Franchisees Are Your Best Sales Tool. Here's How To Use Them.

It’s something of an axiom in franchise development: Happy franchisees are a franchisor’s best sales tool. Just ask any franchise broker. 

“I tell my clients who are exploring different franchise systems, they’ll get the real ‘Aha moment’ when they speak to existing franchisees,” said Corey Elias, a franchise broker with Franchise Captain. “That is when they can really envision themselves in the role of the franchisee and learn how others have been successful.”

However, Elias believes that before you can deploy your existing franchisees to help attract other investors into your brand, you have one job: “Make sure that your franchisees are successful.” Successful franchisees are happy franchisees, according to Elias 

But now that you have happy franchisees, how do you help them help you? 

Communication Is Key: What’s In It for the Franchisee?

Elias thinks it’s also important for franchisors to communicate their development strategies with existing franchisees. It makes it easier for them to understand why you’re asking them to talk to new prospects.

“Franchisors are constantly trying to help franchisees reach their goals, but this should work in reverse as well,” he said.  “Franchisees should understand the franchisor’s goals and help them to grow the system as a whole.”

Chris Conner, president of Franchise Marketing Systems, agrees. “I think sometimes the franchisee can ask themselves, ‘What the heck am I doing? I'm spending all this time talking to someone, how does that benefit me?’”

Conner said that it’s incumbent upon franchise owners to explain why their help growing the system is in the best interest of franchisees. “If we grow the brand, we increase our buying power, we have more economies of scale and we have a brand that picks up momentum. That means the franchisee’s business becomes more valuable as a result.”

Be Respectful Of a Franchisee’s Time

A franchisee by nature is a busy individual. Even if helping to grow the whole system is in their ultimate best interest, they probably have more immediate concerns when it comes to running their business. 

Conner says to be respectful of that. “The franchisor needs to manage this interaction,” he says. “I also think it's good practice to have the franchisor on that call so time is managed.” He thinks that simple solutions like scheduling calls in advance or setting calls up for specific times when the franchisee has free time can help make it a bit easier for current franchisees to participate. 

Know Your Brand Ambassadors

While franchisors cannot cherry-pick the franchisees they’d like a prospect to chat with, they can help create interaction between the potential franchisee and those in the system who are the best brand ambassadors and who are most eager to talk to new players. 

One way to do that is to set up roundtables in which multiple franchisees can talk to prospects. “We’ve done quite a bit of invite-only roundtables and had a lot of success,” said Conner. “We will get a group of franchisees together on a Zoom or conference call and introduce them to potential buyers. It helps prospects get a feeling for how the model works by seeing what current franchisees’ experience has been.” 

If the timing works out, Conner believes it’s also appealing for potential franchisees to attend annual franchise meetings or conventions. “They’re able to interact with franchisees but also see the convention and see the overall vision for the brand,” he said. 

According to Conner, another benefit of bringing multiple franchisees to talk to prospects is to make sure: “franchisees leave with a positive feeling. It's like we're sharing ideas, and we’re having really good conversations together, too.”

Elias believes that spirit is really at the heart of the entire franchise model. “A successful franchise system has franchisors and franchisees working together and celebrating each other's success,” he said. “If they are doing that, then growth will follow.”