Generating Franchisee Leads The Franchise Manual Podcast

 
My Podner in this episode is Red Boswell and he’s going to talk with us today about how to generate franchisee leads. This is one of the hottest topics with franchisors. This discussion will benefit both new and seasoned franchisors.
Red is a unique character, and I mean that in a good way. This guy has been driven to make money ever since he was a kid. Starting in grade school when he was selling NFL pencils for a profit, into hos twenties when he build up a pet services franchise system  all the way up to 148 units. He’s been operating in the world of franchising practically his entire adult life. He’ll give us more details in just a few minutes.
Red now gets to fuel his business building passion as President of the International Franchise Professionals Group (IFPG), The World’s Largest and Most Respected Franchise Consultant Organization. .
Time Stamps
Red Boswell Intro
00:00:28
Segment 1
00:02:05
Get to know Red Boswell
Segment 2
00:29:45
Topic Segment – Franchisee Lead Generation
Segment 3
01:01:50
Quickdraw Questions
 
Topics Discussed in this Episode
The cost of a lead
The average cost of a lead in 2019 is $10,000 That number does not including commissions That number includes large companies that don’t need to spend anything for leads because their brand is so well knows that they don’t need to advertise to get leads Small companies usually pay a lot more to generate leads since their concepts usually don’t have any brand recognition  
16 sources of leads
Direct mail Print Online Brokers Referrals Consumer / Clients PR Industry / Conversions Prospecting Buying leads Live events / Expos Mobile / Roadside Upgrade / Multi-unit Operators Past leads Guerilla marketing TV Radio  The marketing mix is a moving target and is different for every concept. There is no silver bullet, one size fits all solution for the marketing spend mix.
Do a lot – do it for a long time – test and measure
Every option will involve one or all of these three
Time Money Resources The trick is to utilize the options that require the resources you have the most of.
 
Red’s Favorite Five
Red says that every solution must be customized to the individual concept, but if he HAD to pick his favorite five, the would be:
Brokers
Best option for any size franchisor You pay to be a member then pay a commission per close Many broker groups won’t accept smaller start-up concepts Big saver of time and resources PR
Hire a PR firm Find one who is familiar with the world of franchising IFA members a plus Validate with their past clients Industry Conversions
Converting existing business people who are struggling You never know who may be disenchanted with operating their own concept and who would love to convert These are cold calls usually Live Events / Expos
Usually between $5k and $10K per event Use common sense and work it hard Energy – follow-up – is key Online
You could make online all five PPC Pay per click / Banners SEO of your own franchise site Develop a GREAT portal that grabs and tracks leads and conveys the information well. Portals tend to generate  a lot of volume with lower quality, but still worth the spend Social media posting Big data targeting Job boards – make a job advertisement  with the tag “some investment required” – describes a dream job Bonus Source: Guerilla Marketing
Example: flyers on every windshield at the local franchise expo  
Common mistakes made by franchisors as it relates to lead sources:
Lack of infrastructure – be able to walk away from your business for 6 months Don’t try to run your business and franchise it all by yourself Franchise Development person Marketing person Onboarding / Training person Field support person Lack of good ops manuals Not charging enough for the franchisee fee in order to pay for the costs associated with lead generation and other expenses Negotia