Franchise Business: Managing the Relationship with Competitors
Naz Daud - Owner, CityLocal
As a franchise business, your competitors are just that: competitors. However, the way you treat your competitors may affect how your customers and the media perceive your business, your ethics, and your friendliness. For those reasons, and more, it’s important that you carefully consider how you act with your competitors. It is possible to have a good relationship with competing businesses while limiting the impact they will have on your business success. When customers see you treating your competitors fairly, they will have more respect for you.
Congratulate Their Success
When a competing business does something well, you should be prepared to say so. If for example, a competing franchise business has managed to gain greater traction than you, then you should point out that they have done really well, and are a good business, while also pointing out the advantages your business is able to offer that your competitors cannot. This is a good demonstration of the strong beliefs you have for your business, and will certainly leave a positive impression. At the same time look at ways of overtaking your competitor in all areas!
Recommend Business Their Way
If you and your competitors are able to cater for different categories of customers, then why not recommend them when you can’t offer the required service to a certain customer? This will make you look good in both your customers and competitors eyes, and they might also be able to do the same for you in return. In the end, both of you will hopefully end up with more business as a result.
Sales & Marketing Strategies
When it comes to sales and marketing, it can be tempting to point out the negative aspects of your competitors. And, in some cases, it may be an essential part of closing the sale. However, rather than criticising your competitor, why not mention both positive and negative points of their service? Such as: “Yes, you are correct, Company A is able to offer lower pricing than we can. For customers that are more price sensitive, and that 100% up-time isn’t essential, they can be a great solution. We cater for more IT-dependant organisations and employ 3 times as many engineers per customer. Company A also use an overseas call-centre, which is a great way to keep costs down, and provide a more efficient service, but we prefer to assign each customer a dedicated account manager to provide better service.”
However, on some occasions your competitors may not provide a good service. In this case, you should be as polite and tactful about your competitors as possible. Rather than voicing your own opinions, you should cite sources, such as articles and media coverage that make your point for you. After pointing out any negative issues, you might also wish to explain how your company responds to the same problems. This will show a certain level of objectivity on your part and will demonstrate that your franchise business has strong ethics and is willing to appreciate your competitors’ problems.
Don’t Bite
When a competitor speaks negatively about your business, it can be hard to know what to do. Especially when you want to ensure your franchise business appears to be friendly and considerate of others. Although it’s important to respond to any issues in an articulate way, you should avoid getting involved in any tit-for-tat. This will help your business stand out from the crowd.
Naz Daud is the founder of CityLocal. This Franchise Opportunity is for people who would like to work from home and be their own boss – Read more about the CityLocal Franchise Opportunity.
Working From Home: Staying Motivated
Naz Daud - Owner, CityLocal
Many dream of foregoing their office jobs for one where they can telecommute. Those whose office is located a few steps from their bedroom save the time and fuel wasted in a daily drive to and from the office. Many parents also like to work from home to be closer to their children. Working from home, whether it be a franchise business or traditional self-employment, is also perfect for those who hate to dress in a shirt and tie everyday to report to an office. The decision to work from ones house needs to be carefully weighed, since it is not a viable option for some. With a few tips and ideas in mind, though, almost anyone can alter their environment to be better able to base ones business at home, and this will save money and time on commutes while spending more time with ones family.
Staying Focussed
One of the largest problems with a working from home business or franchise is staying on task. Many people find it difficult to concentrate on their work, especially if they have young children or pets in the house who constantly need attention. The fewer distractions one has, the easier it will be to remain motivated while working from home. It is important that one has a clearly defined office space. When the home office worker is in this area, the family should know to not disturb him. Some have enough space in their homes to devote a spare room to a home office. This is ideal, since the door can be closed against any distractions. Others have to use a corner of a room in which to locate their desk, computer, and other home office needs. If this is the case, one trick to encourage family members to leave one be would be to wear “work clothes”. This can be anything from a specific hat to a shirt and tie. Wearing these clothing will let others know that the person is “at work” and is not to be disturbed. Some find that dressing in business attire even when working out of the house helps to put them into the mindset for work.
Working Hours
Another good method to stay motivated while working from home is to have “office hours”. These might be from 9 am to 5 pm like in a regular office, or they might be from 9 pm to 5 am if one is a night owl. Whatever these hours are, one needs to closely adhere to them. This will let one specify time for work and time for play. During the working hours, one needs to devote oneself to working in the home office and doing nothing else. One method some use is to pretend that they have a boss looking over their shoulder while “on the clock”. If one has difficulty sticking to a schedule, signing a time card daily might help to establish a routine. Once accustomed to working those hours, writing down ones working times can be abandoned. A written record also helps one to review habits over the past month.
Take a Break
Just as having a specific schedule is important, so is knowing when to stop. Some people want to work past their scheduled time. While this might be profitable, it takes away time which might be spent with friends and family. Part of working away from a traditional office building is to balance ones work with fun. In order to prevent burnout and stay interested, it is important to know when to have fun.
Following these tips can help one to stay focused and motivated while running a work from home franchise or business.
Naz Daud is the founder of CityLocal. This Franchise Opportunity is for people who would like to work from home and be their own boss – Read more about the CityLocal Franchise Opportunity.
Sales help for Franchisees: Closing the Sale With Ease
Naz Daud - Owner, CityLocal
How confident are you when the time comes to close the sale? One of the most consequential factors at play that can contribute to a successful closing (and possibly understanding when you should move on) has to be the leverage
and confidence you posses when going into a sale. Apply the following information to your franchise business effectively and you will be able to build both your confidence and leverage:
Stop emotional attachments when they are clouding your vision
Emotional attachments can reek of desperation whether focused on the ego, the money or the time invested into your sales process. And anyway, many prospects see right through the desperation or need for a quick sale and can even sense that your pitch is now more focused on getting a deal done than it is about the solutions and value you can offer. You need to be able to close the sale with a greater sense of confidence. This, in turn, should eliminate bad deals altogether from your franchise business.
Manage your pipeline
You need to manage all of your accounts over the entire sales process using an account profile management system (a corkboard will suffice) to post prospect information on as they progress through sales cycle stages. This is a great way to visually follow your sales activity. There are software programs that do the same thing; however, seeing your writing and notations up on your wall is a constant reminder to work harder to make your franchise business succeed. Engaging yourself in activity’s which move you through your sales cycle will give you the power to either close a sale or walk away confidently.
Formulate your value statement
You need to believe in your mission, the products you market through your franchise business, and understand what benefits your customers receiving. And the term, “Value statement” denotes the fact that you need to have a very enthusiastic and confident belief in whatever you are selling. A lot of it can come from the positive results experienced by your clients.
Possess a very stout history and track record
Amassing an impressive track record full of positive testimonials and results is priceless. For your closing ratios to increase, you should be focused on all of the great results that your franchise business can provide to your customers. Ask your prospects what they want to do with your services or products once they are in possession of them. Understand what their specified objectives are and then over deliver those objectives. Because in the future when you need help closing a deal, you can contact these satisfied customers who will gladly help you out.
As so many of us are already keenly aware of, losing a deal that you have put your heart and soul into can be quite demoralizing. Maybe your business activity was lacking or the qualifying questions were lacking something, etc. Whatever your situation is, effectively utilizing the tips in his article will allow you to close more deals with ease and waste a lot less of your precious time. And we all know that time is money!
Naz Daud is the founder of CityLocal. This Franchise Opportunity is for people who would like to work from home and be their own boss – Read more about the CityLocal Franchise Opportunity.
Tags: business sales, franchise sales, franchisees, naz daud
