A huge amount of time, energy and resources go into lead generation for franchises. However, all your hard work can be undone by not giving this key area adequate attention, making your endeavours fruitless. And that is why lead follow-up is vital for the life blood of your business.
By using an established contact follow-up process, you can demonstrate the reliability of your franchise; establish it has a proven track record, show that 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 whereFranchise 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 search online and you will find wide array of varying definitions for ‘lead nurturing’ and they usually involve buzz terms, such as “funnels and sales cycles”. However, in terms of franchisors, lead nurturing is the relationship building process with your lead; from the first point of interest, through each subsequent stage of their journey to becoming a franchisee. Simple, right?
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.
Lead nurturing aims to narrow the gap between these two figures. When leads fill in their details to be contacted, in essence, they are asking to receive more information about what your brand can offer them and their entrepreneurial aspirations. The right content and appropriate communication can be the spark for budding entrepreneurs to invest in your franchise business.
Lead nurturing is often cited as the link between marketing and sales. It is a process that requires effort, but effort which produces great returns.
So, why is nurturing vital 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 sounds like a challenging undertaking, but failing to act can have a hugely negative impact on your business. To put it simply, failing to nurture your leads will see a huge number of sales to fall by the wayside.
So, what are the stages of the lead nurturing process?
Everything is easier to grasp when scaled down into minute digestible parts and lead nurturing is no different.
For franchises, we can split the process into four different groups which can be remembered by the acronym ‘FIND’ (Focus, Interest, Nurture, Deal).
Stage One – Focus
First, you need to focus on the ideal franchisee you are seeking; their skills, experience, personality etc. and use the right tools to connect with them.
This can be done by advertising on the right channels, becoming an information leader on these channels and recognizing what other franchise businesses do and don’t do well during the sales process.
Stage Two – Interest
When a potential franchisee has contacted you for further information about your franchise opportunity, and provided their contact details, it is imperative to follow up on this interest gently. Of course, you need a prompt follow up with the prospective investor, but best not to overwhelm them with information overload.
Email marketing campaigns can and should be utilised, the message and content need to be appropriate. This content should be useful and practical, with the likes of short videos, blog posts and online discovery days all useful examples.
Stage Three – Nurture
This is when the lead is interested in discovering more and shows potential for becoming part of 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 come together, working to identify the needs of the leads and to try to fulfill them and close the deal.
One-on-one conversations are a fundamental element at this point; 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 deli very and contact, especially in a less formal and more casual consumption.
Stage Four – Deal
This is where the franchisee has decided to join your franchise family. You want to sustain that existing relationship to guarantee it is a fruitful one for both parties, and all going well, it the deal brokered can extend beyond the initial franchise agreement. A welcoming gest
ure, 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.
Far too many leads are never full realised due a lack of adequate time being devoted to lead nurturing, and simultaneously, the communication and content that is required during the process is often not up to the required quality. Obviously, not every potential franchisee will invest in your franchise opportunity, no one can guarantee that type of success rate. However, not investing time and resources into lead nurturing will ensure that less and less prospects make the journey from enquiry to franchisee.
Franchise Direct Australia is 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.