Request for Quotation for Franchisee Recruitment Background The Financial Management Centre (TFMC) is a leading franchised financial management consultancy network that is committed to helping organisations achieve performance excellence. Through it s a network of franchisees, TFMC delivers financial management support in the following areas:- Book-keeping Management accounts or financial reporting Outsourced entire finance & accounts departments The directors of the business have considerable experience and a track record of success in similar franchise operations. The business was originally set up as a book keeping franchise which over time broadened the service offer to provide affordable accounting services in addition to general admin and book keeping. The name was changed to The Financial Management Centre (previously The Local Book Keeper) to reposition and develop the brand in line with the extended service offer. The network currently consists of 22 active offices and after a period of internal restructuring and development the next phase of franchisee recruitment is ready to start, through careful franchise recruitment and selection to build a larger business with quality franchisees. A new franchisee recruitment website was developed in 2015 www.accounting-franchise.co.uk as was a new customer / client facing website www.tfmcentre.co.uk TFMC Directors now wish to appoint a franchise communication resource to assist with recruitment of new franchisees during 2016 /17. Objectives: Recruit new franchisees in 2016/17 Target geographical areas for standalone franchises : o Primary: The North West of England around M6 and M62 corridor. As far North as Lancaster /The Lakes and as far down the M6 as Knutsford/Crewe. M62 Liverpool to Hull. o Secondary: vacant territories next to this area and nationally.
The North West is considered the best area to test the campaign before roll out as other franchises are in close proximity and the newly appointed Business Development Manager also a franchisee in this area will support the launch of new recruits. The franchise package can be found on the web site http://www.accountingfranchise.co.uk/your-package The requirement is for a cost effective programme of marketing activity to assist achievement of the above recruitment objectives. Proposals should include: Recommended marketing activity plan and methods to generate and capture potential franchisee leads via the recruitment web site A staged process designed to filter, accept and reject leads Follow up communications to reject or move a lead to conversion between stages A creative theme that reflects brand positioning and DNA Defined targets, regular performance reporting and activity adjustment. Detailed costs and resource to manage the campaign Terms of business Previous recruitment campaigns when the job market was suppressed and unemployment was high resulted in a high number of franchisees being women returning from having children or men and women in their 50s who often experienced issues with recruitment at that stage of their life. This was compounded with the high unemployment rate and competitive job market. Current trends like work life balance, entrepreneurship, early retiree access to pension pots at the age of fifty and access to credit in an improving economy in which individuals have become unhappy with long hours and inflexible work arrangements (with a desire to be their own boss) may present positive opportunities to impact a new TFMC recruitment drive. When TFMC launched it was the only bookkeeping led franchise and one of 5(ish) accountancy franchises. There are now numerous bookkeeping franchises and 15+ accountancy franchises. TFMC has since broadened the customer value proposition to a full service accountancy proposition. This will attract a broader audience of prospective franchisees but means that it is potentially less differentiated.
