Franchise Development Benchmarking

Franchise Development Contact Attempt Rates Dropped During Summer Pandemic Months, and Are Rising Again

October 1, 2020

When we last reported results from our monthly survey of interested franchise buyers in May, franchisors were contacting 62.5% of prospective franchisees sourced from FranchiseVentures lead generation platform. In fact, this reading was the second highest in all of 2020, despite the uncertainty and organizational disruption brought by the pandemic. Soon, a disconcerting trend emerged, …

Franchise Prospects Report Higher Contact Attempt Rates in 2020

May 21, 2020

According to a May survey of interested franchise buyers, more franchisors are consistently following through with each inquiry and attempting to make contact. In May, 62.5% of respondents report being contacted by each of the one or more franchises to which they inquired. This is all the more important, considering that over 46% of prospective …

Franchisors Adapt Budgets to Coronavirus Impact in March

April 16, 2020

A comparative analysis of February and March advertising spending of FranchiseVentures clients revealed a spectrum of mindsets toward development investments, as brands contended with the financial and operational challenges wrought by the coronavirus. The two determinants of spending are 1) budget, and 2) the availability of leads (buyer demand). Some of the changes seen were …

Development Budgets Increasing For Franchises Across All Growth Stages

December 19, 2019

Over 63% of franchise systems plan to spend more to recruit new franchisees in 2020, and a closer look at key segments shows that confidence is strong in franchise systems in all stages of growth. Plans to maintain or increase spending were strong across emerging, established and large franchise systems, according to a survey across …

More Than 63% of Franchisors Plan To Increase Recruitment Spend in 2020

December 17, 2019

In a strong showing of their confidence about the future, nearly two-thirds of franchises plan to spend more to recruit new franchisees in 2020, according to a survey across the Franchise Ventures demand-generation platform. “Business confidence is evident in franchises, the leading category of small businesses,” said Michael Alston, president of Franchise Ventures. “Growth-oriented franchises …

Franchise Daypart Data Helps Unravel the Mystery Behind “Low” Contact Rates

October 10, 2019

Oct. 10, 2019 – Ask any franchise development team what the No.1 franchisee recruitment challenge is, and chances are you’ll hear “contact rate” mentioned. The percentage of franchise inquiries with a successful return phone call is consistently lower than targets in industry Mystery Shopping surveys. This is even more astounding when you realize that the …

Mobile Phones Surge in 2019 as Top Source for Franchise Prospects

October 10, 2019

Smartphones are growing at an even faster rate this year as the No.1 way that franchise prospects begin their investment process. After several years of single-digit growth, the smartphone share of new franchise inquiries grew 12% over the past 12 months – reaching a full 73% of Internet inquiries originating on a mobile phone. That’s …

Franchise Marketers, Do You Know WHERE Your Prospects Are?

January 11, 2019

Franchisors, there’s a huge mismatch in your new-unit sales funnel – 67% of all franchise inquiries are sent outsite of business hours, times that don’t lend themselves to an immediate phone conversation. And that problem gets tougher for national franchisors, when you consider the vast expanse of the 50 states and 6 main time zones …

Prospect Data Shows Contact Opportunity Beyond Business Hours

January 2, 2019

Jan. 2, 2019 – If you work in new franchise development, you know how crucial the first phone call is – and how hard it is to make that phone connection. Year after year, contact rates for the franchising industry remain challenging, and now we know why. It boils down to this: There’s an eye-popping …

Franchises See Mobile Recruitment Triple

October 11, 2018

Franchise development teams, take note: The mobile Internet revolution has up-ended the top of your marketing funnel. Internet franchise portals are the leading source of inquiries from potential franchise owners, and the smart phone is their Internet connection of choice. That’s according to new research shared at the Franchise Leadership and Development Conference in Atlanta, …