Franchise prospects are taking longer to say yes.

That was one of the standout themes from the recent BFA National Franchise Forum where franchise recruitment was high on the agenda.

Attendees shared what had and hadn’t been working for them in 2025 so far and highlighted the differences they’d experienced this year vs the last.

In every breakout room, one theme was consistent:

Franchise prospects are taking longer to make decisions and lead to sale timelines are getting longer.

So, if you’ve also noticed this trend, you’re not alone.

The good news? There are some simple strategies you can use to stay connected with your prospects, even when they’re not quite ready to move forward.

We’ve put together 5 of our favourite ways to keep prospects engaged and progressing through the longer decision-making cycle, and it all starts with adopting the right mindset.

1: Accept that you’re playing the long game

When you accept that the decision-making process is becoming longer for many prospects, it allows you to adapt your strategies for this shift in behaviour.

Many of the leads you’re generating now won’t be ready for months.

Some, however, will want to move quickly, so you need a flexible system.

It all comes down to having the right follow-up process in place, one that allows you to deliver an amazing post-enquiry experience, and then follow up with ease over time.

Providing value upfront will help gain trust and set the tone for the education and nurturing you will provide prospects with over the course of their decision-making process.

You then need a system and strategies to keep in touch with the leads that take longer. Just because they aren’t responsive right now, doesn’t mean they won’t be later.

2: Know where every lead is in your pipeline (and what they need next)

This ties in nicely with point one.

We’ve found that it helps to have clearly defined stages in your sales process, this way you can measure where each prospect is in their journey.

It also helps to categorise those prospects who express an interest, but who aren’t ready yet.

You can do this by creating specific deal stages or tagging prospects within your CRM or franchise recruitment sales software. This gives you visibility of exactly which prospects are at each stage.

You can then tailor your communications for each prospect based on the stage they’re at.

And ensures that no lead slips through the cracks.

As an example, if you have a prospect who has expressed an interest, matches your qualifying criteria but who explicitly says they aren’t ready to move forwards yet, you could create and place them in a category called “Backburner”.

This way you can easily locate and remember to contact the prospects in this category.

When you know where someone is in their journey, it’s easier to give them what they need, at the right time (more on that in the next two points).

3: Email consistently over time

Email is still one of the most effective ways to communicate with your prospects.

Especially when you send messages that genuinely provide value.

Keeping to a consistent email schedule can be tough, especially if you’re struggling for topics to email about or have a busy week where things take priority over getting your email sent out, but it doesn’t have to be this way.

Planning a 3-month email schedule in advance makes it easier to stay consistent.

Look at all the topics that you could send an email about; franchisee case studies, new locations being secured, new locations opening, new franchisees coming on board, important trends and updates in your sector.

Where possible, try to connect the theme of your email to a story that provides genuine connection.

You never know what message might reactivate your prospect.

That one objection or concern that they’ve been keeping from you might be the topic of your next email, the one that helps them to re-engage.

Not every email will get a reply, but the consistent presence keeps you top of mind. And when they’re ready, they’ll know where to go.

4: Mix up your communication styles

Don’t just rely on email.

Add some variety into your communication plan.

When creating your 3-month plan for email content, you’ll see opportunities to mix up your communications and opportunities to get more personal.

So, what do we mean by this?

Imagine you’ve got a new franchised location opening. Try sending the image of the new location via WhatsApp to a segment of prospects with a personal note.

“Hey, thought you’d like to see the brand-new franchised location in X that’s just opened. Hope you’ll agree, it’s a fantastic looking site.”

No need to say any more.

The simple act of sharing something that is relevant to them, can sometimes be enough to pique their interest to move forwards or re-engage in the process.

Then think of other ways to get personal; what about the occasional video or voice note on WhatsApp?

Keeping that human element and continuing to build the relationship with the prospect over time will help keep them engaged. Personal touches go a long way.

Text and personalised emails (not sent as broadcasts) can also work well.

And don’t forget, a good old-fashioned phone call every now and then works too.

5: Use Automation to free up your time and focus

The beauty of automation is that it allows you to focus on what’s most important, and that’s building and maintaining the relationship with your prospects over the decision-making cycle.

Everything we’ve mentioned above can be automated in some way, email, WhatsApp, text messages.

You can also use your CRM system or franchise recruitment software to automate lead scoring, providing a score against your leads depending on certain actions they take like clicking links, opening emails, or booking calls.

This allows you to focus on those leads that are most engaged and best qualified, whilst all the steps we’ve mentioned above will help you keep in touch with everyone else.

The more your systems do for you, the more time you have to build real relationships.

If you’d like help implementing any of the above strategies into your franchise recruitment process, book a call with me.