Every deal counts these days so there is an increased focus on sales processes and use of lead management technology. However, franchisors are still the most focused on finding the best sources for leads, whether they are the familiar sources (e.g., portals) or new sources (e.g., social media). Some franchisors are beginning to shift some marketing dollars toward their corporate sites to improve performance. Use of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media tools are starting to show results for franchise recruitment. With the majority of the Internet leads still being generated by the franchise advertising portals, the FranchiseBenchmark report is still focused on those sources. As other new sources begin to develop main-stream traction we will begin to report on those results too.
In previous issues, we have included both trailing 12 month and trailing 3 month reports. But considering market conditions and dramatic changes in lead flow, the most recent trends are the most applicable at this point so we have only included the trailing 3 months list.
Top 20 Franchise Portals1
Trailing 3 Months (Nov '09 - Jan '10)
(Listed Alphabetically By Tier)
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For this report, we also provide an updated ranking based on completion rates of franchise applications, also commonly referred to as Confidential Questionnaires (CQs). The standard Top 20 ranking above factors in CQ completion rate in addition to several other factors. However, when we focused specifically on CQ rates, the differences were significant enough to report on.
Top 5 Based on CQ Rates4
Trailing 3 Months (Nov '09 - Jan '10)
(Listed Alphabetically)
|
As any experienced franchise professional knows, selling franchises is still a numbers game and advertising sources must be evaluated based on the combination of lead flow, prospect interest, and qualification.
About FranchiseBenchmark
The aggregate data compiled for the
FranchiseBenchmark Industry Insight reports comes from the eMaximation sales and marketing technology solution that supports the franchise development efforts of more than 250 franchise and business opportunity brands. The data includes total lead flow, client usage, financial qualifications, email click-through rates, online franchise application rates, unsubscribe rates, expansion, and retention.
For more information about these reports or to make requests for future issues, please
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Previous Issues
August 2009 - Top 20 Portals
July 2008 - Top 20 Portals
February 2008 - Top 20 Portals
October 2007 - Top 20 Portals
February 2007 - Top 20 Portals
August 2006 - Top 20 Portals
June 2006 - Lead Flow Trends
May 2006 - Top Ten Portals
1 FranchiseBenchmark and eMaximation make no guarantee that the websites will perform in the future as they have performed historically. Note: not all franchise websites serve all our clients in the same category level or capacity.
2 FranchiseExpo was formally known as Be The Boss.
3 Franchise Advantage Network includes FranchiseAdvantage.com and BusinessBroker.net
4 CQ rates refers to the percentage of leads that complete a Confidential Questionnaire for the requested concept.