January 30, 2024 • 30 mins
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Contact us here Anything@FranPro.com if you:
- Want help finding a franchise
- Would like to be featured on our program
- Would like help producing or want a podcast produced for you
- Are a franchise company and want access to our free ROI Tracker dashboard
In this episode, Lance Hood of FranPro interviews Lana Mazin, VP of relationship marketing at Raintree. Lana Mazin is an incredible resource for any franchise organization. If you would like to work with Lana you can reach her here: https://Franpro.vip/GoRainTree
One of the topics we discuss in this call is "Why franchisors struggle to add new franchisees to their system."
Also covered:
- Are you struggling to add new franchisees to your system?
- Are your franchisees unsatisfied or not making enough money?
- What will happen if you don't differentiate your brand?
- Focus on innovation to stay ahead of the competition
- Is your franchise system falling behind the competition?
- And more
Want to discover the secrets behind building successful franchise brands? Tune into our latest episode where Lana Mazin, the VP of Relationship Marketing at RainTree Franchise Development, joins us. Lana, with her vast knowledge of franchise development, unravels the importance of strong item 19 numbers, franchisee satisfaction, and ongoing support. As we churn through this enlightening conversation, Lana puts forth some key factors to consider when partnering with new brands, emphasizing the need to focus on differentiation and innovation.
But how do you attract the right buyers for your franchise? In a riveting discussion, Lana shares how Rain Tree crafts compelling messaging that drives value and attracts the ideal buyer. She dispels common misconceptions about franchising and addresses the major objections people might have when considering a franchise. She further simplifies the complex world of franchise metrics into digestible nuggets of wisdom, highlighting the essential performance indicators for evaluating potential franchise partners.
In the final part of our exchange, we shifted gears to focus on networking and maintaining relationships within the industry. Lana offers golden advice on how brands can leverage Rain Tree's services to their advantage, and use it as a stepping stone to connect with other FSOs and vendors. Her insights are invaluable for any brand looking to elevate its franchise game, underscoring the importance of franchisee satisfaction and profitability as the cornerstone of a franchisor's mission. Don't miss this chance to gain firsthand knowledge from an industry expert on building a robust and profitable franchise brand.
Contact us at Anything@FranPro.com if you:
- Want help finding the right franchise for you
- Would like to be featured on our program
- Would like help to produce or want a podcast produced for you
- Are a franchise company and want Free access to our ROI Tracker dashboard
*Some of the companies we interview compensate us a commission if you purchase something.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (00:01):
Hi everyone.
Today I'd like you to meet LanaMazin, the VP of relationship
marketing with Rain Treefranchise development.
Lana welcome.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (00:11):
Thanks, lance, thanks for having me.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (00:13):
Well, Lana , I'm very familiar with you
guys, but for anybody who isn't,you guys are really one of the
top franchise developmentorganizations, and franchise
sales organizations and I wouldjust like people to understand
what you guys do and and whoreally qualifies to work with
you.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (00:33):
Yeah, absolutely so.
As you mentioned, we're an FSO,a franchise sales organization,
so we partner with franchiseores and help to grow their
system.
So basically, bring them newfranchisees.
And the way we do it is reallyfocused on ethical franchise
growth.
So making sure that we'replacing the right people in the
(00:53):
right brands that you knowthere's, there's a good culture,
fit, demographic,psychographics All of that is
there In terms of, you know,brands that we're looking for.
We are always looking to add toour portfolio.
Really, what we're looking foris a key differentiator,
something that makes a brandunique in the space.
Some really solid numbers, sosolid item 19 or maybe you're
(01:17):
newer and you're trendingtowards that solid item 19 a
strong support team, or theability to grow the support team
as your system grows, and thengreat franchise owner
satisfaction and Validation, ifthat's you know, if you already
have owners in the system.
So those are really the keymetrics that we look for when
partnering with new brands.
(01:38):
But, yeah, always exciting toadd more to the system and to
you know, talk to more and learnabout other businesses.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (01:47):
Absolutely , and we'll have a chance for
people.
There would be a link herebelow the video where, if you'd
like to speak with Rain Tree,they'd love to speak with you
and you can click on that linkand have a conversation with
them.
Lonnie, you mentioned somethingthat I ask people a lot and I
can't always get people to giveme a great answer and that is
(02:08):
differentiators, because I mean,it's a big deal like what do
you guys look for as adifferentiator?
How would someone define thatwhat they think is a
differentiator is actually aneffective, real differentiator?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (02:20):
It's a good question because it's a
tough one, right?
You know, everybody thinks thatthey're different.
What we're really looking foris Innovation like are you
bringing something unique to thespace?
That's never been done before?
And we work in Tons ofdifferent industries at this
point, but we're looking at evenindustries like flooring.
(02:41):
We have a brand that's justdoing it completely differently,
unlike anyone else.
We have a dog training brandand they're bringing a very
unique method of dog training.
So I think it's really justcomes down to how are you
innovating the segment, how areyou making the segment better
and how are you Justcontributing to the industry
(03:02):
overall in a different way andnot just copying?
You know what you've seen otherbrands be successful with.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (03:08):
Hmm, what do you think would be Probably
that one of the most valuablethings that we could talk about
today, that would, they wouldmake the greatest difference for
Franchise brands are listeningin, where they could really
learn something, take notes andimplement it.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (03:25):
That's a broad question.
What a good question.
You know, I think the biggestthing that we could probably
talk about is just support.
And you know, and in what we do, basically, our role at Rain
Tree is to free up the corporateteam and you know the founders
of the brand to focus on theirfranchisees and, you know, focus
(03:48):
on how do you drive theirprofitability higher.
You know, how do you get themwhat they need, how do you make
sure that you maintain strongvalidation?
And that's what we're here for,because we're taking this
entire chunk of marketing andfinding people and doing all the
things that needs to be Doneoff of the plate so that, you
know, the franchisees can focuson that.
I think that would be a goodtopic to cover.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (04:12):
Let's do it.
What do you want to start onthat?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (04:16):
Yeah, I mean, I think for us the biggest
thing and there's a couplethings that we can't sell Past
right.
There's a lot of things that weunderstand the art of
franchising, we understand whowe're looking for, but there's
two roadblocks where, wherethere's just no sales, you know
can can really help and that'sthe strong numbers, so strong
(04:38):
item 19, what the currentfranchisees are doing, and the
numbers that they're putting up,and then validation.
