Welcome to Franchise Mastermind! Learn about franchising and read my free report: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Franchisees. Get it now by subscribing to my newsletter!

Smashing Franchise Sales Records! Hooray, The Right People Are Buying The Right Franchises

September 29, 2009
Thumbnail image for Smashing Franchise Sales Records! Hooray, The Right People Are Buying The Right Franchises

Have you heard what I’ve heard about franchise sales in 2009? As the story goes: They’re dead in the water! “We haven’t sold a franchise for all of 2009,” is the oft-stated comment that I hear from franchisors. Franchising’s worst year ever? Some experts predict franchise sales will be off by more than 50 percent [...]

Read the full article →

Franchisees Prosper When Their Franchisor Provides A “Marketing Machine.” Got One?

September 25, 2009
Thumbnail image for Franchisees Prosper When Their Franchisor Provides A “Marketing Machine.” Got One?

If your goal is to promote successful franchising and sell more franchises, focus on creating a marketing machine for your franchisees. That will set you apart from most of the franchise companies that are trying to sell franchises today. Marketing is one of the components that differentiates the successful franchise companies from those that are struggling. Successful marketing [...]

Read the full article →

Franchisors: For Cryin’ Out Loud, Your Under-Performers Are Already Hurting Your FDD!

September 7, 2009
Thumbnail image for Franchisors: For Cryin’ Out Loud, Your Under-Performers Are Already Hurting Your FDD!

You said franchisors should get rid of their under-performers as quickly as possible. But won’t that hurt our FDD?” The question popped up during my hour-long webinar, Getting Franchisees To Pay More Royalties Without Complaining!, which I recently conducted for Franchise Business Review. To clarify the point that I made during the webinar, I explained [...]

Read the full article →

Five Lessons Franchisors Can Learn From Network Marketers To Expand And Build Their Franchise Companies

August 31, 2009
Thumbnail image for Five Lessons Franchisors Can Learn From Network Marketers To Expand And Build Their Franchise Companies

Franchise companies tend to think of themselves as a level or two (at least) above multi-level marketing (MLM) companies, but having worked in both industries I have discovered that MLMers (or network marketers) do some things more efficiently and effectively than do many franchisors. Five lessons Here are five ways you can borrow from the [...]

Read the full article →

Franchisor: You Don’t Own Your Brand. Your Franchisees Do . . . Uh-Oh For Some Of You!

August 23, 2009
Thumbnail image for Franchisor: You Don’t Own Your Brand. Your Franchisees Do . . . Uh-Oh For Some Of You!

Franchisor, you think you’ve got a strong brand and you probably do. You think that’s why you sell franchises and it probably is. It’s at least one of the main reasons that you sell franchises and prosper from your existing network. You also think you own and control your brand, but you don’t. Your franchisees [...]

Read the full article →

Three Steps To Ensure You Send The Right Message To Franchisees And Consumers

August 11, 2009
Thumbnail image for Three Steps To Ensure You Send The Right Message To Franchisees And Consumers

During a phone consultation today with a franchisor — to prepare for a marketing and management workshop that I’ll conduct at the franchisor’s convention in a couple of months — we focused on a critical marketing challenge: building business around the buyer’s needs, rather than the organization’s. This is a challenge that trips up large [...]

Read the full article →

Happy Franchisees Are Validating Franchisees . . . Here’s How You Can Get More Validators!

July 22, 2009
Thumbnail image for Happy Franchisees Are Validating Franchisees    . . . Here’s How You Can Get More Validators!

Happy franchisees are validating franchisees — they pay more royalties and they help you sell more franchises! I learned that lesson as a franchisor and as a franchisee, and I can help your franchisees get happy (or happier) if you’ll just give me and them the opportunity! 4 hours of dynamic training online I can [...]

Read the full article →

Brand Buzz: First Step To Becoming A Franchise Media Darling; Then You Generate Leads That Result In Sales. Oh Happy Day!

July 21, 2009
Thumbnail image for Brand Buzz: First Step To Becoming A Franchise Media Darling; Then You Generate Leads That Result In Sales. Oh Happy Day!

At a time when most franchise developers are working harder than ever to put a sale together, and many are complaining that it’s just impossible to get deals done, one Dallas developer seems to be having the time of his career! What interests me, and perhaps you, too, is how the media are helping him [...]

Read the full article →

You Get A Paycheck? Then You’ve Got A VIC — And He Or She May Carry A Big Stick!

July 18, 2009
Thumbnail image for You Get A Paycheck? Then You’ve Got A VIC — And He Or She May Carry A Big Stick!

While preparing for How To Capture & Keep The Right Customers, my upcoming, dynamic tele-webinar (it starts July 29), someone asked me: “Will your information help me if I’m an employee? I sort of have customers, I’m in customer service, but they’re ultimately not my customers. So I’m wondering if your tele-webinar would be worth [...]

Read the full article →

Is Your Franchise Marketing System Generating Profit? Or Is It Slowly Running You, The Franchisor, And Your Franchisees Out Of Business?

