Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2014 | Page 48

Grow Market Lead

BY HELEN BOND

No Mystery Here:
Improvement Needed!
Survey highlights gaps in franchise recruitment

F

ranchisors seeking an edge in the increasingly
competitive world of franchise recruitment will
find it pays to go back to the basics.
That was one of the key recommendations
highlighted in Franchise Update Media’s Annual Franchise Development Report and Mystery Shopping Survey.
Mystery shopping was conducted for the franchise brands
that pre-registered for the conference and chose to have
their sales teams evaluated. This year’s study, by researchers posing as qualified prospects, includes data from 139
franchisors, representing 36,313 units (32,693 franchised
and 3,620 company-owned).
The annual exercise uncovered the best—and the
worst—practices by brands that participated in the research,
says Greg Vojnovic, chief development officer at Popeyes
Louisiana Kitchen. He led a high-level panel that analyzed
the results at a general session during the 2014 Franchise
Leadership & Development Conference, held in Atlanta
in October. Panelists were Art Coley, former CEO and
president of AlphaGraphics, John Teza, chief development
officer at Jersey Mike’s Subs, and Tom Wood, CEO and
president of Floor Coverings International.
“There were two interesting things that occurred that
were the exact opposite of each other,” says Vojnovic.
“There is a group of folks who attend the conference who
really learn and do all the things right, and others who
come to the conference and don’t do anything—don’t do
the fundamentals. They are missing great opportunities.
These aren’t complicated things.”
Luis Zuniga, president of Mile Marker 10 and new
to the survey evaluation team, was surprised by the weak
response of the franchisors he mystery shopped. Zuniga,
who evaluated website response, found that of the 139
franchisors he contacted, only 54 returned a call within
the alloted time frame, and only 49 responded with both
an email and a phone call.
The findings didn’t bode much better for responses to

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telephone inquiries. Telephone mystery shopping conducted
by national franchise development company Kiekenapp &
Associates revealed there is much work to be done:
• 8 percent had the wrong number or no phone number on their website;
• 22 percent of sales staff were available for the first call;
• 49 percent of calls resulted in voicemail or receptionist;
• 5 percent of callers were referred to the franchise
website; and
• 12 percent of sales staff never returned the call.
These lukewarm responses by sales development teams
comes as potential franchisees increasingly turn to their
phones to research and connect with companies. Mobile
phone use by prospects nearly doubled in August, compared
with the same [۝[