How Franchise Sales Outsourcing Can Benefit Your Operation

It sounds like a solid idea when you first decide that you should become a franchisor. You can expand the reach of your business without the massive capital outlay of starting a second or third location. You also retain substantial control over the processes that make the business your business model.



Every time someone opens a successful franchise location it becomes another way that you can build brand awareness. Unfortunately, the work of securing solid leads for franchisees can prove substantial. That's why so many franchisors turn to franchise sales outsourcing.

If you're struggling with sales, keep reading for the ways outsourcing your franchise sales can benefit your operation.

Gives You Your Time Back

As a franchisor, there is a good chance that you still take an active role in running at least one location. It helps you develop new products, new processes, and test alternatives.

In fact, your time is likely better spent working on refining your original business. That will make your franchisor business more successful.

When you take on the job of selling your franchise, you sacrifice all of those hours. You must promote your franchise, develop and review leads, and sort through applications. Outsourcing the franchise sales process lets you keep your mind focused on the things only you can do.

After all, you're in the best position to negotiate with major vendors. A lot of other people can handle fielding sales calls.

Frees Up Your Staff

There is a good chance that at least some members of your staff deal with selling franchises nearly full-time. There is also a good chance that you hired those people for their expertise in some other area.

Good employees will take on multiple roles. Yet, it's a bad use of resources when people work outside of their main area of expertise.

Of course, outsourcing isn't completely hands-off. Someone on your staff must take on communicating about and overseeing that outsourced sales process. Even if you do leave one person on that job, it lets you assign everyone else to tasks that will likely make you more money in the long run.

Keeps You Focused on Core Functions

One of the primary benefits of outsourcing is that it lets you hand off tasks for which your staff lacks the appropriate skills. Granted, acting as a franchisor may ultimately prove one of your biggest revenue centers. Yet, at the end of the day, you didn't build your organization around selling franchises.

You built your organization to run and improve your original business. You hired people for the tasks that support that business mission.

Even if you do get better at selling franchises, it's not a core function. Outsourcing puts it in the hands of people who built their organization around selling a franchise business to potential owners.

That lets you focus on the core functions of your original business. Meanwhile, the franchise selling experts focus on their core business mission: selling franchises.

Helps You Navigate Stiffer Competition

The number of companies that now operate as franchisors have increased dramatically in the last decade. That creates a much more competitive marketplace that you must navigate.

Twenty years ago, a cleaning company could offer a franchise and expect a fair amount of interest. Now, that same company must compete against many established franchise brands.

In fact, most new franchisors face the exact same problem. That means you need a very solid sales presentation if you expect to compete against similar franchise offerings. Unless you can show that your franchise offers a meaningful competitive advantage, potential buyers lack a good reason to pick you.

Formulating that sales pitch requires an in-depth knowledge of the franchise landscape in your industry. You might intuitively know that your business offers those advantages. Yet, it often takes an experienced hand to formulate that into a useful pitch.

Spares You Recruiting Headaches

Many franchisors initially consider bringing in a dedicated salesperson for franchise sales. This sounds goods on the surface, but it often proves less tenable in practice.

Experienced franchise salespeople often demand large salaries because they're a rare commodity. Meeting those salary demands can prove a challenge for startup franchises. Beyond that, many salespeople expect a commission on each sale that drives up the cost of keeping them on staff.

Startup franchises may also decide that they'll only sell a small number of franchises per year until the model proves itself. Aggressive salespeople will chafe under those restrictions since it puts a hard cap on their earnings.

Sales outsourcing lets you set terms for how many franchises you'll sell per year while the sales company can set a per sale rate. Since the sales company likely represents multiple franchises, they don't expect all of their revenue to come from sales of a single franchise.

Faster Growth

Selling your franchise as an internal process can often generate slow growth. Your team must develop competencies and, until they do, their missteps can cost you sales.

Outsourcing the process puts your franchise sales into an established sales system. You'll likely see more sales. You'll also likely see them faster.

That means you get faster growth and avoid unnecessary missteps early in the process.

Outsourcing Your Franchise Sales Makes Sense

Outsourcing your franchise sales makes sense for a lot of franchisors. You benefit in multiple ways.

You free up internal resources, such as yourself and your staff, for building and improving your business. You get an established sales process and an experienced sales team. That combination will likely generate more sales and generate them faster.

You also benefit from the sales company's much greater experience in a more demanding sales environment. They can help create a pitch that highlights the competitive advantages of picking your franchise.

Strategic Franchise Development specializes in helping new and established franchisors with full-service sales outsourcing. For questions or more information about our franchise sales services, contact Strategic Franchise Development today.