Now is the time to muster up the strength to prevail forward, knowing that beyond 2023 and perhaps some of 2024, there will be a bright light. Those who aggressively charge forward toward the light will be positioned for the next great moment for franchising — great returns (in the ROI sense).

I have written a lot about backcasting — what do you wish you would have done in the last 2.5 years of COVID that you didn’t? Likely, there are a few buckets, yet I want to call out a few:

1. Didn’t push down the pedal (played not to lose versus to win).
2. Didn’t accelerate franchisee support (to drive them to expand and commit to your brand)
3. Didn’t recognize success (a big one).
4. Oftentimes, success (or beauty) is in the eye of the beholder, and far too often, in franchising, wins are misconstrued as losses. We missed the unreachable goal yet produced sales years stronger than ever before.

So, why do we pause versus press forward?

Most likely because we don’t know how to. Thus, this is why Mainland is stepping up a few things:

Data: Now, I would be lying if I said every client of Mainland is super impressed with our data reporting. The reality is they are not. Clients want to have a fully integrated dashboard that showcases spend into leads into deals (and more often than not, more so the lead data versus the finish line wins).

Here are a few things to note:

1. Franchise CRMs are difficult and oftentimes don’t have great attribution. BUT…
2. Attribution, in franchising, is very much about the last click. Buying a franchise is such a big deal. Convincing someone to invest a tremendous amount of money into something that takes a tremendous amount of risk and effort. This is not easy. Oftentimes we treat the advertising/marketing/PR as if it will magically drive the last click; it just doesn’t. Why?
3. Per all of our notes this year, 6.4 months is the average time from impression to inquiry. The candidate sees a LinkedIn Ad, goes into your Website, goes back to the Web to do research, looks at a bunch of sites, looks at your social, goes back to your Website, is hit with a retargeting ad (if good, there is an action on these), goes back to your site, reads some more, goes and look at the competition, etc. So, do you think that will be attributed to LinkedIn? Nope. But what we do know is that people in transition go onto LinkedIn.
4. I was talking with someone in franchise development who is transitioning. I asked him about his process. He got connected to a recruiter on LinkedIn who had a job open. To put into perspective, a base north of $300,000. A $300,000 transaction that started on LinkedIn. Do you think the recruiter says LinkedIn is the attribution? No way. They say networking.
5. So, you have options for data. You can go onto a more robust sales engine like HubSpot (amazing – will talk about that on Coffee & Analytics) or Salesforce, or become comfortable with the fact (and I mean fact) that franchising takes a lot of little things — marketing, digital, in-person, responsive marketing, PR, social.
6. So, back to data. How can we win? In 2022, we started tracking (for many clients who wanted us to engage at a more advanced level) traffic > leads > applications > deals. We want to build predictability in the data. It is not perfect, but when we start seeing approximately how many people we need in a market to convert them to a lead, it gives us a cost for marketing insight.
7. On that, our recommendation is to spend 75% in growth markets (concentric circles) and 25% widespread (in states you are registered) BECAUSE there are candidates who may reject a competitor and pick you instead.
8. Ads/Marketing/PR is not just about the last click — they are about creating buzz when candidates are ready to act. You want your brand in front of them when action is coming.

Now for the news.

You see all of the layoffs. I see a few things:

What is your goal? What do you want to accomplish in the next two years? Franchising is not about the sale – it is about the opening, success and franchisee expansion. Grow your royalties. Take advantage. Be smart with your spend, but be one of those brands that say you went there — and grew during the downturn.

1. Companies are trimming the fat. Not all companies, but some. They added a bench during the good times and are now consolidating to stockpile cash for investments. Some of these companies won’t lose money, just adjust their approach to the employee market. This is not good for low performers – versus COVID, where some mid-performers gained a chip on their shoulders and used that to enter franchising.
2. Layoffs are an excellent opportunity to snag those thinking about a career transition. Get front and center.
3. Don’t miss the holiday opportunity – meaning, show the joy of the franchisee who chooses their own journey during the holidays.
4. Remember, you are playing for 6 months from now (not perfect data, but an insight). Play up the time it takes to get open. Play up the savings that are coming. Double down on the Why You/Why Now content.

Figure out what winning is for July — December of 2023 (first sprint) and then the election year. You need to define a 24-month winning plan.