Why your franchise sales process is backwards

Franchisors:

If you're "selling" franchises like you're selling cars - pitching features, handling objections, and pushing for closes - you're doing it wrong.

The best franchisors facilitate mutual decisions.

You don't want to push a franchise on the wrong candidate. 

Bad franchisees kill brands. They drag down unit economics, create support headaches, and poison your system culture.

The strongest franchise brands treat their sales process like a mutual evaluation. The candidate should be selling themselves to you just as much as you're assessing them.

Both parties are looking for an ideal fit. Your process should reflect that.

Start with Your Ideal Franchisee Profile

Your ideal franchisee profile should evolve as your brand matures.

Emerging brands need partners who are entrepreneurial, adaptable, and excited about building something from the ground up. These franchisees should be comfortable with ambiguity, passionate about brand growth, and willing to help shape systems during the early stages of scaling.

Established brands, on the other hand, can cast a wider net — but they’re not looking for mavericks. They want disciplined operators who follow the playbook, value consistency, and are ready to plug into a proven system. These candidates often prioritize structure, support, and scalability over innovation.

But don't stop at surface-level demographics. 

• Are they sales-driven or ops-focused? Do they thrive in customer-facing, growth-driven environments — or are they better at running tight back-end systems? You need to know which skillset matters more in your model.

• How much time can they commit upfront? Will this require a full-time, 40–60 hours/week hands-on owner for the first 12–24 months? Or is it structured for semi-absentee operators with strong local managers?

• Can they scale, or are they single-unit lifers? Some brands thrive with owners who are empire-builders. Others need owners all-in at the unit level. What path do your top performers follow?

• What kind of leadership style works best in your system? Are you looking for someone who can hire, lead, and develop a team? Or someone who is “in the trenches” doing the work themselves?

• How comfortable are they with ambiguity? Emerging brands need scrappy builders. Legacy brands need consistent executors. Make sure you’re not attracting the wrong mindset for your growth stage.

A Roadmap That Works

Your franchise sales process should be a clear curriculum—never overloading upfront.

Here's the framework that we might recommend for guiding candidates through their decision:

Phase 1: Introduction and mutual discovery

Conduct a basic fit assessment to determine if there's initial alignment.

Provide an overview of the opportunity and set clear expectations for the process.

Phase 2: Deep dive into operations

Walk them through realistic day-in-the-life scenarios they'll face as an owner.

Detail operational requirements and the support systems you provide.

Phase 3: Financials—Item 7, Item 19

This is where candidates lean in. They want numbers — and this is where you have to stick to the playbook.

👉 Your Item 19 is your shield and your superpower.

If it's not in the Item 19, you can't talk about it. That means no earnings claims, no “average revenue,” no projected timelines to profitability - unless it's disclosed. Full stop.

That’s why it’s so important to include as much performance data as possible in your Item 19. Franchise buyers are serious. Give them the clarity they need to validate with confidence.

👉 Item 7 sets the stage.

This is your full investment breakdown: franchise fees, working capital, build-out costs, equipment, ongoing royalties, marketing fees - everything. Be transparent. The more complete the picture, the fewer surprises (and objections) later.

Compliance isn’t just about protecting the brand, it’s about earning trust. And financial clarity is where that trust is either built or broken.

Phase 4: Validation phase

Facilitate calls with existing franchisees.

Schedule comprehensive reviews with your corporate, operations, marketing, and sales support teams.

This methodical approach ensures candidates understand exactly what they're buying into—and you understand exactly who you're partnering with. 

No surprises, no buyer's remorse, no bad fits.

Discovery Day

The final phase is your in-person "Meet the Team" day. By this point, all the facts are on the table - Discovery Day is just about chemistry, culture, and confirming mutual fit.

Both parties should be ready to make a decision when Discovery Day wraps up. If either side isn't, that's a red flag.

Closing typically happens within a week after Discovery Day—once funding and legal reviews are complete.

The Bottom Line

A well-structured franchise sales process will benefit both sides. It creates alignment, clarity, and confidence before anyone signs anything.

Stop selling. Start facilitating decisions between the right people.

Your future franchisees will thank you.

Until next week,

Erik

PS: If you're ready to build a franchise sales process that attracts quality candidates, join our private Facebook group where founders share what's actually working in their development strategies.