I’ve just spent 30 minutes on the phone telling someone NOT to join us.
I received a WhatsApp from someone interested in our franchise after I had answered a couple of questions:
‘Ok, I am willing to go ahead with the agreement.’
As Head of Sales and Marketing, my job is to get our proposition seen by people interested in starting their own travel business, and then help educate them on how we might be able to help them be successful in doing this.
As a responsible franchisor, it’s also my job to identify candidates that have the right characteristics and interests for potential success.
When I received the message above, I called them back and had a discussion.
I was asking questions like:
- What’s your background?
- What interests do you have?
- Why do you want to start your own travel agency?
- What is your vision for your agency?
- How many hours do you intend on putting into the business?
- What destinations have you visited?
- What destinations are you interested in selling?
- What type of holidays would you like to sell?
- Would you enjoy selling this sort of holiday?
- How big is that market?
- Who is your target customer?
- What service would you like to provide?
To me, franchising is a partnership, not a one-way street, and by asking the questions above, I get a pretty good overview of you, your background and what you’re looking to achieve.
I don’t see how:
- A franchisee can decide a franchisor is the right partner for them without an honest discussion.
- A franchisor can decide a franchisee is the right partner for them without an honest discussion.
It seems to be the new norm for businesses to put themselves out there and say ‘We’re the best option for you’ with NO qualification, and that’s something I’m passionate about changing.
If you speak with me and tell me that you want to:
- Work under someone else’s brand (not build your own) …you’re not right for us
- Want to sell mainly corporate travel … you’re not right for us
- Want to focus on selling low-cost holiday … you’re not right for us
It makes me angry, how many people have been sucked into a franchise that not right for them.
People have fallen for ‘buy now or miss out’ offers, pure sales tactics designed to sell anything to anyone, with no ethics involved.
The BFA and AFA have done great work putting trust back into franchising, but if we’re not careful, all of that trust will be undone.
I’m never going to sell a franchise to someone if I think they’re not the right fit.
Even when people are convinced we are the right fit for them, ready to sign into a four-year franchise agreement and transfer the best part of £20k, we put up a roadblock. We slow the process down.
Don’t forget, even before joining us, you’ll need to complete a business planning meeting. You can find out more here
Some competitors would consider this an easy sell or a quick win. We will still take a step back and make sure the partnership would work for both parties.
Our biggest tip to those looking to start your own business, is do your research well and don’t be fooled into making big decisions quickly.
