Using the tools of data science and proprietary data from individuals exploring franchises and businesses for sale, along with website analytics and direct surveys, we identify best practices for franchise development teams and franchise lead generation.
Best Practices For Initial Prospect Contact
The optimal order for following up with franchise prospects who inquire about franchises involves considering the odds. Segments of the pool of franchise leads will prefer one of the nine permutations of order of three contact methods (email, voice and text). To have the highest expectations of fruitful contact, especially given the 24/7 nature of lead flow, it pays to listen to what prospects want overall.
Email First
Email remains the most preferred and safest channel for initial response to a franchise inquiry in years of surveys by FranchiseInsights.com.
The asynchronous nature of email makes it the most effective channel for the overwhelming majority of franchise leads which arrive outside of business hours, including weekends and holidays. It is also a more conducive medium for making a brief and effective “elevator pitch” and conveying information such as video, links or a pdf brochure. Given the dominance of mobile phone use over landlines among business buyers, email is the most convenient for the prospect and best medium to introduce yourself and begin to tell your story.
Moreover, Apple’s prompt to users to set up the “silence unknown callers” feature, introduced in the April 2021 iOS release, followed by the “live voicemail” feature introduced to iOS17 in September 2023, make it critical to email an introduction first, so that the prospect knows to expect a call from you and add you to their contacts.
If they don’t, however, at least iOS 17 will pass you to “live voicemail” rather than banish you silently to the inbox . An automated introductory email at least gives you a chance to introduce yourself and set up a voice call for success. Include wording in your initial contact email to the effect that:
“Your Caller ID may not indicate that it’s me, [your first and last name] calling from [name of franchise], so we suggest adding our number [your number in format XXX-XXX-XXXX] to your phone contacts”.
Follow Up With an Introductory Text in Prospect’s Daytime Hours to Confirm or Set Up a Call
In the most recent data, a clear majority (55.4%) of respondents said receiving a text was the second most preferred choice for initial contact about a franchise they are interested in learning more about, consistent with most of the prior five years of monthly surveys.
Getting a text, however, was least preferred as first contact at 23.7% – less than receiving a phone call at 33.9%.
Then Make a Voice Call
While almost half of respondents (47.2%) indicated that voice was their overall third choice for initial contact, still over a third (33.9%) say it was their first choice. So the best practice is to set up a mutually agreeable time via email or text, and after that, nothing replaces a phone call for exchanging information in search of a productive relationship.