Those are two really key thingsthat if it's just if it's not
there, we can get people to thatpoint absolutely.
But if those two things are notthere, nobody's gonna sign up
for the franchise.
So just really putting anemphasis on what can you do as
(05:00):
you know, a corporate team to todrive those numbers and to just
focus on your franchiseeSatisfaction, and then you know
we're kind of over here doingeverything else that you need
behind the scenes.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (05:12):
Yeah, because I've seen people.
I talk about it a lot, but Isee people focus on marketing
versus focus on trying to makethe system run smoother, operate
, be more different and thatinnovation there, because at a
certain point I think people gettired of, they're like we're
good enough, like we're good,but it's a moving target.
(05:37):
Everybody is constantlyleveling up and the status quo
is falling behind.
And what should you focus on tokind of like stand out now?
I mean there's yourdifferentiators.
There's also your training,there's the ongoing support,
there's the financial numbersmaking it easier every day
(05:59):
replicating.
What are the big things that,if somebody's like, what we need
to kind of focus on to level up, and everybody's going to be a
little different because they'reall organically developed their
company, however it is, butwe're the kind of the big things
I know you talked about theirfranchisees being happy,
validating and your item 19.
(06:21):
What are some things that standout that would help people
increase those?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (06:28):
Yeah, it's a great question and it is
the great point that somefranchisors that we work with
they come to us and they say,hey, we've been throwing, we
threw $100,000 at this and we'renot adding new franchisees to
the system, Like, what do youthink is wrong?
And then we dive into goingthrough P&Ls or we get on the
(06:49):
phone with their currentfranchisees and people are
unsatisfied or they're notmaking the kind of money that
they said.
It's like there's your problemright there.
You can spend all this money onmarketing, but if you can't get
people past these steps in theprocess, you're never going to
get somebody to join your system.
So I do think that's a validpoint, Just in terms of what can
(07:13):
they do to help.
I mean, I think it really doescome down to expectations and
aligning expectations during theprocess.
So, while they're still in thepipeline, our team reiterating
the expectations of the brandwhen you get on the phone with
them at president's call orexecutive call, reiterating what
(07:33):
you expect out of the brand,what the culture is at your
brand, what you intend to keepas it is, and same at Discovery
Day what are the expectationsgoing to be in the first few
months, in the first year andworking towards that together.
I think that that really isgoing to help clear up a lot,
and then you're bringing peopleinto the system that are not
(07:54):
expecting they're going to makeX when they're really going to
make Y in that first year, andthat's going to lead you to
better validation andsatisfaction.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (08:04):
Right, and so with this, what do you think
are some of the things we'vetalked about like things that
people need to do and thingsthat people are struggling, but
I try not to look at theopposite.
Are there any things that yousee as commonalities on the
people, that you kind of have toturn away?
That, you know, is it reallyjust?
You know, the item 19 is low,they don't have good validation,
(08:25):
or some.
There's some other things thatyou, when you look at a brand,
you're like we just have to turnyour way at this time.
If you fix these things, maybewe could talk again in the
future.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (08:35):
Yeah, for us, I mean honestly, the
biggest thing is culture fit iswe're really looking for
long-term relationships,long-term partnerships.
We don't want to bring a brandon and, you know, sell 300
franchises and overwhelm themand then everything we just
talked about kind of falls apart.
We're really looking for flow,steady, ethical growth.
So brands that just don'treally fit our culture, you know
(09:00):
, brands that have unrealisticexpectations of growth, is
definitely something that we'renot looking for.
We're really looking for thosepeople who have dialed in on who
they want.
They know who they want, theyknow who's successful in their
system, and then they kind ofgive us that information, we
learn more and then we go outand we actually actively look
(09:22):
for people that match you knowwhat they know to be successful.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (09:27):
Do you guys use any of those
personality profiles tounderstand their top franchisees
or?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (09:32):
We do.
We have basically all of ourbrands at this point with
Zoracle, so a personalityassessment that helps us.
Again, the entire system willtake that test and then it will
give us sort of rankings of, youknow, the top performers and
the personality traits that theyhave and the lower performers
(09:53):
and the personality traits thatthey have.
And that's really useful for usin our marketing because we
know exactly who we're lookingfor, their background, their
psychographics, demographics ofthe ideal candidate.
And that's also something thatmakes us a little bit more
unique in the space is that weare doing organically generation
for our brands.
(10:14):
We're not just waiting forconsultants to bring us leads
and then having to try to figureout if that's going to be a
good match or not.
We can actively go out andreally hunt for these specific
people.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (10:26):
Right and so when you do that, so you get
the proper lead for a company.
But in those interactionsyou're going to determine if
it's worth continuing to engagewith somebody or determining
that you should really just letthem go or maybe actively
disengage.
Like, what are you looking forthose factors in a potential
(10:50):
candidate that you want toengage with?
And then what are the factorsthat you really look for that
cause you to disengage with apotential candidate?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (10:59):
Yeah, I mean, of course, everything that
we do has to be a mutual fit,so it's not just hey, I have the
checkbook here I am.
Is this person going to be agood fit for the system?
I mean, it's a long typically10 years that they're going to
be part of that brand.
Is it going to be a good fit oris it going to just be
(11:19):
problematic for the brand andfor the individual?
So you know we're looking forjust general interest and
wanting to progress and wantingto move forward and doing the
homework that we ask and youknow, reviewing the FDD and
being on time and showing up tocalls.
You know we always talk aboutif a candidate can't follow the
(11:43):
process of just learning aboutthe franchise, the odds of them
following the process once theybecome a franchisee and you know
they're in that system ispretty low.
So we're really just lookingfor people who you know are
willing to follow our salesprocess and willing to show up
and be engaged and be excitedand have good questions and just
(12:05):
demonstrate a strong interestthroughout the entire process.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (12:10):
What are some things that you guys have
learned about?
Like increasing engagement,because just how you communicate
with these people, it seemslike you have to convey your
value up front and really engage, because people are busy and
even a good candidate might loseinterest or get you know.
(12:31):
They might have other peopleyou know telling them that you
know I don't know if I have thatrisk tolerance.
You probably shouldn't either.
Like how do you really engagewith good quality clients and
keep them in the process?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (12:46):
Yeah, so we actually build out it's about
82 pieces of franchise specificmaterial to each brand.
So right now we have 10 brands.
You can imagine it's a lotgoing on here, but it's
basically to help with just that.
