Services for Established Franchisors

Because of our focus on long-term relationships, the iFranchise Group has developed a number of services that can help established franchisors prosper. 

The vast majority of our engagements with franchisors are highly customized to meet the very specific needs of each client.  A brief list of just some of these custom engagements may provide you with a feel for our capabilities. 

One of our most relevant services focuses on the diagnostic side.  Specifically designed for franchisors who are looking to solve a problem or improve effectiveness, the franchise audit  process provides franchisors with the ability to pinpoint those areas in which rapid improvement can be achieved -- and will provide them with recommendations as to how to achieve that improvement.

One ready example of this is in the area of franchise sales.  When a franchisor is selling too slowly, it could be for any number of reasons:

• An ineffective franchise marketing message
• Inadequate marketing budget
• Targeting the wrong franchise prospects
• Inappropriate media mix
• Failure to modify marketing efforts to properly reflect historic results
• Poor timing of the marketing campaign
• Poor marketing materials
• Poor initial follow-up
• Poor sales skills
• Improperly focused sales efforts
• Poorly executed "Discovery Day"

The list goes on and on.  Without knowing where the specific problem(s) lie, the franchisor can either take its "best guess" as to what is "broken" or try to fix everything at once.  The franchise audit, however, allows the franchisor to focus on those specifics that will most affect sales.  By comparing your practices to the best practices within franchising, the franchise audit can readily identify where to focus your improvement efforts.

Perhaps the single most important aspect for the aggressive growth franchisor is having the right personnel.  Through our relationship with Franchise Recruiters , we can be of assistance in recruiting top-flight personnel to join your team.  Having the right person in the right job can ultimately mean the difference between success and failure.

Often, young franchisors find themselves in the middle of a perplexing dilemma: they do not have enough work (or adequate cash flow) to justify the hire of a full-time staff member, yet they have no one on staff with the time and/or expertise to provide vital services. In these instances, outsourcing services  provided by the iFranchise Group can be the answer.

Outsourcing services are available in the areas of:

• Operations management and quality control
• Ad placement and media management
• Ad fund management
• Centralized print fulfillment
• Franchise prospect qualification
• Franchise sales management (coaching)

For some franchise companies, speed of growth is the problem, not because they are growing too slowly, but because they are growing too fast!  An aggressive sales force can outstrip a company's ability to properly train and support its franchisees. While this may sound like a good problem to have for some franchisors, the fact is this problem can lead to a fatal downward spiral for the young franchisor. Many franchisors have found that one of the keys to enhancing their support is automating their training and support process.  Again, the iFranchise Group can help.

And, of course, many of the services that we provide to start-up franchisors may also be appropriate for established franchisors who need to update, revise, or create these materials.  Some of the services include:

• Development or redesign of brochures, e-brochures, web pages, and logos
• Updating of Operations Manuals
• Training Program curricula, PowerPoint presentations, training aids, and tests
• Interior branding programs and other consumer marketing assistance
• Interior and exterior design

Call us at 708-957-2300 to see how we can customize a program to meet your needs.