July 13, 2009
Thumbnail image for Is Your Franchise Marketing System Generating Profit? Or Is It Slowly Running You, The Franchisor, And Your Franchisees Out Of Business?

You know there are “right” customers and “wrong” customers and while you may not (yet) know how to tell them apart before they become your customer, you know that the “wrong” customers deliver the least value and create the majority of problems in your business. Who is a customer? Customers (or clients), by the way, [...]

Read the full article →

Franchisor, Franchisee: Lock The Doors, You’re Losing Money! Or Change These Metrics And You Can Build A Satisfying And Profitable Business!

July 9, 2009

The franchisee thought I was crazy, insensitive or both when I told him: “Quick, lock your front door and don’t let anyone else in because every time a customer walks through your door they leave with $90 of your money. . . . You can’t afford that! . . . . You’re losing money with [...]

Read the full article →

“You Can’t Fix A Loser”. . .They’re In Every Franchise Network, Looking For More Misery

July 7, 2009
Thumbnail image for “You Can’t Fix A Loser”. . .They’re In Every Franchise Network, Looking For More Misery

When I read the words this morning during a coffee break, I laughed. “You can’t fix a loser!” said Dan Kennedy, one of my long-time marketing mentors. He doesn’t mince words, which is one of those love/hate things about him. Kennedy makes it clear that he’s not interested in making friends, so you don’t read him [...]

Read the full article →

Some Customers, Clients & Franchisees Need Their Independence. I say: “Give It To Them!”

July 4, 2009
Thumbnail image for Some Customers, Clients & Franchisees Need Their Independence. I say: “Give It To Them!”

All customers are not created equal and not all customers should be your customers. But who do you let go? With one critical piece of information, and the answers to five questions, you can make those decisions flawlessly and improve your business! Some franchisees, customers and clients need their independence and I urge you to give it to them.

Read the full article →

How A Rookie “Mistake” With My First Franchisor Client Changed My Life

June 29, 2009
Thumbnail image for How A Rookie “Mistake” With My First Franchisor Client Changed My Life

This is one of my slice-of-life, memoir blogs. You may want to skip it — unless you enjoy behind-the-scenes treatments. This one is about the time I overlooked prepping my client before he sat down for his first TV interview and how the “mistake” helped build my career. Fortunately, things worked out for the client, [...]

Read the full article →

Which Kind Of Franchise Company Are You Cultivating: “All For One” Or “Us Vs. Them”?

June 28, 2009
Thumbnail image for Which Kind Of Franchise Company Are You Cultivating: “All For One” Or “Us Vs. Them”?

The ancient saying goes something like this, “Do not deprive the body of its members.” All for one . . . one for all? Good advice for franchisors and franchisees, particularly in troubled economic times. Many franchisors and franchisees continue to approach today’s challenges as they did in the good ole’ days (meaning just months [...]

Read the full article →

Have You Reserved Your Free Pixels At The Department Store Of Franchise Opportunities?

June 24, 2009
Thumbnail image for Have You Reserved Your Free Pixels At The Department Store Of Franchise Opportunities?

If you haven’t visited The Million Dollar Homepage, take a look. Go now and come back to this article in a moment . . . . What’d you think? A million pixels at $1 per pixel . . . and it’s sold out! What’s that have to do with franchising? What’s that have to do [...]

Read the full article →

Crack The Code To Franchise Development. Here’s How To Develop Your Customer Intelligence. And Why You Must!

June 20, 2009

  Wouldn’t you like to know when you’re about to sell a franchise to someone who’s going to become one of your Worst Franchisees? Wouldn’t you like to know when you’re about to sign an agreement with the Customer From Hell? Do you know enough about your customers? I’m surprised by how surprised franchisors, franchisees [...]

Read the full article →

Reducing The Annual Rate By Which You Are Losing Customers. How Low Can You Go?

June 18, 2009
Thumbnail image for Reducing The Annual Rate By Which You Are Losing Customers. How Low Can You Go?

Our goal is to reduce — by at least half — the annual rate at which we’re losing customers.” So said the CEO of a Fortune 500 company to the authors of Follow This Path, published in 2002 as a Gallup Organization book. Where do you rank customer retention? “Customer retention ranks first among the [...]

Read the full article →

More About The Value Of A Don Dwyer And Why You Must Build Best Customer Relationships

June 16, 2009

Dead for 15 years, that Don Dwyer is still getting people excited! Who among us can expect such a legacy?

Thanks for the emails following my blog: Got A Don Dwyer Among Your Customers . . . . That article set the all-time readership record for FranchiseMastermind.com! Within a couple of hours, 60% of my list had already read the blog.

Read the full article →

Got A Don Dwyer Among Your Customers? If Not, Get One . . . Get As Many As You Can!

June 12, 2009

Whether you’re a franchisee, a franchisor, or a supplier to the franchise community, the best strategy you can use to build value and profit for your business is to capture and keep at least one Don Dwyer among your customers.  Your most valuable business ally If you do this, I guarantee you will not only [...]

Read the full article →