A lot of time and effort is often spent on lead generation for franchises. However, a lack of rigour can make this effort useless. That's why lead follow-up is so important.
With an established contact follow-up process, you can demonstrate that your franchise has a proven track record, that it offers adequate and relevant training, and anything else worth communicating to potential investors.
But first…
How does your business generate leads?
That’s where Franchise Direct come in due to is the leading global portal for quality lead generation.
We cover five continents: Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Our experts can turn your profile into a lead generator, and we are constantly looking to build on our 25 years of expertise in this area.
Still, there is very little point in putting all that effort into lead generation if there is no follow-through, isn’t there?
That is why we need to define…What is lead nurturing?
Different websites give different definitions of ‘lead nurturing’ and they usually involve buzz terms, such as “funnels and sales cycles”.
However, for franchisors, lead nurturing is the process of building a relationship with your lead at every stage of their journey to becoming a franchisee. It sounds simple, isn’t it?
What problems can lead nurturing solve?
According to research done by Hubspot and Marketo, 74 percent of companies say converting leads into customers is their top priority, while over 95 percent of visitors who come to your website aren’t ready to buy yet.
Lead nurturing proposes a way to close the gap between these numbers. When leads fill in their information to be contacted, they are stating that they want to receive further information about what your brand can offer. The correct type of content and communication can inspire these people to invest in your business.
Lead nurturing has been described as the connection between marketing and sales and is a process that does require effort, but effort which is eventually rewarded.
So, why is nurturing important for your business?
Research from Harvard revealed that the most effective time to reach out to sales’ leads is within an hour of receiving the query. However, this is not and should not be where the nurturing process ends.
According to research by Ascend2, almost half of businesses say their leads require “long cycle” nurturing, with many influences. Research done by Hubspot also showed that it usually takes around 10 nurturing steps to convert a paying customer and for franchises, this may even be more.
It sounds like a very hard job, but the opposite action can be worse. If you don’t nurture your leads, you are leaving a huge number of sales behind.
So, what are the stages of the lead nurturing process?
Everything becomes easier when broken down into stages and lead nurturing is no different.
For franchises, this process can be put into four separate blocks, and it can be remembered by the mnemonic ‘FIND’ (Focus, Interest, Nurture, Deal).
Stage One – Focus
The first thing you must do is focus on your ideal franchisee and use the right tools to find them.
This can be done by advertising on the right channels, becoming an information leader on these channels and identifying what other franchise businesses do and don’t do well during the sales process.
Stage Two – Interest
When the potential franchisee is aware of you and has given you their contact details, it is important to follow up this interest gently. Of course, you need to reach out to the prospective investor quickly, but it is important not to overwhelm them with messaging.
Email marketing campaigns can and should be used, but the message and content within these needs to be useful and not just correspondence for the heck of it. The content that is used should be both useful and practical, with the likes of short videos, blog posts and online discovery days all useful examples.
Stage Three – Nurture
This is where the lead is interested in hearing more and potentially coming on-board as part of your franchise system. During this stage, you can get personal with content, develop a one-on-one dialogue and schedule further contact down the line.
This is where the sales and marketing teams combine to understand the needs of the leads and to try to satisfy them and close the deal.
One-on-one conversations are a key component to this stage, with franchisor-franchisee meetings, follow-ups, and details of potential return on investments being discussed. Here, the social networks such as LinkedIn, SMS or WhatsApp play a big part.
Stage Four – Deal
This is the stage where the franchisee has decided to come on-board. You want to sustain that existing relationship to ensure it is a fruitful one for you both and that it potentially extends beyond the initial franchise agreement.
A welcoming gesture, as well as personalised help and franchise privileges are key here.
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 many reasons for this, but a lack of focus on lead nurturing is clearly a big part of the problem.
Too many leads are disappearing because of a lack of time being spent in this area, along with a lack of focus on the communication and content that is required during the process.
Obviously, not every franchise prospect will become a buyer, but a lack of lead nurturing will ensure that less and less of them end up on that journey.
Franchise Direct South Africa can help you, from getting leads, to nurturing them, to ensuring more of them become buyers. Contact us today to hear more about how we can work together.