February 2026 Release Updates[Upcoming Release]

Sales: Candidate Coach

Note: If you are interested in Candidate Coach, please reach out to your CSM to purchase it.

This AI-powered assistant revolutionizes the candidate experience by providing instant, 24/7 guidance throughout the franchise discovery journey. Candidate Coach acts as a knowledgeable virtual mentor, answering inquiries about brand standards, investment requirements, and FDD details in real-time, ensuring candidates remain engaged and well-informed while reducing the manual workload for development teams.

What’s New

  • 24/7 Engagement: Delivers instant, conversational responses to candidate questions outside of standard business hours.

  • Intelligent Brand Education: Leverages your specific brand documents and data to provide accurate, context-aware answers.

  • Process Guidance: Proactively helps candidates understand next steps in the sales funnel, from application to Discovery Day.

  • Natural Conversation: Utilizes advanced generative AI to maintain fluid, human-like dialogue rather than rigid keyword matching.

Get Started

  • Navigate to Sales > Lead Management > Add Lead

  • Once the lead is created, Candidate Coach will reach out to them to schedule a meeting

Sales: Opportunity Linking for Leads

Note: Reach out to helpdesk@franconnect.com to enable this feature.

This feature helps franchise development teams manage deals more accurately by allowing multiple related leads to be intentionally associated with a single Opportunity. By linking leads to Opportunities at the point of creation, franchisors can reduce duplicate deal records, maintain cleaner pipelines, and improve opportunity-level reporting from initial inquiry through awarding.

What’s New

  • Opportunity Association at Lead Creation: Link a new lead to an existing Opportunity or create a new Opportunity directly within the Add Lead interface.

  • Support for Multi-Contact Deals: Group related leads, such as partners, spouses, or investors, under the same deal structure.

  • Inline Opportunity Creation: Create net-new Opportunity records without leaving the lead creation flow.

  • Consistent Visibility Across Sales Views: View Opportunity associations in Primary Lead Info, Lead Summary, and Lead Exports.

  • Admin Configuration and API Support: Control Opportunity field visibility via Admin > Sales Settings, with full API support included.

Get Started

  • Navigate to Sales > Lead Management > Add Lead

  • Locate the Opportunity Name field during lead creation

  • Select an existing Opportunity or enter a new name to create one inline

  • Save the lead to immediately associate it with the Opportunity

  • (Optional) Configure Lead Summary columns to display Opportunity Name

Info Manager: Email Signature Integration

This enhancement aligns operational communications with sales standards by introducing native email signature support to Info Manager. By eliminating manual formatting, corporate teams can ensure consistent branding and contact information across all franchisee correspondence, from compliance updates to general operational announcements.

What’s New

  • Integrated Composer: Insert saved signatures or create new ones directly within the Info Manager email workflow.

  • Brand Flexibility: Toggle between different brand identities or roles seamlessly while drafting.

  • Smart Defaults: Automatically apply your default signature to all new emails.

  • Compliance Prompts: Receive immediate alerts to create a signature if one is missing.

Get Started

  • Verify that Enable Signature Block is turned on in Admin > Configuration

  • Open the email composer in Info Manager and click Add Signature

  • Select a pre-saved signature or follow the prompt to generate a new one

Training & Development: Multi Account Group + Multi Division User Support

This feature allows a single user to support multiple brands, locations, and roles without needing duplicate accounts. By assigning users to multiple Account Groups and/or across multiple Divisions, organisations can deliver accurate, role-specific training while keeping administration and reporting simple.

What’s New

  • Multi-Division User Assignments: Assign one user to locations across multiple Divisions.

  • Multiple Account Groups per User: Users can belong to different Account Groups based on their responsibilities.

  • Division-Specific Roles & Permissions: Roles and permissions are calculated independently per Division.

  • Targeted Training per Division: Users receive training relevant to each role and Division, with no duplicate assignments.

  • Clean Compliance Reporting: Training completion is tracked per Division and Account Group.

