The pathway to franchise ownership apparently runs through the checkout line. A Curious Jane attitudinal study about brand sentiment and other factors influencing franchise candidates shows that nearly half of current franchisees were already customers and fans of their brand before they purchased their location.

Curious Jane conducted a proprietary attitudinal segmentation study to learn more about the motivations of franchise owners. We surveyed more than 500 franchisees to better clarify the beliefs, perspectives, preferences, pain points and aspirations of franchise owners. The survey results have a 95% confidence level, a high level of confidence.

According to the study, 45% of the franchise owners surveyed said they were customers of their franchise brand before they became franchise owners, and 37% said they first heard of the brand because they were customers.

Franchise development marketers need to target their brand’s superfans.

Wanted: Passion for the Brand

Have you thought about the qualities that make your franchisees successful? In the study, more than 80% of franchise owners named people management skills, a strong work ethic and communication skills as the qualities necessary for success.

But not far behind was passion: 61% said having a passion for the franchise brand was necessary to be successful. In other words, your casual customers won’t be your best franchisees. Superfans make super franchise owners.

And since they already know the brand and your product or service so well, the messaging for superfans should be a little different: For instance, you may need to introduce them to the franchise opportunity. You may be surprised at how many of your customers are unaware that your brand is a franchise.

How do you do that? In addition to making sure your consumer website has an obvious link to the franchise site, you may want to occasionally post on your consumer social media channels, or carve out space in an email newsletter, about where followers can learn more about franchising. Capitalize on the first-party data you gather through apps and more to target your superfans.

Prioritize Customer Experience

Customer experience matters to your customers, and it also matters to your owners. In the study, 22% said prior experience with the brand as a customer was an important factor when considering a franchise purchase. That’s even higher than they rated having prior experience in the same industry, which 15% cited.

Additionally, 42% of respondents said a poor customer experience would discourage them from buying a franchise.

If you want to sell more franchises, you’ll need to provide exceptional customer service. Great customer service is what elevates a fan to a superfan, and it’s what keeps the superfans coming back for more.

According to the respondents in this study, it could also be, in part, what attracts superfans to your franchise opportunity.

Takeaway:

Think about your superfans when you are creating fran dev marketing materials. A positive tone and brand consistency will matter to the prospects who already love your brand. In addition to discussing your exceptional training program and support systems, you may also want to incorporate information about customer satisfaction and how important it is to your brand that you deliver a great customer experience every time. You might also want to include testimonials from former customers who now are franchisees.

This customer experience messaging will resonate with the superfans among your candidates.

Multi-Unit, Multi-Brand Owners Reflect on Lessons Learned During Challenging Times 

Inflation is rising at a historic rate, gas prices peaked at more than $5 a gallon, the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates, real estate is in high demand, a national labor shortage persists and whispers of a bear market and recession loom.

Sounds like a great time to open a franchise, right?

With the traumatic wounds of The Great Recession still fresh in the collective conscious, the headlines we are bombarded with every day are enough to raise your blood pressure and make you fret about what’s next for the franchise business market. Welcome to the world’s largest craps table we call the global economy.

While it might seem that any deviation from a booming economy might be negative, it’s actually quite the opposite in the franchise world. Businesses can thrive and grow in recessions or other economic downturns. Much like a craps table, while the global economy runs hot and cold, people and business owners still make money. The key to thriving in a challenging economy is knowing how to position yourself and your business.

For René Tirado and his business partners, Jim and Connie Weaver, they know what it’s like to operate and thrive in tough times. They are celebrating their 20^th back-to-school season with Plato’s Closet and their upcoming ninth Christmas with Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa.

Starting a business never comes without risks but becoming an owner of multi-brand and multi-unit franchises isn’t for everyone. Each presents a number of different challenges that Tirado has had to navigate through the years. As the market fluctuates, so must business owners. But there are ways to prepare your business for more challenging times.

How to Recession-Proof Your Franchise During an Economic Downturns:

1. Take Stock of Your Market Position
2. Listen to your customers
3. Focus on service
4. Employee satisfaction is important

Take Stock of Your Market Position

When Tirado and the Weavers entered the market with their first Plato’s Closet in 2001, they couldn’t foresee the economic collapse that began in 2007. Coincidentally, it turned out to be good for business.

