Washington, D.C. – Franchising Lingo: Lead Generation – Franchise Consulting

Continuing in our series of franchising definitions, today we are reviewing Lead Generation.

Lead generation is a marketing term that refers to the creation or generation of prospective consumer interest or inquiries into a business’ products or services.

Anytime anyone is somewhat interested in something a franchise sells, whether it be products and services, or their franchise opportunity, that person’s captured contact info is considered a sales lead.

It can be a contact form they fill out, an email they reply to, or a phone call that they place. Once the data is collected, you have a sales lead. Leads who are contacted by a representative, and qualified to some degree, become prospects. Prospects who make a purchase become clients.

It’s important to mention that not all sales leads are created equal. A lead must genuinely have some level of interest in making a purchase, otherwise it is spam or a solicitation.

Good leads are people that are genuinely interested in potentially making a purchase in the future. And great leads are people that are genuinely interested in potentially making a purchase immediately.

Franchise lead generation is the process of getting leads for a particular franchise, with the goal typically being to generate high quality leads, in large volumes, at as low a price as possible.

Thankfully, with the Internet, that can be achieved these days. Before the Internet, leads could come from a multitude of different sources, from the Yellow Pages to the newspapers to radio ads and TV. Nowadays, most leads come off of the Internet, and the majority of those leads originate from a quarry done on a search engine.

Instead of having to advertise in multiple locations to generate a high volume of leads, which has historically been fairly costly, now many industries can take advantage of the fact that most leads are now in one place.

Another great thing about search engine marketing is that people type things into a search engine, and if they find your franchise or franchisee on the other end, there is a good chance the lead is somewhat qualified. Search traffic qualifies itself by searching for what they want. By default, they’re interested.

While that all may sound great, it also means that competition is even more fierce. All competitors in a given market are now vying for the same top searches.

At Upside Group Franchise Consulting, we have some of the most powerful, and affordable, tools on the Internet for pushing franchisees to the top of every local market, as well as pushing franchisors to the top of searches where they can connect with prospects looking to buy into their franchise opportunity.

We help businesses form new franchises, and we help established franchises grow to the next level. If you have any questions about franchising, give us a call. We offer a free initial consultation.