So we're building out dripcampaigns, automation emails,
(13:08):
text messages so that even whenthey're not on the phone with
one of our sales reps, they'restill getting valuable content
throughout the whole process.
We're still sending them videos,we're still sending PR articles
.
We're still reminding them ofyou know, hey, remember this,
you really liked this about thisbrand.
You know, here's anotherarticle that highlights a
similar topic.
(13:29):
We're doing a lot of thatthrough automation, and you know
what I said about looking forbrands that have differentiators
and are innovating.
We're trying to do the samething in this FSL space.
So by incorporating automations, having a bunch of touch points
, all of these designed emailsand beautiful websites, and just
(13:52):
to keep that interaction going,because, you're right, in this
day and age, our attention spansare short and you know they
could easily see something elseand be on to the next, so our
goal is to really keep themengaged and interested
throughout the entire process.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (14:09):
Well, and I found from in the past, when I
would split test a lot ofthings, that shorter was usually
better and having a singularoutcome, although the funny
thing is I'll ask people twoquestions at once, which doesn't
make sense, but I know thatshorter is better and a single
call to action.
(14:29):
What are you guys finding withyou know, kind of your tests, as
kind of experts in the space is, when you're crafting your
messaging or crafting yourfollow up sequences?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (14:44):
Just that .
I think I read somethingrecently that our attention span
is less than a goldfish at thispoint.
So if we can just be direct tothe point, shorter is always
better.
Our biggest thing is drivingvalue.
So we're not just sending anemail just to send an email.
We're not just sending a textjust to send the text, just to
(15:05):
get them to the next stage inthe process.
It's how can we deliver value,how can we give you the
information that you need rightnow so that you can do your own
research before getting on thephone with one of our
development reps?
So that's been really key.
One call to action, you know,keep everybody going in the same
direction, down the same path.
But absolutely, it's all aboutshort, to the point, but also
(15:30):
being valuable to the personthat's reading it.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (15:34):
Yeah, I've seen people who are kind of new
.
They just say something to saysomething that they don't
understand the purpose behind itor the purpose behind that
message.
They're just talking so thatmaybe the person will pay
attention to them, but then youbecome.
It's kind of like offeringpeople more just to make it
valuable.
But more isn't valuablenowadays.
(15:55):
Just what you want and need ismore valuable than more.
Lana Mazin (Raintree (15:59):
Absolutely , and that's why our approach to
figuring out this dream buyeravatar, who is the ideal owner
for this brand, and then we cantarget all of our messaging to
their pain points and whatissues are they experiencing and
why are they looking at afranchise versus a different job
?
Do they want work-life balance?
Do they want to make more money?
(16:20):
They want to be more involvedin the community, and for all of
our brands it's somethingcompletely different.
So really, by understanding whois the person that's interested
in this brand, who is theperson that's been proven to be
successful with this brand, andreally basing all of our
messaging off of how do we solvethat person's problem, also
(16:41):
helps us to sort of eliminatepeople that maybe are not a
great fit for that specificbrand.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (16:47):
Right.
Do you get where a lot of theowners think that their ideal
avatar is just a carbon copy ofthemselves and come to find out
that their ideal avatar mightactually be a different person
when they look at their highperformers or people who are
performing high in that industry?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (17:04):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
I mean, typically it's notgoing to be the founder, because
the founder was this trueentrepreneur that went out and
created something that neverexisted before, and now we're
just looking for people who wantto replicate that sort of
success.
So, yeah, we tend to find thatit's not always who they think
(17:26):
it was.
Brands come to us and say thisis who we think is going to be
successful in our system, likebrands that we've worked with
that have had no franchiseowners and they said we really
want this and then come to findout it's actually something
completely different.
But the nice thing about havingcompany like Rain Tree is we
can pivot and change ourmarketing and still have the
(17:49):
whole team focused on thefranchise owners, but change
everything up, update it to bemore towards who the actual fit
would be.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (18:00):
Right.
What are you guys seeingnowadays is the major objections
that people are having, thatthey want to franchise, but then
that fear or whatever getsinvolved.
What are you guys seeing as thebig objections nowadays?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (18:15):
The economy is always an objection.
I think that that's just howit's always going to be.
It's always something thatsomeone can pull to for fear in
the economy or the way it'strending.
It was the same thing duringCOVID.
There are brands that you canfind that are successful in any
(18:35):
type of environment.
If you are risk adverse to that, there are some brands that are
probably not a good fit, butthere's always going to be an
option that could work.
That's really the biggest onefor us right now.
It's uncertainty, but again, Ithink that's always there.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (18:55):
Yeah, the thing about the uncertainty is
you're not looking for anentrepreneur necessarily,
because they'll just bite thebullet and go through the chaos
and try to develop something ontheir own.
So you're looking for someonewho has entrepreneurial spirit
but likes the security more likean executive, who they don't
(19:19):
own the company but they're nearthe top that does that.
Are there any personalitytraits that you guys notice If
you look at the mindset ofpeople who are very successful
with franchises versus what isthat kind of thought process
that you've noticed when you'recommunicating with them or you
talk with them?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (19:41):
Yeah, I would say it's really different
across our brands.
It's really hard to come upwith just a couple.
If I had to pick the top ones,it's always going to be someone
who's personable, who can getalong with people.
Customer service it reallydoesn't matter.
(20:02):
Even if you do thesemi-absentee and you put a
manager in place, you alwayswill be somewhat the face of
your business and of your brand,so you need to have that
ability to interact withcustomers.
Sales skills will always go along way, Even if you're selling
(20:22):
smoothies versus you're sellingflooring.
It's always going to beimportant.
So those are the main ones, Justa business background and
understanding of generalbusiness.
But then across our 10 brandsit is so different.
Which I think is really cooland unique about franchising is
(20:42):
that you can find something thatstoop to you and it might not
be what you thought it was goingto be.
You might think you're dead seton one industry or one brand
and then come to find out that'snot at all what you wanted to
do, but there's something younever thought of and it actually
fits your skill sets perfectly.
(21:03):
I think that that's pretty cooland just something that if
you're not in franchising, youdon't get this wide array of
businesses and different peopleto work with.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (21:15):
And one of the biggest things I've seen is
the ability to put forth, likewe said, the simple, condensed
concepts.
So many people need to condensethings much smaller so that
it's easier for people to getand then be willing to repeat
that constantly A business thatcan convey what it does and how
(21:37):
it's unique in one to twosentences.
