FranConnect Blog

The information in this post was initially reported in the webinar “PPC Demystified: Get the Most from Your Campaigns.” Click here to watch now.

Franchise sales is hard. It’s a very competitive business, and the sales cycle from lead generation to qualification to closing is complex. Wayback Burgers, a burger franchise that operates 138 restaurants nationwide in 27 states and 35 restaurants internationally, has figured out the key tactics that has quickly grown the concept. The number one key to their success is a well-defined and strategic sales process. They know exactly what happens when, who sends what to whom, when and how to follow up…you get the idea. Let’s take a look at the 10 critical steps for franchise sales that Wayback Burgers' Executive Vice President Bill Chemero, CFE, and Vice President of Franchise Development Scott Milas, CFE, follow to ensure ongoing growth and success.

While researching for this blog post, I came across the same basic description for franchise discovery days over and over again – an opportunity for candidates and franchisors to learn more about each other. According to this article in Entrepreneur, discovery days have four main purposes:

Here are 10 franchise sales tips from leaders in franchise development at The Dwyer Group, 7-Eleven, Wild Birds Unlimited, and more.

If you’re already franchising your business, you probably – hopefully – know what a chart of accounts is. “Chart of Accounts (COA) – a financial organizational tool that provides a complete listing of every account in an accounting system. An account is a unique record for each type of asset, liability, equity, revenue, and expense.” Each account is then broken down into subcategories.

Franchisee engagement is a hot topic. We’re seeing a progression away from the rule enforcer/disciplinarian franchisor-franchisee relationship toward one that places the franchisor as a mentor, teacher, or business advisor. After all, your success is dependent on that of your franchisees.

FranConnect has been a long-time partner of the International Franchise Association and Franchise Update Media to score franchise recruitment websites based on a set of best practices. Here you will find our most recent findings for franchise development performance using a franchise recruitment website as the main tool for driving leads.

It’s a tumultuous political climate in the U.S. right now. Our two major political parties are deeply divided, and it seems even within parties our representatives are finding it difficult to find common ground. Americans are uneasy, particularly with so many unknowns, and it doesn’t help that we are inundated with left- and right-leaning news from the media at every turn. After looking at the American Psychological Association’s annual “Stress in America: Coping with Change” survey, NPR reported that “57 percent of people polled in January said they were stressed about the current political climate; 66 percent were stressed about the future of our nation; and 49 percent were stressed about the outcome of the presidential election.”

The success of your franchise depends on the success of your franchisees. Key to this success is partnering with the right people and focusing on franchisee engagement, but equally important is the support your field operations team provides to your franchisees from day one. As defined in an article in Franchising World, “Franchise support is the mechanism by which the intellectual property of the franchisor is transferred to the franchisee for the purpose of replicating the success of the business model.”

This is a big year for Nothing Bundt Cakes. It marks their 10-year anniversary of franchising, and they recently opened their 200th location in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As a proud partner, FranConnect is featuring Nothing Bundt Cakes to congratulate them on their successes.

There is a lot to keep up-to-speed on in the franchise community, so we have put together a list of resources for franchisors that includes news sources, events, trade associations, social groups, and more. We will continue to update this list as we learn about more resources for franchisors. Happy learning!

Getting franchisee leads is important, but more important is getting qualified leads – these are the leads who are most likely to convert to a sale. Otherwise, a lot of time, effort, and money is wasted on the wrong candidates. Here are five franchise sales and marketing efforts that increase qualified leads.

FranConnect Introduces Business Intelligence Suite and Automated P&L Reporting in Latest Release of Cloud-Based Franchise Management Software FranConnect Sky: Polaris edition includes Intuit QuickBooks Online and Google Gmail Integrations, SMS marketing campaigns, and more Reston, VA (April 18, 2017) – FranConnect, the leading provider of franchise management software, has released FranConnect Sky: Polaris edition – the latest version of the company's cloud-based software platform. The release comes with over 100 new capabilities, including a business intelligence suite, enhanced integrations with Intuit's QuickBooks Online and Google Gmail, and improvements to the FranConnect Sky Training module. Video Overview for Corporate Users "Our customers consistently tell us one of their biggest challenges is system-wide performance visibility and accurate financial reporting," said Mike Morper, Senior Vice President of Product Management. "Now that FranConnect Sky is integrated with QuickBooks Online, franchise owners can easily deliver required P&L information to the brand, and brand CEOs benefit by having normalized system-wide financial data that can then be correlated with other key business metrics stored within the FranConnect Sky platform."

Marco’s Pizza is recognized as the fastest-growing pizza company in North America, and we couldn’t be prouder to be their partner. Marco’s Pizza has been working with FranConnect since 2008, and we’ve enjoyed witnessing their tremendous growth over the years.

FranConnect selected as 2017 Vendor of the Year based on tangible value Nestlé Toll House Café by Chip has derived from using FranConnect’s products and superior level of customer engagement they have experienced

FranConnect is proud to sponsor the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit taking place March 28-30, 2017, in Dallas. Keith Gerson, CFE, president and chief customer advocate of FranConnect, will moderate a panel discussion entitled Franchise Development Marketing 101.

Millennials. It feels like whether or not you’re a part of this generation (loosely defined as born in 1980-1999), the word leaves a sour taste in your mouth. It comes with an air of entitlement, laziness, and narcissism. It paints a picture of a generation plagued with debt. But it also illustrates a generation of innovative, culturally diverse, well-educated, and tech-savvy individuals who are calculated-risk takers. And they’re on the hunt for the next best thing.

New executive team members will play key roles as the company continues to focus on operational excellence and delivering superior products and services

One of the biggest pain points for franchisors and their field operations teams is preparing for effective interactions with franchise owners and their employees. Yet 57% of franchisors lack a system to monitor and control field execution and performance.