Preparing a franchise company to achieve significantly higher results in their franchise recruiting efforts involves a multi-stage process.

The first thing we do with any prospective client is to gather information designed to provide us with an overview of the current status of the company’s systems, processes and results in relation to their franchisee recruiting efforts. This is typically accomplished using a questionnaire we have developed for this purpose and two or more phone interviews.

This review allows us to form a clear idea of where the franchise company is today and to determine the initial and ongoing tasks that will need to be addressed in order to create a significant increase in the results of their franchisee recruiting efforts. These tasks focus on the four principle areas of system design and implementation that are identified below under the headings for Sales System, Staffing, Training and Supervision.

There is no fee charged for conducting this evaluation and, at the end of the evaluation process if both parties are interested in proceeding, we will prepare a detailed proposal of services and costs we recommend for the franchise company.

The first task that needs to be addressed is to create all of the components of the sales system that will be put in place at the franchise company.

One of the keys to success of the Choice Development sales system is that it standardizes the communication of factual information that is delivered by the franchise company to prospective franchisees. To create such a factual information delivery system, we first identify each of the key informational topics that will need to be addressed with each candidate. We put each of these topics, as well as any other development process elements the company may desire (such as Discovery Day sessions) into an outline format that defines every important step in the processing of a prospective franchisee from initial contact to contract completion.

After completing the system outline, the next stage of the process involves creating all of the communication materials that the franchise company will be using at each point in the system outline and deciding on the delivery method for each. These communication pieces may be written, oral, pictorial, full video or pre-recorded webinar presentations and may be delivered to the candidate by regular mail, special delivery services, emails, password protected web sites or other electronic means.

The creation of the system outline and all the associated communication materials usually takes about 6-8 weeks. During this time we will need to have access to the current franchise sales staff and the key executives of the company so that we may conduct extensive interviews with each of them by phone and also in person at the franchisor’s home office. The purpose of these interviews is to identify the informational needs of candidates and the best options for delivering material that will fulfill those needs.

The sales system we develop for the franchisor requires a talented, professional and well trained sales person to utilize it effectively. That person must have strong communication skills and, just as importantly, must be very strong in terms of relationship and rapport building talents.

Most of the franchise companies we work with have one or more existing franchise sales staff positions in place. In some cases the person fulfilling the role also has other responsibilities at the company and has been assigned the duty of dealing with candidates as an extra task, which the company may or may not want them to continue doing. In other situations, we find that the franchisor wants to start fresh with new people in this important role.

One of Choice Development’s services involves helping franchise companies with this staffing challenge if that assistance is needed. We have many years of experience successfully recruiting and training sales people to work effectively with the new sales systems we create for franchise companies. We will discuss the various staffing options with franchise company executives to determine the best approach to use in their specific situation.

One of the lessons we have learned in many years of working with hundreds of different franchise companies is that most franchise salespeople intuitively focus on the wrong factors when trying to sell franchises. The most challenging misconception is the common belief that a franchise sales system should focus on the product or service offered by the franchise business.

The reality is that the product or service is mostly irrelevant to the candidate when it comes time to make a decision about whether or not to buy the franchise. The two principle factors that influence this decision are the level of the candidate’s fear about starting their own business and the level of the candidate’s emotional belief that becoming a franchisee with the company will help them reach the goals they want to achieve in their life via business ownership.

We have developed a comprehensive system that is the most effective in the industry at recruiting high quality new franchisees by focusing on what is most important for both the franchisor and the candidate. This method not only sells more franchises but, more importantly, it sells them to the right candidates so that there is a much higher likelihood of a successful relationship between the parties after the sale.

We utilize a three stage training system for franchisor personnel to learn how to implement our systems effectively in their company. The first stage is an extensive video training program that explains the philosophy, processes and systems we use to maximize results in a CDS franchisee recruiting system.

The second stage involves the creation of an extensive custom training manual based on the specific system we create for the franchisor. We use this manual for training everyone associated with the franchise recruiting process. This manual outlines in complete detail exactly how all of the system materials are to be used. It also explains precisely how the sales person’s time and efforts are most effectively used in the process.

The third stage of the training process is a full day system reinforcement classroom session that we conduct, typically at the franchisor’s home office, for everyone associated with the franchise recruiting process. This advanced class is recorded so that there will be additional training videos, specific to the franchisor’s system, that are available for reference after the initial training is completed.

In order for the CDS sales system to accomplish the franchisor’s goals, it is very important for the franchise company to have a skilled executive who will oversee the process and personnel involved with the sales system. This person would ideally be someone with direct experience using a CDS type of sales system so that they can manage the sales team effectively and provide ongoing training based on real world experience using our system.

Most of the franchisors we work with to establish an effective franchise sales system do not have such an executive on their payroll. While it is certainly possible to hire such a person, anyone with a track record of success in this executive role is going to be a very expensive addition to the franchise company’s fixed overhead.

The final service that Choice Development offers to franchise companies is what we refer to as a “Virtual VP” of franchise development. We can provide an experienced executive who will provide ongoing training and support, supervise the sales staff and monitor the effectiveness of the system that has been put in place.

The Choice Development System™ is designed to quickly and significantly increase the quantity and quality of new franchisees entering your system. The system works and it has been proven in many different franchises, with many types of products and services, and in all different types of market conditions.

If you would like to learn more about our process and the cost to implement this approach in your company, please contact us so we can have further discussions. Thanks again for your interest and time spent evaluating the services we offer.