What Is Franchise Sales? (And A List Of The Top Providers For 2025)

The definition of the term “Franchise Sales” is the process by which franchisors attract and onboard new franchisees into their franchise system.  The term is synonymous with “Franchise Development Sales” and “Franchise Recruitment”.

Franchise sales are typically handled by franchise development representatives (or “fran dev reps”).  These individuals may be hired directly by the franchisor, or be outsourced to a franchise broker or Franchise Sales Organization (FSO).  Franchise development reps, franchise brokers, and FSOs typically get a large percentage of the initial franchise fee for onboarding the new franchisee.

We try to keep this list as up to date as possible by updating our top recommended list of companies that help in various capacities with franchise sales.  Hopefully this information is helpful to you in some way.

This year, we’re moving our list of Franchise Sales Organizations above our list of Franchise Broker Networks, as we’re seeing more requests from franchisors for franchise sales services than broker networks.

 

Top Franchise Sales Organizations (FSOs) For 2025:

Here is a list of who we consider to be the FSOs.  These tend to shift over the years, so we try to keep them up to date so that you know who are currently the best FSOs to engage with:

Some of these Franchise Sales Organization rankings has shifted around quite a bit over the past year.  If you can afford the price tag, Franchise Fast Lane is probably the best performing FSO as long as you’re working with them to actually do your franchise sales as opposed to just being a part of their Car Pool service, which is a bit more a consulting role than actually driving doing your franchise marketing and sales for you.  And, they recently acquired Rain Tree, so those two FSOs are pretty similar.  We also provide FSO services to our PPC clients, so if you need both a franchise marketing agency and a franchise sales team, we can definitely help!

 

#1 – Lead PPC

If you’re looking for an FSO that doesn’t require or even use Franchise Broker Networks and is the most affordable, that’s going to be us here at Lead PPC.  We have the lowest monthly retainers and have been driving franchise leads and franchise sales since 2010, and we’ve also helped manage over $35,000,000 in ad spend within the franchising space which amounts to 3,000+ deals closed so if you want help selling more franchise units via Google Ads and Meta Ads, we’re as good as it gets.

As of the time of this writing in Q1 of 2025, we currently have around 10 brands that we’re doing FSO work for out of our ~100 franchise brands that we do franchise marketing for at any given point in time.  We also have a newer service called “Flight Club” which is a hybrid of the tools that we use on the FSO side of things but you can still use your in-house franchise sales team.  We basically cover all of the airplane flights and such to get more people to Discovery Day while being as cost efficient as possible on the franchise sales and marketing side of things.

#2 – Franchise Fast Lane

If you’re looking to go the franchise broker network route (instead of driving sales online), then Franchise Fast Lane is probably the best in the business.  Fast Lane is picky on the brands that they choose to engage with, but if you’re lucky enough to work with them, then they probably have a good feeling about your brand, your FDD (Items 7 + 19), and the industry demand for your genre of franchise.

Last I heard, Fast Lane is doing somewhere between 400-500 franchise sales per year, not including the deals that come through their latest acquisition partner, Rain Tree.

#3 – Rain Tree

Nothing but positive vibes from these guys.  Interestingly enough, the RainTreeSales.com website not redirects directly to the Franchise Fast Lane website, so it looks as though they are starting to sunset the brand Rain Tree and do everything under the umbrella of Fast Lane.

What I like about Rain Tree is that they have been a good hybrid between driving franchise sales online as well as via franchise broker networks.  I wouldn’t say that they are “agency” level with online lead generation like us here at Lead PPC or other agencies like Top Fire Media, but their skill level continues to improve and they are proficient with driving sales via online advertising and organic traffic.

#4 – FranGrowth

The FranGrowth team have spent decades leading the industry in franchise development success – awarding over 3,000+ franchises (people…not territories) and collecting over $200 million in franchise fees for our 30+ franchisor partners.  They have done a good job with home service brands like GoPainting, Set The Stage, and Honest Abe Roofing.  If you’re a home service brand, FranGrowth would be an FSO to consider.  Then again, most FSOs prefer working with home service brands since they require a low capital investment and tend to have a 30-60% profit margin, depending on if they are Owner Operated or Investor focused.

#5 – Franchise Evolution

We really like the Franchise Evolution Partners team.  They came out of the gate into the industry extremely strong and while they’ve consolidated their brands a bit, they seem to be finding their way and are currently focusing on brands like BirdCall, Dae Gee, Hike Doggie, Pepper Lunch, and Spectra.

#6 – Rhino 7

Rhino 7 provides some services that most other FSOs don’t.  In addition to franchise sales, they also provide construction management services for franchises, which is ideal for brick and mortar brands.  Some of their brands include Scout & Molly’s, StormGuard, QC Kinetix, 76 Fence, and Yardsweepers.

#7 – REP’M

REP’M also provides Real Estate + Construction Management Services in addition to Operations + Growth focused services.  They currently carry about 12 brands that stretch across personal training, desserts, home services, and a few other niches.

#8 – The Franchise Dept.

