Optimizing Your Franchise Convention to drive Maximum Attendance

You picked a franchise conference location. Chose the perfect date for your franchisees. Created a hashtag for everyone to use while they’re there. Now what? Now, you have to ensure that your franchisees will attend your brand’s franchise conference.

Annual conferences are a great way to get your franchise system together to go over the year’s success and provide franchisees with learning moments to take back and make their business thrive. The only thing is, they have to attend to reap the benefits.

Here are five ways to optimize your franchise conference to drive maximum attendance.

Put It In Writing

There is a trend in the industry that is putting a requirement in the Franchise Disclosure Document that franchisees must attend the conference or pay a fee for missing.

According to Steve Beagelman of SMB Franchise Advisors*, that is because franchisors want to make sure franchisees are taking advantage of the opportunity.

“Franchisors are realizing franchisees are missing an opportunity to learn from each other, the company and motivational speakers,” said Beagelman. “Typically franchisees leave the conference very pumped up and you may see a jump in sales a month after the conference because they are charged up. If they don’t attend they don’t get jazzed up and they don’t learn.”

Content is King

“We want great content,” said Donnie Carr, director of store performance and director of events at Christian Brother’s Automotive. “We want our franchisees to walk away with things they can implement and they can reap rewards and find success from their time at the convention.”

That’s the purpose of gathering a franchise system together. To provide a look at the company, find out what’s new and learn news ways to better their business. Providing franchisees with valuable information not only makes the trip to conference meaningful but also gives them the beneficial takeaways to bring back to their business.

“When the home office is sharing things they want you to do, it’s a good time for everyone to get on the same page and find out why is it important to us and our families and the brand as a whole,” said Carr.

In addition to connecting with the brand, conferences also provide franchisees an opportunity to meet with and learn from vendors. This provides more insight into the inner working of the brand and can make the vendor and franchisee connection even more valuable.

“For our vendors, it’s about building a more personal relationship with our team,” said Angela Zerda Paules, vice president of marketing for Mosquito Joe*. “So, they can show them how they sell their service if it’s not a mandated vendor.”

Create Meaningful Connections

While franchisees attend conferences to learn and find out what’s happening with the company, these large-scale meetings are also a great opportunity to connect with others in the franchise system. That’s why it’s important to facilitate those relationships.

“The whole point is to get great attendance and to get people to come and learn from each other,” said Beagelman.

Mosquito Joe knows just how important it is to bring franchisees, vendors, and the corporate team together. That’s why at their conference they build in social time for networking and connecting with others in the franchise system.

“For our franchisees one of the most beneficial thing from attending a convention is the time they spend together,” said Paules. “Networking with other franchisees helps them have people to go to get ideas. At the corporate office, we try to share as much as we can system wide. Having the same business and challenges throughout the year, they can connect. That’s why we build in social time like socials, happy hours and unique social events.”

The Right Time And Place

When trying to optimize a franchise conference for maximum attendance, it’s important to choose a place and time that’s conducive to your franchisees.

For Mosquito Joe, timing is everything.

“We are conscious in choosing a good time of year for our franchisees,” said Paules. “That’s why we have our conference around January or February because less of our franchisees are servicing customers that time of year. We couldn’t expect them to come in June when they are slammed with their business.”

Since Mosquito Joe plans their conventions during the cooler months for most of the country, they try to plan their convention in warmer climates as many of their franchisees also use this time for vacation. According to Paules they choose locations that their franchisees want to attend. That’s why the Mosquito Joe conference took their franchisees and vendors to Clearwater, Florida this year and have them planning on going to Cancun next year.

Christian Brothers Automotive also plans their conference in different locations every year.

“We book about three years in advance,” said Carr. “We have the convention at the end of April and we go to places that are warmer.”

Next year, Christian Brothers Automotive is planning their conference in San Diego. Since the company plans home office sponsored events on Fridays the warmer climate is perfect for enjoying the out-of-doors.

While many companies use the draw of a fun, far-off location as a reason to bring franchisees together, it isn’t the best option for every franchise brand.

That’s why Beagelman suggests that franchisors pay attention to the needs of their franchisees. He says a franchise brand should make it convenient and based where the bulk of your stores are, so people won’t have to spend too much to attend.

“Everyone wants to have a conference in a really cool place, like the Caribbean and Las Vegas,” said Beagelman. “If you’re a regional brand it makes sense to have it in the region you’re based. You want people to attend and learn, not to party.

As a bonus, keeping it local will typically allow for the franchisor to have the whole staff attend.

Go The Extra Mile

What makes franchisees want to return year after year is by offering an exceptional experience. That’s why many franchisors are putting in the extra effort to make their franchisees have an incredible experience.

At Christian Brothers Automotive, Carr and his team go the step and make sure their franchisees feel pampered and have a personalized experience when they attend the conference. That’s why his team puts together a fantastic gift bag, with personalized and hand-written thank you notes tailored to each and every attendee.

It’s that same personalization and attention to detail that fosters attendance at the Christian Brothers Automotive conference.

“Any franchisees that potentially say ‘no’ at first, we will then reach out with a phone call and follow up with them,” said Carr.

Mosquito Joe also knows a thing or two about putting the extra effort into getting franchisees to attend their conference. From the first steps in the franchisees process up to the conference, the brand makes sure to keep it on the top of mind.

In addition, attendees at the conference we’re treated to a surprise—and found out where the next year’s conference would be held.

“On the last day of the convention, we announced the next convention would be in Cancun next year,” said Paules. “We made ‘Cancun 2017’ beach balls into the audience when we made the announcement. It was a great way to get people excited.”