Top tips from CBO for reducing cost per acquisition in your franchise recruitment.

As a business franchisor, you want to attract the right kind of franchisee applicants to ensure your business is in good hands and continues to generate profit. But with Australian franchise businesses growing on average by 0.9 per cent year on year, how do you source the best candidates for the job and keep recruitment costs down?

Scaling your business operations is a massive accomplishment. You’ve put in the blood, sweat and tears and now your brand is gaining momentum, expanding into new territories and above all growing your sales and profitability. You know where you need to be, but with so many business opportunities available to prospective franchisees it’s imperative that your brand is represented to the highest degree.

From marketing through to source material and recruitment systems, first-impressions make a lasting impression when it comes to sourcing the right candidates for the job.

So how do you keep your recruitment cost per acquisition (CPA) down when sourcing new applicants? 

Let’s break it down.

How to cut franchise recruitment costs

1. Align your marketing collateral, operations and business franchise materials.

Your prospective franchisees have a lot of choices in today’s market when looking for a profitable business venture. It’s vital that you make a lasting first impression that resonates with their ideas about how they want their business to run. No-one wants to see a franchisor struggle to handle the most simple forms of communication or distribute disjointed marketing materials, especially during the recruitment process.

Remember; you need good candidates as much as they need you, so be prepared by ensuring the franchisee profiling, screening and recruitment process is well developed and documented.

Create a process internally for how to best handle the candidate recruitment process. Some prospects will be content with the information you share about your brand in your franchise recruitment portal, however others may have questions before fully submitting an application for review.

How you handle these prospects and the timings associated reflects highly on their decision to work with you as a franchisor. Showcase your attention to detail and brand experience by:

• Automating and personalising your marketing communication to demonstrate brand capability, experience and software capability/ integration.
• Creating audience segments with your applications to follow up on lost-prospects and lapsed customers after a certain period of time.
• Developing drip-feed marketing material that educates prospects and get them across the finish line by nurturing their decision and application process.
• Ensuring your marketing communications are aligned with your brand guidelines across all marketing materials, email templates and landing pages. If you don’t have any, invest in them ASAP

2. Focus on quality over quantity when it comes to sourcing applicants.

You have high expectations for your prospect applicants; great experience, business acumen and determination. Your competition has the same expectations. So how do you distinguish yourself and find the right person to do the job in a highly competitive market?

Think about what skills you need in the job and how to best attract those applicants. Do you want someone who is focused on details, highly organised and creative? Why not contact prospects using the same tone of voice and level of professionalism through your digital marketing channels to draw attention from those applicants. People reciprocate with others that share similar traits and interests, so if your brand isn’t showcasing your best abilities then you won’t attract the best applicants.

• Establish audience and demographic profiles to better target your marketing campaigns. Not only will this help reduce your advertising costs, resulting in higher quality traffic and reduced CPAs overall, but it will help you better understand how to engage with your target audience long-term.
• Practice what you preach. If you are telling people one thing you’d best be able to back it up – and fast. Make sure your marketing material and website are easy to navigate, deliver a strong user experience and align with your overarching tone and message. Consistency is key, especially when prospects are looking for information to make a decision on who to partner with.
• Distinguish yourself with a dedicated franchise website. Your ideal franchisee applicant is not your ideal customer, so segment the experiences and control your messaging to encourage a one on one conversation. Nurture the application process by giving applicants what they want and pre-empt any questions they may have . This is also your chance to highlight your strengths, growth statistics and investment opportunities. Make it count.

3. Work with a digital marketing agency that specialises in franchisor recruitment and growth.

Specialist franchise marketing agencies like Complete Business Online understand how the franchise business model operates from the inside out. If your team is time poor, lacks the resources or technical know-how, then why not leverage an agency with experience to help to get the job done?