For Maximizing Initial Contact, Consider the Sequencing of Channels that Franchise Prospects Prefer
By: Michael Alston for Franchise Insights
August 21, 2024 – Like most individuals, franchise prospects want to know who is calling before accepting a call. Thirty-six percent of respondents indicated that they prefer to be emailed on initial contact by a franchise they have expressed interest in, according to fresh data in the recent July 2024 Franchise Insights Mystery Shopping survey.
Uncharacteristically in July, another 36% indicated a desire for a phone call for the initial contact. But this parity of first order preference is different from our years of monthly “mystery shopping” surveys, including the more typical results when we last shared franchise prospect contact preferences data.
Further, in all but eleven out of fifty-four monthly surveys (20%) by FranchiseInsights.com over the last five years, email was the clear preference for initial contact. In only 12.7% of monthly surveys over the same time period did voice win out over email, and in one other month than July, they were tied.
Following an initial email, sending a text is the most preferred follow-up method
In the most recent data, a clear majority (48%) 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.
Despite the “tie” for first between email and voice in July, a higher percentage of respondents indicated that voice was their third choice (40%) Further, getting a text was least preferred as first contact at 29%. Given these clear preferences, the likely most productive sequence is email, a follow-up text, and then a phone call.
Also in the same July 2024 survey, 61.9% of respondents said they were “unlikely or very unlikely to accept a phone call from a franchise” if they had “not previously received a text message or email from that company with more information.”
Summary: email remains the most preferred and likely most effective channel for initial contact, followed up by a text to confirm a voice call, if not accomplished in a personalized email up front.
See our resource on best practices for initial response to a franchise informational inquiry for more detail.
The Franchise Insights “mystery shopping” survey is conducted monthly among aspiring business buyers inquiring about franchises at the brands of FranchiseVentures.
Franchise Ventures is the leading franchise lead-generation platform for potential franchisees to thousands of growing franchise systems in the United States and Canada. Its franchise lead generation brands include Franchise.com, Franchise Solutions, Franchise Gator, Franchise Opportunities, Franchise For Sale, SmallBusinessStartup.com and BusinessBroker.net, and together they provide the largest aggregation of prospective franchise buyers in the U.S.
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Published on Tuesday, August 20th, 2024.