Jan-Pro Franchise Makes the Most of Social Tools

You can’t boot up your computer these days without coming across a headline heralding the importance of social media to modern businesses. If companies were given a nickel for every top 10 listicle telling them what they should or shouldn’t be doing on Facebook, they’d have enough money to pay a full-time Twitter guru to ensure their 140-character posts are optimized at all times and only feature the most high-caliber hashtags.

Meanwhile, the team at JAN-PRO has moved beyond social media how-tos and created its own specific game plan, proving social media can provide plenty of practical benefits beyond building a buzz online.

Scott Thompson, vice president of franchise development at Premium Franchise Brands, the parent company of both the JAN-PRO and Maid Right franchises, said that social media has been key to finding the right master franchisees for the commercial cleaning services company.

“In the past couple years, [social media] has helped out a lot, especially on the LinkedIn side,” Thompson said.

He went on to explain how JAN-PRO uses LinkedIn to be hyperlocal in its master franchisee searches, focusing strictly on prospects in areas where untapped opportunities exist. Social media has also been essential for expanding the brand globally.

“On an international front, it’s been huge,” Thompson continued. “It seems like prospects around the world are far more advanced using social media for business purposes - connecting through LinkedIn, messaging each other through Skype.”

Jan-Pro master franchisees themselves are also seeing success with the use of social media. The same hyperlocal targeting Thompson uses can be harnessed by master franchisees seeking to recruit franchisees of their own through Facebook – the perfect illustration of the brand’s two-tiered approach to franchising.

Thompson also pointed out how social media can streamline more old-fashioned business processes, a huge factor for the more modern business model Jan-Pro utilizes, creating a home-based enterprise that requires less capital investment compared to other franchise concepts.

“Our ideal franchisee could be an individual, could be a couple,” he said. “They might not have a four-year degree, but they’re hard-working and they want a home-based business.”

Just as running a home-based JAN-PRO franchise allows entrepreneurs to get around some of the more expensive aspects of becoming a business owner, social media allows them to focus on marketing, recruitment and other vital business areas without spending a fortune.

Thompson mentioned the brand has more social media help on the horizon for master franchisees, and is gearing up to roll out a new program to these individuals that is focused on their target audiences. However, he sees this as just an extension of JAN-PRO’s existing mission: to offer people a low-cost business opportunity with the right training and support.

“The most important thing to us is hard-working people who are looking to work for themselves,” Thompson said.

In the parlance of social media, tools like LinkedIn act as a bridge the brand can use to connect with these individuals. At the least, it’s giving franchisees something to like both on and off Facebook.