If you have to convey what youare and you're getting ready to
take a big breath of air so thatyou can put the time into it
and then finish it with you, doyou get it?
You're not ready yet.
You got to condense and thattakes some time, but people need
(21:58):
to do that.
The other thing I've noticed isbeing able to offer metrics and
numbers.
People are, I think, are afraidof numbers because they don't
want to be held accountable tothem.
But if you really have thingsdialed in, you're always keeping
track of numbers and improvingyour numbers.
So numbers, you should lean onthem because they're one of your
greatest gifts, and if they'renot ready yet, then you have to
(22:20):
realize you're not ready yet.
What are some of the greatnumbers?
You just talked about yourfootprint floors.
You talked about the dog brand.
I can tell you this Sometimes Ihave a hard time finding
territory for those because youguys are killing it.
What are some good numbers thatyou can explain on those guys
(22:44):
to give people an answer of?
These are some things you'relooking for to be able to convey
things like this, like growthnumbers, conversion numbers,
customer satisfaction numbers soimportant.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (22:56):
Yeah, yeah.
So I would say that's probablythe biggest reason that we I
wouldn't say turned down brands.
We just yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah.
Pause on brands is that they'llcome to us.
They have a great concept, theymay be they, they have one or
two franchise owners in thesystem, but the numbers just
aren't there yet.
And really, if, if, if yournumbers are not there yet, you
(23:19):
should pause and focus on yournumbers.
You shouldn't be looking for anFSO partner.
You shouldn't be putting a tonof money into marketing.
You should really see what youcan do to help drive up
profitability and really getthose numbers to to a point
where you know they're sellable.
That that's that's interestingto someone.
You know.
Of course, people get intofranchising for all sorts of
(23:41):
reasons, but typically it's tomake money.
This is going to be their,their livelihood, and so you
need to be able to reallydemonstrate that.
In terms of item 19 numbers, wereally look for a two to three
year ROI and or 20% net marginsto the bottom line.
So we come through P&L's andthat's really what we're looking
(24:04):
for.
You know, again, we want towork with brands that are
focused on the franchisees.
We want to sleep well at night.
We want to know, when we makeplacements with brands, that
that person has all the toolsthat they need to be successful.
Other people have beensuccessful following that
process and so we can feelcomfortable with that.
(24:25):
So that's what we look for interms of item 19 numbers.
In terms of growth numbers Imean our growth numbers are are
really all over the place.
We we, we only work with brandsthat are registered franchises,
so typically our brands come tous with a couple Franchisees.
(24:46):
We've had some brands that cometo us you know, bigger brands
with maybe 50, but we've had abrand like toastique that came
to us with zero, 12 and then intwo years that has over 70
locations awarded across thecountry.
So really, growth-wise, we'rejust looking for something that
aligns with what we think we canbe successful with.
(25:07):
I tell our brands thattypically in In year one will do
10 to 12 new franchise ownersas we're learning about the
brand and figuring out thatdream buyer avatar and figuring
out who's the good fit, and thenwe typically 2x that year to 3x
that year, 3.
It really tends to be, you know, this explosive growth once we
(25:28):
get it dialed in.
But, but mostly we're lookingfor, in terms of partners, those
item 19 numbers and and makingsure that they're strong and and
just making sure brand has anitem 19.
That's definitely a requirementfor us.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (25:43):
You can see that with toastique, because
it has a good differentiator,it's unique and it and it it's
not just unique, it is Puts outa quality product and an
inequality vibe that'sconsistent with now you know.
So I could see why you guyskind of went around what your
normal is, which is You'realready set up, and instead took
(26:07):
on somebody who had no, nounits and help them, because it
is a very unique brand,definitely.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (26:13):
Yeah, and that's the other nice thing too
about what we do is you know wehave these sort of KPIs and
these rules in place.
But you know if a brand comesalong and we just know like that
brand is going to be successful, that brand just has everything
.
But maybe they don't have theitem 19 yet or they don't have
(26:33):
franchise owners yet.
We're always happy to entertainthose conversations.
Our brand, voodoo Brewing, kindof came along and it didn't
really fit in any of the boxesjust yet, but we just knew it
was gonna be something specialand so sort of took a leap of
faith on that one and it's ourfastest growing brand this year.
(26:55):
So I say all this and then Ibacktrack that it's all flexible
and the biggest thing is thatdifferentiator and something
that's just really special andreally unique, and then the rest
kind of come after that.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (27:12):
Right and willing to spend money in the
correct way, not just spendmoney and blow it.
You know like I remember whenyou guys mailed me out those
cans of beer from Voodoo and itwas cool like holding those cans
in the hand because they'redifferent, they are different
from anything else and they justmade it more real.
(27:33):
So I think that spending moneycorrectly because if a brand
gets started, they try to do itthemselves and they just kinda
they're just doing something todo it they can blow through all
of their profits in capitalbecause they're not doing it in
a way that's gonna get themresults.
And, like you said, is ifpeople are, if it's not dialed
(27:55):
in, if they don't treat theircurrent franchisee like the
customer, if they treat the nextfranchisee as the customer,
they're gonna then run into morefriction and resistance, which
is gonna cause a much greaterinvestment of marketing dollars,
which still doesn't improve,produce happier franchisees,
which makes validation hard andyou're probably having hard
(28:16):
validation because your item 19is too low, let alone your
processes and training.
So, getting it dialed in and Ithink people don't wanna hear
that you probably need to keeppolishing and keep improving,
but I think that's somethingthat they should do forever like
never let up on, you know, ifthey want to go to the top.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (28:34):
Yeah, I would say our most successful
brands are constantly adding newpartnerships, adding new
revenue streams, adding newtrainings, new options and
keeping it fresh and just keepgiving options, because that's,
ultimately, you know, what thesepeople are looking for.
(28:54):
They're like we discussedearlier.
You know they're not trueentrepreneurs.
They're not going out there andstarting something on their own
.
They're more this executivelevel who wants something proven
, wants a proven process, but isexcited to go out and do it in
their market.
But they have to keep thingsfresh and exciting and new,
(29:15):
otherwise you do you just sortof fall behind the times and
then a newer, sparklier versionof something in your industry
comes along, and that's wherethe intention will go.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (29:27):
Yeah, I think we've all seen restaurants
that were killing it in theirday and they never reinvested
back into the building and theyeventually die because the place
is so beat up.
