Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2011

Grow Market Lead By Helen Bond STAR Power Celebrating excellence in franchise recruiting And the 2011 STAR Award Winners Are… Best Overall Performance First Place BrightStar HealthCare Second Place PostNet International Best Telephone Prospect Follow-Up First Place Pillar To Post Second Place Discovery Point Franchising Best Recruitment Website First Place Tropical Smoothie Café Second Place Action Coach Best Website Prospect Follow-Up First Place PostNet International Second Place Action Coach Best Social Implementation (new) First Place PostNet International Second Place FranNet 48 Franchiseupdate Iss u e IV, 2 0 1 1 G reat companies practice excellence… even when no one is looking. This simple, valuable notion is the premise behind the STAR (Speaking To And Responding) Awards presented each year at the Franchise Update Leadership & Development Conference. The annual award recognizes franchise companies for best practices in lead generation and recruitment. STAR Award recipients are scored and rated based on results compiled by mystery shoppers who pose as qualified prospects and contact franchisors online and by phone. This year, mystery shoppers called 92 franchises and submitted applications on 107 franchisor websites to judge how well—and how quickly—sales and development teams responded to their inquiries (see page 44). We caught up with some of the honorees to learn more about their winning strategies. eeeee BRIGHTSTAR HEALTHCARE Winner: Best Overall Performance BrightStar knows how to make a shining first impression. When BrightStar sales qualifier Ruth Chavez was “shopped,” she immediately follo wed up the web inquiry with a phone call—even though it was after hours. This type of “ownership mentality” is part of the corporate culture at BrightStar, a home healthcare staffing franchise founded in 2002 as a family business that now has more than 250 locations nationwide. “Receiving the Best Overall Performance Award is a very high honor and distinct privilege,” says Shelly Sun, BrightStar co-founder and CEO. “It is extremely rewarding to be recognized for our overall sales process, which validates what we do and also recognizes the high level of customer service that we strive to provide every day.” (Sun is familiar with undercover work after an appearance on the CBS television program “Undercover Boss.”) When BrightStar began franchising nearly six years ago, one-on-one candidate calls, PowerPoint presentations, and mailed packets of printed materials were standard recruitment

Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2011 | Page 50