I believe the most common local marketing challenges in a franchise organization are the typical franchisee’s lack of marketing 101 skills, their inability to develop a defined marketing strategy, and certainly their inability to execute any marketing plan. However, let’s be fair. They may not have learned about marketing and marketing strategies.

Now, here’s something that franchisees do know something about, and that’s making things happen. Unfortunately, many franchisees don’t have the drive to do whatever it takes to make it happen as it sometimes means integrating their local marketing efforts with grassroots, guerilla, word-of-mouth, or as I like to refer to it as “get off your ass” marketing.

Many franchisees find it necessary to stand behind the counter and serve the customer when they would better serve the business by getting out from behind the counter and mingling with the customers, visiting other businesses, participating in community events, etc.

The major challenge is that most franchisees refuse to take this approach, feeling they’ve made a large investment and the business should come to them, or put the responsibility on the franchisor, or are just lazy and would rather wait for tomorrow. Well, as Garth Brooks sings, “if tomorrow never comes…” Instead, they need to make it happen today and forget tomorrow, as if there is no tomorrow!