| Sales Smarts
It’s All About Them
Building sales
through relationships
As the “franchise world” turns
toward technology that allows
us to respond automatically through
emails, send links to articles, and educate customers through “mass information” emails, we may be looking
past a simple premise of selling such
as “building a relationship.”
People buy from people they can relate to and like. Technology can’t
bring that to the party, it can only enhance what we do during the sales
process. Most candidates don’t read or
look at all the “fluff” until they have
developed a comfort zone with the
sales professional. The sales professional needs to transmit the feeling
that they care about the future of the
candidate and then create a sales
process of “mutual exploration.”
Initial contact should start with a
phone call to the franchise candidate,
not a series of emails asking them to
complete forms or call you. In my 28
years in the franchise business I’ve yet
to award a franchise to someone I’ve
not talked with in person or on the
phone. Technology-driven emails are a
cold greeting for someone who is
looking to change their life and risk a
large portion of the family’s savings.
Blending voice mails with emails during the first five to seven days is critical; don’t just send emails.
Once you’ve made contact with the
franchise candidate, it is time to set
yourself apart from the competition
by taking a personal interest in your
candidate’s success. Yes, you can be a
“consultant” even if you have only
your brand.
The Initial Call: Set a phone appoint-
ment
♦ Keep it brief and set an appointment
at a later time.
♦ Qualify the candidate by testing their
interest level to set an appointment.
♦ Don’t spill your “guts” and start talking about your concept.
♦ Explain to them what you will cover
during the next call.
The First Phone Appointment:
“Gathering all the eggs”
♦ This phone call is about them.
♦ This phone call is not about you or the
concept.
♦ Probe into why this is the right time to
invest in a franchise.
♦ Ensure there’s family support.
♦ Check to see they are financially
sound.
♦ Find out where they are, how long
they have been considering a franchise.
♦ Probe to see what they want to get
out of the franchise concept.
The best close is a good opening and
taking the time to create a relationship.
Demonstrating to the candidate that
this will be a “mutual exploration” will
be a much different approach than that
of most other sales professionals. People don’t care how much you know until you show them how much you care
about their future. Gathering the fol-
lowing information during this phone
appointment is important. Focus on
the major factors near and dear to your
prospect:
F = Family
O = Occupation
R = Recreation
M = Money
Building this type of relationship
early in the process will allow you to
ask the “hard questions” in a soft way.
You cannot help the candidate until
they are willing to give you good information to help them. As most of us
have experienced, a candidate will not
share information on their financial position in regard to other franchises they
are investigating, even if they have family support. As you build an environment of mutual exploration, the candidate will feel your “intent” to help
them. Once the candidate understands
your intent to help, good information
from the candidate will start to flow.
This process takes great discipline on
the sales professional’s part. I have
found over the years that the number
of franchises you award will be directly
related to the number of questions you
ask and the information you gather.
The bottom line is getting to know the
candidate, their needs, wants, and desires. This will allow you to qualify the fit
with your franchise concept. If candidates don’t discover franchise owners that
remind them of themselves and discover
the key elements they are looking for in
your concept, they will move on. If candidates are unwilling to engage in this
process, you most likely are spending
time with the wrong candidates. Find
candidates that are willing to work with
you on this process and you will award
more franchises in 2008.
—Marc Kiekenapp
