PostNet at Stone Ridge

Franchises Recognized for Excellence in Lead Generation, Recruitment and Industry-Wide Best Practices SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 28, 2008 – Franchise Update Media Group, the leading industry resource for franchise development, today announced the winners of its annual STAR (Speaking To And Responding) Awards. The awards recognize excellence in lead generation, recruitment and industry-wide best practices in the franchise industry.

Awards are given in three categories: Web site, Telephone and Overall Performance, and the winners are recognized at the annual banquet held during the Franchise Leadership & Development Conference. This year’s conference was held at The Drake Hotel in Chicago, Sept. 24-26.

“Growth is what drives the franchise industry, and generating leads and identifying prospects are crucial to the process,” said Steve Olson, publisher of Franchise Update Media Group. “Recognition of successful practices is important to the winning companies in validating what they are doing, and also provides examples for companies that want to improve their practices.”

The awards are determined on the results compiled by mystery shoppers, who contact franchises by telephone and through the Internet. The telephone mystery shoppers evaluate each franchise according to a list of standard criteria that document the length of time it takes to obtain franchise information and reach a franchise development representative. The shoppers also log on to franchise Web sites to evaluate accessibility, content and readability, ease of navigation, online request forms and applications, and most importantly, the amount of time it takes to make contact with a member of the franchise development team.

The mystery shoppers contacted 88 franchises by telephone and 113 were contacted through their Web sites. The winners for 2008 are:
STAR Awards – Overall Performance:
1st Place – FASTSIGNS International, Inc.
2nd Place – Wireless Zone
3rd Place – PostNet International Franchise Corporation

STAR Awards – Telephone Winners:
1st Place – Spring-Green
2nd Place – Play N Trade Video Games
3rd Place – Wireless Zone

STAR Awards – Web site Winners:
1st Place – Great Clips, Inc.
2nd Place – i9 Sports Corporation