From undertaking some limited research, here are some examples of franchises operating within the bookkeeping and accountancy segment. Accountancy Franchises Accounts Team Tax Assist DNS Accountancy AIMS Accountancy Cheap Accounting Certas Acounting Clever Accounts Bookkeeping Franchises Cloud Bookkeeping Rosemary Bookkeeping Pure Bookkeeping Boogles The Book keeping Clinic Cloud9 Book keeping There appear to be numerous model variations including low cost packages with limited support, bolt on packages and full franchises. Whilst there are more competitors there are more marketing tools since the last recruitment drive and it is anticipated that targeting can be more cost effective and sophisticated. It is apparent from that of many franchisees that have joined TFMC some have been successful whilst others haven t so it is possible that the model suits some types of people and not others. The following are a list of attributes and specifications that can be considered important when targeting potential new franchisees. Accounting Qualifications: CIMA / ACA / ACCA Accounting experience: 5 years Job Role Senior Accountant /Financial Position/ Team manager Income : > 30,000 Enjoy interaction and working as part of a team Ideally franchisees should match the brand DNA, personality and tone as defined later in the value proposition section Franchisee Customer Proposition TFMC is a network of qualified, experienced accountants and book keepers that effectively allows every type of business, regardless of size, to have affordable and flexible financial accounting support. We look after the figures whilst our clients look after their business. We will beat the competition by providing our clients with: Flexible, reliable and proactive business accounting /book keeping services tailored to their needs Timely, accurate and meaningful information to help informed decisions
Financial compliance with regular updates on changing legislation Experienced advice and support at a competitive price A unique range of partnership services to help develop their business A professional and happy long term working relationship Franchise Proposition:- TFMC franchise is a ready- made business package that enables experienced accountants, looking for a flexible and more satisfying work approach, the confidence to invest in a proven model to develop value in their own business with the comfort that they are part of a well marketed and supported professional network. Effective franchise recruitment marketing is as much about generating leads as about communicating a message and creating a brand position. The marketing approach needs to focus on building trust, credibility, prompting action and moving the prospect through the recruitment process. A key consideration is the need to build on the credibility of the TFMC franchise proposition and communicate identified benefits of being a franchisee. The historic franchise recruitment process was as follows: Leads someone has expressed an interest and upon receiving their contact details, TFMC would send them an information pack via email Franchise Feasibility Assessment (FFA) once the prospect had received the information pack and were interested in continuing their interest, they would complete a FFA Discovery Day if the prospect meets the minimum acceptance standards, then they would be invited to a Discovery Day Business planning / legal due diligence if the prospect remains interested and are successful during an interview, they move to preparing a business plan Decision once the business plan has been completed and TFMC has agreed to proceed with the franchisee, they would move to the sign up stage Sign up the franchisee sign the franchise agreement and pay the franchise fee The recruitment process should be divided into three stages: Stage 1 Top of the Funnel (Lead flow generation) The objective at this stage is to get prospective franchisees to express an interest so we can collate their contact details and develop a relationship with them.
The following marketing communication tools make up a range of options available to TFMC to generate leads. 1. Franchise recruitment specific media a. Magazines b. Lead generation websites 2. Accountancy specific media a. General accountancy media b. Accountancy bodies membership media 3. Digital marketing a. Paid Search paid ads which appear when you search for certain terms and can be delivered on Google and Bing. ii. Remarketing if someone has visited the TFMC website, TFMC can promote and reengage with that person through contextual advertising. iii. Display/Contextual advertising Contextual advertising is a form of targeted advertising for advertisements appearing on websites or other media, such as content displayed in mobile browsers. The advertisements themselves are selected and served based on the identity of the user and the content displayed. iv. LinkedIn TFMC can target specific job titles in specific parts of the country with adverts. v. Facebook and Twitter -TFMC can target specific demographics in specific parts of the country with adverts. b. SEO i. On page optimisation we are happy with the new web site and further work may be required to improve ranking. ii. Off page optimisation There are numerous off page optimisation techniques. Progress has been made to add testimonials and more content through blogs, slide share and infographics. c. Email 4. Direct marketing a. Telemarketing b. Direct mail 5. Franchise brokers typically take 40-50% of the franchise fee as their commission so this is not considered appropriate for TFMC. 6. Recruitment agencies when TFMC had started to engage with recruitment agencies, it was new territory however many large recruitment agencies have an offering related to the franchise industry, such as Reed Commercial. 7. Social media engagement a. Twitter b. LinkedIn c. Facebook d. YouTube e. SlideShare
