7 Keys to Becoming a Rockstar in Franchise Sales

Do you ever wonder why some people seem to have it so easy in their profession? Franchise sales careers or career and franchise development. This includes whether you are a development manager or a development representative for a large franchisor. It will also include if you are an emerging brand founder doing your own sales. And, to be honest, it also includes franchise brokers and franchise consultants. So, when I use that phrase, I mean franchise sales rep or franchise development manager. I’ve included all of the key areas where you can be successful in this space. 

Number one, they have a clear target market. The best franchise development professionals work for brands that know exactly who they want. And they don’t just have it in their heads; they’ve written it down. And they’re constantly tweaking it as markets change over time, which can change. So you should be aware of who is purchasing from you today. And you want to make those changes, but you need to know who you’re going after first. Otherwise, your marketing and lead generation will suffer. If you’re a broker consultant, you’re probably doing a lot of your own marketing, or if you’re an emerging brand, you’re probably doing a lot of it yourself, or you’ve approved an outsource vendor to do your lead generation. You must be crystal clear about who your ideal prospects are. Because that is who you want to guide through the franchise evaluation and sales process. And the best of the best are razor-sharp in identifying who those people are. And they recognize them when they see them. And we’ll move them through their process, and they’ll get rid of the candidates who aren’t their ideal fit but may have responded to their lead generation.

Another one, they have a clear franchise evaluation process. They stick to it and manage it. And what I mean is. It can’t just be in your head; it has to be written down. And it has to be something you do all the time. I get so frustrated with my clients, especially my new clients, who will be reviewing their pipelines with me. And I’ll say, “Well, okay, well, what steps are they in?” Well, with this one, I went over here and did this, deviating slightly from my usual procedure. Because while there should be no becauses. Don’t deviate from the process that works. The only way to make good money, be a professional, and be a rock star in this business is to figure out what works for you. Make a note of it and stick to it. Don’t stray from it. I can almost guarantee that if you deviate from the successful process. You’re no longer going to be successful. So the second thing is that they have a defined sales process or candidate or prospect evaluation system that they follow.

The third one is they know their numbers. This is good business, especially if you are a new brand franchisor. Who are some of our readers and clients? You? It’s a business, and you need to know your numbers, what your key performance indicators, or KPIs, are, and what you should be tracking. But I would tell you that if you’re the sales rep and your sole responsibility is to sell franchises. You should treat your career and job responsibilities as if they were separate businesses. So know your numbers, especially if you’re a broker consultant. You own a business, and you must be aware of your KPIs. Sales are now being tracked by everyone. So let’s talk about leading indicators versus lagging indicators for a moment. The lag indicator is the sale. When the sale occurs, we all know we’ve done well. But how did we get there? These are the KPIs, also known as leading indicators. So start by identifying the key conversion points in your process. That will result in a sale, and those ratios will be tracked. So is it for a franchise or an application? Do you use an application, and if so, when is it most useful? When prospects start looking at how much money something really costs, the application often brings a lot of reality to them. When they calculate their net worth, what is their true net worth? When will they begin to respond to questions about whether I want to work full-time or part-time? How many employees have I ever managed, etc.? The reality of owning a particular business that they’re considering shines through. As a result, an application is an excellent conversion rate point. You want that to be something that removes a large number of people from the process. And you have an application interview with those who fill out the application. They will be the most serious, and they will be the best candidates for your franchise. So, once again, that would be a leading indicator of how many people submitted an application that ended up going to the sale and becoming a sale. And, of course, how many raw leads come in to make a sale? All of these are important considerations. Again, leading indicators vs. lagging indicators of sales.

The fourth one I’m going to talk about today is that rockstars use various mediums of communication with their candidates, with the market, and with their messaging What do I mean? That is, they use phones and send texts. I was old school a few years ago, and I thought that was very unprofessional. I now use it all the time. They will use emails, snail mail, and video to communicate with their prospects. So, why is this important? The main reason it’s important is to avoid excessive visual auditory kinesthetic assessments and profiling of people. But the bottom line is that we all have a primary way of communicating that we enjoy and use on a regular basis. But people, you know your prospects, but when they become a lead for you to get started, you have no idea what that is. So, to begin, you must use all of them so that you can tune in with your candidates. Begin a conversation with them, get to know them better, and then you’ll know which one works best for them. People are also auditory versus kinesthetic versus visual. Again, you must work on all of their senses, particularly their primary senses and communication methods. So, once again, using various communication mediums is how rockstars become rockstars.

