ADVICE
B
eing different, unpredictable and unexpected in an industry that expects you to behave in a certain way feels a little weird. But true success is limited to the
few who are prepared to step outside their comfort zone. “Simply put,” says Shilen Patel, founder of Independents United, speaking to The Telegraph, “innovation is rational, whereas disruption is irrational.” Those who stand out from the crowd win new business – it’s that simple! With around 1,000 franchise models in the UK alone, potential franchisees have a lot of choice. In today’s volatile world with so much advertising noise, you have to find your way to cut through it and turn heads. Why? Because the company is doing something unexpected. People are curious creatures and instantly want to know more when their interest has been piqued. At Coconut Creatives, we often find new franchisees want one key entity that is rarely addressed in marketing material: the need for a leader. But people don’t want their leader to be boring or the same as everyone else. They want innovation, inspiration and creativity, all wrapped up in a structure they easily understand and can get behind.
It’s time to get practical Here are four simple and effective ways I have identified that will inspire you to start making your business disruptive:
Customer service • Be real: use technology to support personal contact with your potential franchisees. This area is constantly developing, so don’t shy away from what you don’t use
• Be authentic: consider giving potential franchisees a list of franchise solicitors they can contact for advice. You’re demonstrating trust with them and cutting down time in your recruitment process, instead of waiting for them to find someone themselves
• Be unique: recent trends show people desire the ‘personal touch’ over ‘professional’. Send
prospective franchisees your prospectus in handwritten envelopes instead of mail- merged ones; it looks like you made time for them personally.
Product innovation • Be real: provide your franchisees with a start-up marketing campaign even before they launch, and inspire them to build the business from inception
• Be authentic: provide new franchisees with qualified data leads and customers to support activity from day one. You know what to look for, they don’t
• Be unique: create customer delight for your potentials from the moment they contact you. Make a phone call – don’t just leave them to your automated system. The millennial generation in particular have cottoned on to current marketing trends, so want more ‘old-school’ techniques!
Sales and marketing • Be real: use who you are to entice and inspire potential franchisees. You and your brand are by far the best form of advertising. Cafe2U, for example, involves its prospects in making coffee when they attend its discovery days. The powerful smell of coffee, combined with hands-on involvement, leads to an effective and memorable experience
• Be authentic: consider the impact face-to- face meetings and discovery days have on new territory sales. I bet there are lots you can do to match your brand values and status with a little creative, outside-of-the- box thinking
• Be unique: try ‘sensory branding’. Finding ways to bring all five senses into your marketing experience makes you more memorable. Smell is often the hardest, but can be extremely effective. There’s a great book by Seth Godin called Purple Cow, which has a range of techniques to prompt you to think outside the box.
Technology • Be real: you know your franchise inside out!
So, don’t be afraid to set yourself as an expert in your area and speak out. Be helpful and non-salesy, and those hot prospects will want to re-engage with you. Sam Acton of Domestic Angels has totally nailed this with her keep-warm emails, which demonstrate her personality with their quirky content. As a result, most of her hottest prospects aren’t even considering another franchise. If you have a database of unutilised prospects, try sending fun and quirky emails to re-engage them. Using an email system like Astonish Email makes this so easy for you
• Be authentic: use social media to tell your story. A lot of franchisors lead potential franchisees through automated emails, but continue to engage with them and not just preach at them. Connecting with franchisees allows them to see the full story of what you offer, rather than just what they think you think they want to hear
• Be unique: make use of video and Facebook Live as an engagement tool. Research shows people are more likely to watch videos than read – it’s less time consuming. This is literally transforming the way we connect remotely.
Learn ideas for being different, unpredictable and unexpected At Coconut Creatives, we have generated hundreds of thousands of pounds for clients using these methods. It’s often hard to get started with new growth tools, so we break big tasks down into digestible pieces through our QFP-accredited franchisor workshop programme, and online franchise mastermind franchisor forum. n
Coconut Creatives
info@coconutcreatives.co.uk www.coconutcreatives.co.uk
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