April 2016 Archives

Every spring, CAFA has a Lunch and Learn for the most important developments in franchise sales.

This year, we have stellar group of experienced sales professionals to lead our panel discussion.

1. What's New in franchise Sales?

How has Social Selling affected franchise sales?

Do you know the 3 different ways you can recruit new franchise operators on LinkedIn? Which is most effective? Which is most risky?

Why advertising on Facebook may be a waste of your brand's time and money. And why your new website redesign may fail.

Why LinkedIn company pages are the way to recruit, and what you have to do to be successful. How you can help your franchise brokers to expand your brand's reach in LinkedIn.

2. What hasn't changed in franchise sales?

The "series of mental operations" your franchise prospects must complete remains unchanged.

Your brand requires a written, formal and defined franchise sales process with:

1. A way to qualify candidates.

2. A way to move qualified candidates through your process.

Why experienced professionals are needed. How to use a CRM or automated sales process to complement your professionals.

3. What have people forgotten about Franchise Sales?

Many franchisors have forgotten the art of prospecting. Everyone new to franchising wants leads, without doing the work to prospect.

Joe Caruso, " I got my franchising start over 20 years ago with Hardee's and Carl's Jr, during a restructuing.

I had to change everything we did and rebuild our franchise sales process.

So I re-designed the entire process - which is still in use today."

Dr. Michael (Mick) Riddiough, "Having worked within the franchise industry for 30 years, I have extensive knowledge of the essential tools needed to succeed in today's market. "

"Recently, by utilizing new media, digital marketing and a wide range of classic sales methods and development models ... we were able to help a franchisor grow from 9 units to 92".

Sidney Lee, For 11 years I "manged largest and most strategic licensed account relationship in the Starbucks Coffee Company LS portfolio."

Now, my company Choice Advisors, "helps entrepreneurs succeed in either buying a franchise or transitioning an existing business from an "operator model"​ to a "franchise growth model".

Warren Lee Lewis Moderator, is the author, The Franchise Seller's Handbook, 2010.

And recently awarded, The Best Lawyers in America 2009-2016, Listed in Washington, D.C. for Franchise Law

Time: Tuesday, May 24th from 11:45 - 2pm

Tower Club, Tysons Corner, Northern Virginia.

For our newer members, please review the Tower Club's Dress Code.

Registration 11:45 - 12:15 - Lunch 12:15 - 12:45 - RoundTable 12:45-2:00

Click Here to Pay and Register

There is a new game in FranchiseTown; the recently created The Franchise Consulting Group. It's founder, Nick Neonakis, is the author of The Franchise MBA™ - Mastering the Four Essential Steps to Owning a Franchise), Amazon's highest rated book on the topic of franchising and is one of the most respected members of the franchise community.

The Franchise Consulting Company™ will be dedicated to finding the perfect franchisee partners for franchisors who represent a variety of industries. As an already recognized top franchise consultant, Nick has dedicated his career to the education and empowerment of prospective franchise buyers and plans to build The Franchise Consulting Group using this pragmatic education on a vast scale by uniting quality franchise companies and those interested in owning them.

Said Neonakis, "Franchising is a business model that ideally would match the perfect franchisee candidate to the best fit possible in a franchisor. This way everyone succeeds. Franchisors grow their brands with quality franchisees who in turn are happy about the huge change they've made in their lives. Often the candidates are ending their careers to go into business for themselves and start a whole new life. This can be a thrilling but anxious time for them. I have seen many matches, good ones and not so good between entrepreneurs and franchisee candidates," continued Neonakis. The goal of The Franchise Consulting Company will be to make sure the match is the right match between franchisor and franchisee. This is not always the case at the current time."

The Franchising Consulting Company will be comprised of senior level franchise executives who have a motivation to educate prospective franchise owners about franchising, and proceed to introduce them to the franchisor who is the best fit for them. The service is free of charge to the potential candidate.

"From helping people with their business planning, franchise selection, competitive analysis and real world investigations, to helping them learn about the rich resources the International Franchise Association (IFA) offers in terms of legal and financial guidance - we want to open the doors to a great new life in franchising to anyone who is interested."

This orientation towards education and empowerment of franchise owners is shared across many levels of the franchise community.

Rocco Fiorentino; the co-chair of the IFA's Membership Committee, past chairman of the National Multi-Unit Franchise Conference, multi-unit franchise owner and President of Benetrends, a premier franchise finance group founded in 1983 states," Nick is considered an industry leader by his peers, and we look forward to working with him in his new endeavor."

Dave Schaefers, Chief Development Officer at Driven Brands, the parent company of Meineke, MAACO and other national automotive franchise companies echoes this assessment "as franchising grows in scale around the world, it is imperative that the partnerships we create are based not only upon cultural fit but also management capabilities. Nick's practical and educational approach has proven to be the basis for many of our most successful franchisee partners. We look forward to working closely with his organization and growing together in the future"

For further information go to www.thefranchiseconsultingcompany.com or contact Nick Neonakis at [email protected] or 800-321-6072.

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More about Nick Neonakis

Nick Neonakis has been a fixture in the franchise community for many years on both the franchisor and consulting side.

Mr. Neonakis' academic credentials include a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A) in Finance, Marketing and Strategy from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Trinity College in Hartford, CT and a degree from the Albert Ludwigs Universitat in Freiburg, Germany. In addition, he has taken numerous post-graduate courses in business, strategy and management. He speaks English and Greek and is comfortable in Spanish, French and German. He guest lectures on the topic of franchising at the Weatherhead School of Management and Miami Dade College and has been interviewed in many publications.

Today, Mr. Neonakis uses his 20 years of experience in franchising, finance and business to help people realize their dream of independent business ownership. Mr. Neonakis lives in Coral Gables, FL with his wife Stephanie and their children, Megan, Max and Alex. In his spare time, he enjoys boating, fishing, travelling and cooking.