How Franchisors Can Support Their Sales Funnels During the COVID-19 Disruption

Franchise development teams and marketers are scrambling to understand the effects of COVID-19 on their franchisee lead generation tactics. Many teams are halting advertising and marketing altogether to preserve cash flow while some are staying the course in an effort to keep momentum. The most common message is to maintain active advertising, pull back on funds if you have to, but adjust the sales messaging to align with a more empathetic mindset. 

We talked to two franchise industry leaders about leveraging digital marketing to broaden the sales funnel during this massive shift due to COVID-19.

Charles Internicola of Internicola Law* Firm says, “The mindset of all Americans has shifted and this includes future prospective franchisees. With this mindset shift so has come the destruction of the traditional franchise lead generation funnel. The COVID-19 pandemic will forever alter the franchise and business landscape, how we conduct business, what we value in a business, relationships with customers, finances and so much more.” 

For franchisors and franchise lead generation, this shift has already altered the lead generation funnel. The lead generation funnel has, in effect, been shattered and this may not necessarily be a bad thing. The traditional flow of attracting a broad pool of leads with varying communications and nurturing sequences as they are filtered down to qualified franchise purchasers has changed.

Aside from health and safety concerns which remain paramount, this pandemic and our recovery represents an opportunity for franchise brands to engage in meaningful communications at all stages of the franchise attraction, qualification and purchasing process. Smart and good franchisors will take the time to engage in more meaningful communications focused on existing franchisee validation, franchisee support during this time of crisis, and, most important, an honest conversation about who is and who is not the right fit for their franchise system.

Joe Mathews, founder and CEO of Franchise Performance Group* (FPG):

“This isn’t the first time franchising has seen an unforeseen market disruption. Expect franchisee recruitment to experience a short lull, followed by a sudden surge and complete recovery — but the surge and recovery will only happen for franchisors that take the right steps today.”

Mathews predicts there will be a period of confusion and caution for franchise buyers. Once the future appears more predictable, franchise investors who have delayed purchase decisions due to uncertainty will re-engage. 

“Meanwhile, people considering franchise opportunities often spend 90 days or more doing online research before submitting their contact information and becoming a lead,” Mathews said. “Assuming the situation normalizes in the next three to four months, today’s researchers will move forward as normal — but only for brands that capture their attention today. The combination of today’s candidates hitting pause and then re-engaging, plus today’s researchers becoming candidates, will create a surge.”

FPG advises to maintain current levels of spending if sustainable. As some franchisors panic and pull their advertising, franchisors who maintain spending will find lead generation more cost-effective due to less competition.  

Most importantly, don’t freeze marketing efforts. It takes 3–6 months to fill a franchise sales funnel from a slow-down or dead stop and then another 90–120 days or more for these leads to invest. This means it will take panicky franchisors 9–12 months to recover.

Lastly, Mathews says franchisors should create more content and a self-directed franchise investigation process. Franchise candidates are more self-directed than ever before and will go deeper into the funnel without necessarily engaging the franchise sales team. Robust content serves two ultimate purposes — it resonates with your ideal candidates and encourages them to pursue the opportunity, and it filters out some people who are unqualified or would be a poor culture fit.