Capturing Franchisees at the Right Show

This article was written by Mark Siebert of Entrepreneur.com

Perhaps one of the most frequently asked questions in franchising is, "How do I find franchisees?" What some of my clients have in their head is a carnival-esque vision from their franchise youth -- standing at a booth at a trade show, hawking like the barker with the too-small basketball hoop.

Today's franchise sales process is, of course, much more sophisticated than this. The Internet generates most franchise sales leads -- by some accounts, more than 70% -- with public relations, print advertising, direct mail and referrals generating much of the remainder. But for many franchisors, trade shows and expos remain as relevant today as they did during their heyday.

Franchise Shows vs. Industry Shows

Before exploring the question of whether trade shows and expos are the right strategy for you, let's draw an important distinction between franchise shows and industry shows.

Franchise shows, the most prominent of which is the International Franchise Expo, cater to prospects actively shopping for franchises, people looking to learn more about franchising, and people trying to sell products to franchisors. From the franchisor's perspective, these events can be fertile hunting grounds.

At last year's IFE in Washington, D.C., for example, nearly 80% of the approximately 14,000 attendees described themselves as potential franchisees, and more than 45% of these potential franchisees indicated they had more than $100,000 to invest.

Industry shows, by contrast, do not focus on franchise buyers, but instead on target audiences from a particular market in which franchises may be offered. The National Restaurant Association Show, which is held in Chicago each May, attracts over 70,000 restaurant industry professionals to a single site for four days. And while most of these attendees aren't thinking about franchising, about 3,500 of them reported they came to the show looking for franchise opportunities -- showing enough interest that the NRA has designated a separate "Franchise Pavilion" for franchisors to solicit their franchise opportunities.

The reason it is important to draw this distinction is that franchise shows are different from industry shows in a number of important ways other than their targeted audience.

Choosing Your Shows

First of all, most franchise shows tend to cater to a relatively local audience. So, if you aren't targeting franchise sales in the area where the show is located, a franchise show in that particular market may generate few, if any, leads that will be of value to you. (By the way, exhibiting at franchise shows in registration states will probably require you to be registered -- so be sure to check with your attorney if there is any doubt in your mind.)

Another factor to keep in mind is that at franchise shows, most of the action takes place over the weekend. Since most of these prospects are local, some franchisors will elect to stay an extra day to meet with their most qualified prospects or even to hold seminars to move the franchise sale along more quickly.