Last updated on November 27th, 2024
Jennifer and Matt Lucas are passionate entrepreneurs who run The Franchising Company and Hello Results For over a decade, they’ve been helping other entrepreneurs become successful franchisees and for the past few years they've been helping successful Franchise Consultants sell more franchises.
The Franchising Company has navigated through changes in tech, the economy, and politics. But their biggest challenge? Finding and managing leads that can turn into qualified franchisee candidates.
They had plenty of leads who thought they’d make good franchise owners. But finding qualified candidates – those with the money, experience, and motivation – was extremely difficult.
Matt started his company using spreadsheets to track and organize potential leads. Later, he switched to a very simple CRM that only had contact management and calendar features.
When Jennifer joined in 2020, she realized their simple CRM was causing them to lose revenue from mismanaged leads.
This all changed in 2021 when they adopted VipeCloud’s CRM and overhauled their entire process with how they run their business.
In fact, it changed so much for the better, they realized efficiencies that could help their entire industry, and a new business was born: Hello Results. With Hello Results, they use a staff of sales experts and VipeCloud's CRM to help other franchise consultants qualify leads.
Fast forward to today, they’ve about doubled their business – this is their story.
Helping Others Live The Entrepreneur’s Dream
“I’ve always had a desire to be an entrepreneur. I jumped into the consulting space because I fully understood the franchising world. I have a passion for entrepreneurship. I truly believe it’s the greatest path toward generational wealth.” — Matt
Ever since Matt was a kid, he was mowing grass and running lemonade stands – but his real entrepreneurial journey began in college.
Matt jumped into the franchising world as a franchisee and later became the top-performing franchisee in the organization, scaling to multiple territories.
In 2010, he started Digital Doc, a company that repaired and refurbished electronics.
After having success with Digital Doc, Matt decided to franchise-out the model, growing to 36 territories before it was acquired in 2015.
After Matt’s major success with Digital Doc, he decided to start a consulting company where he would use his franchising wisdom to coach other hopeful franchisees.
Helping and guiding individuals to become franchise owners isn’t just a job for Matt and Jennifer. It’s a passion.
“Any small role that I can play in helping someone achieve those goals and dreams is so rewarding. We love what we do. We get to help other people reach the goals and dreams that I had for myself. It’s extremely rewarding.” — Matt
The Challenge: Streamlining A Disorganized System For Sourcing, Managing, And Qualifying Leads
In the early years of The Franchising Company, Matt would try to stay organized by managing leads and contacts with spreadsheets.
When he tried a CRM for the first time, it was very basic and inefficient.
It only offered contact information and a calendar – there wasn’t even an option to send emails.
With over 4,000+ franchise brands in the United States, it’s a massive industry. And like many franchise consultants, The Franchising Company has to pay a lot of money for their leads, so mismanaging them was leading to wasted money and lost opportunities.
This is just the cherry on top of the already tricky process of weeding through loads of leads to find someone financially qualified with entrepreneurial drive.
“Unless you know what you’re doing and how to navigate the waters, it can be fairly easy to end up in the wrong situation. Taking our experience in what we know to try to marry a good candidate with a great franchise brand is the reason why we do what we do.” — Matt
When Jennifer joined forces with Matt in 2020, she knew they needed a better CRM system to grow their business. The limitations of their current CRM made it extremely difficult to manage and communicate with all of their leads.
The Search For A CRM With Advanced Features Without The Big-Name Price Tag
Very few CRMs are made for the franchising industry, and most of the CRMs that have the needed features cost a fortune.
So, after hearing about VipeCloud from a colleague, they decided to give it a shot.
VipeCloud was able to give The Franchising Company advanced features like email marketing, pipelines, workflows, and automations – without the huge price tag.
They also easily customized VipeCloud to fit their specific needs with the help of VipeCloud’s customer support.
