Jun 15, 2016 | Blogs, News
We recommend that every franchisor we work with develops a perfect pitch (or your elevator pitch) to let prospects know who they are and what they do. A perfect pitch will help you to quickly and efficiently tell prospects what’s involved with your franchise opportunity and how it could benefit them. The idea being that if you were stuck in a lift with someone for 30 seconds, how do you convey your most important messages in that time? It should act as the foundation for any copy that you write about your business. It includes your key messages that should be contained within all communications, whether it be in sales, through your website, networking, video, phone calls and any other introductory communications.
By developing a perfect pitch, you ensure that your whole team has a base to start from when trying to communicate about your franchise opportunity. It also means that they’re all on the same page and providing your prospects with exactly the same message.
The work we undertake in creating a perfect pitch for our clients is based on our own extensive work, NLP techniques, and the psychology of the UK franchisee decision making process. The vital factors are the four stages of engagement:
- Clarity
- Credibility
- Relevance
- Believability
The creation of a perfect pitch will allow you to ensure that all of the communications used throughout your recruitment process and marketing are consistent. ‘Create once use many times!’; your perfect pitch can be used in all of the communications you have with prospects, from press releases, newsletters and editorial to emails and phone calls. It helps to give you, your team and your prospects clarity around what you do.
As you liaise more and more with you prospects, you will identify which key messages are important to them and you should use this first-hand information to tweak your current messaging or incorporate new messages. We also highly recommend that you research your existing network and find out more about what motivated them to join your franchise and try to incorporate these messages into your perfect pitch in order to attract more of the same people to your network.
Contact us to find out more about how to create a perfect pitch for your business.
May 19, 2016 | Blogs, News
In an age where we are constantly bombarded by adverts asking us to buy, buy, buy, there is a fine balance between overloading your franchise prospects with too much information during the recruitment process and not providing enough. If you bombard them every day with sales messages from the day they enquire with you, you’re likely to put them off pretty quickly or end up in the junk folder!
The recruitment process is based around building trust between you and your prospects until they are ready to make a decision and pick up the phone to you. Your communication with prospects should reflect this. Let prospects know what the benefits of your franchise opportunity are to them rather than telling them what you do and for what price. Your communications should operate in line with your recruitment process to help push prospects further through the process. Structure your communications around your recruitment process and you’re likely to see more franchisees coming through.
A successful recruitment process consists of lead generation, lead management and conversion. Different types of information through different channels are required at each of these stages. Yet, you must ensure that the messages you send out are consistent and provide a clear understanding of your franchise opportunity. This will draw prospects to you naturally.
Researching your target audience before undertaking any franchisee recruitment campaign will greatly increase your chances of attracting more leads. Understanding which media channels your target audience prefer to receive information through and which social activities they engage in will ensure that you allocate your resources as effectively as possible and don’t overload your prospects with too much information.
Lead Generation
Lead generation is the first step in building long-term relationships with your prospects. To achieve successful lead generation, you need to be proactive and present your company as an attractive opportunity. You can’t just sit back and hope they’ll come to you.
Lead Management
Lead management is the process of following up your leads. For prospects, this is the stage where they consider whether your franchise is an interesting opportunity or not.
Some prospects prefer to be in the driver’s seat of procuring more information about your franchise and others might want you to provide the information directly. This will often depend on their sense of urgency so you need to establish the communication channels that permit both. However, prospects are only interested for a short period of time and online-only communication channels are often slow with long response times and little consistency so it is important to bear in mind that prospects will be considering other opportunities.
At this stage, it is important to provide prospects with all the necessary information about what joining your franchise will entail. Successful lead management will lead to higher lead conversion so it is important that you get it right at this stage.
Lead conversion
Lead conversion involves transforming a lead into a franchisee. In order to achieve this, you need to provide information about anticipated timescales and support to effectively outline the course of action. This will ensure that prospects view you as a franchisor that is professional and well organised.
In order to provide the right information at the right time, you not only need to research characteristics of your perfect franchisee but also their behaviour. No prospect is exactly like another but you can identify common themes that will resonate across your target audience. It is important to bear in mind that prospects have different information needs in each stage of the recruitment process. We recommend that you create a bespoke plan outlining which information needs are to be addressed via which channels, as well as when they are to be addressed in your recruitment process.
