I’m guessing you’re pretty good at marketing. After all, you’ve built a business which is successful enough to become a franchise, so you’ve no doubt got your brand marketing down to a fine art. You know exactly how to manage enquiries, set up pipelines, connect with your audience, and sell your product or service.

So, it’s only natural you would draw from the same playbook to sell your franchise, right? It makes sense to use the same techniques… only it doesn’t always have the same results. You’ll probably start out seeing a lot of leads come in, and have a few promising conversations, but it’s nothing like what you’ve experienced with your core sales.

Why? Because prospective franchisees don’t behave in the same way as your customers.

Here’s what we often see:

• Marketing teams reuse sales-driven B2C or B2B content, assuming it will translate to franchise recruitment
• Prospects are treated like leads rather than individuals considering a deeply personal and professional commitment
• Franchise opportunities are pitched as transactional rather than transformational

As a result, leads who started out as exciting possibilities go cold, drift away, or just won’t take the next step.

It’s not because they’re not interested, it’s because they are not being engaged in the right way.

Marketing a franchise opportunity isn’t the same as marketing a product or service. It requires a very different mindset. Unlike what we would typically divide into B2C or B2B sales, franchise recruitment occupies a rare 3rd space we like to call :“B2F” (Business to Franchisee). It involves a little bit of both types of marketing, but is also something subtly different in its own right.

Like business customers, prospective franchisees want to see the facts: the business model, the numbers, the support structure etc. However, they’re also a lot like consumers: they also respond to emotion, identity, and aspiration. They want to see themselves in the story of your brand, and understand what their future could look like as part of it.

Facts alone won’t inspire action, but neither will the fast sales techniques you’re used to in dealing with your other customers, no matter how eye-catching and dynamic your brand is. In most marketing, communication is aimed at people willing to make decisions quickly, but that isn’t how it works in the world of franchising.

1 in 3 people who go on to become franchisees stay on leads database for at least 12 months.

This kind of audience needs to be nurtured and continually engaged with to see results. You’re asking them to make a huge life changing decision, and only a compelling story which puts them front and centre will inspire them to take action. That’s what B2F is all about, and it’s where Franchise Storytelling becomes absolutely critical. 

So, have you ever wondered whether your current approach is really doing justice to your franchise opportunity?

Or maybe you’d like to have an exchange of ideas on successful B2F comms? It’s always great to have someone to bounce some ideas off!

Either way, if you’d like to set up a time to chat, please feel free to schedule a call using the button below.