Captivate, by FranConnect™ is a complete franchise recruitment application offering automatic lead importing, email marketing, a password-protected electronic brochure system with call to action technology, a complete CRM system and the patented Heat Meter™ technology, helping franchisors identify hot leads immediately. Captivate by Franconnect™ is 100% web based and offers Blackberry and Treo applications so clients have access any time and from anywhere in the world.

“In today’s economy, franchisors are looking for ways to improve the way they present franchise opportunities to the public. No other franchise management system offers a franchisee recruitment application with such a level of detail,” said Amit Pamecha, FranConnect’s CEO and Co-Founder. “More and more, franchisors want a customizable franchise sales system that can offer real world solutions to make them more efficient, protect themselves from costly technology expenses, and deliver a best of breed system that tracks interested franchise investors through the buying process. Captivate by FranConnect™ can do all of that, is extremely easy to use and available at a very competitive price.”

Each FranConnect client receives 24/7 telephone based support, a dedicated account manager, and 99.9% up time. Other features of Captivate by FranConnect™ include electronic FDD delivery, Call Center integration, automated email marketing, and automated lead processing from over 125 different franchise websites.

FranConnect, Inc., based in Reston, VA was founded in 1998. FranConnect currently has over 300 clients and 150 employees worldwide. FranConnect’s integrated suite of software applications allow franchise organizations to manage all aspects of their operations including Sales, Marketing, Financial Data Collection and Analysis, Royalty Invoicing and Automated Funds Transfer, Contract and Legal Document Management, Customer Relationship Management, Help Desk, Franchisee Support, Online Training, Supply Management, Automated Ad-Builder, E-mail Marketing, Franchisee Web-sites, ZIP Code Locator Service, QuickBooks, Peachtree and POS Integration. For more information visit www.franconnect.com.

For the past several months, franchisors have been eagerly awaiting a thaw in the credit markets so that franchise financing can get restarted again. While franchise financing is likely to get better, it will be never like the glory days of 2005-2007. Similarly, while new franchise sales are likely to pick up, they are not going to have the same volumes as earlier years.

In some sense, the current economic environment is the New Normal and franchisors that adapt to it are likely to succeed the most. With unemployment likely to reach 10% and the continued wage stagnation – a college grad with a generic degree is likely to start with the same salary as his peers from 15 years ago or the disappearance of high paying white collar jobs permanently, overall purchasing power in the US is likely to remain depressed. This is turn is going to put continued pressure on earnings growth for public companies and survival for smaller organizations.

However, all is not lost. Once people become accustomed to this new environment of reduced credit, increased savings and decreased spending, the paranoia around splurging on eating out or home improvements or retail purchasing is likely to disappear giving a boost to sales. This is also an opportunity for franchisors to evolve their business models to support a lifestyle for millions of baby boomers who are likely to work longer because their retirements savings have taken a massive hit. In addition, a lot of franchisors are focusing their energies on improving existing franchisee profitability – a task that had historically been ignored because of rapid new system growth.