Technology Feature Articles

Technology Feature Articles

Franchise Sector Showcase

Informative Technology franchise articles to support business buyers, franchisees, and franchisors.

Truly great franchise sales and development teams are hard to find... and can be even harder to create. For franchise sales executives, attracting the right mix of people, passion, and experience, along with creating a positive culture and providing the right mix of recognition and reward, it's a delicate balance. Achieving that balance means the difference between a marginal brand and a great one
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,788 Reads 68 Shares
One of the most challenging problems in franchise recruitment is keeping prospects and candidates engaged throughout the sales process. That's what recruitment technology is for: not only to keep track of candidates in your pipeline, but to keep them moving forward through your sales process, even when the office is closed.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 3,974 Reads 1 Shares
When Indianapolis native Greg Willman and his friend Phil Salsbery talked years ago about forming a small investment company or owning and operating franchise concepts, they consciously omitted the restaurants category. "Neither of us knew anything about the food industry or had any experience in it," recalls Willman, who had worked in marketing and product development at large pharmaceutical, chemical, and medical device corporations.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 9,407 Reads 1 Shares
The incredible surge in outsourcing prospect generation to franchise brokers has reshaped the sales programs of many franchise systems. Once tarred by the horror stories of the 1980s, today's brokers are reborn and repackaged as the "franchise sales consultants" of the 21st century. This isn't surprising. Networks of professional consultants with years of franchising experience have swooped onto the franchise sales scene with extraordinary success. Today they deliver an estimated 3,000-plus new franchise owners annually to appreciative franchise companies. Franchise Update Media Group's Annual Franchise Development Report revealed that 57 percent of the 126 franchisors surveyed used brokers, with 67 percent closing deals.
  • Steve Olson
  • 7,367 Reads
For many franchisors with a December 31st fiscal year, now is the time to start preparing to renew their franchise documentation. The FTC rules require that the franchise disclosure document (FDD) must be updated within 120 days of the expiration of a franchisor's fiscal year. Registration states, such as New York, have an identical requirement. As a franchisor prepares to do so, that process presents an opportunity to review and improve franchise documentation, particularly the franchise agreement.
  • Terrence M. Dunn
  • 5,110 Reads 1,021 Shares
Each year, for more than a decade, Franchise Update Media Group has surveyed hundreds of franchisors about their sales and development practices and compiled the results in its Annual Franchise Development Report (AFDR).
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 5,900 Reads
Being a part of YouTube is no longer something franchise businesses can control. Chances are, you're there, whether you created the content or not.
  • Lisa Wehr
  • 5,500 Reads 99 Shares
Jim Sullivan keeps an eye on business trends and market shifts. His livelihood depends on it. In fact, the very mission of his organization, Sullivision.com, is to design and deliver operations and leadership training programs for companies - including many franchises. He's worked with brands like McDonald's, Panera Bread, Regis Corp., Jiffy Lube, Applebee's, Domino's, and Dunkin' Brands.
  • Multi-Unit Franchisee
  • 4,835 Reads 1,023 Shares
When Emir Lopez was ready to open his first Domino's Pizza store, he could have done it anywhere. But after working his way out of the James Weldon Johnson Project in East Harlem, New York, Emir decided the best place to open that store was right in the neighborhood he had come from.
  • Multi-Unit Franchise
  • 4,236 Reads 32 Shares
As a franchisor, what are some things you are doing (or considering doing) to help give your franchise development people enriched selling opportunities in today's economy?
  • Franchise Update
  • 6,706 Reads
"Mystery shopper": two words that strike fear in the hearts of franchisors with poorly managed sales departments and weak sales processes. But for those on top of their development game, who always have a finger on the pulse of their sales team, it's simply a validation of what they already know.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 6,213 Reads
The Human Bean
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In my 20-year journey of understanding leadership fundamentals, I have found change to be constant and adaptability to that change as the number one indicator of personal success.
  • Tom Welter
  • 6,128 Reads 143 Shares
Just like any business, the franchising business is one that I have seen evolve tremendously over the past 30 years. While many of the cornerstones and crucial elements - product, simplicity, control, and support - remain the same, so much is changing.
  • Larry Feldman
  • 4,417 Reads
U.S. franchisor interest in Asia seems to be at an all-time high, yet from a legal compliance standpoint it has never been more difficult to enter into many of the various Asian markets.
  • Robert A. Lauer
  • 9,291 Reads 966 Shares
Tulsa resident Bill Ramsey had worked hard in the international manufacturing business all his life, and was a bit disappointed when he learned that none of his five children were interested in following him into that industry. He didn't have a lot of family growing up, so he was determined to keep his close.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 8,197 Reads 17 Shares
Over the past 25 years, franchising has continued to develop and become more sophisticated. The reins of the franchisor have passed from the pioneering founders to established management teams with significant industry experience. Today, many of these companies are publicly traded or majority-owned by institutional equity investors.
