Franchisors want more ready-to-buy franchise leads.
It's the "prime directive" and goal of franchise sales departments across franchising to generate ready-to-buy leads.
Problem is this goal too often misses the mark and the lead sources generate unqualified leads that are rejected because they are not ready-to-buy ever or the buyer needs time to get educated and become informed about franchising.
The way franchise sellers address this today is by sending these not ready-to-buy leads emails which are pretty much different versions of the same tired message:
Buy My Franchise, now.
Sign up to any franchisor's lead gen program on a web portal and see what I mean.
It is begging and looks desperate.
These potential buyers need more than the same pitch regurgitated over and over again.
Not to mention that it chews up a lot of sales team time even with automated email campaigns franchise sellers are still trying to get these people on the telephone.
Franchising is a complex sale.
It's recruitment selling. Savvy franchise sellers know they are competing for the best talent and capital. And the not ready-to-buyer's qualifications are a mystery since they are not interested enough to talk with you and reveal their confidential information.
So what does a franchise seller do about these not ready-to-buy leads?
You nurture them by sending them information about franchising in general that you know they need & ask them to do something. Content marketing.
Here's why this will work -
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Content marketing is a perfect fit for complex franchise selling. It helps not ready-to-buy leads to establish a franchising frame of reference.
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Qualified not ready-to-buy leads are still trying to figure out how a franchise solution solves their problem & your content helps them see themselves as an owner.
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By providing important & educational franchise content to the leads in your nurturing program you educate them and get to influence the franchise narrative.
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As you educate these leads over time they begin see how your franchise fits in their life and business portfolio. They qualify themselves.
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Nurturing builds the trust the prospect needs in order for you to get the all important exclusive conversation at the top of your franchise sales funnel.
Remember the people you can't get on the phone with, won't fill out your application, ignore all your messaging are not bad leads there just not ready.
You can and should nurture them.
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I like your points, Joe. Nurturing and educating takes time, but pays off. I was very fortunate early in my career to work with the late Don Dwyer, founder of The Dwyer Group. Lots of others before me tried to work with him but could not, and for some reason he and I clicked. And he clearly understood the importance of nurturing franchise prospects. Don's sales guys -- even to this day -- may work with a lead for months, even longer, until they get the sale. The advantage Dwyer has today is that they've been generating leads since 1980 so their annual lead flow is high and they don't mind nurturing those leads. Their sales campaigns include some very simple processes that other franchisors would consider to be too simple, or too time consuming -- and yet, they work for Dwyer. They work so well that one day Don asked me to find a way to get the leads that other franchisors had rejected -- he wanted to buy them. I told him, "But Don, these leads have already been worked and they didn't buy a franchise. Why would you want them?" He laughed and said, "Because most franchisors don't know how to sell franchises." I did find a way to get rejected leads to Don and every time he sold one of them he would call to tell me so. . . . There are other franchisors who also know the value of nurturing leads -- many of them today, in fact. They, too, are always looking for the "ready to buy today" candidate, but they know these are few and far between. Selling franchises is a science that takes a great deal of smarts.
Many franchise sales people only know one way to sell.
And it's buy now ready or not.