Beginning Your Franchise Search
Where will you start?When the typical person begins their search for a franchise, they usually begin looking online or visit a trade show.
The internet is full of franchise noise. Thousands of brands are all competing to be heard and are doing anything they can to have you notice their concept.
As someone who is looking at investing in a franchise, it’s important for you to understand how any inquiries you make will affect you. Sharing your contact information online has consequences.
"Many people make decisions almost entirely on the sales process instead of actual predictable results."
Lesson 2: Setting the lay of the land
Who will you end up speaking to and what is their motivation?Understanding the motivation of people you are working with helps you understand their behaviors. We think transparency is key and that you should know how each party works. We’ll discuss the main players you will be dealing with in detail later on in this lesson.
It's safe to say that all of the people you will be speaking with are motivated to either find or sell you a franchise that you end up purchasing so they will be paid a % of a fixed fee.
You’ll never pay more or less when you work with these people, but each of them will provide much different services and overall experience.
Truth about Franchise Portals
Lead portal sites house a large inventory of brands that allow you to easily browse and learn about new concepts. Their whole business model is to sell any inquiries back to the franchises.
The challenge with this model is that they make it very easy to select multiple brands to inquire about. This allows them to sell your information many times.
Eg. the more concepts you select on these portals – the more phone calls and emails you’ll get!
Get to know the players.
You will end up talking with either of these types of individuals.
Franchise Sales Representatives
They work for the franchise
Franchise Brokers / Consultants / Coaches
They work for themselvesAfter you submit your information to a franchise, website, landing page, etc. you will be connected with a franchise salesperson.
- These individuals are compensated by being paid commissions from the franchise system, out of their marketing budget.
- You will not pay more or less if you work with a franchise salesperson.
- The reason franchises pay Franchise Brokers a commission is because they help them qualify and educate candidates.
- When a franchise does the whole process on their own, it can cost up to 3 times more to award a single franchise.
- This is because they have to speak with many more prospects before they find a qualified candidate who is a match for their system.
Lesson 3: Inside information on each of these franchise salespeople
Franchise Brokers / Consultants / Coaches
These are independent franchise salespeople. Oftentimes, they will claim to be a member of a larger group or network and that they represent hundreds of franchise concepts.
Their Goal:
- Determine if you have the available capital.
- Determine if you are looking to purchase within 3 months.
- Understand you well enough so they have enough information to conduct franchise research on your behalf.
Their Motivation:
- Find you a franchise that matches your financial and personal goals.
- Have you purchase a franchise so they can be paid a % from the Franchise Fee.
What to look out for:
Franchise Sales Representatives
These are people who work directly for the franchise in one way or the other. They work to qualify potential candidates and to take them through a single franchises sales process.
Their Goal:
- Determine if you have the available capital.
- Determine if you are looking to purchase within 3 months.
- See if you are the type of person they want to bring into their system.
Their Motivation:
- They only represent one franchise and are looking to quickly see if they should invest their time in speaking with you.
- They are compensated with a commission when you choose to purchase the franchise.
What to look out for: