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
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
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.
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.
Coconut Creatives would like to congratulate Wagging Tails for being shortlisted in the 2016 Franchise Marketing Awards. They were up for Best Franchisee Marketing Support this year and part of their success and growth of the support on offer to their franchisees has included the Coconut Creatives Market Your Franchise Programme.
The Franchise Marketing Awards are one of the biggest accolades in the franchise industry. The awards recognise those franchisors who offer innovative and effective marketing support to their franchisees to help them become as successful as possible.
Wagging Tails have been using Market Your Franchise for just over 12 months and they’ve seen great results for their franchise network. Through using Market Your Franchise, Wagging Tails have helped the turnover across their business network increase by over 75% in the last year.
Market Your Franchise is designed specifically for franchisees, to guide them through marketing their businesses in their local areas through a series of online training modules that can be undertaken at the franchisees own pace. Franchisees have access to a wealth of resources and materials including customisable templates, planning tools, best-practice models and market-leading knowledge.
“Being shortlisted for their award is testament to the hard work and effort that Wagging Tails put in to their franchise network. They’re constantly looking for ways to help support their network and make sure that each and every franchisee is as successful as possible. We were delighted when Wagging Tails decided to sign up to Market Your Franchise and it has proven to be very successful for them,” explains Sarah Carlile, Founding Director of Coconut Creatives.
To help increase turnover in your business network, please contact Helen on helen@coconutcreatives.co.uk or click here to find out more about the Coconut Creatives Market Your Franchise Programme.
In our last blog post we looked at Making The Most Of Your Existing Database and discussed the importance of sending regular communications to your database of prospective franchisees. One of the ways we suggested is to send a monthly newsletter or (as we like to call it) a keep warm email!
So sit back with a cuppa and watch this month’s #CocoQuickTip on how to keep your leads warm.
If you have any questions you would like answered in a #CocoQuickTip video tweet them to @coconut_creativ using the hashtag #CocoQuickTip
