10 Strategies Franchisors Use to Fill their Sales Pipeline

Strategy #1: Have a Comprehensive Marketing Strategy

A comprehensive marketing strategy is key to any franchise company looking to fill its franchise sales pipeline with quality leads. Your business will struggle to achieve desirable results without an effective plan in place.

Your marketing strategy should include an arsenal of proven tactics, such as online and offline advertising, public relations, social media marketing, and lead generation campaigns. A solid brand identity naturally attracts qualified leads to your business and sales pipeline.

Strategy #2: Find Ways To Reach Your Target Audience

One of the best ways to fill your franchise sales pipeline is by finding new and innovative ways to reach your target audience. This can be achieved by using different advertising platforms or targeting a specific demographic you know is interested in your franchise's offerings.

Attend the same events and trade shows as your buyers to put your name out there. Again, by putting yourself in front of your target audience, you're more likely to attract qualified franchise leads that can turn into franchise buyers.

Strategy #3: Utilize Your Existing Franchisee List

Leverage relationships with existing franchisors to attract new leads to your pipeline. Current franchisors are an excellent resource to tap into and use to bring in prospective candidates.

You can use this database to create lookalike audiences on Facebook to target an audience similar to your current franchisees.

Consider a referral program to motivate franchise owners to bring new leads into the fold. This mutually beneficial arrangement incentivizes franchisors to market and sell your brand for you.

Strategy #4: Use a Combination of Methods to Reach Out To Prospective Franchisees

It's crucial to use a combination of methods to reach prospective leads, allowing your sales team to cast a wider net and diversify your prospect pool.

This process could include using online advertising platforms, such as Google AdWords or Facebook Ads, in addition to attending trade shows and networking events. You can also work towards creating targeted informative content in order to ensure that the right types of leads for your franchise business are attracted.

Strategy #5: Make Sure Your Franchise Sales Presentation is Well-Organized

A well-organized and easy-to-follow franchise sales presentation is essential, as it will allow for a smooth transition between pipeline stages after you make first contact with your prospective franchisees.

Your team should be able to easily answer any questions that potential leads might have, about owning a franchise location, enabling them to make an informed decision when it comes to joining your franchise system.

Your franchise sales presentation should also be tailored to the specific audience you're targeting. By custom tailoring your presentation, you’ll be able to not only create a connection with your prospects but also increase your chances of converting leads into franchise buyers.

Strategy #6: Utilize Social Media Platforms to Promote Your Franchise Opportunity

Social media is the modern way to promote and generate leads, particularly for established franchises looking to expand into new territories.

You can create informative posts that highlight the benefits of owning a franchise through these various platforms. Social media can also be used to answer any questions that prospects might have about the process of buying a franchise.

It's important to keep in mind that social media is a two-way street, so be sure to listen and respond to any comments or questions that your posts might elicit from prospective new franchisees.

Strategy #7: Create a Franchise Sales Process

A well-defined franchise sales process is essential for any franchisor looking to fill their franchise sales pipeline.

By having a structured sales process, you can help your sales team be more organized and efficient when it comes to qualifying potential leads. This type of plan also gives your prospective new franchisees a sense of security, with them knowing that they're dealing with a professional organization.

This includes total transparency and being forthcoming about essential details for potential buyers. This includes having a solid understanding of the breakdown of franchisee fees, the franchisor/franchisee agreement, and any other important information.

Strategy #8: Create an Online Presence with Blogs and Websites

Creating an online presence with blogs and websites is a great way to reach potential franchisees interested in your franchise's ownership opportunities and offerings.

You can use your website and blog to provide information about the benefits of owning a franchise. You can also use them to answer any questions that prospects might have about the process of buying a franchise.

It's important to keep in mind that online content should be constantly updated, so be sure to post new articles and blog posts on a regular basis.

Scheduled posts will help you stay top-of-mind with your target audience, as well as help you attract more leads to your franchise sales pipeline.

Strategy #9: Be Proactive - Reach Out to Potential Franchise Sales Leads

One of the best ways to fill your franchise sales pipeline is by being proactive and reaching out to potential leads. Don't wait for them to come to you - go out and find them! There are a number of ways that you can reach out to potential leads, including:

• Cold Calling: This can be a great way to reach out to franchise leads who may not be familiar with your franchise. Cold calls can also be a great way to start building a relationship with prospects.
• Networking: Meeting people in person is a great way to build relationships and find potential leads. Attend events, meet-ups, or even just coffee meetings!
• Social Media: Social media channels are a great way to reach out to potential leads. You can post about your franchise opportunity on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
• Email Marketing: Email marketing is a great way to reach out to potential leads. You can send emails about your franchise opportunity to people who may be interested in owning their own business.

There are a number of ways to reach out to potential leads, and the best way to find what works best for you is by experimenting. Try out a few different methods and see which ones produce the most results.

Strategy #10: Use Lead Generation Tools like Franchise Portals... to Find New Leads

Check franchise portal websites to see what's available, list your franchise opportunity, and sign up for email notifications to get prospective leads delivered to your inbox. Working with reputable franchise brokers is also a way to gain access to a stream of qualified candidates.

These websites generate substantial amounts of traffic with people searching for new franchise opportunities they can purchase and can be a great way to fill your franchise sales pipeline with new leads.

Most franchise portals will charge you a fixed price per lead, and you can set a monthly budget based on how many leads you would like to generate each month.

Ensure you have an efficient way to track bad leads from these portals, as they should give you credit for any bad leads that you receive.

Here at Pulse, we can make this process very efficient which helps increase your return on investment.

How a Specialized Franchise CRM Can Transform Your Sales Pipeline

The above strategies are crucial to fill your sales pipeline, but effectively managing your pipeline and leads is equally important.

Benefits of a Franchise-Specific CRM:

• Centralized lead management: Track all your leads and prospects in one centralized workspace that the entire team can access. Ensure no leads fall through the cracks, and find real-time updates and reporting to stay up-to-date.
• Automated follow-up sequences: Create automated rules, follow-ups, and pre-built deal stages to your business's processes and workflow.
• Pipeline visualization: This feature gives a 360° view of your sales pipeline, allowing you to see your priority leads, opportunities, and any bottlenecks in an instant.
• Performance analytics: Track key metrics and turn raw data into meaningful insights with personalized reports and analytics.
• Task automation: Let your CRM handle repetitive administrative tasks and free up valuable time for your team to focus on what matters (your franchisees).

Pulse CRM is designed for franchisors and with their particular needs in mind. The result is a comprehensive solution that fulfills franchisor needs and equips them with the tools to operate efficiently and grow.  

Key Metrics for Franchise Sales Pipeline Health

Ensure you and your team track the relevant metrics to manage your sales pipeline effectively. Important metrics include these KPIs (key performance indicators).:

Essential Franchise Sales Pipeline Metrics:

• Lead-to-discovery call ratio: Measure the percentage of leads that graduate to the next stage of an initial discovery call.
• Sales lifecycle: Track the complete sales lifecycle, from a lead's initial contact to the final franchise agreement signing and closing.
• Cost per qualified lead: This calculates the investment required to generate leads that meet your qualification criteria.
• Pipeline velocity: Measure how quickly or at what rate leads move through your sales process.
• Conversion rate by source: This analyzes and identifies the lead sources that yield the highest conversion rates.
• Franchisee quality score: This tracks the performance of franchisees based on their lead source to optimize recruitment channels.

Analyzing these metrics enables better data-driven decisions to improve your franchise sales pipeline and its effectiveness.