It’s a common theme here, but these guys at The Franchise Dept. are also great!  They have managed to carve out about 10 brands that they service, and they have a very friendly vibe that is approachable and yet capable on the franchise sales side of things.

#9 – FranDevCo

FranDevCo has done a great job with Beem infrared saunas.  They also have another brand called Conquer Paddle Club, which is a pickleball focused brand.  Their selection in brands that they have chosen to partner with is quite high quality, and they have a decent sized staff at 21 employees.

#10 – FranSmart

I really like a couple of their brands including the Halal Guys and PayMore.  They also provide services to help franchise your brand, which many FSOs do not offer.

#11 – BrandONE

BrandONE is the premier franchise development consultancy in America. They partner with franchisors to sustainably grow enterprise value. Founded by industry leaders Kurt Landwehr, Michael Mudd, Dave Schaeffers, Jason Barclay and Peter Barkman, the BrandONE team has over 200+ years collective experience in growing the Nation’s top brands. They are known for our diverse experience across business verticals as well as our collective experience in all operational divisions within organizations.

#12 – Franchise Performance Group

Franchise Performance Group comes from a strong website design and lead generation background and has more recently expanded into franchise consulting and franchise sales.

#13 – United Franchise Group

I could very easily move United Franchise Group into the top 3 of this list.  To be honest, United Franchise Group was an FSO before FSOs were even a thing.  They are the original juggernauts of franchise sales, and I think that they do somewhere around 700 franchise sales per year.

The main reason that I have them listed lower is because oftentimes they will try to take ownership of a big chunk of your company in order to engage with you, and there are several brands that have had to go through the ringer to get out of those situations.

But, I think UFG has around 30 sales reps and they sling a lot of deals, probably more than anyone else (except maybe Fast Lane + Rain Tree combined).

#14 – Oak Scale

Oak Scale comes from a bit more of a private equity background.  They make strategic acquisitions within the franchising space.  But, since they also do franchise sales, I’m going to go ahead and cluster them into the list of FSOs here.

 

Top Franchise Broker Networks:

Here is a list of some of the top franchise broker networks:

One thing to keep in mind with Franchise Broker Networks is that some of them do more hand holding and lead nurturing than others.  We see quite a few situations where a client is spending a lot of money on Facebook Ads and Google Ads and so the demand for that brand goes up substantially.  Then, these Broker Networks have an organic page that ranks high where some of your top prospects who are doing due diligence on your brand end up stumbling onto that organic website and requesting more information.  From there, the broker just submits a territory check and suddenly you’re paying $25,000 – $35,000 for a lead that would have come through your website organically but instead hit the broker website first.

So, be really careful about how you do your tracking and make sure that any time you’re doing advertising online that you’re also ranked high organically for your branded terms so that you’re not paying additional commissions on branded terms.  Also, double check to make sure that you’re getting territory maps back to people quickly so that if a broker tries to come in later with a territory check on a lead that came in organically, you’ve already engaged with that prospect and have a good paper trail.

 

Top Franchise Marketing Agencies For 2025:

As a franchise marketing agency ourselves, here’s our take on who the top franchise marketing agencies are.  Some of the new additions for 2025 include Brand Journalist, Franchise Marketing Systems, and Accurate Franchising.   At the end of the day, our top recommendations for Franchise Marketing Agencies are going to be us here at Lead PPC, Ninth Root for local franchisee SEO, and TopFire Media since they have a pretty good handle on Meta Ads.

 

A Deep Dive Into Franchise Sales

Franchise sales is a type of business transaction where one party (the franchisor) grants another party (the franchisee) the right to use their brand, trademarks, and other related intellectual property. This agreement also includes the payment of an initial fee in exchange of using the logo and name of the franchisor, as well as other associated services. The term “franchise” has become widely used over recent decades and is often used to refer to any form of business partnership that involves a franchisor and a franchisee.

The main goal of franchise sales is two-fold: to give entrepreneurs access to an established brand while providing a more secure business opportunity to potential franchisees than if they were to start their own business from scratch. As a result, it can be seen as a win-win situation for both parties involved in the agreement.

By entering into a franchise agreement, the franchisor gains access to the capital provided by their partner and benefits from increased market penetration for their products or services. Franchisees, on the other hand, gain control over how they will manage their business and benefit from an already established brand name without having to invest heavily in marketing and advertising efforts.

In order for both parties to realize maximum benefits from their relationship there needs to be clear communication between both sides regarding all aspects of running the business. This means that both parties need to understand each others’ expectations regarding things such as pricing policies, delivery timescales and customer service standards. The franchising contract should also specify what level of support is expected from either side throughout the duration of the agreement.

The initial cost for entering into a franchise agreement can vary depending on factors such as geographical location and industry sector but typically ranges anywhere between $30,000-$50,000 USD for start-up costs alone. Other costs associated with becoming part of a franchise include ongoing fees (such as royalties) which are often based on gross profits or sales revenue generated by each individual store owned by the franchisee. These fees are designed to cover various expenses such as marketing materials and training costs incurred by the franchisor throughout each year – these fees are usually calculated monthly or yearly depending upon how often you would like them invoiced.