They just haven't continued toreinvest and improve, and you
can't do that as a franchisebrand either.
You have to continue toreinvest and improve.
Well, lana, I appreciateeverything you've shared with us
(29:51):
today.
That was awesome.
Thank you for that, and I'lljust tell anybody who, if you
wanna work with Rain Tree, it'sa great company.
There's a link right here bythe video.
You can go, click on it andcheck out Rain Tree.
They would love to have aconversation with you and
they'll let you know if you're,you know, a good candidate for
(30:12):
now or a good candidate forlater if a few things get
tweaked.
So it's worth a conversationjust to find out.
So Anything else you'd like toadd, lana?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (30:23):
No, no, I think that's just it, as I
always tell brands, if we haveto pass today, we're gonna stalk
you, we're gonna follow you onLinkedIn, we're gonna reach out
next year for that FDD.
We're gonna stay in touch andalways happy to be here as a
referral source to other FSOs oryou know other vendors that
might be useful to you.
(30:45):
So, yeah, always happy to justget on the phone and see where
brands are at and learn aboutnew industries.
So, yeah, absolutely takeadvantage.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (30:54):
Thank you, Lana.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (30:56):
Thanks, Lance.
Hi everyone.
Today I'd like you to meet LanaMazin, the VP of relationship
marketing with Rain Treefranchise development.
Lana welcome.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (00:11):
Thanks, lance, thanks for having me.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (00:13):
Well, Lana , I'm very familiar with you
guys, but for anybody who isn't,you guys are really one of the
top franchise developmentorganizations, and franchise
sales organizations and I wouldjust like people to understand
what you guys do and and whoreally qualifies to work with
you.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (00:33):
Yeah, absolutely so.
As you mentioned, we're an FSO,a franchise sales organization,
so we partner with franchiseores and help to grow their
system.
So basically, bring them newfranchisees.
And the way we do it is reallyfocused on ethical franchise
growth.
So making sure that we'replacing the right people in the
(00:53):
right brands that you knowthere's, there's a good culture,
fit, demographic,psychographics All of that is
there In terms of, you know,brands that we're looking for.
We are always looking to add toour portfolio.
Really, what we're looking foris a key differentiator,
something that makes a brandunique in the space.
Some really solid numbers, sosolid item 19 or maybe you're
(01:17):
newer and you're trendingtowards that solid item 19 a
strong support team, or theability to grow the support team
as your system grows, and thengreat franchise owner
satisfaction and Validation, ifthat's you know, if you already
have owners in the system.
So those are really the keymetrics that we look for when
partnering with new brands.
(01:38):
But, yeah, always exciting toadd more to the system and to
you know, talk to more and learnabout other businesses.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (01:47):
Absolutely , and we'll have a chance for
people.
There would be a link herebelow the video where, if you'd
like to speak with Rain Tree,they'd love to speak with you
and you can click on that linkand have a conversation with
them.
Lonnie, you mentioned somethingthat I ask people a lot and I
can't always get people to giveme a great answer and that is
(02:08):
differentiators, because I mean,it's a big deal like what do
you guys look for as adifferentiator?
How would someone define thatwhat they think is a
differentiator is actually aneffective, real differentiator?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (02:20):
It's a good question because it's a
tough one, right?
You know, everybody thinks thatthey're different.
What we're really looking foris Innovation like are you
bringing something unique to thespace?
That's never been done before?
And we work in Tons ofdifferent industries at this
point, but we're looking at evenindustries like flooring.
(02:41):
We have a brand that's justdoing it completely differently,
unlike anyone else.
We have a dog training brandand they're bringing a very
unique method of dog training.
So I think it's really justcomes down to how are you
innovating the segment, how areyou making the segment better
and how are you Justcontributing to the industry
(03:02):
overall in a different way andnot just copying?
You know what you've seen otherbrands be successful with.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (03:08):
Hmm, what do you think would be Probably
that one of the most valuablethings that we could talk about
today, that would, they wouldmake the greatest difference for
Franchise brands are listeningin, where they could really
learn something, take notes andimplement it.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (03:25):
That's a broad question.
What a good question.
You know, I think the biggestthing that we could probably
talk about is just support.
And you know, and in what we do, basically, our role at Rain
Tree is to free up the corporateteam and you know the founders
of the brand to focus on theirfranchisees and, you know, focus
(03:48):
on how do you drive theirprofitability higher.
You know, how do you get themwhat they need, how do you make
sure that you maintain strongvalidation?
And that's what we're here for,because we're taking this
entire chunk of marketing andfinding people and doing all the
things that needs to be Doneoff of the plate so that, you
know, the franchisees can focuson that.
I think that would be a goodtopic to cover.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (04:12):
Let's do it.
What do you want to start onthat?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (04:16):
Yeah, I mean, I think for us the biggest
thing and there's a couplethings that we can't sell Past
right.
There's a lot of things that weunderstand the art of
franchising, we understand whowe're looking for, but there's
two roadblocks where, wherethere's just no sales, you know
can can really help and that'sthe strong numbers, so strong
(04:38):
item 19, what the currentfranchisees are doing, and the
numbers that they're putting up,and then validation.
Those are two really key thingsthat if it's just if it's not
there, we can get people to thatpoint absolutely.
But if those two things are notthere, nobody's gonna sign up
for the franchise.
So just really putting anemphasis on what can you do as
(05:00):
you know, a corporate team to todrive those numbers and to just
focus on your franchiseeSatisfaction, and then you know
we're kind of over here doingeverything else that you need
behind the scenes.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (05:12):
Yeah, because I've seen people.
I talk about it a lot, but Isee people focus on marketing
versus focus on trying to makethe system run smoother, operate
, be more different and thatinnovation there, because at a
certain point I think people gettired of, they're like we're
good enough, like we're good,but it's a moving target.
(05:37):
Everybody is constantlyleveling up and the status quo
is falling behind.
And what should you focus on tokind of like stand out now?
I mean there's yourdifferentiators.
There's also your training,there's the ongoing support,
there's the financial numbersmaking it easier every day
(05:59):
replicating.
What are the big things that,if somebody's like, what we need
to kind of focus on to level up, and everybody's going to be a
little different because they'reall organically developed their
company, however it is, butwe're the kind of the big things
I know you talked about theirfranchisees being happy,
validating and your item 19.
