Chris Conner Franchise Marketing Systems

Chris Conner Franchise Marketing Systems

Before becoming president of Franchise Marketing Systems, Chris Conner was like most new employees who enter the job market for the first time, lost, confused, unsure of what they actually wanted to do with their life. The tech crash of ’99 had just subsided and 9/11 was fresh in people’s minds, so the overall economic sentiment was a bit unsure.  He worked for different places such as EMC working in data storage sales, Wyndham Hotels and with Wilson Sporting Goods but always felt as if he was not contributing enough or making a real difference from his cubicle in a large office building. In 2003, he was introduced to the franchise and entrepreneurial world when offered the opportunity to work for a large, well established franchise consulting firm. He enjoyed working with business owners and people who took so much pride in their business. All of the small businesses that Mr. Conner interacted with when discussing how to expand their business or whether to franchise were so in touch with their emotions and put every ounce of energy into what they had to offer, and he loved it.

Starting to Define a Career in Franchising

While working at this larger franchise development firm, he earned his MBA in Finance from DePaul University in Chicago and married his wife, Alaina, in 2007. A short two years later in 2009, he transitioned to starting Franchise Marketing Systems in the Atlanta, Georgia area.  Mr. Conner started Franchise Marketing Systems from a fancy office in the basement of his home and he slowly but surely started growing his business and even employed his Father, Mother, Two Brothers, an Aunt, Cousin and several other family members. He then was able to add more members from across the country who brought unique franchise experience to the growing business model.  Within a year, Mr. Conner had expanded Franchise Marketing Systems to a national network of home-based franchise consultants located in Atlanta, Cleveland, Nashville, New York, Boston, Miami, Phoenix and Chicago. Over the next few years, Franchise Marketing Systems grew tremendously and experienced significant expansion both in staff and franchise marketing systems success stories.  The business essentially doubled each year over the first five years in operation and in 2014, an office in Atlanta, Georgia was opened where a dozen staff members were based.  Franchise Marketing Systems was then named by the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest growing small businesses in the country.

Learning to Delegate

It took Mr. Conner a long time to put a great deal of trust in his employees to do the job in the exact way that he would or even better.  Once he was able to put that trust in people and his team, the business was able to expand and take shape allowing the company was able to run much more smoothly and effectively. The key to success in the Franchise Marketing Systems model was that Mr. Conner realized many of the businesses that franchised their model with the traditional consulting model were failing to sell or effectively recruit their initial franchise units or get the franchise brand off the ground.  Mr. Conner wanted to support that initial marketing effort to allow these new franchise brands to get the validation they needed to effectively become a franchisor and get traction.  With these sales, marketing and management responsibilities, the need for additional time, effort and staff grew significantly with the FMS client base and the organization grew organically as brands joined the network.   

What is Franchise Marketing Systems About?

The main purpose of Franchise Marketing Systems is to expand organizations through franchise development and help a new franchise brand get past the initial obstacles for growth when they first launch. This is exactly what Chris Conner excelled at and over the past ten years, Franchise Marketing Systems has supported the development of several hundred new franchise systems. He was able to develop great relationships with clients through the Franchise Marketing Systems strategic partnership model and was able to help them excel and grow their businesses.  Franchise Marketing Systems provides sales, marketing, operational, and management reports and supports to help their clients franchise their business to expand their brand. Chris Conner is proud of how hard his company works for its clients and that they also show the excitement and love of the business just as much as their clients. One of his main reasons for going into the franchising world and creating Franchise Marketing Systems is because he wants to take care of the entrepreneur and support successful growth to not only help the brand grow, but also to help new entrepreneurs open their own business as franchisees. 

For more information on Chris Conner or Franchise Marketing Systems, visit the corporate site:

https://www.fmsfranchise.com/about-us/meet-the-team/ 

Or connect with Chris on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherjamesconner/