Fran X | How To Pat More Broker’s Backs

The Next McDonald's (Big Idea)

Closing More Deals with Franchise Brokers

Brokers don’t sell franchises. Franchisors do. And, to build more deal flow from brokers, offering a commission is not enough. You need to build trust.

• Trust that your brand is the right fit for their candidate.
• Trust that you have a professional and experienced franchise development team.
• Trust that your brand is different and offers operating advantages.
• Trust that you have the long-term vision and team to help your franchisees succeed.
• Trust that you can professionally close deals.

Good franchise brokers invest significant capital, time, and efforts in attracting and qualifying franchisee candidates. They spend time educating, informing, and working with franchisee candidates and, as a franchisor, your goals must align. To create broker alignment and increase broker deal flow, we recommend these 4 steps:

STEP 1: Evaluate Your Commissions - Evaluate your broker commission structures to make sure that they are par with the commissions offered by your competition. Commissions alone won’t build your broker deal flow, but are a necessary check the box requirement that must be covered.

STEP 2: Give Lift Your Brand Story and Brand Differentiators - Brokers need to see the value in your brand. You need to develop and tell a unique, compelling, and genuine brand story that brokers can share and explore with their candidates. It’s not just about your industry, the products you sell, or the services that you provide but, also, your culture and vision. It’s about what your brand looks like today, your vision for the future, and what franchisee success looks like.

Be prepared to answer questions like:

• Why is your brand the best franchise opportunity right now?
• Why is your franchise discovery, qualification, validation, and closing process better than your competition?
• What technology and system advantages do your franchisees benefit from?
• How do you help franchisees succeed?
• What does your Item 19 and franchisee validation say about your brand?
• Why you / Why now?

STEP 3: Build a Research Hub - Transparency is key. You know the questions that brokers and their candidates will have, so why not answer them before they are even asked? Better yet, why not build out on your website, broker one-sheet, and media a research hub that provides answers to the questions that you know will come up. Even the negative ones that you should be getting out in front of and answering with honesty.

STEP 4: Engage Brokers - Joining broker organizations and attending networking events is necessary, but never enough. Build better broker engagement that goes beyond conferences. Consider things like on-site broker discovery days, broker specific franchise sales websites, website based research hubs that provide brokers with all the information and tools they will need in presenting your brand, media (video) that advances and tells your brand story, values, and long-term franchisee success mission.

As humans, we are focused not only on who and what we are today but, also, the transformation and growth that we are building toward in the future. Let brokers know what life will be like for your franchisees in the future.

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Killer Brands

Romeo’s Pizza - This growing, mid-sized brand checks all the boxes. And, sticking with our brand story theme, this brand is answering all of the important questions. With high AUV’s and strong year over year growth the Romeo’s website answers all the questions that a franchisee candidate needs to know when making an informed decision. Most important they are franchisee focused and their validation tells a compelling story.

Franchisees Kicking Ass: The Franchisee Is King

The Great Franchisee: Garrett Kubiak, Detail Garage, Detroit

The former finance professional turned his passion for cars into a new career with the fast-growing automotive franchise.

Garrett Kubiak spent more than 15 years working in the finance industry, starting as a bank teller and working his way all the way up to director of finance. But his real passion has always been for cars. Just over two years ago, Kubiak turned that passion into a career in business ownership as a franchisee with Detail Garage, the 75-unit retail franchise for car care, professional auto detailing supplies, detailing equipment, car care accessories and training.

Kubiak first discovered Detail Garage through local car-showcase events, where he would show off his ‘68 Camaro. Kubiak quickly fell in love with the brand after discovering its Chemical Guys line of retail products, which he says is far superior than anything he’d been able to find at other retailers. When he learned that Detail Garage was a franchise, Kubiak jumped at the opportunity.

Today, Kubiak is the owner of two Detail Garage locations around Los Angeles. We spoke to Kubiak to learn more about his journey to franchising and his experience with the brand.

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Yo Broker, Sell My Franchise

Top Franchise Brokers: Sue Derene, Franchise Connect Pro

Franchise broker Sue Derene helps clients achieve their dreams of business ownership.

Certified franchise consultant, advisor and Franchise Connect Pro coach Sue Derene has a passion for helping people.

Knowing franchising can provide for her clients’ financial security, lifestyle freedom and legacy building, Derene helps clients find their perfect franchise opportunity. But first, she helps them understand themselves.

“It’s important for people to look inside themselves and make sure they really understand what it means to be an entrepreneur, what lifestyle changes that means, making sure their family is on board,'' Derene said. “And then we get down to the nitty-gritty of really discovering what it is they want to do with their day and what kind of business they want. I think people need to be willing to think outside the box a little bit. Just because you love pizza doesn’t mean you’d be a great pizza franchise owner.”

With more than 2,800 franchise concepts available in the United States alone, searching for the right franchise can be a daunting task, but Derene’s expertise helps her zero in on the best opportunities for her clients.

“Finding the right fit can be life-changing,” Derene said. “When I have people I’ve worked with call me in a year and say, ‘Oh my goodness, it was the best decision I ever made; I’ve improved my life,’ that’s when I’ve really won — when I’ve positively changed someone’s life for the better.”

Watch the full interview with Derene above, or click here to watch it on YouTube.

If you are a potential franchisee looking to invest or a franchisor looking to attract new candidates, contact Franchise Connect Pro at https://franchiseconnectpro.com/

The Bottom Thoughts

You are standing at a franchise fork in the road (go with us for a moment). At this fork, you, as a franchise broker have to make a specific decision. The decision is between franchise brands, and for argument’s sake, they both occupy the same space – senior care.

Brand A has higher performing AUVs, a seasoned and tenured leadership team, and franchisees swallowing up more territory.

Brand B is slightly behind A in all of those categories.

Brand A’s franchise fee is $50,000 – used to be $30,000, but jumped it up to $50,000 to pay the broker community more money.

Brand B’s is also $50,000 – same story.

Brand A’s broker package is $20,000 of the franchise fee. The leadership has always believed that using the $30,000 to properly onboard the zee is essential to their success.

Brand B’s broker package is $50,000, and, they incentivize you with another $10,000 every time you help them find 5 more franchisees.

Which brand do you push? The one that is a sounder business or the one that gives you more money? It’s a tough decision for sure – however, in the art of this discussion – it’s not about that choice – it’s all about making that choice difficult. That’s your job, Mr./Ms. Franchisor. How can you make your brand more top of mind when a franchise broker is faced with a decision of two brands – one being better for their candidates?

Money.

Percentage of royalty in some cases.

Bonuses for sales milestones.

Bonuses for franchisee performance.

Wines, dines, and other fancy things.

Unfortunately or fortunately, there is some gamesmanship to the sales process with brokers. How are you winning? How are you incentivizing? It’s something you have to think about in structuring your deal modeling.