So much valuable time, energy and resources goes into lead generation for franchise businesses. However, all your hard work can be totally destroyed by not giving this vital area adequate attention, making your actions futile. And that is why lead follow-up is essential for the life blood of your business.
Through the use of an established contact follow-up process, you can outline the reliability of your franchise; establish it has a proven track record, demonstrate how it offers suitable and pertinent training, and communicating anything else of value potential investors.
But before we go any further….
How does your business generate leads?
That’s where we at Franchise Direct come in; we are a leading global portal for quality lead generation.
Covering five continents - Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania - our expert team can swiftly make your profile a dynamic lead generator, and we are always examining ways to build on our 25 years of expertise in this area. However, why put all that effort into lead generation if there is no follow-through?
That is why we need to define…What is lead nurturing?
After a quick online search, you will discover a wide range of varying definitions for ‘lead nurturing’. Most will usually lean into buzz terms and jargon, such as “funnels and sales cycles”. However, in relation to franchising and franchisors, lead nurturing is the process of building with your lead; from the first point of contact, right through each subsequent stage of their journey to becoming a franchisee. Sounds so simple, doesn't it?
What problems can lead nurturing solve?
According to research undertaken by Hubspot and Marketo, the top priority for 74 percent of businesses is converting leads into customers, while more than 95 percent of visitors to your website aren’t ready to buy yet.
With lead nurturing the aim is to narrow the gap between these two figures. When request contact from a franchise, speaking plainly, they are looking to receive more information about what you and your brand can offer them and their entrepreneurial aspirations. The right content and appropriate communication can be the catalyst for budding entrepreneurs to invest in your franchise business.
Lead nurturing is often cited as the bridge between marketing and sales – and it is a process that requires effort, but effort which produces great returns.
So, why is nurturing so important for your business?
Research from Harvard revealed the optimum time to reach out to sales’ leads is within an hour of receiving the initial query. However, this isn’t, nor should it be the conclusion of lead nurturing methods.
According to research by Ascend2, approximately half of businesses cited their leads require “long cycle” nurturing, with many influences. Research conducted by Hubspot also highlighted that typically there are on average, 10 nurturing steps before a paying customer is converted, and when we’re talking franchises, the number of steps in this process can be much more.
It does sound like a rather arduous task but remember, inaction in this area can have hugely negative repercussions on your business. To put it in a more candid nature, failing to nurture your leads will see a huge number of lost or missed sales opportunities.
So, what are the stages of the lead nurturing process?
Everything is easier to understand when broken down and lead nurturing is no different. For franchises, we can split the process into four different groups; remembered by the acronym ‘FIND’ (Focus, Interest, Nurture, Deal).
Stage One – Focus
First, focus on the ideal franchisee you seek; their skills, experience, personality etc. and use the right tools to connect. This can be done by advertising on the correct channels, becoming an information leader on these channels and understanding what other franchise businesses do and don’t do well during the sales process.
Stage Two – Interest
When contacted by a potential franchisee for further info about your franchise opportunity, and provided their contact details, it is imperative to follow up this interest gently. You do not want to overwhelm them with information overload.
Email marketing campaigns should be utilised, just be sure the message and content are appropriate. Keep the content useful and practical, and use short videos, blog posts and online discovery days.
Stage Three – Nurture
This is the key moment when the lead is receptive in discovering more about your franchise and shows real potential for joining your franchise system. During this stage, content can be more personal and specific to the individual candidate, try building a rapport and develop a one-on-one dialogue and make sure to schedule further contact in future.
This is when the sales and marketing teams join forces to identify the needs of the lead and close the deal.
One-on-one conversations are very important at this juncture; with franchisor-franchisee meetings, follow-ups, and details of potential return on investments being discussed. At this point, social networks such as LinkedIn, SMS or WhatsApp can play a very useful role for information delivery and contact, especially in a less formal and more casual consumption.
Stage Four – Deal
Hooray! The franchisee has made up their mind and want to join your franchise family. You now want to sustain that existing relationship you’ve built to and all going to plan, the deal brokered can extend beyond the initial franchise agreement. A welcoming gesture, as well as tailored personalised help and franchise privileges are crucial here to ensure a successful on-boarding is achieved.
Where do we go from here?
According to the IFA Franchise Sales Index (International Franchise Association), franchisors are only closing on average 1.2 percent of deals that enter their sales funnel. There are numerous reasons for this, but a lack of focus on lead nurturing is a major contributing factor.
Many potential leads remain untapped due to insufficient time dedicated to lead nurturing. In addition, the communication and content involved in the process often fall short of the necessary quality. While it's impossible to guarantee every potential franchisee's investment, neglecting lead nurturing will result in fewer prospects transitioning from inquiries to franchisees. Therefore, it's crucial to devote adequate time and resources to this process to maximize the chances of successful conversions.
Franchise Europeis here to help you, from getting leads, to nurturing them, to ensuring more of them become buyers.
Contact us today to discover more about how we can work together.