Handling Leads Through A Franchise CRM Solution

Business procedures in 2021 are a far cry from what it has been only a couple of decades ago. The way you generate your leads, especially, has changed dramatically through the usage of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. And franchise management is no exception. Indeed, to any franchisees rolling on the information superhighway looking for robust development, a franchise CRM software is truly invaluable.

Customer service agents must use CRM daily. Image courtesy: pexels

Why Do You Need a Franchise CRM

The franchising industry is a versatile one! With various types of franchising and a very flexible range of investment, you can become a franchise operator in pretty much anything — from Harry Potter books to jet engine parts. And in all of them, you can benefit vastly from a Franchise CRM Software that will help you get more leads, get valuable leads, and maintain and nurture them.

You have four basic lines to decide from: single unit, multi-unit, area developer, and master franchise. All four are, these days, heavily attached to social media and email campaigns. Since everyone is online now, from the rural peasant to the Wall Street power player, your market has gone mostly digital. And here is where the CRM software can cultivate that digital soil with the proper fertility.

What Does a Franchise CRM Do

To begin with, any CRM is, at its core, a database of existing or prospective customers, with a user-friendly interface. A CRM that focuses on franchise management and franchise lead generation goes one step further to market your franchise brands, all the while keeping customers engaged. Think of it like steroids for your franchise business.

A Database at Core

Any CRM begins with keeping and displaying the basic records of a customer in one place. These details for each customer would include the following:

• Customer name (or business name as applicable)

• Phone numbers — preferably with alternatives

• Email addresses, and again alternates

• Various contacts related to the customer

• Activities of and on the customer

• Related tasks — with deadlines. Reminders as well

• Appointments booked 

• Any attached documents, images, or other files

• Notes about the customer that you need to be careful of

• Custom fields of data that can be applicable for a customer

All of this information is available right in front of you as soon as you open up the entry of each customer. Some of the info may be visible on the floating pop-up cards that can be seen from a list view as well. This will help you quickly make informed decisions about each customer of your franchise.

360-degree Integration

Hit two birds with one stone! A competent franchise CRM will hold hands with your business calendar and email program as well, extracting and injecting data there. What does that mean? That means, your existing data in MS Office programs or Google Suit etc are now shown in the CRM directly, and as you make appointments or changes to a customer, your calendar and email will get updated as well. 

This fantastic feature of the best franchise CRM software works for most third-party office programs. Not only about contact data, but also it integrates with document verification apps (like DocuSign) to ease the process of signed document exchange. Contracts have never been easier!

Defining the Sales Process

However, a franchise CRM is so much more than a glorified database! It lets you define and carry out your own sales process that works the best for your franchise brand. Since selling books, mobile apps, or building material cannot follow the same process, a franchise management CRM will be versatile as hell! 

You can define your own workflow about how to approach and how to make the sale, breaking the sales cycles into leads, prospects, and opportunities in a custom way. Converting leads is the key and a franchise CRM does that beautifully, provided the pipeline is good. With this, streamlining your sales process is easy — and all you have to do is to get the whole team on board. Of course, training is available for that as well!

Automated Workflow

While you work with it, it also works for you. Even when you sleep. A good franchise CRM software will be a master of automating all routine tasks, like setting up routine tasks after specific actions have been taken, sending automated emails and SMS, trigger follow-ups at given intervals, and also pinging you when something requires your express attention. You can even automate much of the first-contact tasks.

See the Future

With all that data in hand, even the dimmest person can make some remark about the future — and this here is one heck of a smart piece of software we’re talking about! It can make intelligent predictions about what tomorrow holds for you based on available data; it can monitor your active campaign pipeline and forecast the future provided the pipeline remains intact; and it can also analyze existing customers to know what they will like more.

All of those smart forecasts will be available as well-formatted reports, so you can make smart decisions about the future. What’s more, you can run predictions based on any scope — a single sales rep, a sales manager, or a whole division. Know what the worth of your sales pipeline will be tomorrow any day at the press of a button! And before you ask — yes, these franchise analysis reports can be generated automatically for you after each given time period (like daily or monthly).

What Does All That Mean For You

Let’s face it, basic office software can get you only so far in the franchise management game. They are not targeted to handle your kind of york, they cannot be customized to be so, and the degree of automation in them is vanishingly small. Also, you can, technically, get about a hundred softwares to work together to achieve the same power as a franchise CRM (probably) — but will it be worth the cost, the hassle, the time, the manpower?

A franchise CRM software is the perfect customized toolset for your franchise. Manage customer data and connect to them at the right time with the right message. Know their traits, preferences, and orders at a glance. Create fully automated email marketing campaigns of any size with the same database you have. Learn how your actions will impact tomorrow at a glance. A streamlined flow of information through an intelligent, all-inclusive platform serving your needs directly — that’s what a franchise CRM is, and that’s why you need one today!