Your franchise-sales process, codified. Your FDD, signed without the back-and-forth.
Franchise sales runs on two things: a clean process the team executes, and a clean document trail the FDD requires. SalesThumb gives you both. The playbook codifies your sales motion as stage-required tasks (every prospect at 'FDD Sent' has the acknowledgement timer running, every prospect at 'Mutual Evaluation' has a validation call logged). The FDD vault tracks document versions, e-signs acknowledgements, and per-state registration status — so when a prospect in Maryland asks for the FDD, you don't accidentally send the New York version.
Launching soon — get early access.
Franchise playbook · process you can't skipStage-required tasks
68 prospects · 4 reps · stage transitions blocked until required tasks done
Stuck · 4 stage transitions blocked: Whitman (territory model overdue) · Ortiz (FDD ack missing) · Voss (validator call not logged) · Forge (initial-fee deposit pending)
Marcus Whitman · Whitman Group
Target Reno · NV · liquid $180k · NW $950k · owner Sara K.
Days in cycle
52d
Forecast close
Jun 14
Deal value
$185k
Pipeline stages
Inquiry
Mar 04
Qualified
Mar 18
FDD Sent
Apr 02 · cooling-off cleared
- 4
Discovery Day
6d in · SLA 10d60% Mutual Evaluation
Award
Stage SLA · 75% threshold escalates
Goes to owner first · then sales manager at 100% · then VP at 120%
Required to advance from Discovery Day → Mutual Eval
2 of 6 doneDiscovery-day attendance confirmed
Checked in via kiosk · Apr 24
Session ratings ≥4.0
Avg 4.6 across 4 sessions
Validator call · post-DD
Apr 28 · 4dMatch with Marcus R. (Houston)
Mutual rating exchanged
Apr 26 · 2dProspect side received · team rating pending
Territory financial model reviewed
Apr 23 · −1d5-yr P&L for Reno · NV territory
Next-step call booked
Requires prior 2 tasks to complete
Why this matters
Reps can't drag Marcus to Mutual Eval until the validator call is logged + mutual rating exchanged. Same rule at every shop, every prospect — process becomes the system.
Features, zoomed in
The parts that actually move the needle.
Three capabilities built specifically for the day-to-day of a working shop.
Deep dive · 01
Playbook = process you can't accidentally skip
Each pipeline stage has required-tasks rules. 'FDD Sent' requires the acknowledgement upload + timer. 'Mutual Evaluation' requires ≥1 logged validation call. 'Award' requires the franchise agreement e-signed + initial-fee deposit. Moving a prospect forward without the required activities is blocked at the UI + audited at the API. Reps stop missing steps; managers stop chasing.
- Required tasks enforced per stage transition
- SLA timers per stage (overdue prospects escalate)
- Per-rep + per-stage conversion analytics
- Standup-ready 'what's stuck' report
Move stage · M. Okafor
Scottsdale North · franchise pipeline · rep D. Whitcomb
Stage gate — 1 of 2 required tasks incomplete. Move is blocked.
"FDD Sent" requires the acknowledgement upload + the 14-day cooling-off timer before a prospect can advance.
FDD acknowledgement uploaded
E-signed copy on file · Apr 21 · 2:14p
14-day cooling-off timer
Day 8 of 14 · started Apr 21 · clears May 5
$ POST /api/franchise/prospects/p_4417/stage -d '{to:"mutual_evaluation"}'
← 422 stage_gate_blocked · required_task: cooling_off_timer (6d remaining)
✎ audit_log: row A-1098 written · actor rep_dwhitcomb · Apr 29 · 9:41a
Deep dive · 02
FDD vault with state-aware sending
Upload your FDD. Mark which states it's registered for. When a prospect comes in from California, the vault auto-suggests the California-registered version (or warns if you're not yet registered in their target state). E-sign for acknowledgement. Acknowledgement-clock auto-runs the 14-day cooling-off period the FTC requires. Re-issuing on annual renewal? Bulk-resend with one click.
Send FDD · J. Whitfield
Target territory: Sacramento East · California
Select document version
FDD 2026 · v3.2 — California edition
Registered with CA DFPI · Mar 12, 2026 · renews Mar 2027
FDD 2026 · v3.2 — Multi-state base
Non-registration states only · 18 states covered
Prospect is also evaluating Portland Metro (Oregon). Your FDD isn't registered in OR yet — sending for an Oregon territory is blocked until registration completes (filed Apr 28).
E-sign acknowledgement
Signature request rides along with the send — no print-scan-email back-and-forth.
Cooling-off auto-clock
FTC 14-day period starts at signature · Award stage stays locked until it clears.
Annual renewal ready. FDD 2027 issued May 1 — re-acknowledgement needed for active prospects.
What's included
The full capability list.
Everything that ships on day one. No feature-gating surprises inside a single plan.
- Sales playbook — stage-required tasks per prospect
- Per-rep + per-stage KPI dashboards
- Activity SLA timers + escalation
- FDD vault with version control
- State-by-state registration status tracking
- E-sign for FDD acknowledgement + franchise agreement
- Document expiry alerts (state filings, FDD updates)
- Per-prospect compliance timeline
See every angle
A tour of the screens
Every meaningful view, the path through it, and the moments that matter — so you know exactly what you're buying.
FDD vault
Document versions.
