After finalizing your franchise plans and models, packages, and opportunities, the next step is selling your franchise. But as with all marketing activities, selling your franchise can be quite costly and can take up a lot of resources, which is why you’d want to make sure that every marketing activity and resource you invest in has a good chance of attracting potential franchisees. However, it’s important for franchisors to be aware of common marketing mistakes that won’t only end up costing you money but may end up pushing away potential franchisees.
Relying Too Much on Hard Selling
It’s indeed a huge plus to have aggressive franchise brokers and franchise sales agents/team, but you shouldn’t only rely on them. Many potential franchisees don’t want to be “pushed” or “persuaded” to buy a franchise but prefer to have all the information they need so that they, themselves, can decide whether or not to buy your franchise. That said, you should be able to provide this information in your website, and perhaps even in the franchise opportunity brochures and portfolios (both digital and printed copies) that your franchise brokers and sales team can distribute to potential and/or interested franchisees.
Lacking Proof and Feedback
Even if your business is already well-known and has proven itself to be quite lucrative, you’d have to think like your potential franchisees. Both seasoned businessmen and those who wish to start a business are aware that buying a franchise is a huge decision that requires a lot of money, which is why they’d want to minimize risk as much as possible by having proof that the franchise they’re buying is indeed a safe and lucrative investment. As such, you should be able to provide data showing all the information they need such as ROI and forecasted sales, as well as data and even testimonials/feedback from your successful franchisees.
Not Having A Dedicated Franchising Website
If you’re already opening your business to franchising, chances are, you already have a business website with all the products and information about your business. However, a common mistake for franchisors is having their “franchise page” as just a sub-page on their business website. As mentioned earlier, many potential franchisees prefer to get all the information they need to decide whether or not to buy the franchise, instead of having it “sold” to them. As such, one of the best things you can do when selling your business franchise is having an entirely separate website dedicated for franchising which contains all the information they need, and perhaps even an active online customer service representative that they can chat with if they wish to know more about the franchise opportunities you’re selling.
Unclear or Poorly-Written/Made Reading Materials
Providing information to your potential franchisees is something that can’t be stressed enough. However, it’s vital for you to oversee and ensure that the instructional materials and franchise brochures/portfolios (including those in your website and social media) are done concisely and could be understood easily to minimize any confusion — your potential clients are more likely to hesitate if the information you’re showing isn’t clear or transparent, or are simply poorly-worded.
Neglecting Social Media
While you may have invested in print advertisements, active and professional sales agents, and maybe even TV/radio ads, you should give as much focus to online digital marketing, specifically, social media. Many consumers and entrepreneurs search for products, services, and even business and investment opportunities through social media. That said, you should focus on social media marketing for business franchises; this includes content creation and also managing your franchising business’ social media accounts. One should also have a social media account manager to handle all the inquiries on comments and private messages from interested or curious parties.
Conclusion
Opening your business for franchise opportunities is a good sign that it’s grown big enough and has made a name for itself. But in order to boost your chance of selling your franchise, you should definitely watch out for these common franchise marketing mistakes.
