Fiducial | We help your business grow and be profitable.

by Stephen Parezo

Tom Schnaidt

December 12, 2005—“Discovery Days” is the most critical step in developing new Fiducial franchises and it’s where franchise hopefuls get an up close and personal glimpse of the company and learn all about its products and services.

Held toward the end of the decision-making process, Discovery Days represents the stage in the process where only the most qualified franchise candidates are selected as franchisees. These events are sort of a conference room training camp as candidates spend a full day touring the company’s Technical and Administrative Support Center (TASC) in Columbia, MD. Candidates meet corporate personnel, learn about the Fiducial vision and goals and are introduced to product and service offerings by the respective product managers and other department heads.

“It’s an opportunity for franchise candidates to meet our company executives and at the same time it’s like a marriage proposal because we’re evaluating them and they’re evaluating us,” said Tom Schnaidt, a Fiducial franchise business advisor.

Schnaidt finds that Fiducial’s “Discovery Days” presentation is a lot different than other franchisors since this is a one-on-one proposition.

“We don’t bring in huge groups of people because we are a professional organization and we want to devote the most attention to the individual candidate,” he said.

Candidates spend a full day at TASC and by the end of their visit they have a pretty clear idea of whether the Fiducial franchise opportunity is a good fit for them. At that point they decide whether to take the next step in the process which is executing the franchise agreement. Schnaidt noted that even if they decide not to pursue a Fiducial franchise that they were very satisfied at what they got out of the presentations.

Operating a Fiducial franchise requires a major commitment of time, both personally and professionally, as well as making a substantial financial investment. Candidates soon realize that there’s no substitute for the personal commitment to learn, understand the Fiducial system and to follow it.

They’ve got to be motivated

During their Discovery Days visit, candidates meet with key company staff such as Mike Greasley, national sales manager; Andy Martin, tax support manager, and Jim Layton, director of Systems Support and Development (SSD). While candidates come from a variety of backgrounds, Fiducial experts are looking for those who stand the best chance of being successful franchisees.

“They’ve got to be the ones who are motivated,” Schnaidt said. “They’ve got to have the right skill set—most have accounting or financial backgrounds.”

Perhaps the most important reason for wanting to own a Fiducial franchise, Schnaidt says, is the motivation for starting the business.

“Some are looking for freedom for more family life and want to start their own business,” he said. “Usually when they visit our website they find we have the best small business provider concept in the market and they’re anxious to hear more about what we do. From there we take them through the award process then it’s decision time.”

The Discovery Days agenda includes an introduction to Fiducial’s business lines along with presentations on Fiducial’s eight Profit Centers—Accounting and Financial Reporting, Payroll Services, Tax Services, Business Counseling, Financial Services, Legal Support Services, HR and Recruiting Services and IT Services. Candidates also receive an overview about Fiducial’s Marketing Services, Initial and On Going Training Programs, Field Support and Processing Centers.

Not only do candidates get an extensive tour of TASC but they receive some hands-on interaction with Fiducial professionals at work. For example, if a training session is in progress, they have the chance to sit in the class. They also get the opportunity to listen to Fiducial Call Center representatives setting appointments as well as walk through the Payroll Processing Center to see them visually inputting data and serving clients. They also hear tax professionals Guy Mullen and Bob Sperling answer questions from network members on the Tax Hotline.

“This way they get a general full flavor of what we do and how we would support them,” Schnaidt said. “That’s what separates us from the competition. There’s no one that offers the full-service program that we do with our core business lines. Everyone looks for personal attention and I tell franchise candidates that they get it from Fiducial.”

Stephen Parezo is the Media Manager for Fiducial.

Whatever your small business needs, your Fiducial tax and financial professional can analyze your situation and recommend an appropriate action plan. To locate a Fiducial office nearest you on fiducial.com, see the Zip Code Locator located in the upper right hand corner of the page. Do you have a particular topic that we should be writing about that can help your business? Please send your suggestions to: stephen.parezo@fiducial.com.

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