Think you might be overloading your prospects with information? We can help you perfect your recruitment process and communications. Contact us on info@coconutcreatives.co.uk or call 01725 511 673.
May 16, 2016 | Blogs
As the warmer weather finally begins, Coconut Creatives have been reflecting on a successful Q1. We launched our bfa Qualified Franchise Professional approved workshops this year and we’ve had a great response so far. The franchisors in attendance have been engaged and have taken away useful information and advice to implement within their businesses. We’ve had great feedback so far and we can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings for our workshop programme.
In other news, our Founding Director, Sarah Carlile, has finally had her baby! Baby Thea was born on 10th May and is the newest addition to the Coconut family. Sarah will be tied up for the next few months attending to the baby’s every need but, in true Sarah fashion, she’s still on call if the Coconuts need her. As Sarah unwinds and enjoys her baby’s first few months, Paul Clegg is taking the reins as Managing Director and keeping the team in order.
And we’ve got even more to look forward to over the next couple of months! The EWIF Awards 2016 will soon be upon us and we can’t wait to celebrate the achievements of so many women within our industry. There was a fantastic response this year and we’d like to thank everyone for taking the time to tell us about their achievements.
After a Coconut Wedding, our very own Helen Thresh will become Helen Mansfield, and then we’re ready to tackle the summer months before the busy Autumn period begins. We know that the summer can be a quiet time for our franchisor clients while prospects relax on holiday but we’ll be busier than ever at Coconut Creatives as we prepare our clients for the busy exhibition period by making sure stands, collateral and team members are updated and ready to tell prospects about their opportunity.
2016 is set to be an exciting year for Coconut Creatives and we’ve still got even more plans in the pipeline to make sure our services are innovative so that our clients remain at the top of their game and ahead of their competitors. The latter half of the year will also see Sarah returning to work and we’re sure the break will have given her time to think of more ways we can continue to develop our services!
To find out more about working with Coconut Creatives or attending one of our workshops in 2016, please contact us on 01725 511 673 or info@coconutcreatives.co.uk
May 6, 2016 | Blogs
Our Founding Director, Sarah Carlile was recently interviewed for Gill Donnell’s Successful Women Podcast. As a successful business owner, with a wealth of experience in both business ownership and franchising, she’s well placed to offer her advice to aspiring business women.
Gill spoke to Sarah about what motivates her to be successful, about Coconut Creatives and how she continues to evolve to keep up with changes in the industry, the company and technology. Many businesses face adversity but Sarah knows that she can use it to her advantage and change the way she runs the business.
“I’m passionate about teaching other people about what I know but I also want to absorb other people’s knowledge to help evolve my own. I think that’s one of the reasons that Coconut Creatives has been around for so long. We’re constantly developing and evolving what we’re doing, especially in the online world. I’m not a jack of all trades and nor should I be. I have experts within the team at Coconut Creatives to make sure we are able to cover all bases. The members of the team fit together like jigsaw pieces and that’s how we’re able to offer a mix of services to our clients,” explains Sarah.
Sarah has perfected the art of franchise recruitment with over a decade of experience in the industry and, although she may be taking a quick break for maternity leave, the team know that she’ll be back with even more ideas on her return to work!
If you would like more information about how Coconut Creatives can help you with your franchise recruitment marketing, please contact us on info@coconutcreatives.co.uk
Apr 26, 2016 | Blogs, Coconut News, News
As you may already know, our Founding Director Sarah Carlile, is taking a short step away from Coconut Creatives to have her second baby. From April onwards, Sarah will be putting her feet up and waiting for baby to arrive in early May. However, the Coconuts are sure she won’t be disappearing completely as Sarah has never been known to fully sit back and relax! Paul Clegg will be stepping up as Managing Director and taking the reins at Coconut Creatives.
As the former Franchise Recruitment Manager at Mac Tools, Paul has a great understanding and knowledge of the franchise industry and really knows what makes franchisees and franchisors tick. Having joined the team last summer, Paul has embraced the Coconut Creatives ethos and takes care of the client management and keeping the team motivated and organised!