“VipeCloud always find a way to make whatever it is that we’re asking for happen. That’s pretty awesome. I’m pretty sure you’re not going to get that with some of the larger CRM players out there… The support, it’s just phenomenal support. And I’m not just saying that, it really is.” — Matt
How The Franchising Company Streamlined Their Lead Process
“We spend a lot of money on marketing and lead generation. That’s a very vital part of our business, so having a system that can handle the complexity of everything that we need to do certainly plays a huge part in our success.” — Matt
Here’s how The Franchising Company uses VipeCloud to save time and make lead management more efficient so they can focus on more fruitful activities.
Staying On Top Of Leads With Better Organization
Matt and Jennifer have a lot of leads to communicate and follow-up with, so having a CRM that can help them stay on top of that lead flow is crucial.
They’re able to find the right data, email, contact, etc. – when they need it – without scrambling through multiple systems. For example, they might even have a lead from two years ago where the timing wasn’t right because a specific type of franchise wasn’t available – and they’re able to find that contact to promptly follow up when a better-fit opportunity pops up.
They’re also able to see where a lead is in the sales process with pipelines and even know when leads open their emails, giving them clarity on the next best step.
And when they’re on the go? Matt & Jennifer use the mobile app to manage their CRM.
“The app for VipeCloud is fantastic. Not everybody has an app that interfaces the same way, and VipeCloud’s does very well. We can get calls, texts, and emails at night, on the weekends, or when we’re away from our computer. It’s easy to just jump in to upload some notes to a contact… It’s really convenient to have that app available.”
— Matt
They can pull reports to see exactly how their team is performing so they know how to train them better. If their team isn’t completing tasks, they can lead them on ways to improve. This helps Matt and Jennifer stay on top of their projected numbers, email tracking, and conversion rates.
Getting Time Back To Focus On What Matters By Using Automation Paired With Customization
Matt and Jennifer LOVE the time-saving automation capabilities they get with VipeCloud.
Some qualified candidates may not be ready to commit on the first call.
So, they set reminders or automatically send emails to follow up within a certain time frame, allowing them to stay on top of qualified leads.
They also like to send custom emails automatically for important dates like birthdays and anniversaries without having to think about it.
Customizable forms help Matt and Jennifer auto-qualify leads who are serious about becoming franchisees and financially qualified. They do this by asking qualifying questions using forms with custom fields.
Why The Franchising Company Is All In With VipeCloud
VipeCloud is the main software The Franchising Company uses, mostly because it can perform all the tasks they need to run a successful business.
While exact growth in numbers is difficult to determine, Matt says it’s safe to say their business has doubled since 2020.
When we asked Jennifer how she would sum up the main benefits of using VipeCloud, this is what she had to say:
“VipeCloud has allowed us to be organized efficiently and makes our production more effective.” — Jennifer
When a lead comes in, Jennifer and Matt know they’ll need to have a physical conversation at some point. But they don’t feel rushed to respond to a lead immediately if they’re not available because VipeCloud’s automated email features takes care of the pre-call qualifying for them.
“So (our business) just flows without us. If we’re on vacation, if we’re sleeping….whatever the case might be, that’s it. Aside from some phone calls and texts, the workflow continues regardless.” — Jennifer
It’s like having a virtual personal assistant by their side 24 hours a day. It gives them peace of mind that they can step away and their business will continue to run smoothly.
Advice For New Vipers From The Franchising Company?
“We always recommend VipeCloud to other small businesses that are looking for a CRM.” — Matt
- First, set up your email with VipeCloud.
- Write down your process from start to finish, then map out a workflow that you can use with VipeCloud.
- Set up custom fields to relate to what you do every day.
- Determine what you want to track and how you’re going to do it.
And if you have any questions? Reach out to the helpful support team.
Ready To Be The Next Customer Story?
Get started today with VipeCloud’s 15-day free trial.
If you’d rather talk to a CRM expert, request a custom demo. We’ll schedule a time to discuss how VipeCloud can help you grow your business.
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