Another one is they know that 80% of a sale is made on emotion and only 20% of it is made on logic. And I’ll tell you that most people I speak with end up spending their time in reverse order if you will. And what I mean by that is that we get so focused on the features. Here are some of the advantages. If you are a broker, this franchise is for you. Here’s what this franchisor has to offer. Here are the specifics: And, while some people prefer more detail, the vast majority of people make decisions based on emotion. So I like to use the phrase, paint the picture, as a broker and consultant, you must paint a picture of owning a business. You must describe the changes in lifestyle and the accumulation of wealth. What good will that do for their family? Is that going to pay for the second home they’ve always wanted, the various types of vehicles they’ve always wanted, or putting their kids through college? But you must appeal to their emotions by explaining how owning a franchise and becoming a business owner through franchising will affect them personally. 

And, you know, I think we don’t do this very often because we’re afraid to confront our own emotions. And if you’re a rock star, and this is one of the keys to almost any sale, the best people in sales that I’ve ever seen, the phrase often has been said, we can make them cry. And I’m not saying you should make your prospects cry. But what this demonstrates is that you can elicit emotion from them. You can make them feel strongly about this decision. And once they become emotionally invested in being a business owner and the impact it will have on their lives and the lives of their family, you are more likely to make more sales because you were able to get them to become emotionally invested in the opportunity to own their own business through franchising.

Now another one is that all of the rock stars will have all of the decision-makers involved in this process And let me tell you something, in franchise sales. This is one that a lot of people overlook. Nonetheless, we frequently refer to it as spouse aside. But many franchisees who are considering buying a franchise say to themselves, “Yeah, I’m talking to my wife.” He or she is supportive of me. Yes, they are concerned about this and that, but I am speaking with them. After all, call, and I’ll go share with them. And the reality is that the spouse is nowhere near on board with the person quitting their job, leaving the stock up and options, turning in the company car, and spending money on something with no guarantee of a return. So you need to get all of the decision-makers involved as soon as possible. But, at the end of the day, don’t waste your time with candidates who won’t let you interact with their spouses. You can do it, but I guarantee you’ll spend weeks, weeks, and months with candidates who will never buy because their spouse never checked in. The husband was never on board. The rockstars in this business are very particular about it. They’ll talk to a guy or a girl for a few weeks, maybe even a few phone calls. But, in the long run, they are. They’re not wasting time, and they’re open with their prospects. I always put myself up front and say, “Look, I’m not going to tell you and your spouse how to make life decisions.” But I’m going to let you know that it’s critical that your spouse has a say in this and understands the implications. 

If you do this, I’ll want to make sure your spouse is engaged. I’d like to make myself available for your spouse to ask me direct questions. And, if I’m acting as a broker, I’m sure the franchisors will want to speak with your spouses as well. So it’s okay if they’re not engaged right now, and here are a couple of critical calls we’ll have that they should be on. But I won’t spend much more time with you until I know your spouse is on your side. And I’ll tell the candidates that there are two major reasons why businesses fail, one of which is specific to franchises. One example is capitalization. People start businesses without knowing how much money they will require, and they run out of funds before the business can take root. That will not happen in a franchise, but what will happen in a franchise is that someone does not have support around them in this endeavor, and without that support structure, which begins with a spouse if they are married or a significant other. Without that support structure, they have a lower chance of success, which is why you want to involve their spouse in the decision-making process.

And then the last one, the seventh one is that rock stars get to the real buyers quicker. And by that, I mean that, as I mentioned earlier with an application, they have things in their process, in their steps in that evaluation process, that they adhere to. They have things that will weed people out. They have things in place that will allow people to opt-out of the process, which is a good thing. Because you want to get rid of the unqualified candidates as soon as possible. You want to get rid of the tire kickers as soon as possible. You want to get to the real buyers because you want to give them enough time in the process because they are the ones who are going to buy. So work hard to get to the top, to the ideal candidates, to the real buyers, by having certain checkpoints that will motivate people to opt-out of this decision. Because, you know, they’re either not qualified or will never make a purchase decision.

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