The franchise disclosure document (FDD) is the most important piece of your pre-sales puzzle. It outlines everything a potential franchisee needs to know before they become a part of your network, from your litigation history to your turnover rates.
It’s the document that can make or break a deal. Which means it’s also the document that dictates whether your franchise meets its growth objectives or not.
That’s why it’s crucial to make sure your FDDs are not only informative, but easily digestible for your prospects.
How your franchise disclosure document can hinder growth
The International Franchise Association (IFA) recently released their 2025 annual survey. One segment of the report highlighted the current growth challenges faced by franchisors, with franchise disclosure documents appearing as a common obstacle.
When asked how they might resolve this issue:
- 56% of franchisors suggested simplifying the FDD format.
- 54% suggested creating a standardized executive summary to help franchisees navigate the document.
- 49% suggested modernized technology permissions for navigating the FDD (e.g. embedded links, pop-outs, mobile app accessibility).
In other words, more than half of franchisors believe their current disclosure documents are overcomplicated and difficult to navigate. This can put off buyers and, as a result, hinder growth.
If this is a similar issue in your franchise, now’s the time to make some necessary changes.
With that in mind, here are 3 ways you can improve your FDDs.
3 ways to simplify your FDDs
1. House your FDDs in a mobile-accessible platform
Your prospects have a minimum of 14 days to read your FDD before making their decision. It’s a short timeframe for such a significant investment.
Traditional documents shorten this timeframe even further. Why? Because paper-based and desktop-only formats restrict when your prospects can access the information. Think about it: how often do you boot up your laptop during your lunch breaks or evenings at home? And would you ever entertain bringing a printed FDD with you on your daily commute?
To improve accessibility, house your franchise disclosure documents on a comprehensive, mobile-accessible franchise management software.
This enables you to upload, edit, and share important documents securely and efficiently. Your prospective franchisees can then access the FDDs from anywhere and on any device, giving them more time and flexibility to read up on your franchise.
2. Improve understanding with AI
Granted, your franchise disclosure documents won’t be anywhere near as verbose as Dickens’s Great Expectations. But that doesn’t mean they’re easy to digest.
Covering 23 separate items, these documents are crammed full of important information - and your sales prospects need to be able to understand every word of it.
This is where an AI assistant can do much of the heavy lifting.
To highlight our point, let’s take a look at the Claromentis AI policy management chatbot. Sitting in our solution’s powerful policy management application, this AI ingests policy information (in this instance, your FDDs) and generates questions based on the content. Prospects can click on these suggested questions or type their own. The Q&A assistant then provides contextual answers and summaries.
It’s a simple way to help your prospects navigate the FDD, improve their understanding, and inform their purchasing decision.
3. Provide supporting communications
Your FDD is a research tool for buyers. The chances are your prospects will be comparing it side-by-side with other franchise disclosure documents.
They want to make the best investment possible, and you want to prove to them that your franchise is worth their time and money.
To communicate just how good your franchise network is, consider inviting them into your franchise management software portal. With the right permissions settings in place, you can show them just enough information to whet their appetite without compromising security. This could include:
- Franchise roadmaps
- Onboarding, product, and service LMS training
- Values and mission statements
- Marketing collateral, templates, and brand assets
- Culture documentation
- Franchisee success stories and blog posts
- Dashboards indicating growth and profit
This additional information can not only support your FDD, but can accelerate the sales and onboarding process.
Applying the same logic to your franchise agreements
Let’s assume your prospect reads the FDD and decides to go ahead with the purchase. At this point, you and your soon-to-be franchisee will need to sign a franchise agreement.
Although both parties should already know the ins-and-outs of the franchisor and franchisee relationship at this stage, it’s still worth providing as much support as possible. Similar to your FDDs, make sure you store this agreement in your online franchise portal. This should be the hub for all communications and information sharing going forward.
Streamline the FDD process with Claromentis
Your franchise disclosure documents determine the success of your franchise. So it’s important to get them right.
While usability isn’t everything, it can severely impact the pre-sales experience. A lack of accessibility coupled with outdated formatting may impede the research process and put buyers off.
Modernization is essential for enhancing the experience and boosting your growth.
By housing your FDDs in a mobile-accessible franchise management software like Claromentis, you can improve accessibility and understanding. Better yet, you can support each FDD item with related communications, documents, assets, and dashboards - all of which can help you seal the deal.
To find out more about our feature-packed franchise management software, book a discussion call with one of our experts. We’ll give you a tour of the solution, answer any questions, and even build you your own personalized trial portal.
