right deals. A stronger brand biography strategy can help you get the right awareness that can give you the best odds (think craps) at attracting the right prospect and lead.

This column is a part of a four-part series on franchise development. The first part of the series can be found here.