Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2014 | Page 54

Grow Market Lead

“We want them to feel so welcome that even if they don’t get involved as a
franchisee, they’ll want to come back as customers.”
—Doug Wong, Denny’s

2nd Place (tie): CertaPro Painters

Key to successful prospect phone follow-up is having the right
people at the right stage of the process, says Peter Barkman,
vice president of franchise development. “What’s worked well
for us is the recognition that, in most cases, somebody really
good at working with a prospect at the front end of the process is different, from a personality standpoint, from those
working with the prospect at the end of the process, taking
them through due diligence.” Barkman says the people making
contact after the initial call must have a “disciplined, organized
approach and be able to connect quickly with people.” On
the recruiting side, he adds, the right person is “more about
building longer relationships.”

2nd Place (tie): Denny’s

Denny’s recruitment philosophy is to
have franchise prospects feel just as
welcome when they express interest
in joining the brand as they do when
they drop by one of the 61-year-old
concept’s many restaurants. “We are
totally committed to treating the franchise experience just like the consumer experience. We want them to
feel so welcome that even if they don’t
Doug Wong
get involved as a franchisee, they’ll
want to come back as customers,” says Doug Wong, senior
director of global franchise recruitment for the Spartanburg,
S.C., company. “Many of our prospects, who are often Denny’s consumers who love the brand and want to become franchisees, call in. That’s their comfort zone. Anytime someone
picks up the phone to call you, there’s interest. Our job is to
take that interest and move it to int [