Grow Market Lead
By KERRY PIPES
Developing
Intelligence
T
Highlights from the 2012 AFDR
he 2012 An- Top Sales Producers
Source
2011
2010
2009
2008
nual Franchise
Internet
30%
36%
34%
35%
DevelopReferrals
31%
25%
28%
28%
ment Report
Brokers
17%
17%
17%
16%
Print
2%
5%
8%
6%
(AFDR) is a comprehenOther
20%
17%
13%
15%
sive research guide to sales
and lead generation performance in franchise re- Where the Leads Come From
Source
2011
2010
2009
2008
cruitment. The report drills
Internet
51%
61%
60%
66%
down into industry catReferrals
18%
10%
10%
16%
Print
1%
3%
5%
3%
egories, investment levels,
Other
30%
26%
25%
15%
and recruitment budgets;
provides marketing cost
data; reports the top-producing sales and Do you provide incentives to
lead sources; reveals performance evalua- franchisees who refer prospects
tions of franchise websites and follow-up that buy your franchise?
to prospect inquiries; and analyzes current
No incentive
34%
Cash
54%
and historical trends.
Other
13%
The data on current franchise sales and
recruitment practices were collected in late
If yes, how much per signed
August and September 2011, based on detailed
agreement?
responses from 110 franchisors representReferral Fee
ing 109,936 total units (79,254 franchised
Less than $999
3%
and 30,682 company-owned). The results
$1,000–1,999
25%
$2,000–2,999
22%
and analysis contained in this nearly 200$3,000–3,999
8%
page report can help you accelerate system
$4,000–4,999
3%
growth, increase sales performance, and make
$5,000–5,999
20%
$6,000–6,999
2%
smarter, more cost-effective advertising and
$7,000–7,999
0%
marketing decisions.
$8,000–8,999
2%
In this issue we shine the spotlight on
$9,000–9,999
0%
$10,000 or more
17%
franchisee referrals. As the data show, refer-
44
Franchiseupdate Iss u e I, 2 0 1 2
rals (31 percent) took the
lead in 2011 as the top sales
producer, dethroning the
Internet as number-one.
More franchisors are offering referral fees, promoting
referrals more aggressively
to franchisees, and increas2007
2006
ing fees (or other rewards)
77%
70%
when a referral signs on.
14%
16%
3%
2%
Last year, 67 percent of
6%
12%
the 110 respondents provided incentives to franchisees
who referred prospects that bought, up 5
percent from the year before. The median
referral fee of $3,500 remained level from
2010. While referrals still haven’t regained
their 37 percent share of sales producers
(2007), the trend is clearly upward.
At Franchise Update Media Group we
continually seek ways to further raise franchisor awareness of development standards,
and to create benchmarks to help accelerate
the evolution and adoption of best practices
in franchise recruitment. We welcome your
comments—and participation