It is advised that proposals be kept to a range of activities that are cost effective, easily measured and are considered basic essentials rather than nice to have. At the same time the directors are keen to understand the costings for an all-encompassing campaign Stage 2 Middle of the funnel (Differentiate, Reinforce, Inform and Persuade) Once the lead has been generated, it is necessary to move the prospective franchisee through the recruitment process. Due to the volume of the lead-flow required, it may be impractical to remain in contact and engage with each prospective franchisee effectively. This ideally could be achieved through an automated marketing system. The automated marketing system will automatically send emails at certain stages thereby escalating their interest which will be aligned to the franchise recruitment process. The content of these emails should be based around some of the key benefits for joining the franchise, concerns people might have around joining a franchise, profiles on franchises so that prospective franchisees can create an emotional connection between themselves and the franchisees i.e. I am like them, I can do that. There are numerous automated marketing systems on the marketplace which require minimal upfront costs and are payable on a monthly subscription between 20-60 per month per user. Stage3. Bottom of the Funnel (Sign up) Once the prospective franchisee progresses their interest towards the final stages then TFMC representatives will be more active in engaging on a one to one basis. This will include regular follow up calls, sending of personalised information and coordinating with other stakeholders. This will be an internal process. The proposed campaign in response to this brief should be planned with the following principles in mind: Front load the campaign the budget should be weighted in Q1and Q2, this will allow TFMC to generate the majority of the leads in H1. This will create awareness and momentum for the remainder of the year thereby increasing the effectiveness of the marketing in H2. Seasonality TFMC experienced limited applications over Dec-Jan, but usually noted an increase in lead flow in March onwards. The franchise recruitment marketing budget should be allocated across a mix of channels that can be measured well and produce results quickly. A mix of activity may include: Franchise recruitment sites on-going commitments that should generate a small consistent flow of leads.
Limited and selective accountancy media presence several insertions should be included at the launch stage of the campaign this might include an email marketing campaign or a printed page advertisement, budget permitting. Search and paid marketing a consistent investment throughout the year with certain bursts of increased spend around certain events. Recruitment proposals should include a summary proposed cost per lead monthly, annualised. Franchise recruitment will take patience and learning and TFMC would be pleased to hear views on testing activities to check response as a precursor to committing funds to activities that may fail to deliver. Equally there may be ways that have not been considered in this brief that can be used in order to expedite the process of bringing on franchisees swiftly whilst retaining high standards. The following is required:- TFMC recruitment communications campaign for 12 months ahead Generation, agreement, and distribution of all communications elements to be used in the recruitment process Any extra initiatives to be agreed and delivered to a budget included in the 12 month plan Speed of response and demonstration of value for money will be critical Regular progress reporting against agreed targets and budgets to indicate progress and measured value for money Evaluation Criteria Quotations will be assessed and scored on the following criteria: Quality/Technical Merit (40%) Is the product or service fit for purpose? How does it perform? Design and Functional Characteristics (30%) How should it look feel? How easy is it to use? Delivery Timescale (10%) Can the supplier meet the timescales/deadline? Additional benefits offered (10%) After sales service, innovative ideas, etc? Cost/Value for Money (10%) Is the price good value for money? This is not necessarily the cheapest option
Proposal Format Proposals should clearly demonstrate how they meet each of the requirements set out above. Your proposal should be structured as follows: Project Appreciation Please ensure you demonstrate a clear understanding of what is required in terms of the delivery of the services to be provided and the timescales to be met Proposals for meeting the specified requirements, to include a method statement outlining how you propose to meet the requirements and an outline work plan Proposals should include example(s) of successful relevant projects and their evaluation, in order to demonstrate ability to deliver value Proposal to be delivered by those intended to work on the business Financial proposal (see below) Please breakdown the costs as follows: Annual fees for the programme for 12 months, please state all hourly/unit/monthly rates for the proposed different work activities Costs for all bought communications activity Any fixed cost for proposals not included in fees and activities Feedback reporting approach NB. All costs should be quoted exclusive of VAT Deadline and Submission Proposals are required by Monday 1 st julieb@vital-focus.co.uk February 2016 electronically to Julie Brook Shortlisted applicants will be invited to meet with the team and a decision will be made shortly thereafter. This work is part funded though the European Regional Development Fund