Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2016 | Page 53

LIGHTS!
made a connection with him.”
The Carmel, Ind.-based backyard
bird feeding and nature specialty brand,
which began franchising in 1983, also
was a runner-up in the Best Franchisee
Satisfaction category.

BEST TELEPHONE
PROSPECT
FOLLOW-UP
2nd Place:
FirstLight Home Care

“If you snooze, you
lose” may sound passé, but Bill McPherson,
executive director of
franchise development
for Cincinnati-based
FirstLight Home
Care, said quick teleBill McPherson
phone follow-up on
prospects is a winning formula for the
company.
“We try to do a good job of educating all our first responders as to the nature of the calls, the key information we
want to gather, what we want to explain,
and our key criteria,” he says. “We have
a pre-qualifier who works in franchise
development and reports to me. If the
call comes from the website, it goes to
her first. If the candidate contacts us
through our corporate office, it goes to
her or another first responder.”
On a second call, potential franchisees speak to a franchise director. “This
is when we talk more specifically about
the due diligence process. We send out
information, step-by-step, on markets
and financial criteria,” McPherson says.
“I learned a long time ago that you have
to be very responsive. If a call comes by
phone or email, our goal is to get back
to them in 60 minutes. If we hear from
them at the end of the business day, we
get back to them first thing the next day.”
Technology means that FirstLight is
getting more candidates coming to their
website, sending an email or filling out
the form, he says. “We have a responsive
website, but I’ve trained my team that
this does not take the place of human
interaction, especially in our model.
We’re not a retail or fast food concept.
This is about taking care of people in
need. It’s a very personal business, and
the sooner we connect in person with
candidates, the better.”

BEST WEBSITE
PROSPECT
FOLLOW-UP

1st Place:
Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop
Capriotti’s dynamic
duo of Bruce Evans,
vice president of franchise development, and
Krystal Conrad, franchise development
manager (who doubles
as pre-qualifier and
Bruce Evans
salesperson), springs
into action as soon as a prospect comes
their way.
“We use FranConnect as our CRM,
so people are limited as to what they can
put in there, but unless they say ‘Don’t
contact me,’ Krystal will call them back
as soon as possible to put a voice with the
name,” says Evans. “Even though people
today are so tech-driven and into sending emails and texts, they still like to talk
with a live person.”

“We want to
understand their
goals, dreams, and
desires and make
sure they know
what our values
and mission are
so they know if
they want to be
part of it.”
Generally, within 24 hours, Evans and
Conrad team up and get on the phone
together with prospects. “Our goal is to
get to know people so we know if they’re
the right fit for our brand,” says Evans.
“There are quantitative and qualitative
ways of