For years, Payroll Vault used FranConnect to manage its franchise network. It served a purpose. But as the business matured, it became clear that the platform was no longer meeting the operational, sales, or marketing needs of a B2B franchise network with over 59 locations nationwide.
The CRM wasn’t the only problem. The workflows, lead handling, and reporting processes had all evolved independently across the franchisees. Central operations couldn’t get visibility. Franchisees couldn’t get consistency. Everyone worked harder than necessary to move leads through the funnel, and most of them still fell through the cracks.
Ditching FranConnect wasn’t just a software change. It was a deliberate move away from a legacy system that had become a bottleneck—and toward a modern CRM architecture that empowered both the corporate office and individual locations.
The Problem with Legacy Franchisor CRMs
FranConnect is built for franchise development and B2C sales models. That’s useful for QSR brands and brick-and-mortar locations that sell directly to consumers. Payroll Vault sells business services to companies—payroll, HR, and compliance support. It’s a B2B model and requires more than lead intake and brand management.
Key problems with FranConnect included:
- Separate portals for each franchisee with no centralized pipeline or workflow logic
- Manual lead routing via spreadsheets or email
- No real-time performance dashboards or standardized reporting
- High-friction data entry and minimal automation
- Low adoption by franchisees due to inconsistent training and poor usability
Franchisees needed a system that supported their local efforts. Corporate needed visibility into pipeline and performance. FranConnect offered neither.
Why HubSpot Was the Right Fit
No Bounds Digital led the architecture and implementation of HubSpot for Payroll Vault with a simple philosophy: design a system based on what the business needed to grow next.
They created a global CRM instance with:
- Shared deal pipelines, visible by stage and location
- Automated lead routing using postal code logic
- Custom properties and objects for Franchises and Employees
- Centralized reporting that gave both high-level and granular visibility
- Lifecycle stage definitions and automation built to match actual workflows
This gave Payroll Vault a unified system where every franchisee worked from the same definitions, automation triggers, and dashboards—without sacrificing local customization where it mattered.
Operational Changes That Actually Moved the Needle
The operational impact was immediate and measurable:
- Lead-to-customer conversion jumped from 3.3% to 14.4%
- Average deal close time fell from 23.2 days to 12.96 days
- Franchisees created over 130 tasks in the first 30 days—versus just four in the prior two months on FranConnect
- More than 4,600 new contacts were added in a single month
For the first time, corporate could see how leads were being handled across every location in real time. They could spot where deals stalled. They could see who needed help—and who was thriving. And they could do all of it without emailing a spreadsheet.
The Human Element: Getting Franchisees Onboard
None of the technology would have mattered if it hadn’t been adopted. That’s where training came in. The implementation included:
- A 12-week enablement program broken down by role (sales, marketing, reporting)
- Live onboarding sessions with Q&A
- Self-serve resources including articles and short walkthrough videos
- Change management support for the most reluctant locations
The rollout wasn’t perfect. Some franchisees took longer than others to ramp up. But the structured training plan and shared CRM infrastructure made it possible to catch up quickly and stay aligned once onboard.
This Was a Game-Changer—Here’s Why
Payroll Vault now operates with better visibility, faster execution, and a single source of truth that every location trusts.
It’s no exaggeration to say that ditching FranConnect changed how the business works. Franchisees are more engaged. The sales process is clearer. And the data actually means something.
If your franchise network is stuck in a CRM that wasn’t built for how you operate, it may be time to do what Payroll Vault did.
Schedule a call to find out what a real CRM transformation could look like for your business.
