Rhonda Sanderson
Alexis Mattera, is a rather enthusiastic gal from Sanderson PR. We make each other laugh over on Twitter. Alexis responded within seconds to my Tweet asking for guest bloggers, a couple of tweets weeks ago. Her boss, Rhonda Sanderson, owns Sanderson PR, considered to be the best of the best in franchise public relations. She told Rhonda that I was looking for a couple of guest bloggers to write some articles.
Rhonda and I first met in 2002, and have been friends ever since. Rhonda has taught me a lot about franchising, and public relations, and in this post, discusses the internet, social media, and a chance encounter at a West Hollywood restaurant...
Ten years ago the whole franchise community was so excited. Franchisors believed they had found the “next great thing” for leads. The Internet. Oh there were lots of seminars, surveys, roundtables etc. at Franchise Update and IFA conferences raving about how the Internet was going to help sell thousands of franchises.
Well the Internet certainly did help people find franchisors. And it helped franchisors get their messages out and their images seen. But what was soon learned is that there were mainly “tire kickers” cruising the Internet. Since anyone could access it, it made it easy to query about a franchise, even if the person doing the querying had no intention of really buying anything.
Cut to the last quarter of 2008. Internet or no Internet, you cannot make cash appear out of thin air! Or loans. It doesn’t make people who find you any more qualified or able to buy your franchise.
Why I have always loved the discipline of public relations is that it sends an overall message that encompasses every aspect of your brand. Both the consumer and the potential franchisee can read about Tasti D-Lite for example and the franchisee and franchisor benefit. Either someone’s going in for a delicious German Chocolate Cake cone, or maybe they are going into a store to look at the line out front and gauge whether this could be their future!
Either way with publicity you continuously build your brand and send messages out to the public—eat my burger, use our lawn care service, hire a home companion—and in the franchise community you are also sending the message—and make this a way of life because it’s possible for you to do so.
While I personally don’t believe that we will miraculously see hundreds of franchises being sold over Twitter or Facebook, it never hurts to get your message out through all means of communication, either your consumer message or your business opportunity message.
It all boils down to hitting that one right person. The best example of this?
I was sitting in a restaurant in West Hollywood a couple of years ago bragging to the man sitting next to us about the local burger chain I was representing and visiting there. Two women came in and sat between us. We asked if we were bothering them and they were cordial so we continued our discussion. When we got up to leave one of the women asked for my card. We weren’t even talking with them!
On the Monday of my return to Chicago I got an e-mail from her business manager. Turns out these women were both producers on the show E.R. and were looking to invest! This did turn into a deal for that franchisor. So, no matter how you communicate, it only takes the one right person to come along each time and hear your message.
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Rhonda Sanderson is the founder of Chicago based Sanderson & Associates, the leading franchise PR firm in the U.S. She can be reached at Rhonda@sandersonpr.com
Check out Sanderson PR's Daily Franchise News blog
It sounds like she has some good insight. And to me, I would think it's important to try all forms of marketing to see where you get the most feedback. Of course, it never fails to learn from the past and other's experience. I would trust both yours and her advice.
Posted by: Keri Allred | November 24, 2009 at 02:50 PM
Hi Nikki,
Long time no talk. I used to be with a certain franchise group that WAS based out of San Diego!
Thank you for commenting.
The Franchise King
Joel Libava
Posted by: The Franchise King | May 20, 2009 at 05:04 PM
Rhonda certainly does know what she's talking about. I've been her client for the past 5 years...currently at Tasti D-Lite. She and her team work hard in getting the good word out about franchising!
Posted by: Nikki Sells | May 20, 2009 at 04:24 PM
King,
Rhonda Sanderson seems like she knows what she is talking about. I remember reading her comments about the Domino's store in NY. What a gross story that was.
Edgar Malley
Posted by: Ed Malley | April 29, 2009 at 04:02 PM