How The Human Bean !Dramatically Shrank! Their Franchise Development Sales Cycle

A premium Espresso drive-thru with a devoted following

The Human Bean opened their first drive-thru espresso stand in Ashland, Oregon, in 1998. They expanded to surrounding cities in Southern Oregon and, by 2002, began franchising.

Historically, The Human Bean has relied heavily on organic lead sourcing for franchise development, fanned by new location openings and other sources of brand recognition. But too much time was being spent on unqualified leads, while the good leads were not given the attention they deserved. The Human Bean team filtered through leads by hand, one by one.

Scaling with Warmth

Jean Schneider, Director of Franchise Development, needed a way to capitalize on a great combination of high brand recognition and strong intent to engage, achieving volume while continuing to effectively nurture human relationships.

In short, Jean needed a way to help scale the funnel while keeping prospects warm.

Beyond Interruptive Marketing

Today, the Sales Accelerator engages leads using automated conversational SMS text messaging to respond immediately to new leads to schedule appointments directly with the franchise-development team. People answer texts because, in contrast with voice, they have control over when to respond.

Nurturing Until First Contact

The Sales Accelerator went beyond scheduling leads. It nurtured leads throughout the prospect journey, leading up to the first personal contact with The Human Bean. No-shows plummeted because Sales Accelerator warmed leads in preparation for the meeting and reduced friction to reschedule when the inevitable happened.

Focusing on Relationships

Internally, Jean’s team has gained back precious hours that had been wasted on curating and chasing leads. Instead, they spend their time doing what they do best: interacting with their prospects and guiding them to ownership.

“Scheduling Rate and Lead Funnel Rate are main metrics in our sales process. Both have improved substantially. That’s a game changer for us.” — Jean Schneider, Director of Franchise Development

Results

For The Human Bean, qualified prospects moved from stage “New Lead” to “Candidate Approval” in two weeks instead of six months. Integrating Sales Accelerator played an essential role by establishing momentum early in each relationship.

As a result, The Human Bean achieved internal growth and success last year with multi-unit franchisees. The Human Bean continues to grow its brand with over 350 locations open or in development across 29 states, taking on the coffee industry one “Bean” at a time.