Perhaps you had a great initial conversation, and while you know not every promising lead is always going to pan out, this one seemed genuinely interested. They were a great match for your franchise, and you seemed to hit if off. You send over the brochure, maybe a couple of emails, and then…nothing.
Or maybe they even agreed to set up a discovery call with you, and then didn’t show up or reply to your messages?
It happens to every franchisor, but is it happening to you far more than it should?
The only way to answer that question is by answering another one:
Was it the lead that wasn’t serious, or was it that your process didn’t give them enough reason to stay engaged?
What happens when you get a new lead? For a lot of franchisors, it gets entered into a spreadsheet or basic email inbox. Whoever is in charge of dealing with them fires off the prospectus and a few intro emails and, if the prospect replies fairly soon, great – wheels start turning. However, it’s often far too easy to drop the ball if they don’t, especially if you’re dealing with dozens or even hundreds of other fresh leads coming in after a big event or marketing campaign.
There’s no structured follow-up, no record of previous conversations, no way to see at a glance who needs a nudge and what they were last told.
The lead goes cold, and that’s that, but it doesn’t have to be. Far too often this isn’t down to poor leads, or not positioning your franchise correctly – it’s a symptom of not having the right systems in place to efficiently and effectively following up.
When a prospect books a call and doesn’t turn up, or responds positively and then disappears for weeks, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve chosen someone else. In fact, most prospects need time to weigh up their options, and aren’t always ready to move at the pace you would like. Or sometimes other life events simply get in the way.
Unless you have a robust and methodical system in place to allow for intelligent, timely follow ups, those leads will inevitably fade away. Franchisors who consistently convert leads are the ones who treat every single enquiry as if it could be their next great franchisee, because any of them could be. They store everything: every note, every conversation, every piece of context that will help them pick up exactly where they left off, whether that’s two weeks or six months down the line. They have clear visibility of where every prospect is in the process and what they need next.
Of course, that requires a lot of time and attention. Fortunately, it’s also something which is very easy to automate if you use the right tools. Using automation intelligently, and in just the right way, such as having the right CRM systems in place, makes this entirely achievable.
So, is it worth taking a fresh look at your current set-up?
Not just at what CRM or system you’re using, but how you’re actually using it. For example, are you recording every interaction? Do you have a clear process for following up with leads who’ve gone quiet? If a prospect came back to you tomorrow after six months of silence, would you know exactly where you’d left things and what to say to them?
If you can’t honestly say you have systems in place to cover those essentials, it’s something you need to address. The cost of getting it wrong isn’t just a missed conversion, it’s all the time and money you’ve already spent generating that lead in the first place.
Andrew Croney
Franchise Consultant
