The Franchise Development Scorecard
Twelve questions, about five minutes. See where your franchise sales process stands in four areas, each compared with published industry figures, plus one practical move for your biggest gaps.
Answer for the last 12 months. Most benchmarks are U.S. figures; Canada doesn’t publish its own sales-process data.
Here’s where your process stands.
Each area is scored on your answers against published industry figures. There’s no overall grade: the four areas tell you more than one number would.
Your biggest gaps
Up to three answers that sit furthest from the benchmarks, with one move for each.
No big gaps on these twelve questions. The useful conversation is about what comes next.
No written profile of a successful owner
Your answer:
There’s no published benchmark here. In my experience, without a written profile, owners get chosen on capital and enthusiasm, and neither predicts who can run the unit.
Move: Write down what your best owners have in common, in behaviour as well as finances, and screen every candidate against it.
Fit assessed late, or not at all
Your answer:
Only 9% of development teams that use AI apply it to candidate screening (2026 AFDR). Fit checked after disclosure means months of work before you learn whether a candidate can run the unit.
Move: Assess fit before financing and disclosure, so a poor fit surfaces before anyone has spent months on it.
U.S. edition, page 5: Lead Sources and ChannelsSlow first reply
Your answer:
25% of brands sent a personal reply within five minutes; 44% never sent one. Among brands that replied, the first email took 9.1 hours on average (FranFunnel, 530 U.S. brands, 2025).
Move: Set a response standard in minutes, not hours, and make the first reply personal.
U.S. edition, page 4: Speed and CostToo few ways to reach a new lead
Your answer:
73% of brands never used text messaging to reach a new lead (FranFunnel, 2025).
Move: Add the channels you don’t use yet, so a candidate who ignores email can still be reached.
U.S. edition, page 4: Speed and CostLeads released too early
Your answer:
“Unresponsive” is the top reason leads close as lost (FranConnect, 2025 Franchise Sales Index). In a 92-brand mystery shop, only half of brands followed up a test lead at all (Franchise Update Media, 2024).
Move: Run a follow-up sequence past the fifth, eighth and twelfth touch before a lead is released.
U.S. edition, page 4: Speed and CostLead-to-signed conversion low or unknown
Your answer:
About 2.0% of leads became sales in 2025 (2026 AFDR); 1.50% of tracked leads across 460+ brands (FranConnect). The two measure slightly differently.
Move: Track conversion stage by stage, every quarter, to find where candidates drop out.
U.S. edition, page 3: Funnel ConversionDiscovery Day not closing
Your answer:
75% of Discovery Days closed in 2025, up from 65% (2026 AFDR).
Move: Look at who you invite. Qualify harder before the day, not during it.
U.S. edition, page 3: Funnel ConversionA long or unknown sales cycle
Your answer:
24 weeks from lead to signed agreement, on average (2026 AFDR).
Move: Find the stage where candidates stall longest, and agree a decision date for it.
U.S. edition, page 3: Funnel ConversionNo record of why leads are lost
Your answer:
No published figure. Without recorded reasons, you can’t tell silence from rejection.
Move: Record a reason for every lost lead, from a short, fixed list.
U.S. edition, page 3: Funnel ConversionFranchise sales is competing for your time
Your answer:
No published figure. In my experience, when franchise sales shares someone’s time with another role, response time and follow-through give way first, because the rest of the business can’t wait.
Move: Protect time for franchise sales each week, or give one person clear ownership of every lead.
Few signings from referrals
Your answer:
Internal-network leads (existing franchisees, referrals and development-team prospecting) converted at 18.9%, against 0.9% for internet leads: about 21 times (FranConnect, 2025 Franchise Sales Index).
Move: Ask your best franchisees for referrals, on purpose and on a schedule.
U.S. edition, page 5: Lead Sources and ChannelsCost per signed franchisee unknown
Your answer:
$351 per lead and $17,550 per sale in 2025 (2026 AFDR).
Move: Divide your development spend by agreements signed. That number tells you what a lost lead really costs.
U.S. edition, page 4: Speed and CostSee all twelve answers against the benchmarks
Talk through your results with Gavin
A 30-minute call to go through your answers and what I’d look at first. The conversation is about your process, not my services.
Your scores compare your answers with published averages, mostly U.S. figures. They’re a starting point for a conversation, not an assessment of your system. Sources: Franchise Update Media, 2026 Annual Franchise Development Report (AFDR); FranFunnel, Franchise Lead Response Time Study (2025); FranConnect, 2025 Franchise Sales Index; Franchise Update Media, Mystery Shopping ’24.