Understanding Franchise Sales Tools

Growth is the name of the game in franchising, and often the key to that development is understanding the sales tools at your fingertips. New franchisees should take the time to acquaint themselves with the options available through their corporate program, but exploring what lies beyond these basics is just as important to maximizing their sales.

Here are a few key tools all franchisees should research if they’re looking to get a leg up on the competition and ultimately drive sales growth.

Marketing & Paid Advertising

Tom DuFore, CEO of franchise consultancy Big Sky Franchise, recently told 1851 that paid digital advertising like PPC ads & content marketing (including third-party sponsored content, strategic blogging, or certain social posting) provide unique and valuable insights on potential customers.

“Whether it’s a blog article or some other kind of a post or landing page, if the content was developed with a specific title or heading that is the same as, or close to, what a user actually searches for. Rather than paid ads with more generic search terms, you boost the chance of connecting,” said DuFore. “People are leery of getting sucked into some kind of marketing funnel,” DuFore continued, underscoring the need for savvy FD professionals to privilege the art of the soft sell.

Social media in itself can be useful on a local level, and depending on what you’re willing to invest, it should not cost much. Franchisees looking to reach community members should consider building out their Instagram and Facebook accounts, and engage with other local businesses to share and support each other’s success. 

Franchise Brokers

Franchise brokers can be useful guides for those who are new to or curious about franchise. With so many folks looking to take ownership over their income through business ownership in the COVID-19 era, brokers have been particularly busy. Ben Terril, FranNet office owner and broker recently told 1851 about how he’s been engaging with his clients and promoting their best interest during COVID-19.

“95% of the time, I’m in business development,” said Terril. “The reality is that we don’t know where we are still, but what I’m doing now is talking to my clients. They need and want to hear different things based on where they are in their journey.”

Brokers are most useful to entrepreneurs in the discovery stage of buying into a franchise, but brands can use them to weed out potential franchisees that may not be as serious or just aren’t the right fit. No matter the scenario, brokers are a worthwhile investment for a brand’s sales growth and development.

Virtual Expos

Though COVID-19 has all but eliminated in-person conventions for the foreseeable future, virtual expos are still an opportunity to grow your franchise. Expos connect franchisees with the best resources for development and encourage the sharing of best practices among franchise owners. Now with a push for virtual, a broader audience can be reached and more franchisees have the opportunity to join when they otherwise might not have traveled.

Sheila Fischer, Vice President of MFV Expositions, says “Realizing our clients are going to find it extremely challenging to keep their pipelines full during this unprecedented time, we devised a solution to help in generation of quality leads.”

As all businesses are finding ways to adjust and move to digital, expos can still be a resource to franchisees and brands that are looking to learn something new about sales growth.