(06:21):
What are some things that standout that would help people
increase those?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (06:28):
Yeah, it's a great question and it is
the great point that somefranchisors that we work with
they come to us and they say,hey, we've been throwing, we
threw $100,000 at this and we'renot adding new franchisees to
the system, Like, what do youthink is wrong?
And then we dive into goingthrough P&Ls or we get on the
(06:49):
phone with their currentfranchisees and people are
unsatisfied or they're notmaking the kind of money that
they said.
It's like there's your problemright there.
You can spend all this money onmarketing, but if you can't get
people past these steps in theprocess, you're never going to
get somebody to join your system.
So I do think that's a validpoint, Just in terms of what can
(07:13):
they do to help.
I mean, I think it really doescome down to expectations and
aligning expectations during theprocess.
So, while they're still in thepipeline, our team reiterating
the expectations of the brandwhen you get on the phone with
them at president's call orexecutive call, reiterating what
(07:33):
you expect out of the brand,what the culture is at your
brand, what you intend to keepas it is, and same at Discovery
Day what are the expectationsgoing to be in the first few
months, in the first year andworking towards that together.
I think that that really isgoing to help clear up a lot,
and then you're bringing peopleinto the system that are not
(07:54):
expecting they're going to makeX when they're really going to
make Y in that first year, andthat's going to lead you to
better validation andsatisfaction.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (08:04):
Right, and so with this, what do you think
are some of the things we'vetalked about like things that
people need to do and thingsthat people are struggling, but
I try not to look at theopposite.
Are there any things that yousee as commonalities on the
people, that you kind of have toturn away?
That, you know, is it reallyjust?
You know, the item 19 is low,they don't have good validation,
(08:25):
or some.
There's some other things thatyou, when you look at a brand,
you're like we just have to turnyour way at this time.
If you fix these things, maybewe could talk again in the
future.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (08:35):
Yeah, for us, I mean honestly, the
biggest thing is culture fit iswe're really looking for
long-term relationships,long-term partnerships.
We don't want to bring a brandon and, you know, sell 300
franchises and overwhelm themand then everything we just
talked about kind of falls apart.
We're really looking for flow,steady, ethical growth.
So brands that just don'treally fit our culture, you know
(09:00):
, brands that have unrealisticexpectations of growth, is
definitely something that we'renot looking for.
We're really looking for thosepeople who have dialed in on who
they want.
They know who they want, theyknow who's successful in their
system, and then they kind ofgive us that information, we
learn more and then we go outand we actually actively look
(09:22):
for people that match you knowwhat they know to be successful.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (09:27):
Do you guys use any of those
personality profiles tounderstand their top franchisees
or?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (09:32):
We do.
We have basically all of ourbrands at this point with
Zoracle, so a personalityassessment that helps us.
Again, the entire system willtake that test and then it will
give us sort of rankings of, youknow, the top performers and
the personality traits that theyhave and the lower performers
(09:53):
and the personality traits thatthey have.
And that's really useful for usin our marketing because we
know exactly who we're lookingfor, their background, their
psychographics, demographics ofthe ideal candidate.
And that's also something thatmakes us a little bit more
unique in the space is that weare doing organically generation
for our brands.
(10:14):
We're not just waiting forconsultants to bring us leads
and then having to try to figureout if that's going to be a
good match or not.
We can actively go out andreally hunt for these specific
people.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (10:26):
Right and so when you do that, so you get
the proper lead for a company.
But in those interactionsyou're going to determine if
it's worth continuing to engagewith somebody or determining
that you should really just letthem go or maybe actively
disengage.
Like, what are you looking forthose factors in a potential
(10:50):
candidate that you want toengage with?
And then what are the factorsthat you really look for that
cause you to disengage with apotential candidate?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (10:59):
Yeah, I mean, of course, everything that
we do has to be a mutual fit,so it's not just hey, I have the
checkbook here I am.
Is this person going to be agood fit for the system?
I mean, it's a long typically10 years that they're going to
be part of that brand.
Is it going to be a good fit oris it going to just be
(11:19):
problematic for the brand andfor the individual?
So you know we're looking forjust general interest and
wanting to progress and wantingto move forward and doing the
homework that we ask and youknow, reviewing the FDD and
being on time and showing up tocalls.
You know we always talk aboutif a candidate can't follow the
(11:43):
process of just learning aboutthe franchise, the odds of them
following the process once theybecome a franchisee and you know
they're in that system ispretty low.
So we're really just lookingfor people who you know are
willing to follow our salesprocess and willing to show up
and be engaged and be excitedand have good questions and just
(12:05):
demonstrate a strong interestthroughout the entire process.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (12:10):
What are some things that you guys have
learned about?
Like increasing engagement,because just how you communicate
with these people, it seemslike you have to convey your
value up front and really engage, because people are busy and
even a good candidate might loseinterest or get you know.
(12:31):
They might have other peopleyou know telling them that you
know I don't know if I have thatrisk tolerance.
You probably shouldn't either.
Like how do you really engagewith good quality clients and
keep them in the process?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (12:46):
Yeah, so we actually build out it's about
82 pieces of franchise specificmaterial to each brand.
So right now we have 10 brands.
You can imagine it's a lotgoing on here, but it's
basically to help with just that.
So we're building out dripcampaigns, automation emails,
(13:08):
text messages so that even whenthey're not on the phone with
one of our sales reps, they'restill getting valuable content
throughout the whole process.
We're still sending them videos,we're still sending PR articles
.
We're still reminding them ofyou know, hey, remember this,
you really liked this about thisbrand.
You know, here's anotherarticle that highlights a
similar topic.
(13:29):
We're doing a lot of thatthrough automation, and you know
what I said about looking forbrands that have differentiators
and are innovating.
We're trying to do the samething in this FSL space.
So by incorporating automations, having a bunch of touch points
, all of these designed emailsand beautiful websites, and just
(13:52):
to keep that interaction going,because, you're right, in this
day and age, our attention spansare short and you know they
could easily see something elseand be on to the next, so our
goal is to really keep themengaged and interested
throughout the entire process.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (14:09):
Well, and I found from in the past, when I
would split test a lot ofthings, that shorter was usually
better and having a singularoutcome, although the funny
thing is I'll ask people twoquestions at once, which doesn't
make sense, but I know thatshorter is better and a single
call to action.
(14:29):
What are you guys finding withyou know, kind of your tests, as
kind of experts in the space is, when you're crafting your
messaging or crafting yourfollow up sequences?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (14:44):
Just that .
