Online Request-for-Quote Services Boost Local Selling Power.

Although the Web offers virtually unlimited opportunities for customers to get what they want, they still crave convenience and human touch. It's crucial to capture local customer attention online and then follow up with personal contact, RFQ--request-for-quote services are now available to help franchises do just that.

These days, it's not enough just to "be on the Web."

The Internet has made franchises more accessible to a wider range of customers. But if those customers never find your Web site, what have you gained? The Web is unlike traditional forms of marketing, such as the Yellow Pages--whereby just having a listing ensures that someone is likely to see it. A casual "build-it-and-they-will-come" approach is costly in more ways than one, and also fails to account for the simple fact that most online browsers are still buying their local products and services face-to-face.

According to Jupiter Communications, customers also buy offline in order to pay with cash rather than use a credit card online. Customers want to use the convenience of the Internet, but they also want the convenience of a human contact once they find what they are looking for. This is especially true for service-based businesses where the service must be performed locally and in-person. In fact, 80 percent of customers browsing online use the Internet for research before buying offline within 10 miles of home.(*) In five years, these customers are expected to spend more than $632 billion at bricks-and-mortar businesses--more than five times what they will spend online.(**)

Franchises that successfully integrate their online and offline presence are best prepared to give these local customers the convenience and human touch they want. The key is to capture customer attention online and then follow up with a personal contact. Online request-for-quote (RFQ) services enable you to do just that--leverage the power of the Internet to gain a visible online presence for your franchise while bridging the gap for customers who research online but purchase locally.

RFQ services, such as netgenShopper.com, increase a business's national visibility and drive new sales to local franchisees, without jeopardizing the consistency of the franchise brand. The entire service can be privately labeled for franchisees with a corporate look and feel, reinforcing the branding message with each interaction. RFQ services also empower customers to make informed purchasing decisions. Franchisees receive specific buyer requests and respond with custom offers via email. Simply put, a company's franchisees tell the RFQ service what type of leads they want and from where, and the service delivers sales leads from ready-to-buy customers.