A franchise inquiry form that qualifies prospective owners
A franchise inquiry form attracts curious browsers and serious buyers alike. The difference shows up in four answers: where they want to operate, what they can invest, when they want to open and how involved they plan to be.
What should franchise development teams ask first?
| Ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Which city or area do you want to open in? | If the territory is taken, nothing else matters. |
| How much could you invest, including what you would finance? | It tells you whether the candidate can meet the published investment range. |
| When are you hoping to open? | Six months and three years are different conversations. |
| Would you run the business yourself, or hire a manager? | Many systems require an owner-operator; others want multi-unit investors. |
| What is your background: have you owned or managed a business before? | Experience changes the training and support a new owner needs. |
| Are you looking at other franchises too? | It tells you what you are being compared against. |
If an answer would not change what you do next, leave the question out. Each extra question is one more reason for someone to stop before they finish.
Do not make earnings claims in the form or its replies. Anything about what a unit makes belongs in your disclosure document and the conversations your rules allow.
Which answers come back too vague to use, and what do you ask next?
The answers that cause a phone call are rarely missing. They are present and too loose to act on. A narrower follow-up, asked straight away while the person is still there, usually settles them. Offering likely answers shows the person the level of detail you need.
| What comes back | The follow-up that settles it |
|---|---|
| “Somewhere in the state.” | Is there a city or a few ZIP codes you have in mind? |
| “I have the money.” | Which is closest for what you could invest: under $100,000, $100,000 to $300,000, or more? |
| “Soon.” | Are you thinking within six months, within a year, or later? |
Follow up once per gap, then move on. If an answer is still unclear after one follow-up, flag it for whoever picks the request up rather than pressing.
When is a call or a visit still the right move?
A franchise sale goes through calls, your disclosure document and usually a visit. The inquiry decides the order. A candidate with the territory, the capital and a date gets a call this week; a browser gets your overview and a date to check back.
How do you set this up from the Website lead qualification template?
Acquainto has a Website lead qualification template to start from. After you sign up, open Browse templates, pick Website lead qualification, and it lands in the editor as a draft you can change before anything is published.
The template asks for a work email, company size and what the person hopes to solve, and branches on size: a company over 200 people is asked who else is involved and what the timeline is. For franchising, use a personal email, replace company size with the investment range and branch on that, treat “what they hope to solve” as why they want a franchise, and add the territory, opening date and owner-operator questions.
To see it from the other side, answer a demo built from the questions on this page. It is a demo: your answers come to Acquainto, not to a business, so leave out real names and contact details.
Acquainto runs it as a short written conversation instead of a form. It:
- asks a follow-up when an answer is incomplete, and asks for clarification when one is vague;
- uses a structured choice where precision matters and open conversation where detail matters;
- shows the person every answer before it is sent, so they correct their own mistakes;
- hands back one clean value per question, delivered to your own systems by webhook.
The person answering needs no account, and nothing has to be scheduled. Start free trial, see how it works, or compare plans.