Franchise Exhibitions Are They Worth It

With arguably the largest and most popular franchise exhibition of the year at Birmingham NEC now over, it is time to reflect on the value of exhibitions as a whole for both franchisor and potential franchisee…

Little versus Large

I recently attended the regional Thames Valley Franchise Show in Reading, where I represented one of my clients, Countrywide Signs on their stand.

With the doors opening on Thursday 4th September at 6pm and closing at 9pm, the show appealed to many who could attend following a day of work (there were even complimentary bacon rolls and champagne provided!!), and with the show running on Friday from 10am to 3pm, it caught those who were able to take a day off work, or who wanted a longer weekend.

With over 600 visitors and with only around 30 exhibitors, the format worked exceptionally well. We had arranged for Countrywide Signs leads already in the pipeline and from around the area, to come along to meet with us at the show so were covering our bases in case the show was a disappointment.

The results have been extremely encouraging so far. We picked up some extremely good leads at the show (some of which have either attended a further meeting, or will be), and carried out several prearranged meetings with existing leads. Although it is slightly too early for anyone to have signed a franchise agreement, I would stake my house on the fact that we will get at least one new franchisee from it all, which makes it more than worthwhile and extremely cost effective.

The regional shows are held annually at Leicester, Bristol, Kent, Reading and Norwich and provide an excellent way for brands to target specific areas directly, and at low cost.

Another of our clients, were exhibiting at the NEC and the feedback I had from them, and many other exhibitors I knew and spoke to, was that it was a lot quieter, but it did mean they were able to talk in more depth with interested parties, and in some cases, even carry out an initial meeting on the stand.

There are many reasons franchise brands continue to exhibit at the major shows…for some, the costs are justified because they do manage to convert booth visitors into franchisees, albeit at a high cost; for others (with larger budgets), it is all about credibility and maintaining status in the industry regardless of the actual results; for a few it’s just a chance to have a ‘jolly good social’ no matter the cost and for many brands (especially those new to market), it is what they are ‘told’ to do by the industry experts who are advising them.

My view is simple - I would encourage brands firstly to look very carefully at their annual recruitment budgets; allocate enough of that budget to set up internet and print advertising to ensure a good number of leads throughout the year and base franchisee recruitment targets on these. This should be the priority spend as exhibitions are only worth attending if you can stomach the cost of a ‘no result’, or be able to set much longer term targets around exhibitions knowing the cost of recruitment may be 3 times that of other means.