ended up at the front desk again in
need of a GPS navigation system to
find our way back to the appropriate
person’s voicemail. Some other companies that answered live identified themselves by the corporate name rather
than the franchise company we were inquiring about. Another frequent response was to send our mystery
shopper back to the Internet to fill out
a four-page form!
Where is the backup? On at least five
occasions our “shopper” was told that the
salesperson was on vacation or out of the
office and we should call back next week
or later in the day when they return.
Information collection was all over
the map. Several of the franchisors had
qualifiers who would ask the shopper a
series of prepared questions, while others took our name but failed to ask for
an email address or phone number.
Overall, I would say if you have a
qualifier, work with them to help them
become more natural and welcoming. It
was obvious in several calls that they
just wanted to get the form filled out
and get off the phone. Other qualifiers
probed very deeply into our shopper’s
financial qualifications and requested
four full pages of financials be returned
before the next phone call. This is understandable with some of the larger investment franchises or well-known
brands, but it wasn’t limited to those
brands. You have only one chance to
make that first impression. It’s imperative to train your entire staff and never
have a candidate feel unwelcome, or
that they’ve created an inconvenience
for the employee!
Timing of returned phone calls after
leaving a message was generally disappointing, save the several companies on
their game that called back within the
hour. Only 42 percent of messages left
at the franchisor resulted in a return
phone call within 48 hours.
In summary, franchisors must have
confidence in their franchise develop-
ment staff to follow up on the leads correctly and capitalize on their franchise
recruitment advertising. In today’s
tougher times and with all the talk of
low lead flow and poor quality, it’s hard
to take that talk at face value when
nearly 50 percent of the Internet and
call-in shopping didn’t even result in a
return phone call. It becomes increasingly important to train, train, and retrain and to put the right person in a
position where they can succeed. Your
qualifier, receptionist, sales people, and
backup phone assistant must be made
aware of the importance of these incoming calls.
Check your phone numbers. Try to
navigate your voicemail system. And, yes,
mystery shop your sales team. Let them
know this will be done several times a
year, and use the knowledge you gain to
either train them or make a change.
This is not brain surgery. Take care
of the candidates and you will award
more franchises in 2009.