Paul will be aided in his duties by two more Directors, Adam Knight and Adam Lovelock, as well as the usual Coconut team made up of Rebecca, Helen, Tania, Amy and Rachel who help to take care of the client work and keep the Coconut Creatives cogs turning!
“I’m happy to be leaving the day to day management and running of Coconut Creatives in Paul’s hands. I will be taking a short space of time away from the business but I will still be working away behind the scenes! The Coconuts know that they can call on me anytime. With the business in Paul’s capable hands, our clients both present and future can be assured that there will be no disruption from the Coconut service in my absence. The team are excited about the changes being made and we’re stronger than ever. Every member of our team has something different to bring to Coconut Creatives and Paul will be keeping them all in order and making sure we continue to provide our outstanding service,” explains Sarah.
It’s business as usual at Coconut Creatives and they will be continuing to work hard to make sure that each and every client receives the very best service and continues to recruit those all-important franchisees.
“It’s been an exciting couple of months at Coconut Creatives and I’m really looking forward to managing the team on a daily basis. They’re great to work with and have adapted really well to the change of directorship! They accepted me straight away as part of the team and are always receptive and responsive to new ideas. It’s great to see the way Coconut is evolving whilst still maintaining the core services and values. I hope to keep these as well as bringing my own ideas to the table,” adds Paul Clegg.
Apr 22, 2016 | Blogs
Using your network of existing franchisees for recruitment marketing is one of the best and most effective ways for you to continue building your franchise network, explains Sarah Carlile, Founding Director of Coconut Creatives.
Referrals from existing franchisees have proven to be one of the most successful ways to generate new leads and recruit new, successful franchisees. Referral candidates are more likely to be seriously interested in a franchise opportunity because they have seen first-hand, the benefits of owning a franchise because they are a customer, friend or family of an existing franchisee.
To increase your chances of gaining referrals it is important to make sure that your existing franchisees are satisfied with the training, support and service you provide to them. Referrals are much better leads because people feel more comfortable with investing a large amount of money into something that has been recommended to them by someone they know and trust. Referrals are warm leads because there has already been a certain degree of interest, comfort and credibility established between you.
Engaging your franchise network
Implementing a formal referral system to reward your franchisees who recommend your franchise is a very worthwhile activity but do spend some time explaining this system to your franchise network otherwise you will only get a few ad hoc referrals. Let them know how beneficial a referral system is to the franchise network as a whole. Expansion provides the whole network with greater brand recognition and greater market share for individual franchisees. When individuals within the franchise network are productive, everyone benefits.
Your best-performing franchisees are most likely to bring in the highest quality leads. Referral candidates often share the same values, skills and experience as the franchisee that referred them. The basis for most referrals is often not an incentive provided by you but pride in their brand and joy in sharing their success story with friends and family.
Understanding top performers’ characteristics
Look at your top performing franchisees and identify characteristics or interests that they have in common in order to narrow down your target market for franchise recruitment. You can then tailor suitable messages and use relevant media to target similar people and generate new prospects. When asking existing franchisees for referrals, let them know the type of person you are looking for. For example, if you find that many of your top performing franchisees once took a managerial position within a service industry and enjoyed team sports, ask your franchisees to talk to colleagues within their business networks who share those characteristics.
Supporting events
Another way to use your franchise network for recruitment purposes is to take existing franchisees with you to exhibitions and events. This has a two-pronged effect; it will show prospects that you value your franchisees, their opinions and input into the franchise system and it also gives prospects the opportunity to talk directly to someone who actually has been through the franchise buying process.
Building trust
These activities are all trust-building exercises during the franchise recruitment process but franchisors can also build this in to all of their franchise recruitment collateral – online and print. Keep an up-to-date bank of testimonials from your franchise network to use in your collateral. Create franchisee case studies so that you can drip feed these throughout the recruitment process – always providing a realistic view of your franchise network, how it performs financially and how the culture of the business can benefit the prospect.
Ultimately, using your franchise network as your brand advocates will strengthen your position as a reliable franchisor and, in turn, support your franchise recruitment targets.
