Rather than operate solely out of an office, the staff at Pacific Retail brand Go Sushi have adopted a more pro-active approach to the franchisee recruitment process.
As of December last year the Go Sushi team has manned shopping centre information stalls and hosted franchise information nights at locations across the country.
Julia Boyd, the project and marketing coordinator at Pacific Retail told Franchising the new approach was born out of the company’s desire to find the right franchisees.
“Through working with Warren Billet, ex-RFG, we now have more sites than ever before and know it’s really important to find great franchise partners to make these stores a success,” she says.
“Deciding to own your own business is a big deal but we’ve found if prospective franchise partners can meet us and talk to us face to face, they feel more at ease and it makes their decision easier knowing they’re not just dealing with someone via email or over the phone.”
The new approach enables potential franchisees to uncover all there it so know about the Go Sushi brand in a relaxed environment, and sees support staff gain a better understanding of their sites.
“It’s important to us to make ourselves accessible to prospective franchise partners as much as possible and create a trust bond right from the beginning.
“For members of our support office, it means they get to go to the area we will be opening a store and see where the store will be trading first hand. For franchise partners it means they can come and meet support office team members in a familiar environment being their local shopping centre instead of the harshness of an office,” Boyd explains.
CEO Nicola Mills agrees: “This hands on approach is a great way to connect with prospective franchise partners allowing them to ask questions and talk to members of support office face-to-face in a relaxed setting,” she said.
“Making the decision to own your own business can be daunting and this approach allows people to see they will be a part of a national brand with a local feel.”
As they embark on these trips, members of the Go Sushi team hope to find enthusiastic, motivated franchise partners that are willing to give it their all.
“The great thing about being face to face with potential franchise partners is we see this first hand. It’s great when people come up to us to ask questions or find out more about the brand as it shows a genuine interest and enthusiasm in what we’re doing,” says Boyd.