Understanding your position in your estate agency as a Belgian franchisee

If you have a keen interest in the Belgian property market but your professional expertise lies elsewhere, you may be considering switching professions. Perhaps you’ve already reached a decision and are currently taking the steps needed to become a property franchisee in Belgium, as a franchise is a great way to make the leap into a fully-fledged property professional. The franchising system, as you may already be aware, is a partnership between a major brand – the franchisor – and an independent estate agency. Among other things, it enables the franchisee to benefit from the franchisor’s brand recognition and expertise, while retaining a certain amount of independence. Despite everyone’s best efforts, franchisees may encounter problems due to a lack of experience, particularly when it comes to understanding the franchisee’s role within the agency.

The franchisee’s problems and the support of the franchisor

Franchising is a low-risk business model, which often enables people without a background in the industry to pursue their passion in a professional context. Indeed, two thirds of new franchisees are new to the industry. The franchisor therefore chooses among a pool of candidates with the right skills and qualities to maximise the agency’s chances of success, providing new franchisees with initial or ongoing training on a variety of different topics. In addition to initial support, franchisors may also use their experience to identify problems in a franchised agency and help the franchisee to find solutions to them. Sometimes, however, the difficulties that a franchised agency may experience are not due to a lack of managerial skill on the part of the franchisee, nor to a problem in terms of the way the business is managed. Instead, sometimes the manager of the franchise needs to find the right role within the business to optimise the way in which the business operates.

Front office and back office in Belgian franchises

There are two different types of franchisee in Belgium: those who feel confident in a front office role, and those who are better suited to the back office. The first group will flourish on the sales floor, finding it easy to build relationships with customers. On the other hand, the second group feels more comfortable behind the scenes of the business, managing customer relationships after the sale has been made, or focusing on the relationship with the franchisor. If your aim is to manage your business as effectively as possible, you need to identify the profile that suits you best. Do you enjoy direct contact with customers? Would you prefer to handle sales directly? Or do you tend to manage matters indirectly? No profile is better than any other; it is just a question of which suits you best.

Don’t go against your nature

Whatever your preference for the front office or back office, stick to the area where you feel most comfortable. Frequently, franchisees in Belgium and agency managers want to be everywhere at once and deal with everything simultaneously. However, even if you occupy a pivotal role within the agency, you cannot be everywhere at once, nor perform every function at once: unless you are the only employee, anyway. You should, therefore, restrict yourself to a single area of responsibility. Even if, as an estate agent, you feel obliged to help sales with direct client contact, forcing yourself into the role won’t help your business. In fact, your attitude could actually have a negative effect on your sales. Fulfilling your potential requires you to focus on what you are good at and play to your strengths.

Managing your franchise in Belgium

You are undoubtedly wondering how to identify the correct profile for you. This issue is rarely addressed among those who are embarking on a career as a franchisee in Belgium. Frequently, however, this kind of knowledge comes primarily from the knowledge that you automatically acquire when managing an estate agency. In addition, the franchisor is by your side, offering you the help you need to solve problems that you may encounter. Running a business is a complicated experience, but is also highly rewarding, so now may be the time to start your own franchise in Belgium!