E40: Coaching Fran Dev Teams With ZorCoach! From The Entrepreneur Source

Hosts: Michael Hyam and Liane Caruso  
Guests: Greg Cook, Member Strategist & Dana Besbris, Coaching and Training Specialist at The Entrepreneur Source

The franchise industry faces a critical challenge: hundreds of brands launch each year, but roughly the same number fail. For emerging franchisors, the path to sustainable growth is fraught with obstacles. Skyrocketing marketing costs, dismally low conversion rates, and a fundamental lack of development experience. 

In a recent LFG Podcast episode, Greg Cook and Dana Besbris from The Entrepreneur’s Source shared how their new Zorcoach program addresses these issues and transforms franchise development.

Podcast Summary: Coaching Fran Dev Teams With ZorCoach, Takeaways From The Entrepreneur Source.

Many Emerging Franchise Brands Are Set Up to Fail

The Entrepreneur’s Source has spent over 40 years connecting franchise brands with prospective franchisees, working with more than 1,000 franchise brands across virtually every industry. Through this extensive experience, they’ve identified a troubling pattern: 60 to 80 micro-emerging brands approach them annually, and nearly all share the same fundamental gap.

These founders are often great operators who understand their industry inside and out. However, they lack franchise development experience. They don’t know how to award a franchise, overcome objections, or create systems that consistently attract and educate qualified candidates.

The data paints an even grimmer picture. According to the Franchise Sales Index, the average conversion rate across all lead sources is less than 1.5%. Meanwhile, marketing costs have exploded—the cost per lead now averages $351, while the cost per acquisition has climbed to approximately $18,000, up from around $14,000.

Cook emphasized the gravity of the situation: “You have low conversion rates year after year, skyrocketing marketing costs, and an inexperienced franchise development team trying to compete in a crowded space.”

The Solution? A Values-Driven Award Process

ZorCoach takes a fundamentally different approach to franchise development. Rather than treating franchise sales as a transactional process, the program teaches franchisors to create a values-driven award experience.

The five-week program provides templates, tools, and coaching to help franchisors build a complete franchise development system. This includes presentation templates for every stage of the award process, from intro calls through discovery days, as well as comprehensive onboarding and support programs for newly acquired franchisees.

Besbris explained the philosophy: “This is not a sales process. Developing a sales process could definitely set you up for failure. We’re talking about an awards process that really makes sure the people they’re bringing into the system are in alignment with their values and their culture.”

Why “Awarding” vs. “Selling” Matters

One of the most powerful distinctions ZorCoach makes is between selling and awarding franchises. As Cook noted, this isn’t about slinging widgets—it’s about entering into a relationship that could last longer than many marriages.

When franchisors understand their brand’s why, values, and culture, they can identify candidates who truly align with their system. This prevents the common scenario where franchisees immediately start “bucking the system” or questioning whether they understood they were buying a franchise system at all.

The program helps franchisors define their ideal franchisee profile, then teaches them how to create personalized discovery experiences rather than transactional sales processes. This approach leads to higher quality conversations, better alignment, and ultimately, higher conversion rates.

The Critical Onboarding Component

A unique aspect of ZorCoach is its emphasis on franchisee onboarding and support. Many emerging brands successfully award their first franchises but then face a “now what?” moment. Without proper support systems, these new franchisees struggle to get operational, creating the dreaded “sold not opened” situation.

Cook highlighted the long-term consequences: “The franchisee-franchisor relationship is always going to be strained, but you’ll want to at least start out on a good foot. Having that ability to not only award but actually get them operational and get them open is critically important to growing that base and getting the validation you need to continue to grow.”

From Reactive to Intentional

Franchisors who complete the ZorCoach program can experience a fundamental shift in their approach. They can move from being reactive, chasing leads, reacting to whoever shows interest, willing to take any check, to being intentional and purposeful.

This transformation manifests in several ways:

• Increased confidence: Founders gain the conviction to slow down and make better decisions
• Strategic efficiency: They learn to quickly identify who they’re not looking for, allowing them to move faster with qualified candidates
• Sustainable systems: They develop repeatable processes that don’t require ongoing dependence on consultants
• Better partnerships: Understanding their why helps them select vendors and partners who can amplify their brand story

Thinking About The Future – The Challenges for 2026

As the franchise industry moves into 2026, Besbris and Cook identified several key challenges emerging brands will face:

Efficiency and focus: Emerging brands often waste time with the wrong candidates in the wrong areas. Learning to quickly disqualify poor fits while investing deeply in aligned candidates will be critical.

Vendor selection: With an explosion of new solutions, particularly AI-powered tools, franchisors need clarity on their values and goals to select partners who truly understand and can amplify their brand.

Human-centered development: The industry needs to shift from a transactional mindset to one focused on education and the human element of franchising.

Coaching Fran Dev Teams For Real Growth

For emerging franchisors, the franchise development landscape is more challenging than ever. High costs, low conversion rates, and intense competition make it difficult for inexperienced teams to gain traction. However, by adopting a values-driven approach, focusing on award processes rather than sales tactics, and building strong onboarding systems from day one, emerging brands can create sustainable growth models.

As Cook emphasized, “We want to push you out of the nest and go grow. We don’t want you to be dependent on us after the program is completed. We want you to have that level of clarity and confidence that you can make the right decisions long after the coaching engagement ends.”

In an industry where hundreds of brands fail each year, that kind of foundational support could be the difference between becoming another statistic and building a thriving franchise system.

Listen to the episode now to hear more from Greg, Dana, and the LFG Podcast team!