Why You Should Never Only Call the Franchisees Corporate Recommends

Every franchise sales process will offer you a reference list.

These are franchisees who have agreed to take calls from prospective buyers. They are often enthusiastic. Often successful. Often articulate.

They are also not a representative sample.

Why You Should Never Only Call the Franchisees Corporate Recommends

This is one of the most important and most overlooked principles of franchise due diligence.

The franchisees recommended by corporate are selected franchisees.

That selection process—however well-intentioned—creates a structural bias that every smart buyer needs to understand and work around.

Why Reference Lists Are Not Random

Reference lists are not curated with bad intent.

Franchisors typically select franchisees who are:

🟩 Performing well financially
🟩 Satisfied with the system
🟩 Comfortable talking to strangers
🟩 Positive about the brand
🟩 Likely to reinforce the sales narrative

Those are reasonable criteria from a franchise development perspective.

But they do not give you a complete picture.

What You Miss By Only Calling the List

If you limit your validation to the recommended list, you may never speak with:

🟩 Franchisees who are struggling financially
🟩 Owners who feel under-supported
🟩 Operators in challenging markets
🟩 Franchisees who opened during a difficult period for the brand
🟩 Owners who are considering exiting
🟩 People who regret their decision

You also miss franchisees who are neither cheerleaders nor critics—simply honest operators with a nuanced view of a system’s real strengths and limitations.

That nuance is often the most valuable information of all.

How to Find Franchisees Off the Recommended List

The FDD Item 20 contains a complete list of current and former franchisees with contact information.

That list is your independent research tool.

Use it.

🟩 Choose franchisees from different geographic markets
🟩 Find franchisees at different tenure stages—12 months in versus five years in
🟩 Look specifically for former franchisees and reach out to understand their departure
🟩 Look for franchisees in markets similar to the one you are considering

These conversations will give you a much more complete and honest picture than any recommended list can provide.

A Note on Former Franchisees

Former franchisees are among the most valuable sources of information available to any prospective buyer.

Some left for positive reasons—selling a thriving business, relocation, life change.

But some left because the system failed to deliver on its promises.

Understanding which is which—and what drove either outcome—can be among the most important research you do.

Former franchisees have nothing to lose by being honest.

That is exactly why their perspective matters so much.

The Full Picture Protects Your Investment

Validation built only on recommended contacts is validation with significant blind spots.

Smart buyers close those blind spots deliberately.

They use the full FDD contact list. They reach out to former franchisees. They speak with franchisees at every stage and in every market they can access.

That discipline produces a level of due diligence that recommended lists alone can never provide.

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