Everyone’s Problems are the Same – That’s the Opportunity

While sitting at a franchise mastermind, attending franchise brands went around the room and took a turn at explaining what their development challenges were. As each took their turn, similarities started bubbling to the top.

The start-up brand wants more leads. The emerging brand wants more leads. The established brand wants more leads.

The start-up brand needs more deals. More deals will mean more growth. More growth will equal more leads (they think).

The emerging brand needs more deals. They understand that their marketplace has been limited, since many territories have been bought.

The established brand absolutely needs more deals; even though they have more than 1,000 locations, the leadership requires more.

The conclusion: Even when you think you have accomplished what you want in franchising, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Even when that brand sells, the next owner wants more and more growth.

There must be a simple answer to lead generation, right?

There isn’t. Every brand struggles at it and every brand simplifies its perception of the sales process. Every brand thinks getting leads are as easy as executing a franchise lead generation strategy – but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Brands of all sizes don’t look at the entire sales structure when evaluating what’s working and what’s not. All brands need more than leads to award franchises. Check out some of the takeaways from franchise mastermind:

Great validation: It doesn’t matter if you have one location or 1,000 – validation is critical to making any marketing efforts work.

The ability to solve an issue: Lifestyle, more money, freedom. Every brand needs to have a positioning to deliver to would-be buyers.

A great website: Prospects are going to take their time when deciding whether to buy your brand. Give them a funnel where they can collect the basics and encourage them to search the web. Also, be positioned to intercept anyone who is looking at your category. Make sure you are invited to the dinner table.

A positioning about “Why you?” and “Why now?”: Would you buy your brand right now? Why or why not? Play that up – and play it up with other people validating the message. Video interviews (not simply testimonials) will help solve this.

Showcase a day in the life: Put the prospect in the shoes of your franchisee. Help provide them with a glimpse of what it looks like. Take a look at the video in this column.

Lead generation is not leads – it’s the whole lead and sales process. One gap can throw off all of the desired success. Don’t just look at the inbound part of your funnel – evaluate the entire thing.