Franchise

Ensuring your profits

As a franchiser, La Capitale's primary goal is to ensure the profitability of our franchisees. To achieve this objective, we use a threefold strategy:

1. Recruiting and retaining competent agents.
2. Increasing agent productivity.
3. Lowering the operating costs of franchises and emphasizing strategic alliances.

1. Recruiting and retaining competent agents
The key factor in the success of a franchise is, without a doubt, the ability to recruit and retain competent agents. La Capitale offers you many competitive advantages that you can emphasize to prove to your recruits they will complete more transactions and make more money.

During the interview, you can stress numerous points that will encourage a candidate to join your team:

• La Capitale offers exclusive tools (our home and mortgage protections) that make it easier to sign and sell properties and to earn commissions.
  
  
• La Capitale has set up the Académie de l'immobilier which offers free training with qualified instructors, such as Sales and Communication, as well as self-taught courses on videotape.
  
  
• Partnership with mortgage brokers from financial institutions reassures the customer right up to the closing of the transaction.
  
  
• La Capitale also offers an incentive program that works. Our "Performance" Gala and our annual Golf Tournament are among our most popular activities.
  
  
• La Capitale organizes promotions on a regular basis to attract clients and to help agents make more sales.

2. Increasing agent productivity through our exclusive tools
In the current real-estate market, consumers always want more for their money. That is why you must have exclusive products that help you stand out from the competition. Because of your affiliation to the La Capitale network, your agents are able to use our exclusive tools to increase the number of transactions for your franchise and to earn their commissions.

• The homebuyer protection. A phenomenal success, this protection proves that a good product, launched at the right time, can make miracles happen. To demonstrate its popularity and its effectiveness, you need simply mention that, since its introduction in 1991, La Capitale clients have received millions of dollars in refunds through homebuyer protection.
  
  
• The mortgage payment protection. A product that is truly adapted to today's economic climate, this protection reassures potential buyers that are afraid of losing their job and encourages them to take the next step.

Maximizing the productivity of your agents through a network of profitable referrals
Referrals can make an agent much more productive. La Capitale's network of referrals is one of the most efficient around. We have more than 22 sources for referrals.

• Our network of inter-branch referrals.
  
  
• Our prestigious corporate clients' referrals.
  
  
• Mortgage repossession services: The CMHC and other financial institutions.
  
  
• Strategic alliances with brokers outside of Quebec, including
  Coldwell Banker a Pan-American chain with more than 120,000 agents.

Maximizing the productivity of your agents through a continuous training program
In our world of rapid change, we cannot stress the importance of training enough. At La Capitale, we understand that training has a direct bearing on the productivity of your agents and other personnel. Therefore, we offer the following to owners of our franchises:

• For Administrative personnel: one day of training per year; days are added as we implement new programs.
  
  
• For agents: a free continuous training program with qualified instructors, including courses such as Sales and Communication, as well as self-taught courses on video-tape.

Our training program emphasises the efficient use of new technologies: computers, office automation, wireless telephony, etc. At La Capitale we believe that technology is a measure of productivity.

Maximizing the productivity of your agents through a carefully orchestrated marketing plan
At La Capitale, we firmly believe in the power of our marketing, advertising and promotional campaigns to make our agents more efficient. That is why La Capitale has acquired an excellent reputation and has become the number one licensed realtor in Quebec. The cornerstones of our marketing program are:

• radio, television and newspaper ads, as well as ads in other media;
  
  
• international presence with our Web site at www.lacapitalesells.com;
  
  
• increased visibility thanks to our agreement with micasa.ca;
  
  
• launch of various promotions to make signing listings and selling easier;
  
  
• press releases and press conferences to announce major events as part of our permanent public relations works.

We also feel that our marketing budgets should not only be used to spread the name of a company. Here are our three goals of our marketing budget:

• To focus on our agents in our marketing strategy to make them appear credible and superior to their competitors; this is why all our television ads end with "Only your La Capitale agent can offer you our free home and mortgage payment protections" and "Our agents are capital". In short, we use our marketing budget to demonstrate that our agents are in a league of their own.
  
  
• To emphasize the competitive advantages we provide to our agents: free protections, Internet site, etc.
  
  
• To elicit a rapid response and attract more buyers and sellers to our agents.

3. Reducing your Operating Costs
It is clear that the profitability of a franchise is also dependent on a reduction of your operating costs. To this end we are able to offer you:

• a reduction in bad debt due to our advantageous programs;
  
  
• optimal use of computer technology;
  
  
• in some cases, consolidation of the operations of more than one branch to reduce management costs;
  
  
• a reduced payroll through intelligent use of computer technology and efficient human resources management.