Franchise Lead Generation: How to Find Your Ideal Franchisee Candidates

Whether you’re a franchisor or part of a corporate team, you will want to increase the number of your brand’s franchise locations. However, it’s not just about the numbers; you’ll need to generate leads for high quality candidates who will represent your brand honorably and contribute to your brand’s success. 

But how exactly do you ensure that you are generating leads for these kinds of candidates? Recently, 1851 Franchise spoke with Casey Cooley, President of Pivotal Growth Partners and Director of Franchise Development and Real Estate with Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, to gleen his insights on this topic. 

With Pivotal Growth Partners, Cooley helps amplify the visibility of emerging concepts, and with Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, the 140-unit dessert concept, he seeks out partnerships with potential franchisees who would be a good fit for the brand. His expertise in franchise lead generation comes from years of experience and success.

Telling A Clear Brand Story

Franchisees are first and foremost interested in the identity of the brand that they will potentially be tying their name to: who is this brand, what do they do and why do they do it? This includes the values, the culture and the brand’s story.

According to Cooley, the most important thing you can do when telling your brand story is to ensure “that you're being transparent and authentic with who you are, in terms of the company and the brand.”

He explained that this will help you attract and acquire franchisees who share your values and stand behind the same things you do. If you are honest with the way you want things done, then in theory, only those who wish to operate in that way will apply.

“From a marketing perspective, this is incredibly important too, as you want your story out there in hopes that others resonate with it and believe in it,” he said. “Then you can see who will raise their hand and want to be a part of that.”

Once you have established your story, you need to make sure that story is heard by the right people. 

Diversifying Marketing Strategies

Making sure your message is put in front of the best possible candidates is half the battle. By diversifying your marketing strategies, you’ll be able to reach a wider array of people. Cooley suggests utilizing brand ambassadors to advocate for your brand. 

“Something that is somewhat contagious is being like ‘I love this brand. Let me tell my friends and family about it,’” he said.

Cooley refers to this as a “soft referral,” claiming it’s an effective method because people trust the opinions of their loved ones. A referral program encourages satisfied franchisees to reach out to their friends and families and invite them to share a similar success. This, in turn, increases the visibility and viability of the brand and all of the franchisees involved.

However, Cooley’s biggest tip for marketing to generate franchisee leads is simply this: don’t overlook your customers.

“In our experience, 80 to 90% of franchisees are customers first,” explained Cooley. “Whether the message is on the menu scrolling board or tacked up on the wall or the window or tied into the loyalty app, there are different ways that you can spread your message.”

Returning customers are obviously loyal to your brand already. If they’re seeking a business opportunity, what better concept than one they already know and love?

Using Technology Versus Making a Human Connection

Technology has streamlined so many processes in business ownership and made them more efficient. It would be foolish to not take advantage of some of these advances. However, when seeking out prospective franchisees, you’re dealing with people you may well  be in business with for decades. You should probably make the effort to get to know them personally.

Ideally, a combination of technology and human connection is the best way to generate and connect with leads, but finding the right balance can be tricky. Cooley suggests using technology to make the initial stages more efficient, but swiftly moving on to a more human approach once serious interest on both ends is established.

“We are actively using AI right now to help form an initial pipeline in regards to helping schedule initial calls and automatically reply to interested candidates, but I think at some point this is a very personal business,” explained Cooley.

Cooley understands that the decision to become a franchisee massively affects an individual’s livelihood, which makes the relationship between franchisee and franchisor quite personal. 

“They put their livelihood into a concept,” he said. “At some point you do have to transition into a very personal relationship and start building that. It is setting the foundation from the franchise or franchise relationship for the next 10, 20 or 30 years.”

The Biggest Secret to Effective Lead Generation

For Cooley, the biggest secret to selecting a franchisee candidate is making sure the opportunity is the right fit for the franchisee and the franchisor. Forcing this relationship is never a good idea. Unfortunately, with the ever present temptation to grow a brand as quickly as possible, franchisees are often selected haphazardly, or given multi-unit deals for which they’re ill-prepared. As a franchisor, you want to set your franchisees up for success, and Cooley believes this is something everyone in the franchise world needs to keep in mind during the lead generation process.

“I think that's something that, as an industry, we can all do better at, and I think it's a responsible thing to do,” he said. 

For more information, check out these related articles:

• Coffee and Analytics: How to Adjust Your Franchise Lead Generation Process for the Rest of the Year
• 1851 Growth Club: Full Franchise Sales Lead-To-Close
• Franchise Lead Generation 101: What Franchisors are Doing Right Now