State-by-state registration status. E-sign workflow. Cooling-off auto-clock.
FDD vaultstate-aware
4 versions · 23 registration states tracked · 31 acknowledgements on file
Document versions
FDD 2026 · v3.2 — California edition
Issued Mar 12 · registered CA DFPI · renews Mar 2027
FDD 2026 · v3.2 — Multi-state base
Issued Mar 12 · non-registration states · 18 covered
FDD 2026 · v3.1
Superseded Apr 2 · 9 acknowledgements on file
FDD 2025 · v2.8
Archived Mar 30 · retained for 3-year audit window
Registration by state
Registered
renews Mar '27
Registered
renews Apr '27
Registered
renews May '27
Registered
renews Jun '27
Registered
renews Feb '27
Filing review
filed Apr 28
Expired
lapsed Apr 1
Registered
renews Jul '27
+ 15 non-registration states served by the multi-state base. MD sends are blocked until re-registration.
E-sign workflow: 31 signed · 4 awaiting signature · 0 printed/scanned
Item 23 receipts auto-storedCooling-off auto-clocks · 3 running
J. Whitfield · Sacramento East
Day 9 of 14 · clears May 5
M. Okafor · Scottsdale North
Day 8 of 14 · clears May 6
D. Pruitt · Boise Towne
Day 2 of 14 · clears May 12
Per-prospect compliance timeline
Every document sent, signed, registered.
Every required-task completion. Hand it to your legal team in one click.
Compliance timeline · J. Whitfieldaudit-ready
Sacramento East · California · 7 events · 0 gaps · all hashes verified
Prospect qualified · Sacramento East territory
Playbook attached: Franchise pipeline v4 · rep T. Marsh
FDD 2026 v3.2 (California edition) sent
documentCA DFPI registration verified at send · doc hash 8f31…c2da stored
FDD acknowledgement e-signed
signedItem 23 receipt stored · signer IP + timestamp captured
14-day cooling-off clock started
FTC Franchise Rule · Award stage locked until Apr 30
Validation call #1 logged
required taskRequired task · Mutual Evaluation stage · 38 min with 2 franchisees
Cooling-off period cleared
Auto-verified · Award stage unlocked for rep T. Marsh
Franchise agreement e-signed · deposit received
signedInitial fee $42,500 · countersigned · moved to Award
One-click legal handoff. Export bundles every document, signature, registration check, and required-task completion into a single time-stamped PDF.
chain root 0x4be1…a930Who it's for
Built specifically for…
- Franchise development teams of 1-20 reps
- Franchise legal + compliance officers
- Master-franchisees managing multi-state programs
What it replaces
The old way…
- Process docs that nobody reads
- Email + Dropbox FDD sending
- Spreadsheet of state registrations
How it works
Set it up once. Run it forever.
- 1
Codify the playbook
Required tasks per stage. SLA timers. Auto-escalations. Standup-ready 'what's stuck' report each morning.
- 2
Load the FDD vault
Upload FDD versions. Tag state registrations. Configure e-sign for acknowledgement. Set 14-day cooling-off auto-clock.
- 3
Reps execute, system enforces
Stage transitions blocked until required tasks done. FDD vault auto-suggests state version. Compliance timeline auto-builds per prospect.
How a shop actually uses this
A 90-unit franchise was disqualifying ~12% of awarded prospects in legal review because reps had sent the wrong-state FDD, skipped the cooling-off period, or missed the acknowledgement upload. Standing up the playbook + FDD vault dropped the legal-review disqualification rate to under 1% in one quarter. The legal team stopped being the bottleneck.
Questions
Good to know.
- What if we're not registered in a prospect's state yet?
- The system warns at FDD-send time and offers the option to mark the prospect 'awaiting state registration' (no FDD sent, no clock running). When you register, bulk-send fires to all awaiting prospects automatically.
- Can we customize the playbook per state?
- Yes — most states share the same playbook, but if a state has unique requirements (e.g., New York's pre-sale registration packet), you can add per-state required tasks to the relevant pipeline stages.
- What about FDD annual renewals?
- Renewal calendar shows every state's filing window. Auto-reminders 90/60/30 days out. Bulk-resend the renewed FDD to active prospects with one click. Acknowledgement clocks reset per FTC rules.
Fits in with
Works with your stack
DocuSign + Adobe Sign
E-sign FDD acknowledgements
Stripe
Initial franchise-fee deposit on award
Slack
Stage-required-task escalations land in your team channel
Explore more
Pairs well with
Franchise Pipeline
Inquiry → qualified → discovery day → mutual evaluation → award. Custom stages, forecasted close, fee + initial-investment math built in.
Validation Calls
Match prospects to existing franchisees in their target territory. Validators self-serve availability. Star-rated calls auto-advance the prospect's stage.
Discovery Days
Schedule, brief, run, and follow up — with attendance, ratings, and award-conversion attribution. Replace the spreadsheet that's running the highest-leverage day in your sales cycle.
FDD Compliance
Server-enforced brand-color locks, pricing floors, required service catalogs, mystery-shop scoring, and a tamper-proof compliance ledger — the controls your FDD already promises, finally enforced in software.
Get playbook & fdd vault first at launch.
Launching soon — join the waitlist for early access. At launch: 30-day free trial with full access to every feature on this page, no credit card.
Launching soon — get early access.