I think I read somethingrecently that our attention span
is less than a goldfish at thispoint.
So if we can just be direct tothe point, shorter is always
better.
Our biggest thing is drivingvalue.
So we're not just sending anemail just to send an email.
We're not just sending a textjust to send the text, just to
(15:05):
get them to the next stage inthe process.
It's how can we deliver value,how can we give you the
information that you need rightnow so that you can do your own
research before getting on thephone with one of our
development reps?
So that's been really key.
One call to action, you know,keep everybody going in the same
direction, down the same path.
But absolutely, it's all aboutshort, to the point, but also
(15:30):
being valuable to the personthat's reading it.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (15:34):
Yeah, I've seen people who are kind of new
.
They just say something to saysomething that they don't
understand the purpose behind itor the purpose behind that
message.
They're just talking so thatmaybe the person will pay
attention to them, but then youbecome.
It's kind of like offeringpeople more just to make it
valuable.
But more isn't valuablenowadays.
(15:55):
Just what you want and need ismore valuable than more.
Lana Mazin (Raintree (15:59):
Absolutely , and that's why our approach to
figuring out this dream buyeravatar, who is the ideal owner
for this brand, and then we cantarget all of our messaging to
their pain points and whatissues are they experiencing and
why are they looking at afranchise versus a different job
?
Do they want work-life balance?
Do they want to make more money?
(16:20):
They want to be more involvedin the community, and for all of
our brands it's somethingcompletely different.
So really, by understanding whois the person that's interested
in this brand, who is theperson that's been proven to be
successful with this brand, andreally basing all of our
messaging off of how do we solvethat person's problem, also
(16:41):
helps us to sort of eliminatepeople that maybe are not a
great fit for that specificbrand.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (16:47):
Right.
Do you get where a lot of theowners think that their ideal
avatar is just a carbon copy ofthemselves and come to find out
that their ideal avatar mightactually be a different person
when they look at their highperformers or people who are
performing high in that industry?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (17:04):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
I mean, typically it's notgoing to be the founder, because
the founder was this trueentrepreneur that went out and
created something that neverexisted before, and now we're
just looking for people who wantto replicate that sort of
success.
So, yeah, we tend to find thatit's not always who they think
(17:26):
it was.
Brands come to us and say thisis who we think is going to be
successful in our system, likebrands that we've worked with
that have had no franchiseowners and they said we really
want this and then come to findout it's actually something
completely different.
But the nice thing about havingcompany like Rain Tree is we
can pivot and change ourmarketing and still have the
(17:49):
whole team focused on thefranchise owners, but change
everything up, update it to bemore towards who the actual fit
would be.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (18:00):
Right.
What are you guys seeingnowadays is the major objections
that people are having, thatthey want to franchise, but then
that fear or whatever getsinvolved.
What are you guys seeing as thebig objections nowadays?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (18:15):
The economy is always an objection.
I think that that's just howit's always going to be.
It's always something thatsomeone can pull to for fear in
the economy or the way it'strending.
It was the same thing duringCOVID.
There are brands that you canfind that are successful in any
(18:35):
type of environment.
If you are risk adverse to that, there are some brands that are
probably not a good fit, butthere's always going to be an
option that could work.
That's really the biggest onefor us right now.
It's uncertainty, but again, Ithink that's always there.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (18:55):
Yeah, the thing about the uncertainty is
you're not looking for anentrepreneur necessarily,
because they'll just bite thebullet and go through the chaos
and try to develop something ontheir own.
So you're looking for someonewho has entrepreneurial spirit
but likes the security more likean executive, who they don't
(19:19):
own the company but they're nearthe top that does that.
Are there any personalitytraits that you guys notice If
you look at the mindset ofpeople who are very successful
with franchises versus what isthat kind of thought process
that you've noticed when you'recommunicating with them or you
talk with them?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (19:41):
Yeah, I would say it's really different
across our brands.
It's really hard to come upwith just a couple.
If I had to pick the top ones,it's always going to be someone
who's personable, who can getalong with people.
Customer service it reallydoesn't matter.
(20:02):
Even if you do thesemi-absentee and you put a
manager in place, you alwayswill be somewhat the face of
your business and of your brand,so you need to have that
ability to interact withcustomers.
Sales skills will always go along way, Even if you're selling
(20:22):
smoothies versus you're sellingflooring.
It's always going to beimportant.
So those are the main ones, Justa business background and
understanding of generalbusiness.
But then across our 10 brandsit is so different.
Which I think is really cooland unique about franchising is
(20:42):
that you can find something thatstoop to you and it might not
be what you thought it was goingto be.
You might think you're dead seton one industry or one brand
and then come to find out that'snot at all what you wanted to
do, but there's something younever thought of and it actually
fits your skill sets perfectly.
(21:03):
I think that that's pretty cooland just something that if
you're not in franchising, youdon't get this wide array of
businesses and different peopleto work with.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (21:15):
And one of the biggest things I've seen is
the ability to put forth, likewe said, the simple, condensed
concepts.
So many people need to condensethings much smaller so that
it's easier for people to getand then be willing to repeat
that constantly A business thatcan convey what it does and how
(21:37):
it's unique in one to twosentences.
If you have to convey what youare and you're getting ready to
take a big breath of air so thatyou can put the time into it
and then finish it with you, doyou get it?
You're not ready yet.
You got to condense and thattakes some time, but people need
(21:58):
to do that.
The other thing I've noticed isbeing able to offer metrics and
numbers.
People are, I think, are afraidof numbers because they don't
want to be held accountable tothem.
But if you really have thingsdialed in, you're always keeping
track of numbers and improvingyour numbers.
So numbers, you should lean onthem because they're one of your
greatest gifts, and if they'renot ready yet, then you have to
(22:20):
realize you're not ready yet.
What are some of the greatnumbers?
You just talked about yourfootprint floors.
You talked about the dog brand.
I can tell you this Sometimes Ihave a hard time finding
territory for those because youguys are killing it.
What are some good numbers thatyou can explain on those guys
(22:44):
to give people an answer of?
These are some things you'relooking for to be able to convey
things like this, like growthnumbers, conversion numbers,
customer satisfaction numbers soimportant.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (22:56):
Yeah, yeah.
So I would say that's probablythe biggest reason that we I
wouldn't say turned down brands.
We just yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah.
Pause on brands is that they'llcome to us.