  • Dean Zuccarello
  • 6,078 Reads
There are tweets and pokes, posts and check-ins, mayors, fans, friends, and likes. It seems as though every social media network has its own language and users--yet all of them are grouped together as the "shining light" of marketing for the year to come. Well, here's the truth. While social media is now a cornerstone for branding, sales growth, and PR, for multi-unit franchisees to successfully use social media to drive business into stores, you need to get the facts.
  • Lisa Wehr
  • 8,267 Reads 33 Shares
Innovative franchisors seeking to expand their offerings and attract a new pool of franchisees are breaking with tradition and instituting new ideas. Here are a few ideas that have proven effective for the systems that have used them to achieve specific goals as they developed
  • Steve Olson
  • 3,858 Reads 9 Shares
I am a big fan of sales processes. However, I am a bigger fan of buying processes. And when a company's sales process is inconsistent with their customer's buying process, breakdowns occur. Many of the tactics and techniques franchisors counted on in the past appear to be producing diminishing returns in the present.
  • Joe Matthews
  • 5,147 Reads 1,023 Shares
Aggressive growth companies measure the performance of their sales personnel just as they do their advertising. With high recruitment expenses you can't afford mediocre selling performance, which costs dearly in lost franchise deals. A policyholder survey by Prudential Insurance revealed that the greatest influencing factor in the buying process is the sales person.
  • Steve Olson
  • 3,518 Reads 7 Shares
Just like any business, the franchising business is one that I have seen evolve tremendously over the past 30 years. While many of the cornerstones and crucial elements - product, simplicity, control, and support - remain the same, so much is changing.
  • Larry Feldman
  • 4,304 Reads 1 Shares
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Social media platforms are now emerging as franchise recruitment tools. Granted, it's still early in the adoption process and only time will tell how successful these new channels are in generating leads and franchise sales.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 13,982 Reads 1 Shares
Those pondering a future in franchising face many important decisions. Beyond nuts-and-bolts basics such as raising capital, identifying a brand that fits, and completing the paperwork, are other – just as important – factors to consider. One such topic is what's known as unit economics. Anyone who has ever cracked open a business school textbook understands that the bottom line of the monthly financial statement of any company should reflect profitability – if the company is to survive. When the numbers are in the black the business is generating more than it's spending. It's simplistic but effective. But there can and should be a more sophisticated approach to operating a franchise in a fiscally responsible way.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 18,668 Reads 1 Shares
As savvy franchise companies continue to flourish in this challenging economy, FUSR will continue to bring you good news each month, highlighting brands that are adding units, increasing comp store sales, striking deals with investors, and continuing to grow despite the economy - maybe even because of it. And, as the U.S. struggles through its "jobless recovery," growth-oriented franchisors continue to look overseas for expansion opportunities.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 10,958 Reads 93 Shares
Franchise Update Media Group recently conducted a survey of social media usage by franchisors who are actively recruiting franchisees. The questions dealt not only with social media in consumer-oriented marketing, but more important for franchise development teams, its use in franchise recruitment.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 9,834 Reads
In April 2010, McDonald's helped cement the realization that if franchises want to continue succeeding in this consumer-driven world, they must get involved in social media.
  • Lisa Wehr
  • 4,372 Reads 1 Shares
One of the significant consequences of the Internet's development is that we can gather opinions from a diverse group with minimal effort. I did so recently through a posting on the American Bar Association Forum on Franchising listserv.
  • Rupert M. Barkoff
  • 90,994 Reads 3 Shares
The other night I told one of my daughters, who is in college, that I was going to the IFA convention and would be gone about a week. She asked me why even have conferences, and why business people travel anymore, because with all the technology out there people can communicate almost like it was in person (we Skyped with her for the last five months when she was in Argentina).
  • Darrell Johnson
  • 6,785 Reads 72 Shares
Market dominance is the measure of the strength of a brand, product, or service relative to the competition. Emerging franchise companies that are the first movers in their market niche need to be agile to establish their market presence before more aggressive or better capitalized companies move into their niche and overtake their first mover advantage.
  • Marvin Storm
  • 7,647 Reads 2 Shares
"Explain your development strategy as it relates to recruiting single-unit versus multi-unit franchisees. Do you look for both? Why or why not?" During the past five years, most franchisors have changed their concept of the ideal franchise candidate. Today larger franchisors are focused more exclusively on recruiting multi-unit/multi-brand players, rather than the single-unit operators most systems were built on. As an established, nearly 40-year-old brand, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen markets franchising opportunities toward the top-tier multi-unit/multi-brand category franchisees, while simultaneously considering single-unit candidates. We currently have more than 1,900 locations in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and 27 foreign countries.
  • Franchise Update
  • 6,881 Reads
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