Who are you targeting with your franchise recruitment efforts? Here are the 10 most common types of franchise buyers, what they want, and how you can reach them. By identifying which of these personas are likely to be attracted to your brand, you can improve your marketing and content strategy and increase the growth of your brand.
The companion commentary for this presentation includes more details as well as conversation about messaging tactics for different personas.
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ku_e7n0DLg
Listen: https://soundcloud.com/franchiseperformancegroup/fpg-university-franchise-buyer-personas-and-what-they-value
1. Defining Buyer Personas
for Your Franchise
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2. Franchise buyers fall
into 10 main personas
Understand which personas
are attracted to your brand.
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3. Questions to
ask yourself
Who are the top-performers in my system?
What attracted them to the business?
Why were they looking? (Pain points)
What are their goals?
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4. Recruit people who
value what you deliver
You’ll have better recruitment results if you
focus marketing efforts on the right groups.
More importantly, you’ll have happier
franchisees.
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5. Empire builder
• Traditional corporate leader (MBA)
• Uses numbers-driven analysis using
traditional business metrics
(ROI/risk, ramp-up, time to break-even)
• Looking for high scalability; often wants
multi-unit or regional development
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6. Serial entrepreneur
• Trend-spotter
• Aggressive risk taker
(looking for home runs)
• Rule-breaker
• Values flexibility and having
a voice in brand strategy
• Wants a highly scalable business
• Compared to the Empire Builder, their
evaluation of businesses relies more
on “street smarts” than “book smarts”
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7. Immigrant entrepreneur
• English as a second language can
make community marketing harder;
look for strong marketing programs
to drive business to the counter
• Typically well capitalized
• Often looking for multi-unit opportunities to
involve family in growth of business
• Tend to prefer large brands and resale
opportunities (for immediate cash flow)
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8. Young guns
• Could have gone for an MBA,
but eager to get started in business
• Tried and hated corporate life
• Prefers not to have many employees;
wants to start as owner/operator and expand
• Looking for guidance; often has a mentor
• Hustles. Appreciates support to understand
and hit KPIs
• Attracted to lower startup costs
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9. Planning for retirement
• About 5 years from retirement
• Looking to spend 15-20 hours/wk
managing growth of business
• Seeking retirement income
• Looking to build equity; sell in about 10 years
• Looking to “manage the manager”
• Prefers close-to-home businesses
that add value to the community
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10. Back to work
• Often a stay-at-home mom ready
to re-enter workforce
• Looking to income for retirement
and/or kids’ college tuition bills
• Spouse’s income provides stability;
often value long-term equity above
immediate cash flow
• After years away from workforce, very
interested in training and support
• Wants work-life balance
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11. First-time owner
• Shifting from a previous career
• Often has lower- to mid-level
management or sales experience
• May be their household’s primary
earner, so they want a quick ramp-up
• Want to know what they need to do to
accelerate growth and get out of the gate fast
• Veterans generally fall into this category
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12. Passion player
• Looking to make money while
making a difference
• Often a customer with keen interest
in the business’ products or services
• Sometimes a hobbyist looking to turn
hobby into a career
• Often gravitates toward: education, senior care,
pets, sports, fitness, food/hospitality
Helping Franchise Brands Become Iconic
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13. Family business
• Usually husband-wife or parent-child
• Wants the business to be safe
(Clientele and neighborhood matter)
• Prefer neighborhood businesses
• Stability of demand is a primary concern
• One spouse often keeps current job as
business ramps up
• Parents often mentoring children
• Purchase is a family decision
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14. Social entrepreneur
• Tired of being asked to compromise
integrity while working for others
• Values/service of organization are
as important as the financial return
• Very interested in brand’s culture
and leadership
• They are often customers and admirers
of the brand’s products and services.
Helping Franchise Brands Become Iconic
franchiseperformancegroup.com
15. Upcoming topics
• Brand storytelling.
• Digital marketing tools for lead generation
• Planning and using lead nurturing content
• Measuring and optimizing your efforts
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16. The FPG difference
We design full-funnel recruitment processes from
the bottom of the funnel up, based on a deep
understanding of franchise buyer behavior.
Have helped over 120 brands
4,000+ deals done
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franchiseperformancegroup.com
17. Stay in touch. Stay informed.
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