Selling in the Face of Adversity

Posted on November 18, 2008 by Pete Kosowski

As much as we would all hope that growth would proceed unabated, sometimes there are bumps in the road. And for those of us concerned with the franchise sales process, the most serious issues are those that signal to our prospects that franchisees are dissatisfied -- because franchisee dissatisfaction more than anything else will alert this buyer that perhaps they should be shopping elsewhere.

After all, for most fast-selling franchisors, successful franchisees are, if not their best salespeople, certainly their biggest cheerleaders – and an invaluable asset in the sales process. And virtually every book and every article addressing the issue of buying a franchise will urge prospects to contact these franchisees in the decision-making process. So when these cheerleaders become detractors, franchise sales can grind to a screeching halt.

Obviously, the best strategy it to avoid these negative circumstances in the first place, but in those circumstances in which it is not possible, how should the franchisor who still desires growth proceed?

Often, the franchisor would be well advised to start with a candid self examination. And, as painful as it is to answer, it should start with the question of whether they should be selling franchises at all. Is the negativity surrounding the franchise a fluke, a correctible (hopefully corrected) problem, or is it perhaps a symptom of a much more serious systematic problem?

The key here lies in understanding whether the issues that created this turmoil will impact the franchisor’s ability to operate effectively as a franchisor. Because while a good salesman can likely sell franchises even in the face of adversity, if the issues at the heart of the problem will affect your next franchisee’s ability to succeed, then "selling through" these issues will simply postpone and exacerbate the problem.

From a franchise sales perspective, franchisee dissatisfaction can manifest itself as anything from negative publicity to disaffected franchisees to franchisee litigation to out-and-out revolt. But ultimately, it will affect the salesperson in two ways -- lead generation and in the sales process itself.

When it comes to lead generation, these days it is much harder to hide from the negative. Ten years ago, when the Internet was a shadow of its current self, these issues were perhaps not as pressing. A franchise salesperson could simply wait out the bad publicity or hope that a prospective franchisee would miss the particular periodical in which it ran. Sales would go on as usual, with the hope that the prospect would not call the (hopefully) isolated franchisees that were screaming the loudest.

But today, we live in a world where a Dancing Baby can "go viral" and be viewed by tens of millions in a matter of weeks. Today’s Internet provides for instant global access to your every wart. Blogs encourage readers to chime in, providing a searchable soapbox on which the disaffected franchisees can rant. And the longer and more prolific their ranting, the higher the rant ends up ranking on Google, where it will remain searchable seemingly in perpetuity.

Simply put, there is no longer anywhere to hide.

The best advice for dealing with negative publicity is to take it on directly. If the problem is one that the franchisor created, that means taking responsibility for the problem and taking steps to alleviate it – and then, of course, publicize the effort that it took to do so. Show that you are addressing the problem and you will appear to the outside world to be decisive. Hide behind rhetoric, and you will appear untrustworthy.

Of course, if the underlying issues have deteriorated to the point of litigation, life becomes more complex. In this circumstance, the franchisor is well-advised to develop a written statement addressing the problem – in conjunction with legal counsel, of course – and to be sure that everyone in the organization knows what, if anything, they can say and that they stick to the script.

Another good strategy in the age of the Internet is to bury the bad publicity with good publicity. The all-seeing nature of the Internet can, in effect, be used as an advantage by aggressively promoting positive press coverage and stories both on the Internet and in the traditional print media. And just as blogs provide a cyber-soapbox to the disaffected, they can also help the franchisor paint a more appealing picture.

For franchisors that are not skilled in generating publicity, the best advice here is often to hire a good public relations firm. A good PR firm can help you to refine your message and get the word out. There are two sides to every story, and they can help be sure that your prospects will hear yours.

Remember, the goal here is not to hide the negative. Rather it is to provide a positive counterbalance so that prospects will at least consider the franchise, providing your sales team with the opportunity to address and overcome the specific concerns and objections raised by this negativity.

Once the prospect gets to the franchise sales process, it is imperative that the franchisor is the first to raise any outstanding negative issues. Rest assured that any franchisee worth selling will be doing their due diligence -- speaking with your competitors and your franchisees. Presumably, they will contact terminated franchisees or past franchisee litigants. If the franchisor responds to concerns only after they have been raised by a third party, they will inevitably look as if they were hiding something – and ultimately the trust that is so important in the franchise sales process will be lost.

By raising these difficult issues first, the franchisor has the opportunity to tell their side of the story while looking honest and forthright in the process. And if there is truth in the negativity, it will afford the franchisor the opportunity to explain their actions. Sometimes, there are good reasons for the bad publicity.

If, for example, a franchisor was buried in bad publicity over the termination of poorly performing franchisees, they might be portrayed as inflexible, uncaring, or litigious by those that were subject to that action. By raising the issue preemptively, however, the franchisor can better ensure that its prospective franchisees understand that this termination was done to protect the brand – the brand that they will be buying.

Depending on the nature of the sales process used by the franchisor, there are a number of opportunities for the franchise salesperson to introduce these negatives without appearing defensive. The more prominent the franchisor’s problems, of course, the earlier these issues need to be addressed.

The logical time for most franchisors is when the prospect receives the disclosure document. For those franchisors who deliver the document electronically or by mail, the franchisor would be well advised to disclose their prospects early and to schedule a "disclosure call" immediately thereafter to be sure to address these concerns before they are raised by others.

As always, integrity is the cornerstone of a good franchise sales process. Most franchisees do not expect their franchisor to be perfect. But they do expect – and deserve – open and honest communication, even in the face of adversity. And while integrity alone will not sell franchises, those who try selling without it will have much bigger problems down the road.

Mark Siebert is the Chief Executive Officer of the iFranchise Group a franchise consulting firm with consultants who have worked with 98 of the nation’s top 200 franchisors.