A question concerning the legitimacy of franchise business reviews is worthy of an answer. Especially if you’re smack dab in the middle of looking at franchise business opportunities.
All you want is the truth, right?
(I’m sure you can handle the truth. But Nicholson is so good…)
It’s Easy To Get Information On Franchise Business Opportunities
It’s relatively easy to gather “information” on all sorts of franchise opportunities. (As long as you’re armed with a decent computer and internet access.)
In general, all you have to do is choose a high-quality franchise opportunity portal and start searching for information on franchises.
But, to get real information on the franchise opportunities you’re potentially interested in, you’ll have to go deep. And the internet, if used correctly, can help* you do just that.
*The internet is a tool. You can locate great sources of information if you know how to use it. For instance, you can find extremely detailed how-to’s on the internet.
In spite of that, it’s important to realize that the internet can’t get you some of the specific information you’ll need to have in order to make an intelligent yes or no decision on a particular franchise business opportunity. For that kind of information, you’ll need to go to the source. You’ll need to contact franchisees.
But what if a place existed where you could read what franchisees have to say?
Wait…there is such a place.
As a matter of fact, there are several places (on the internet) where franchisees write reviews of the franchise concept they own. And reviews of the franchisor.
How cool is that?
Are Franchise Business Reviews Legit?
Let me start of by sharing this important fact:
Companies that provide franchise business reviews are not non-profit companies.
To put it another way, money changes hands. That fact alone begs this question: Are franchise business reviews legitimate? And this one: How is the money changing hands?
How Are Franchise Reviews Obtained?
One franchise review company obtains reviews by offering “participation” in the research/review process for free. Note, the “reviews” are not offered to franchisees. They are offered to the franchisors. (Because that is where the money is) But I’m not going to go into too much detail on the “review” process. But you do need to know this:
Franchisors are paying for reviews-although they’re not required to pay to get the results. What? I’ll explain.
The Scenario
To demonstrate what I mean, check out the following scenario…
A franchisor with 20 franchisees decides to have one of the franchise business review companies do a “research” study. 12 franchisees agree to participate.
The study shows 9 of the 12 franchisees surveyed are very, very unhappy. They’re not happy with the franchisor and they aren’t making a lot of money. This leads to the next step.
In this step of the review/research process, the review company offers to consult with the franchisor to help them have happier franchisees. The consultations are not free.
If the franchisor pays for a few review consultations, what probably happens next is a new survey is put into motion. (A few months later.)The franchisees are questioned again, and in a perfect world, more of them are happier. Success! The franchisor is then offered a (paid) way to promote the fact that they have “satisfied” franchisees-and the “reviews” will be published.
Note: I based that scenario on information I found online. Since I don’t work for any franchise review companies, I don’t know the exact methods they use to extract money from franchisors so they can publish the franchise reviews. But my instincts tell me I’m pretty darn close.
Another Scenario
What if a franchisor agrees to have her franchisees called by a franchise review company for a research study, gets average-or better than average results, and decides not to pay for consulting, or any other services? What happens? Do the reviews get published?
I have no idea.
Maybe they do-to keep things honest. (Or honest in appearance)
Then again, maybe they don’t get published. (I wonder who decides-and how it’s decided)
In the final analysis, there are more questions than answers when it comes to franchise review websites, their legitimacy, and the reviews that are published on them.
It’s Franchise Marketing
Determining which franchise business reviews were obtained and published as part of a paid franchise marketing* program, and which ones were not, is almost impossible.
*Don’t kid yourself; franchise reviews (or franchise “grades”) aren’t being published by franchise review companies to better the franchise model and/or to better the franchise industry.
They’re being done as part of a paid franchise marketing program.
Scratch that: The franchise reviews/research you see on websites that have names in their titles like:
- Franchise Business Reviews
- Franchise Rankings
- Franchise Grades
Are franchise marketing websites.
So now you know that some of the franchise business review companies make their money from franchisors. But did you know that some of them try to make money from would-be franchise owners by offering free* franchise consultations?
*If you need to know what a “free” franchise consultation really is-in most cases, you need to read this article.
Where Real Franchise Information Comes From
For the most part, the real franchise business information…the type of information you need to have in order to make an informed decision on buying a franchise, comes from the franchisees.
But do you really want to “read” reviews from franchisees that are published because the franchisor paid for them as part of a marketing program to find new franchisees?
Or…
Do you want to talk to franchisees personally to get their reviews? (Without franchise marketing money getting in the way.)
Given these points, the choice is yours. And seeing that it’s your money we’re talking about…
P.S. If you’d like to learn how to get franchisees to tell you everything, Contact me
The post Are Franchise Business Reviews Legit? appeared first on The Franchise King® - Find The Most Profitable Franchises.
No comments:
Post a Comment