As the economy’s drop was felt more broadly and gas prices increased, so too did their business. It’s something they paid attention to in the years that followed, and it’s an ongoing trend. When prices go up for goods and gas, business at the gently used clothing retailer improves.

Something else that has driven some of their business decisions is that they don’t try to compete with the internet. Instead, Plato’s Closet thrives on goods that may have been internet purchases but that teens quickly outgrew. In the case of Hand & Stone, it offers in-person services a computer can’t provide.

Listen to your customers

A business’s customer base is the financial lifeblood that determines the success of any owner, regardless of brand. While business in recent years may have surged because of a booming economy regardless of what an owner did, challenging years force owners to be more strategic.

Listening to your customers can help, whether in good or bad times. Owners must focus on what is really important.

“We need to stay on top of our inventory – if it wasn’t selling, get rid of it,” Tirado says. “Turn and burn. We want to get it in today and sell it as quick as it can. Customers will tell you that if you’re listening. We want to know that. If it’s something that has been sitting for three months, discount it, sell it and make room to buy something that people like better.”

Focus on service

While business might not boom as much as it has coming down from the post-pandemic high, slower times allow you to look for process improvements in your business.

Many businesses are focused on the customer experience from beginning to end. If you aren’t able to deliver, don’t expect repeat business.

For Tirado and the Weavers, Hand & Stone’s business model relies heavily on a membership base that needs available reservations to keep continuity of service. If that doesn’t exist, it won’t be good for business.

“We remind our employees that they need to give a wow factor,” Tirado says. “We want them to remember and return time and again.”

Word travels fast in the age of Google reviews and social media. If you can’t cut it, everyone will know and choose a competitor who can deliver on a promise.

Employee satisfaction is important

Price increases, supply chain issues and changing medical guidelines have all been challenging. But keeping good employees should be a focus for any owner in a challenging market.

“It’s been challenging – since COVID, everyone has had significant price increases in supplies,” Tirado says. “Linen, equipment, gels – no matter what it is, it’s gone up in price.”

Although the increase in prices were a hit to his budget, Tirado has increased the pay for his employees in both brands and focused on the benefits offered to employees. If they didn’t have enough staff to open the doors, they weren’t going to make money anyhow, he says.

“We need to make sure to take care of our employees,” Tirado says. “That’s something COVID taught me.”

After Halloween – or even before, judging by the abundance of holiday decorations and Christmas carols we noticed during some last-minute candy runs – the holidays seem to come fast and furiously. Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 25 this year, so we have less than four weeks of the traditional shopping time. That means retail franchises are going to have to bring their A game to the busiest time of the year and often need to refresh their marketing strategy for the holidays. We’re here to help.

State of the Shopping Season

How we live has changed and it has altered consumers’ shopping behaviors – probably forever. For starters, holiday shoppers are starting earlier than ever.

You know that super-organized friend you hate who is Christmas shopping when you are still looking for a fall wreath? She’s back, and she started shopping in August. The rest of us mere mortals started shopping in October this year, and most U.S. consumers said they would be checking off gifts on their lists before Thanksgiving. 

We’ve all seen the lines of ships parked of the coast waiting to unload our future gifts. Shipping vessels are reporting on-time arrival of only 40% this year, compared with 80% a year ago. That has people worried about shortages and shipping delays, so 40% are paying attention to when you say you will deliver their gifts. And retailers who deliver late probably will lose customers.

Good news: Consumers plan to spend about 7% more than last year, although they are still chasing bargains. Most have joined loyalty programs in pursuit of discounts, and three out of four expect to buy at least one secondhand item for a gift this year.

3 Steps To Implement into Your Marketing Strategy For Holidays

So, what can you do to prepare for a holiday shopping season unlike any other? Here are three urgent recommendations to get ready:

First, update your Google My Business listing.

Double-check that your address is correct and that your phone numbers, emails and more are listed and up to date. Make sure your hours reflect any special hours when you’ll be open, any days you expect to be closed and any special after-hours or VIP shopping events.

Go ahead and upload a holiday post or photo. You can’t really schedule out Google My Business posts in advance, so post something now that has some shelf life in case you are too busy to post again for a while.