They have a great concept, theymay be they, they have one or
two franchise owners in thesystem, but the numbers just
aren't there yet.
And really, if, if, if yournumbers are not there yet, you
(23:19):
should pause and focus on yournumbers.
You shouldn't be looking for anFSO partner.
You shouldn't be putting a tonof money into marketing.
You should really see what youcan do to help drive up
profitability and really getthose numbers to to a point
where you know they're sellable.
That that's that's interestingto someone.
You know.
Of course, people get intofranchising for all sorts of
(23:41):
reasons, but typically it's tomake money.
This is going to be their,their livelihood, and so you
need to be able to reallydemonstrate that.
In terms of item 19 numbers, wereally look for a two to three
year ROI and or 20% net marginsto the bottom line.
So we come through P&L's andthat's really what we're looking
(24:04):
for.
You know, again, we want towork with brands that are
focused on the franchisees.
We want to sleep well at night.
We want to know, when we makeplacements with brands, that
that person has all the toolsthat they need to be successful.
Other people have beensuccessful following that
process and so we can feelcomfortable with that.
(24:25):
So that's what we look for interms of item 19 numbers.
In terms of growth numbers Imean our growth numbers are are
really all over the place.
We we, we only work with brandsthat are registered franchises,
so typically our brands come tous with a couple Franchisees.
(24:46):
We've had some brands that cometo us you know, bigger brands
with maybe 50, but we've had abrand like toastique that came
to us with zero, 12 and then intwo years that has over 70
locations awarded across thecountry.
So really, growth-wise, we'rejust looking for something that
aligns with what we think we canbe successful with.
(25:07):
I tell our brands thattypically in In year one will do
10 to 12 new franchise ownersas we're learning about the
brand and figuring out thatdream buyer avatar and figuring
out who's the good fit, and thenwe typically 2x that year to 3x
that year, 3.
It really tends to be, you know, this explosive growth once we
(25:28):
get it dialed in.
But, but mostly we're lookingfor, in terms of partners, those
item 19 numbers and and makingsure that they're strong and and
just making sure brand has anitem 19.
That's definitely a requirementfor us.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (25:43):
You can see that with toastique, because
it has a good differentiator,it's unique and it and it it's
not just unique, it is Puts outa quality product and an
inequality vibe that'sconsistent with now you know.
So I could see why you guyskind of went around what your
normal is, which is You'realready set up, and instead took
(26:07):
on somebody who had no, nounits and help them, because it
is a very unique brand,definitely.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (26:13):
Yeah, and that's the other nice thing too
about what we do is you know wehave these sort of KPIs and
these rules in place.
But you know if a brand comesalong and we just know like that
brand is going to be successful, that brand just has everything
.
But maybe they don't have theitem 19 yet or they don't have
(26:33):
franchise owners yet.
We're always happy to entertainthose conversations.
Our brand, voodoo Brewing, kindof came along and it didn't
really fit in any of the boxesjust yet, but we just knew it
was gonna be something specialand so sort of took a leap of
faith on that one and it's ourfastest growing brand this year.
(26:55):
So I say all this and then Ibacktrack that it's all flexible
and the biggest thing is thatdifferentiator and something
that's just really special andreally unique, and then the rest
kind of come after that.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (27:12):
Right and willing to spend money in the
correct way, not just spendmoney and blow it.
You know like I remember whenyou guys mailed me out those
cans of beer from Voodoo and itwas cool like holding those cans
in the hand because they'redifferent, they are different
from anything else and they justmade it more real.
(27:33):
So I think that spending moneycorrectly because if a brand
gets started, they try to do itthemselves and they just kinda
they're just doing something todo it they can blow through all
of their profits in capitalbecause they're not doing it in
a way that's gonna get themresults.
And, like you said, is ifpeople are, if it's not dialed
(27:55):
in, if they don't treat theircurrent franchisee like the
customer, if they treat the nextfranchisee as the customer,
they're gonna then run into morefriction and resistance, which
is gonna cause a much greaterinvestment of marketing dollars,
which still doesn't improve,produce happier franchisees,
which makes validation hard andyou're probably having hard
(28:16):
validation because your item 19is too low, let alone your
processes and training.
So, getting it dialed in and Ithink people don't wanna hear
that you probably need to keeppolishing and keep improving,
but I think that's somethingthat they should do forever like
never let up on, you know, ifthey want to go to the top.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (28:34):
Yeah, I would say our most successful
brands are constantly adding newpartnerships, adding new
revenue streams, adding newtrainings, new options and
keeping it fresh and just keepgiving options, because that's,
ultimately, you know, what thesepeople are looking for.
(28:54):
They're like we discussedearlier.
You know they're not trueentrepreneurs.
They're not going out there andstarting something on their own
.
They're more this executivelevel who wants something proven
, wants a proven process, but isexcited to go out and do it in
their market.
But they have to keep thingsfresh and exciting and new,
(29:15):
otherwise you do you just sortof fall behind the times and
then a newer, sparklier versionof something in your industry
comes along, and that's wherethe intention will go.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (29:27):
Yeah, I think we've all seen restaurants
that were killing it in theirday and they never reinvested
back into the building and theyeventually die because the place
is so beat up.
They just haven't continued toreinvest and improve, and you
can't do that as a franchisebrand either.
You have to continue toreinvest and improve.
Well, lana, I appreciateeverything you've shared with us
(29:51):
today.
That was awesome.
Thank you for that, and I'lljust tell anybody who, if you
wanna work with Rain Tree, it'sa great company.
There's a link right here bythe video.
You can go, click on it andcheck out Rain Tree.
They would love to have aconversation with you and
they'll let you know if you're,you know, a good candidate for
(30:12):
now or a good candidate forlater if a few things get
tweaked.
So it's worth a conversationjust to find out.
So Anything else you'd like toadd, lana?
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (30:23):
No, no, I think that's just it, as I
always tell brands, if we haveto pass today, we're gonna stalk
you, we're gonna follow you onLinkedIn, we're gonna reach out
next year for that FDD.
We're gonna stay in touch andalways happy to be here as a
referral source to other FSOs oryou know other vendors that
might be useful to you.
(30:45):
So, yeah, always happy to justget on the phone and see where
brands are at and learn aboutnew industries.
So, yeah, absolutely takeadvantage.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (30:54):
Thank you, Lana.
Lana Mazin (Raintree) (30:56):
Thanks, Lance.
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