STAR Awards Website Best Practices: Bach to Rock

Each year, Franchise Update Media honors the top performers in franchise sales and development at its STAR Awards dinner, a highlight of the annual Franchise Leadership & Development Conference, held this past Oct. 14-16 in Atlanta. The STAR Awards (Speaking To And Responding) recognize brands for overall development performance and in the key areas of franchisee recruitment, online sales follow-up, telephone responsiveness, website effectiveness, social media, and franchisee satisfaction.

STAR Award winners are chosen based on evaluations by a team of Franchise Update sales and lead generation experts. In 2015, Bach to Rock took home the honors for Best Website Practices. Their story is below. (Read about the #1 overall winner, Wild Birds Unlimited here.)

On Bach to Rock's recruitment website, what you see is what you get. It's a winning formula for the fast-growing national music education brand that took top honors for Website Best Practices.

The company, which began franchising in 2012, relaunched its recruitment website two years later with a commitment to transparency "in terms of unit economics, investment in the business, and who and what we are as a brand," says Brian Gross, president of Bach to Rock, which has 6 company stores and 37 franchised units.

The website, says Gross, is designed to provide an engaging and easy way for prospects to experience Bach to Rock at whatever commitment level they choose. Information is brought to life with video, graphs, charts, and illustrations. Potential franchisees ready to dive into the process can download a thorough, 35-page brochure. The integrated platform also reaches out to recruits in a various ways, including blogs, portals and remarketing. Potential franchisees can make inquiries directly by email or phone.

"Our goal was to give them as much information as we have available, so they can make an informed decision and see if their objectives are consistent with our brand - and, if so, help them take the next step toward ownership," says Gross.

The strategy is paying off. Since the website's launch, web leads have risen 200 percent - quality leads that prompted Bach to Rock to adjust its best practices to ensure the company continues to handle the volume of interest promptly and with a personal touch. And sales are up 70 percent.

Burgeoning business is matched by an aggressive growth plan. Bach to Rock anticipates adding as many as 500 units in the next decade, and ultimately expanding the music and community-centric franchise internationally.

"We want to build the system, but it has to be done in the most productive and healthy way - for both sides," says Gross.