Second, think “mobile first.”

Whether you sell products from your website or consumers just visit it looking for deals or ideas, you need to make sure that the site looks beautiful and operates flawlessly on a mobile device.

In 2020, e-commerce sales saw a 47% increase during the holiday shopping season, and more than half of online sales came from smartphones.

Cater to social shoppers.

If you’ve been holding on to some ad dollars for a rainy day, it’s time to spend it. About half of shoppers don’t know what they want to buy until they “discover” it, and most of those discoveries come on a social platform or app. Brand awareness ads keep you top-of-mind for your customers.

Likewise, increase organic posts and make sure you are responding to comments and questions about gift ideas and availability promptly. Most consumers say they will return to doing some in-store shopping this year, but you have to make it easy for them. Last year, they loved the option to buy online and pick up in store or curbside, and that trend is definitely here to stay.

All in all, there are plenty of reasons to expect this holiday season to be merry for retail franchises, but you need to have a plan in place. Start now by having your gift selections ready early. And make sure your customers can find your store – in person, online and on social media.

“Help Wanted.” The ads for recruitment signs are everywhere. We all know how tough it is to hire the right people, especially right now. The current staffing shortage spans across many industries, with restaurants and service-oriented businesses being hit particularly hard. Unfortunately, the lack of labor is coming at the same time as many franchise brands are experiencing record growth. “If I could hire 50 more massage therapists right now, I would,” said Rene Tirado, a multi-brand franchisee who owns four Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spas in Central Florida.

The problems didn’t end with the federal unemployment benefits, as many had hoped for several reasons: Many of the unemployed are highly skilled workers who are overqualified for open jobs; many workers who were laid off during the pandemic have moved to other states or regions; and the large number of openings have raised workers’ expectations for salary and benefits.

So how can you find the employees you need and beat out the competition for the best people? Although business owners like Tirado once could simply post simple ads for recruitment with the words “now hiring” on his Facebook page. Tthe solutions are more complicated now.

Using Google PPC vs. Facebook Ads for Employee Recruitment

A Google pay-per-click (PPC) campaign might work for you. Users enter 40,000 search queries into Google every second. If they search for a job like the one you have open, you can serve them an ad so they can find you easily. These recruitment ads make sense because they are served to people who are literally searching for what you are offering. You only pay when people click and in this case, those who are interested in your job opening. You can target by location and audiences, such as people searching for a job.

Facebook used to be the least-expensive ad platform out there. Now, Facebook ads, including recruitment ads, have gotten more expensive as targeting options have declined. Facebook does offer multiple recruitment ad options: You can drive traffic to your website, landing page or link to apply; or, you can use Facebook’s in-app jobs function, which allows you to manage the entire application process within Facebook.

Using Facebook and Google HEC Ads

Building the ads, however, can get complicated – especially since both Facebook and Google have enacted new policies that limit targeting for housing, employment and credit (HEC) ads. Targeting for HEC ads were revised to prevent discrimination, and if you don’t follow the guidelines, you can bet that your ad will be declined. Also, these platforms don’t always explain exactly why an ad was declined, or how to fix it. Often, you end up having to guess what word or image flagged it just to get your ad live.

Still, if you need people, putting money into a PPC or Facebook campaign would be well worth it, because advertising works.

Get Help Recruiting Talent

The best course of action to avoid a lot of these complications is to hire an agency. Most importantly, it needs to be an agency you can trust to build your recruitment ads. Your other option is to assign the task to an internal team that is familiar with Google and Facebook. Experienced marketers can help you decide which option would be better for you. They can also help you determine if you need a combination of the two.

You have openings, and there are plenty of people who are out of work. Recruitment ads in the hands of skilled campaign managers can help you find each other.

Grand Opening Marketing Plan

Whether you are an emerging or legacy brand, guiding your franchisees toward successful grand openings can make a huge difference for new owners and their businesses. And it all starts with a grand opening marketing plan. Much like franchisors provide design and style guidelines for brand consistency, think about how grand opening success rates could soar with plans, procedures and strategies provided by corporate.

