Recruiting former C-Level executives to your franchise can be an intimidating, but worthwhile process if executed the right way.

By Red Boswell

At a high level, recruiting former executives to your franchise is no different than recruiting any other prospect. The same tactics apply, but it’s important to keep in mind how these professionals are accustomed to doing business in their previous careers and tailor your strategy to meet these demands.

As the senior vice president of Franchising and Business Development at Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA), I spend much of my efforts focused on attracting these type of C-Level executives to our franchise. The qualities possessed by these individuals are qualities that allow our franchisees to find success in our business model. ERA has former CEOs, CFOs, Presidents, as well as professionals with PhDs, MBAs and CPAs within our franchise network. Here are some tips to help you land your next All-Star franchisee:

The basics

Just as you would with any other franchise prospect, it’s important to identify your ideal candidate, build rapport, earn their trust and qualify that their needs match what your franchise opportunity offers and vice versa. You must uncover hot-button issues and pain points that might deter them from investing and direct conversation around those issues.

Highlight unique selling points

Once you understand the basics of the selling process, you first have to realize that your opportunity can’t be the solution to your prospects’ career and income issues if you don’t know who you are. You must pinpoint your unique selling proposition and effectively communicate the value you can bring to your prospect’s situation.

Determine lead sources to pursue

If you’re using brokers, then communicate your ideal candidate to them in every way possible. Although it’s often like finding a needle in a haystack, portals can be a useful source for any aggressive franchise development professional to consider. Utilizing press coverage on your franchise can also be a valuable tool for attracting C-Level executives who may not have ever considered franchise ownership before. Showcasing demand in the opportunity from a third-party media perspective provides validation for the prospect.

If worked properly, LinkedIn is a tremendous resource for recruiting impressive C-suite talent to a franchise concept. With LinkedIn, it’s become considerably easier to locate, connect with and validate the suitability of the candidates.

Identify hot button issues and pain points

Because of their former professional business experience, C-Level executives typically analyze the franchise opportunity a bit more intensely than your typical franchise prospect. There are additional hot-button issues and pain points that you must overcome when selling him or her on your concept. Some common issues and pain points many C-Level executives have to deal with include:

• Too much travel

• Reduced compensation plans

• Enlarged quotas

• Shrinking territories

• Office politics

• High-maintenance, unreliable employees

• Overbearing, micromanaging boss / board of directors

• Unfulfilling work

• Lack of recognition

• Limited income potential

If these are the issues that C-Level executives are considering in their next career as a franchisee, it’s important to convey how your franchise opportunity addresses or overcomes these problems.

Other tips to consider

The franchise development professional who is dealing with the executive needs to be able to relate well to the senior-level candidate. Experience, confidence and preparation are key ingredients to a successful discovery meeting.

Come prepared to your meeting with high quality recruiting materials, including videos. 

Provide the candidate with ample information early on in the process. You don’t need to slow-roll these individuals. They are accustomed to getting the information they need quickly and then making a decision and executing on that decision.

Respect their time

Allow the candidate to quickly and easily book a time on your calendar via an online calendar syncing app rather than waste each other’s time emailing availability back and forth.

Get agreement and permission on next steps

Don’t come across as a salesperson — establish yourself as a trusted advisor who has their best interests at heart and who is qualifying the candidate for the franchise opportunity and culture.

Recruiting former C-Level executives to your franchise can be an intimidating, but worthwhile process if executed the right way. Keep in mind their past business experience and show them how successful their new career in franchising can be.  

Red Boswell is senior vice president of Franchising and Business Development at Expense Reduction Analysts.

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