Powills: Franchise lead generation is about numbers (kind of)

Every franchise in the world (well, almost every) desires thousands of leads pouring into their website, causing significant stress for their sales teams as they fight to call the prospect back within that essential 24-hour period. This has been the way of franchise life for nearly its entirety – and will probably be the same for a long time to come. Joe Matthews, CEO of Franchise Performance Group*, has often said this is the wrong philosophy. Why? Because it doesn’t require a thousand leads to close a deal –it requires one. One simple, qualified lead. Numbers are a part of the game though. The more people who inquire, the better chance a prospect joins the system. But, what if you could eliminate the tire kickers earlier and only work with leads that are really leads? Inquiries are often put into the lead category too quickly. The second someone gives a franchisor their name, number and “financial requirements,” they are lifted into lead category. Not so fast. How many of those leads won’t return your calls? Are they really leads? In the most simplistic way, you can relate sales to relationships. If you go to the bar and talk to someone of interest and that person gives you a wrong number, are they a lead? Doubtful. They are clearly not interested and just gave you the number to get you to stop bothering them and asking if you could buy them another drink. Leads are only leads if there is a mutual interest in each other. Period. On the reverse, franchise prospects should be conscience of this. If you give someone your phone number, don’t lead them on. You have to understand that the person on the other side of your inquiry relies on you to pay their bills and feed their families. And the business behind them relies on you to partner with them and to help them become a legendary brand. Everything in life – everything – is about quality, not quantity. Yet we, as sales people, have been training and pushed on something else. We are pushed to chase unicorns. If you are selling cars, sure, you need numbers. If you are selling jeans, shoes, burgers, chicken sandwiches – it’s about numbers. And sure, every lead requires a different number of impressions before they are interested in buying your brand, but impressions is what you should be after – and first ones, to begin. Many brands want those thousands of leads without tooling their website properly. That’s like having a six-pack but wearing a fat suit to the bar. No one will be interested in you (unless, of course, they have been over served). The sales process should be simple – solidify your foundation, plan your momentum and measure your data. If you follow the keep-it-simple-stupid mentality, you will be successful at franchise development. And, you won’t need 1,000 leads to get one through the finish line. You will need one – one good, mutually interested and qualified individual. I get it, though. It’s not that simple. You still have to create awareness of your product, your territory availability, your financial potential and the strength of your leadership. And where you create that awareness is challenging. Do you use the portals? Do you use franchise publications? Do you use industry publications? Do you use business journals? Do you use franchise PR? Do you use franchise marketing? Franchise advertising? Social media? The “where” is complex. To find your single lead you must target effectively. Target in the exact markets you want to grow in – do it thoughtfully and constructively. Measure, measure and measure (to measure, make sure your communication efforts are trackable). Find that one inch of difference, and snag the one lead that will potentially help you grow. Then, it’s all about coaching. If you stop focusing on selling a car and start focusing on coaching someone through a life decision, perhaps your sales approach will evolve into people coaching. When you life coach, you converse. When you converse, it’s not sales. Franchise sales is now franchise development or franchise recruitment. Great. But make sure you are following that process. Don’t sell for fees –coach to change lives. Leads are great. Lots of them are wonderful. If they are not interested – that’s called a waste of time. If just one, one simple lead, is mutually interested – that is all you need to have great sales moment. Slow and steady always wins the race.