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Family and Friends Referrals Make the Best Franchisees
As a franchisor it is imperative that you seek, find and recruit the best franchisees to maintain a strong franchise system. Your current Franchisees are your very best sales people, sometimes without even knowing it. As a franchisee starts making more money, it will show. Soon they will be moving out of their apartment or home into a nicer area. They will be driving a nicer car. They will be frequenting nicer eating establishments. A female franchisee's husband will tell the guys at work in a bragging way how great his wife is doing and that he plans on quitting his job to help her. A male franchisee's wife will brag to her friends that she is planning a vacation of that they bought a new indoor four-person Jacuzzi. Her friends will entice their husbands and boyfriends to look into the franchise, franchise companies should encourage this scenario and spend more time and money on referrals than straight sales. Sure mass marketing works, but throwing spaghetti at the refrigerator until something sticks is not very becoming of a star rated franchise system. Many times people at the franchisee's old job will start talking, "Hey, did you hear about Skip?, He's really doing well with that new franchise thing he doing." "Yah! Have you seen his new Corvette." Relatives are also great prospects. They may be lacking work ethic however. Many times you will find that they are very interested in making lots of money, but not in doing lots of work. The best way to sell this is to put them in a very busy store or outlet on a busy Friday. (Work em'.) Make them run, sweat, get them up early. Usually they will have second thoughts. This does three things: Gives Them Total Respect For Their Relative Who Is A Franchisee; Keeps The Franchisee Happy For Giving His Relative A Shot At It; Weeds Out Unwanted Derelicts With Poor Work Ethics. Another fall back to relatives of franchisees is that they are calling only because their spouse wants them to make more money. Usually it wasn't their idea. They are not committed to the concept. They will never be committed to the company or the customer. They need to be committed to the: Company, Concept, Customer, Quality; not the money alone. Before they can be committed to any of these, it must be their idea. So after you run em' you don't call them back. You wait a few weeks. You let it bounce around in their head. Then they will be forming ideas, taking a look at their life and making conclusions. That's when they will call you back. At that point your dedication factor will take hold. They will be committed to their choice, their idea and your franchise systems 's concept, company, quality and customers. Even when they are committed, they must possess good credit. You may have to give them three more weeks to find a way to secure a loan or find the money. If they are truly committed about their future, they will find a way. Referrals from family and friends always make up the best franchisee teams; ask any franchising veteran. Its no secret, yet so many companies are still tossing the spaghetti? Think about it. "Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs
 Strategic Planning News for Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010...
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