Franchise systems · Lead generation
Qualify the candidate before they reach a development director.
Lead generation for a franchisor fills two pipelines with nothing in common: candidates who can genuinely fund a unit, and customers for the units already trading. GullySales takes the first response on both, qualifies against your own criteria, and records the source of every signing.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
What lead generation means
Lead generation is the combined work of every channel that brings in a new enquiry, whether from search, adverts, referrals or a stall at an exhibition. GullySales runs these channels together and reports the number of enquiries each one produced, not the activity behind it.
Last updated 5 Oct 2026.
For franchise systems
Where it usually goes wrong, and what we would do.
“Most enquiries cannot afford the investment”
A development director's week disappears into people with no liquid capital, because nothing checks capital before the call reaches the diary.
“A broker fee is only worth paying for a stranger”
Some candidates a broker introduces had already been on your site. Tagging the source shows which, and that changes what you are willing to pay.
“An empty diary in one unit poisons the development pipeline”
Every serious candidate rings existing owners. Local lead generation is not a separate programme, it is the last stage of the development one.
What we do
What we deliver for franchise systems.
Every deliverable, what it covers for you, and the result it is there to produce. Nothing here is an extra.
First response on both pipelines inside agreed hours
Portal enquiries, broker introductions and local customer enquiries picked up within the overlap window we agree with you.
Result: The candidate has spoken to you before they compare.
Capital and timing checked before a diary booking
Liquid capital, net worth, timeline, territory interest and background captured and measured against the criteria your team sets.
Result: Only conversations worth having reach your development director.
Source tagged from first contact to signature
Portal, broker, organic search, event or franchisee referral recorded at the start and carried through to the signed agreement.
Result: You know what each channel costs per owner.
A referral route through existing franchisees
A structured ask, a record and a reward for owners who introduce candidates or open a second unit, instead of waiting for it to happen.
Result: Your best salespeople are the ones already in the system.
Local enquiry handling for quiet units
Call and form handling for units whose diaries are thin, so a struggling owner is not also the one answering the phone badly.
Result: The units your candidates will ring are busier.
A report on both pipelines
Candidate enquiries, qualified candidates, discovery days and signings, alongside local enquiries per unit, each against its baseline.
Result: Neither pipeline is judged on the other's numbers.
How the result is measured
- Enquiries generated
- Cost per enquiry
- Enquiries by source
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
Where enquiries come from
The places a franchisor's enquiries arrive, and what to record at each.
- Franchise portal enquiry
- Log the portal, the candidate, the city and the capital stated. Call first, and ask how many brands the candidate is also looking at. Note the portal as the source.
- Broker or consultant introduction
- Record the broker, the candidate and any agreement on fees. Ask the broker for the candidate's capital and location, and write who owns the introduction, so a dispute does not follow.
- Franchise expo visitor
- Write the name, the city, the capital band and the format they liked on the card the same evening. Add a date to call, and mark the expo as the source.
- Existing franchisee recommending a friend
- Record the franchisee and the candidate. Let the candidate speak to that franchisee about the real daily work and the first year, and note what the franchisee said about it.
- Website form or WhatsApp from a candidate
- Ask for the city, the capital available, whether they own a site, and whether they will run the unit. A candidate who will hold a job elsewhere is a different kind of lead.
- Customer enquiry at a trading outlet
- Customer enquiries go to the local franchisee, not to the franchise team. Record where they arrive and set a reply standard in the franchisee's agreement.
Who it is for
This is written for these franchise systems.
- Emerging franchisors under twenty-five units
- Established systems adding units in new states
- Food and beverage franchise systems
- Home services and residential franchise brands
- Health, fitness and wellness studio franchises
- Childcare, tutoring and education franchises
- Senior care and staffing franchise systems
- Multi-unit and area developer models
- Franchisors relying on a broker network for most deals
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- You have no stated minimum investment or net worth for candidates, so the team would take calls from people who cannot proceed
- Brokers hold most of your pipeline and the fee terms are unclear, so new leads would be disputed
- No development director is free to speak to a qualified candidate within the day
How it works
How the lead generation work runs
The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.
- 1
Understand your capacity
We ask how many enquiries your team can answer well, who answers after hours, and what a good enquiry looks like. Without this, the system fills a funnel nobody is watching.
- 2
Audit current sources
We read your call log, WhatsApp chats, enquiry sheet and platform dashboards. The baseline is recorded: enquiries by source, reply time, conversion and cost per order.
- 3
Strategise the channel mix
Search and maps are chosen for people ready to buy, ads for people who are not yet looking, and content and referrals for trust.
- 4
Implement capture and follow-up
Pages, forms, tags, the lead record and the first-reply message are built and tested end to end. We submit test enquiries ourselves before any media money is spent.
- 5
Measure and optimise
Enquiries are traced to source and judged by what became orders, not by volume alone. Channels that fill the sheet with poor enquiries are cut back. How often you are reported to is agreed in writing.
Where this fits
Three pieces of sales work, in this order.
This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 1, prospecting and lead generation. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.
Step 1
Sales audit
Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.
Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.
Step 2 · you are here
Sales process design
One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.
Start here if every salesperson sells differently.
Step 3
Sales management
A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Start here if the team has targets and no routine.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Would your team be qualifying our candidates?
Where do candidates actually come from?
A candidate wants our franchise terms in the first message. Do we send them?
How do we tell a serious franchise candidate from a window shopper?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
From the blog
Further reading for franchise systems.
More for franchise systems
Everything else we would do for you.
Closest to this: leads and follow-up
Also for franchise systems
Or start from the overview: sales and marketing for franchise systems.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.