Technology in Franchise Development

10/5/15 Franchising.com -- We asked Doug Smith, vice president of franchise development at Chem-Dry, "What are you doing to integrate technologies for both your overall development strategies and into how you create a profile of your best prospects?" Here's what he had to say.

Chem-Dry uses inbound marketing strategies to help us connect with potential franchisees. Our online marketing strategy is designed to make significant information available to people researching franchise opportunities.

The foundation for Chem-Dry's recruitment strategy comes from our relationships with existing franchisees. We stay in contact with them throughout the year as we help them identify ways they can grow and improve their businesses. We then use what we learn to build an inbound marketing strategy designed to attract people who are likely to have success in our brand.

Our recruitment website is full of information about our business model, startup costs, and past performance to proactively answer questions people ask as they research the brand. Dry facts and figures go only so far - that's why we also invite franchisees to share their stories with others who are considering the brand. They share how they got into the business, what they like about owning a Chem-Dry franchise, and factors driving their success. By telling these stories, we help future franchisees understand what success looks like within the brand and understand the hard work and diligence it takes to succeed.

We also share stories about a variety of franchisees. While one franchisee may love having a job with flexible hours that allows them to spend a lot of time with their family and is happy as an owner-operator, another may want to build a fleet of Chem-Dry vans and employ a team of technicians to dominate the carpet and upholstery cleaning market in an entire metro area or region. The profiles we publish help people get a feel for the organization.

Other tactics to connect with candidates include:

• SEO: Our website and its pages and blog posts are search engine optimized.
• PPC: We target search terms that are used by people researching business opportunities, and the ads connect with our website where candidates can fill out a form to learn more and connect with our recruiting team.
• Portal presence: Sites like Franchise Update do a great job of introducing people to different brands they can consider as they look to start a business. We stay active on franchise portals so people can discover us and then visit our site to learn more about the opportunity and get to know the brand at a deeper level.
• CRM: Our customer relationship management platform allows us to keep track of franchise candidates as they enter the process of learning more about Chem-Dry and gives us visibility into where each candidate is in their learning process, which helps our team decide the most appropriate follow-up.