In addition to this upfront cost there are also ongoing managerial obligations which must be met by both parties in order for the relationship between them to remain successful long-term. Some examples include financial reporting requirements (such as income statements), compliance with local laws/regulations pertaining specifically towards franchises, adherence to quality assurance standards set out by management systems etc… In most cases it is worth investing in professional advice/support when setting up your franchise agreement as this will help ensure everything runs smoothly in future operations.

For any prospective entrepreneur looking at buying into an existing franchisee it is important that they do their due diligence before signing any contracts – this includes researching similar businesses in your local area so that you can get an accurate representation of what success may look like if you decide go ahead with it; understanding exactly what your rights are under local legislation when it comes down disputes resolution; checking out reviews across multiple third-party websites about existing franchises including those already owned by a current franchisee; and lastly, it is always important to speak with other franchisees in order to get an understanding of the day-to-day operations being faced when running a business.

Overall, Franchise Sales has become an increasingly popular way for entrepreneurs to expand their business ideas and access new markets without having to invest heavily into marketing or research & development costs. By entering into such agreements both franchisor and franchisee benefit from reduced risk when compared against starting up independently – however this does not mean that due diligence should be ignored during the process as there are still plenty of pitfalls which can arise if things aren’t managed correctly. Ultimately, provided both parties understand each others’ expectations going into the agreement.

 

Need Help?

If you would like to speak with us about potentially having us help drive quality franchise leads for your franchise please fill out our Contact Us form.

We are a boutique franchise marketing agency / franchise ad agency that specializes in franchise marketing and franchise advertising via PPC (Google Ads + Meta Ads).

Additionally, if you need help with franchise sales or with finding a solid franchise broker, we would be more than happy to share our opinions with you on the subject.  Thanks!

 

Video Transcript

Hi there! And welcome to our website or YouTube channel. My name is Grant James. I am the founder of Lead PPC. This is an article that has really started to rank a lot on Google, so I’m just gonna do a video. That kind of talks through things a little bit more detail the video or the article has to do with what is franchise sales and also has a list of top providers. Obviously franchise sales is this is one of those expressions people type into Google lot so it gets a lot of search terms, a lot of search traffic, but franchise sales is basically just selling franchises. It’s also called franchise development sales. There are lots of different groups that work in the space, everything from brokers to consultants to franchise sales organizations and all those types of groups. So in this article probably one of the reasons why it ranks pretty well because actually break down some different groups and it’s pretty helpful information. So here are what we consider. I consider to be some of the top franchise broker networks out there.

I’m going to say number one is going to be IFPG stands for International Franchise Professionals Group. A lot of our clients use them. FBA is very reputable franchise broker association, trans world. If you’re looking for a lot of growth internationally, I think they’re probably the best one at that Fran Serve. A lot of people use Fran Serve. It’s very. Economical. They have a huge amount of brokers that work in their network. We’ve done a lot of stuff with them over the years. I really like them a good combination. A lot of people use well as IFPG in Fran Serve. We also have the entrepreneur source Fran. Net keep in mind the entrepreneur source does not like to be called brokers. They like to be called co franchise coaches, I think FCC, which is the franchise consulting company. It’s a little bit beyond just consulting. They do do FSO types of services, Fran Choice B. A. I.

A lot of groups use them Fran Save the U Network, Global Franchise Network and I think it’s T. F. I so these are some to take a look at. Usually people will use an agency like ourselves and you usually have an ad budget. That’s somewhere between around 1500 dollars a month up to let’s say you know, kind of up to around 5 or $6,000 a month is kind of the range of most franchise franchises do, although some groups will do a lot more 20 to $75,000 a month, but that’s more on the rare side of things. Usually people will have a smaller ad budget with Google and Facebook with a group like us and then they’ll choose between 03:59 franchise broker networks and that’s where they get there of the install take. Usually work with us first start generating easy leaves, start closing some deals take. Profits from there and go hire a couple broker networks that’s very common.

The other thing to be aware of is FSOs franchise sales organizations. Some of the ones that we like a lot. Raintree is really good, pinnacle Franchise Evolution, really like these guys a lot. I may be my number one right now the revenue catalyst United Franchise Group. There are a couple of these that as you actually want a part of your business so they really partner with you is not just like someone you hire that’s going to be UFG United Franchise Group, Rhino 7, Oakscale  I think maybe Franchise Performance Group, but I’m not sure then we also franchise Beacon and Fran Smart so and another one to know up is rep them which is not on this list. They’re really doing some cool things as well, so those are some to be aware of them in a franchise um, sales organization as a group that you hire so that you don’t have to have an in house staff to process leads.

So you’re a lot of times you have leads coming in from an agency like ourselves and a broker network and then you’re also working with like an FSO and I would say maybe 1/3 of our clients use FSOs and then the other ones just having in house staff also have some more information here on kind of a deep dive into franchise sales. You can kind of check that out. If it is something that you’re interested in you know, talking with us and and perhaps working with us as an agency, just go to this contact us section. You can fill things out and you know some of the different brands have worked with over the years and we’ll hop on a call and kind of discuss things from there. But thank you so much.