The Secret to Winning at Franchise Sales

The truth is, the secret to winning at franchise sales is not that secret, despite plenty of franchise suppliers suggesting it is. In fact, the magical silver bullet does exist, but many don’t know how to make it a reality.

Franchisees Are the Key

The secret to winning at franchise sales starts and ends with franchisees. Answer the following questions:

• How many of your franchisees would say they are profitable?
• Are those profitable franchisees front and center in your PR and marketing?
• Are you marketing in concentric circles around your most profitable units?
• What messages are your using to convey the happiness — both personally and financially of those franchise owners?
• How many of your franchisees have added more locations to their agreement in the last 12 months?
• How many franchisees could add units in the next 12 months?
• What would put them over the edge? Meaning, what would it take to get a few more existing franchisees into your growth pipeline?

As you evaluate your answers to the above questions, try to identify your own gaps. What questions would become present in the discovery/due diligence of a prospective buyer? Do you have content to counter those claims?

The Importance of Why You/Why Now

Now, let’s work through your positioning:

• In one sentence, how are you different from the competition?
• In one sentence, why would anyone buy your brand?
• In one sentence, why would anyone buy your brand now?

Spreading the Word

Now, let’s look at your development website. Are these messages present?

Many times, in business development, the silver bullets are found in the blocking and tackling. And, with different answers for each of the above questions, the equation becomes different — meaning, your pathway to winning at franchise sales might be vastly different from your competition simply by answering the above questions differently — even if your sales, product and costs are quite similar.

Starting with a simple exercise of discovery on the above may help you think slightly differently in how you approach the messaging and delivery of your franchise opportunity.