Most Importantly, grand openings should create awareness of your brand, generate local excitement, build strategic relationships and make a great first impression. Grand opening guidelines should include everything from setting a budget, promoting the event and continuing the momentum after the grand opening.

Planning the Grand Opening

• Set a Schedule
• Budget
• Brand Awareness
• Create Relationships

Set a Schedule

First, set a schedule. Your new franchisees are ready to begin the preparation for their grand openings. Provide a timeline. Give them every detail of what they need to do as part of a countdown to opening.

Budget

Next, set a budget. From signage to traditional and online promotion, recommend a set budget. There should be no surprises here. If you have approved/preferred vendors, be sure franchisees know who they are so they can get prepared within the budget.

Brand Awareness

If your franchise is new to an area, it is critical that your franchisees use grand openings as a way to communicate your brand and what products/services you provide. Branding should be clear and consistent so customers instantly recognize your business.

Create Relationships

Your franchisees most important relationships are with their customers, but grand openings are a great time to build relationships with the community and other local businesses. Inviting members of the Chamber of Commerce or partnering up with a local charity or business can elevate a grand opening and create extra buzz around the event.

Promoting the Grand Opening

• Public Relations
• Social Media
• Traditional Media

Public Relations

Be sure franchisees are using brand-approved language in news releases; provide talking points in case a reporter attends the grand opening; and train owners to assume that everything is “on the record” and to speak in complete sentences when answering questions, as one-word answers do not make good quotes. Work with a PR agency, if needed.

Social Media

Within your library of approved creative, include images, customizable posts, tweets and other sharable content that represent your brand well. Promote across all platforms.

Traditional Media

Include traditional media channels like local newspapers and radio stations to help residents feel connected to what is going on in their community. According to Nielsen, radio reaches 92 percent of Americans over the age of 18 every week.

Projecting for the Future

Lead Generation

Lastly, grand openings should always lead to staying in touch with consumers. Offer a plan for ways your franchisees can stay in touch with visitors from the event. Design an activity to get email addresses, cell numbers and social media followers. Offering an incentive like a coupon often makes visitors feel less pressured to share their details.

In conclusion, there are so many details to consider during the exciting grand opening phase, but with a grand opening marketing plan set with careful direction and execution, you can help your franchisees launch their businesses successfully.

Franchise GMB marketing, now called GBP Marketing for Google Business Profile, can help franchises connect with potential and current customers.

It’s where you input all the information that appears when someone clicks on your location name after a search … and it’s free! GBP allows you to manage how your business appears on Google Search and Google Maps.

The first thing you need to do is claim your franchise location listing. You’ll do this by visiting  https://google.com/business. From there, you’ll be asked some basic questions like your business name, address, phone number, URL and type of business. Once you’ve set up and confirmed your account, you’ll be able to fully utilize the GBP features.

The Google Business Profile features include:

• Information
• Posts
• Reviews
• Analytics

Information

It’s important to keep the details about your franchise on your information tab current. If you have holiday hours, update those so that customers will find accurate information. You should make sure potential customers find correct listings for when you open and close, and you also want to communicate extended hours for anyone searching during special event times.

Posts

On the Posts tab, you can include posts about What’s New, Events, Offers and Products for your franchise. These posts should be short, informative and written in a conversational tone. You can pull pieces of content from your blogs, website and YouTube, or include unique content like job openings and community events. Include attention-grabbing photographs to accompany your text. (The recommended image size is 750 by 750 pixels.) Your posts will expire after a week, so keep a stream of fresh posts ready in your content calendar. Lean toward the low range on character count, with posts of 80 to 100 words to be fully visible on most devices.

Reviews

Reviews allow you to respond to customers in an engaging and authentic way. You can also control messaging and protect your franchise brand when responding to negative reviews. Customers are looking for authentic dialogue, so customized replies directly responding to the reviews work very well.

Analytics

Use the insights tab to review analytics that show you how customers are finding your franchise and how they are using the information you’ve provided in your Google Business Profile. Options include insights such as what customers are searching for, where they are located and the number of phone calls received each hour.

Google Business Profiles are an important part of a franchise’s overall SEO strategy. The time you spend keeping information up-to-date, responding to reviews and posting content is a worthwhile investment.