Franchise Navigator Has Identified a Shift from Franchise Sales and Selling to a Franchise Relationship Mentality

There has occurred a major shift across the entire franchising industry. When it comes to franchise development, brands need to realize that there’s much more at play than the traditional, transactional sales process that was used in the past. Instead, brands are realizing the process is one of a lasting relationship as opposed to a short-term sale. When investing in a franchise, it is a major career path decision. The relationships with the candidates then needs to become more relationship and consultative instead of sales.

Franchise Navigator, the only proven and market-validated franchise recruitment, behavioral mapping process, has just now released the ideal profile of the very type of franchise relationship individuals to accommodate the process: helping candidates and franchisors find the right fit. By identifying the Navigator profile of the person best suited to accommodate the development process, the Navigator uses four distinct behavioral profiles. This unique profile will change and revolutionize the franchise recruitment playing field.

“For over two decades, the Franchise Navigator has been helping franchisors identify candidates who have the potential to become top performing franchisees through its predictive behavioral survey. And now, by identifying the profile of the best representatives to connect the dots, we’re giving brands of all sizes another distinct advantage,” said Craig Slavin, founder and president of Franchise Central. “It’s not uncommon for franchise salespeople to leave a lot of potential deals on the table because they’re either not communicating effectively with candidates or fully understanding a franchisee’s profile.

But now, with our profile of high performing franchise coaches, we’re creating a deeper, more meaningful and long-lasting relationship with candidates as well as existing franchise operators.”

Franchise relationship mentality

The relationship between brands and their people (candidates and existing franchisees) is even more important today than ever before. In fact, the industry’s top consultants are saying that it’s steering the entire direction in which the franchise development process is moving going forward.

“I’ve been in the franchising industry for about 10 years, and the biggest shift that I’ve seen is from the sales process into more of a consulting process. The reason for that is that there’s technology and information available now that never used to exist. People are trying to ascertain how much of that information is valid when looking for a franchise, and they don’t want to rely on a salesperson for that advice.

Instead, they’re looking to work with a representative or consultant who can provide verifiable information. That’s why the franchise sales process has evolved to become more about counseling,” said Al Lesko, president of Best Bet Franchise. “Where the Navigator helps both franchisors and prospective franchisees is by providing a scientific review of what’s important to a specific candidate.

It’s no longer about what’s important to the sales person—it’s what’s important to the candidate that’s driving franchise development.”

Navigator profiles

To create the profile for high performing franchise representatives, coaches and consultants, over 100 professionals who are currently active in the industry were surveyed and scored based on four Navigator profiles that identify key skills, values and behaviors over the course of the past 15 years. Franchise Navigator, on a scale of zero to 100 percent for each profile, has found the ranges of the ideal franchise representatives is between 73 and 80 percent on the Accomplisher profile, 67 and 74 percent Influencer, 74 to 80 percent Associator and 70 to 77 percent Contributor.

The Accomplisher profile indicates the drive, ambition and business skills that are related to executing a particular business model or job description. The Influencer, on the other hand, is all about communication and connectivity. The Influencer’s value system includes taking pride in influencing other people’s attitudes, buying patterns and purchases.

The Associator profile represents the interpersonal skills of an individual, which determines how dependent or independent a person is when it comes to needing approval and working with others. And lastly, the Contributor profile showcases a person’s value system of giving and selflessness, ultimately highlighting how willing an individual is to help others succeed.

“Being able to analyze a situation with facts is a powerful tool. I have run over 1,000 people through the Franchise Navigator. Aligning folks with franchise models where my clients’ profile matches the top franchisees is a system makes sense,” said Mark Laughlin, VP and senior franchise consultant at The You Network. “There is not a lot of ‘selling’ for the franchisor representative to do. It comes down to building a relationship of trust and communications.”

Industry shift impact

The franchising industry’s top brands are taking note that this shift from franchise sales to franchise relationships is taking place. That’s why they’re choosing to engage the Navigator—the unique data that the tool boasts provides franchisors and the candidate with detailed information that enhances those relationships.

“The analogy that I always use when I talk about the Franchise Navigator is that it turns the light on. The tool really enables you to understand the characteristics and skill sets that are best for an owner, which allows us to compare potential candidates to our top performing franchisees. That then eliminates mistakes like awarding a franchise license to the wrong person,” said Randy Loeb, vice president of franchise development at ARCpoint.

“Franchise Navigator also allows us to move beyond the traditional franchise sales process. We don’t sell franchises, we award them to the right candidates who meet our qualifications, including aligning with the Navigator assessment. It’s absolutely playing a role in the awarding process versus the selling process.”

For over 20 years, the Franchise Navigator has been integrating behavioral sciences into the franchising industry. Through its in-depth data-mining process, the tool is able to create detailed profiles of franchisees and employees that can then be compared to other profiles either within a specific brand’s system or across different segments of the entire franchising industry. And the Navigator is the only tool in the industry that has access to this kind of proven data, making this release of data an unprecedented step forward for the franchising community.

“What the Franchise Navigator is doing right now is a complete breakthrough in the franchising industry as a whole. It cracks the code in a person’s value system, and uses that information to explain why a person behaves the way that they do, as well as how and why they make decisions. That’s helped franchisors eliminate the guesswork from their franchisee selection process, and now, it’s going to do the same for brands bringing franchise coaches on board,” said Slavin.

“The franchise development process isn’t strictly transactional—there isn’t a one size fits all way to treat every candidate that you encounter. That’s why every Navigator profile is different, and it’s why the franchise sales process is now shifting to franchise relationship building.”

If you’re currently in franchise development, and would like to see how your Navigator profile compares to that of the profile presented here and to learn how to increase your ability to establish deeper and more meaningful relationships with your candidates, please contact the Franchise Navigator today at [email protected].