Tricks to Encouraging Franchise Brokers to Push Your Franchise

Every single franchisor who uses the broker network wants the broker network to push their brand. Makes sense. The challenge, however, is supply and demand.

There are not an infinite number of franchise buyers — in fact, if there were a study on year-over-year franchisees (especially first-timers), we would imagine the number would remain fairly consistent (not including the COVID of 2020). 

Thus, if more franchisors are created — or more franchisors join the inventory side of the broker network, the deals per diminishes. Thus, it is vital for franchisors to create an educational pathway for the broker community to push their brand. 

We have discussed the basics at nauseum — clear why you, why now; proven unit-level economics; a team who can process the candidate successfully; a smart incentive program; open territories; and validators.

Then, it comes to creating stories, content and resources (anyone say videos?) to give to the broker community so that they have the tools to properly communicate to their limited pool of buyers. 

If you don’t do the blocking and tackling, then you are simply praying that the magical unicorn broker will push your brand. That, unfortunately is an extreme rarity.

So, in order to gain more traction with the broker community, you must facilitate a relationship and provide resources to make telling your story easy. You must be the wingman (or wingperson) to their sales process in order to get more deals done.

Reaching the Franchise Broker Attraction Tipping Point

80-20 Rule (Pareto Principle): 80% of success comes from 20% of a business’s actions. We all know the rule and have seen it in action. 

So, how can you apply it to your franchise broker sales strategy? 

How do you get to the tipping point where your brand consistently attracts broker referrals and sales? 

How do you make it look easy?

The answer is that you focus on the 20%! It’s where opportunity exists and while the steps involved are no secret, they are often overlooked or inconsistently applied. 

How do you get there? 

Below are two examples of the extra steps that you should be taking to supercharge your franchise broker development strategy:

EXAMPLE 1: BROKER NETWORKING

What Most Brands Do – They let the network initiate and facilitate the broker communications.

The Extra Steps You Should Be Taking! – Communicate with the brokers directly, reach out to them on LinkedIn, build out your own mailing lists, and engage with the broker through social media, including communications focused on supporting the broker and their efforts. Host broker paid-for discovery days at your headquarters, and networking events.

EXAMPLE 2: BROKER COMMUNICATIONS

What Most Brands Do – They over rely on commissions and personal relationships without developing a compelling value proposition for brokers and their franchisee candidates.

The Extra Steps You Should Be Taking! – Build a robust communication hub on your website that communicates a compelling why you / why now. Build content specifically for brokers that includes a demonstration of your process and the journey that franchisee candidates will experience when referred to your brand. Build content around your management team and vision of what your brand will be like 1, 2, 3 and 5 years from now and the transformation that your franchisees will experience.

Take a good look in your brand’s mirror, close the gaps, and adjust your approach if you want to win more at franchise growth in 2022.