Learn More

Hub: FranBuzz - Dedicated Discussion View

This feature ensures that ongoing conversations don’t get lost in the feed by providing a dedicated view for every post. By allowing users to see full content alongside all comments, discussions become easier to follow as they grow, enabling teams to respond with full context.

What’s New

  • Dedicated Discussion View: Open any FranBuzz post on its own page to view the full conversation.

  • Complete Context: See the full post content alongside all comments and replies.

  • Structured, Threaded Discussions: Follow replies clearly as conversations grow.

  • Direct Access from Notifications: Links from email, Command Center, and mobile open straight to the discussion.

Get Started

  • Navigate to the FranBuzz feed on web or mobile

  • Click on any post header to open the dedicated view

  • Review the full conversation history and add your response

Royalty Manager: Master Franchisee Overview

This feature bridges the gap in multi-tier network analysis by introducing a dedicated performance view for Master Franchisees. Corporate teams can now toggle seamlessly between unit-level and master-level data, enabling aggregated visibility into regional sales, financial health, and operational trends without the need to manually compile individual unit reports.

What’s New

  • Master Aggregation: Roll up sales, open balances, and invoice data to the Master Franchisee level.

  • Instant Toggle: Switch between Franchise View and Master View using a simple control at the top left.

  • Unified Filters: Apply consistent date and territory logic across both views via centrally located filters.

  • Regional Insight: Analyze aggregated trends across master-managed territories in a single click.

Get Started

  • Navigate to the Overview page in Royalty Manager

  • Switch the view toggle at the top left to Master View

  • Use the filters at the top right to refine the aggregated dataset by date or territory

Sales & Info Manager: Automatic Call Logging Notifications

This enhancement improves communication continuity between franchise development and operations teams by automating notifications for logged calls. By instantly alerting assignees when a new call interaction is recorded, organizations can reduce missed follow-ups and maintain better visibility into candidate and franchisee engagement.

What’s New

  • Instant Alerts: Trigger automatic emails to the assigned user immediately when a call is logged.

  • Contextual Summaries: View essential call details directly within the email body without logging in.

  • Localized Timing: See timestamps automatically adjusted to the recipient’s local time zone.

  • Proactive Handoffs: Ensure stakeholders are immediately aware of recent franchisee touchpoints.

Get Started

  • Navigate to the Lead or Contact tables in Sales or Info Manager and locate the contact in the table

  • Select Log a Call from the drop-down menu adjacent to the contact and enter the conversation details

  • Designate an Assignee and save; they will immediately receive the email notification

Sales & Information Manager: Document Retrieval REST APIs

This enhancement unlocks greater flexibility for technical teams by introducing dedicated REST APIs for document retrieval within the Sales and Information Manager modules. By enabling programmatic access to stored files and metadata, developers can build seamless integrations, automate document archiving, and create custom workflows without relying on manual downloads.

What’s New

  • Direct Retrieval: Fetch specific documents via unique identifiers using the new Retrieve API endpoints.

  • Expanded Coverage: Access files stored in both Sales and Information Manager modules programmatically.

  • Rich Metadata: Retrieve essential file details and properties alongside the document content for better indexing and organization.

Get Started

  • Navigate to the FranConnect API

  • Generate or update your authentication token to ensure access to the new endpoints

  • Use the new GET request with a unique document ID to retrieve file details and content

Operations: Task Commenting & History

This feature strengthens communication between field consultants and franchisees by enabling direct dialogue within operational tasks. By surfacing comments immediately on summary views and providing a full historical timeline, operations teams can resolve compliance issues faster and maintain a transparent record of all corrective actions.

What’s New

  • Direct Feedback: Add and view comments directly on specific FieldOps tasks to centralize communication.

  • Quick Scanning: Identify recent activity via the new Latest Comment column on summary pages.

  • Prioritized Action: Spot items requiring attention without clicking into individual records.

  • Full Timeline: Access a dedicated view to track the complete history of comments and status changes.

Get Started

  • Navigate to the Visit Summary or Task Summary page in Operations

  • Review the Latest Comment column for recent updates

  • Click a task and select the Timeline option to view full history or add a comment

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