You can be on Entrepreneur’s cover!

What Franchises Should Know Before Hiring a PR Firm Franchisors and franchisees alike can benefit from a talented PR firm that can get the attention of new customers. Here's how to find a match.

By Hayden Field

entrepreneur daily

This story appears in the March 2020 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »

WellPhoto | Shutterstock

1. Ask All Your Questions

From Jamie Izaks, president and cofounder, All Points Public Relations

When vetting a PR firm, whether you're a franchisor or a franchisee, you want to find the best value. Where's the intersection of quality and cost? To do that, you need to ask a lot of questions. What types of brands do you serve? Who are your longest-term clients? How do you keep them moving forward? Get specific. If you're a franchisee, ask for franchisee case studies that show how the PR firm helped drive business. If you're a franchisor, request an example that outlines how much one company paid and what it received in business growth, media impressions, ad equivalency, site visitors, or social media engagement. It's also important to understand a firm's role in the industry. Ask: What's your connection to franchising outside your firm? How intimately are you involved? Ideally, executives will be ingrained in the industry, sitting on boards or attending relevant events. Another thing to consider: transparency. Assess how straightforward the company is and the clarity of its plan. How's the team's response time, and what sense do you get of overall work ethic? PR isn't straightforward; it can take months to get the right result. You need to know an agency is alongside you for the long fight.

Related: 3 Things Franchises Should Know About Hiring a PR Firm

2. Be Honest About Expectations

From Neal Courtney, CEO, Cookie Cutters Haircuts for Kids

Neal Courtney started as a Cookie Cutters franchisee. Today, he's CEO. The brand has more than quadrupled its size in five years, and PR firm Franchise Elevator helped supercharge his strategic plan with…

1) Real results

Since partnering with the PR firm, Cookie Cutters has expanded from 24 locations to 110 — and Courtney could track the stories it placed in relevant publications with a boost in franchise sales. "I would say 10 percent of our growth is related to the direct efforts of Franchise Elevator," he says.

2) Quick communication

"We're extremely aggressive, and I wanted a firm that really wanted to run with us as a hare," says Courtney. So before signing on, he had a lot of conversations to make sure Franchise Elevator could keep up with his requests, ideas, and demands.

3) Trust

Courtney wanted a PR rep who genuinely believed in his business. "Especially for emerging brands, you need to know that the partners you're working with are passionate about what you're bringing to market," he says. "Otherwise you're just another company in their portfolio."

Related: 6 Unique PR Tactics That Drive Growth and Sales

3. Unexpected Success

From Vinnie Sposari, franchise owner, Mr. Rooter Plumbing

What he expected: Mr. Rooter's corporate office provides franchisees with PR services through Fish Consulting, but Sposari was skeptical. He didn't think PR could actually boost business for a plumbing company.

What he got: Name recognition. Sposari constantly meets people who recognize the name Mr. Rooter from articles, and sometimes people even recognize him by name. Plus, the press has helped boost trust. "People don't always trust the plumber," says Sposari. "This gives us some credibility."

Hayden Field

Entrepreneur Staff

Associate Editor

Hayden Field is an associate editor at Entrepreneur. She covers technology, business and science. Her work has also appeared in Fortune Magazine, Mashable, Refinery29 and others. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Growing a Business

To Achieve Sustainable Success, You Need to Stop Focusing on Disruption. Here's Why — and What You Must Focus on Instead.

Instead of zeroing in solely on disruptive innovation, embrace a pragmatic approach to innovation, recognizing and leveraging the potential within ongoing industry shifts.

Business News

Mark Zuckerberg Says This CEO Is the 'Taylor Swift' of Tech

Meta's CEO posed with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Instagram Wednesday.

Real Estate

3 Emerging Trends Shaping the Future of Real Estate

These three innovations are reshaping the real estate industry — discover tips for effectively covering these trends.

Leadership

What We Have to Gain By Talking About Grief and Loss At Work

I lost my husband to cancer during Covid — here's how it changed how I lead at work.

Side Hustle

This Mom Started a Side Hustle After a 'Shocking' Realization in the Toy Aisle. Her Product Was in Macy's Within the Year — Seeing Nearly $350,000 in Sales.

Elenor Mak, now founder of Jilly Bing, didn't plan to start a business — but the search for a doll that looked like her daughter inspired her to do just that.

Fundraising

Avoid These 9 Pitch Deck Mistakes When Asking Others For Money

Crafting an efficient pitch deck requires serious effort, but at least it's not wandering in the dark since certain rules are shaped by decades of relationships between startups and investors.