By Steve Roulstone
I have been somewhat surprised to hear that after many years of insisting that the only way to start in our Industry was to have a High Street presence, with all of the associated costs that this envelops, one of our major competitors has now made a major switch and started to market a start from home operation and from what I know about the industry and process I can only surmise that this is purely a cost motivated decision, because all of the evidence from my own Franchise offices is that the need for a High Street presence has never been stronger!
Historically not needed.
I took over the running of our Franchise two years ago, prior to that, the previous Management had assisted people to open offices in not only the High Street, but also from serviced offices and from a home start. The fact that this was possible at that time is confirmed by the fact that these offices are still trading and indeed have been doing so for many years, in some cases approaching a decade! But what is also clear is that this is not the case now, as I have had confirmed as I travel around our offices and discuss current trading levels.
Inherent differences.
What has been confirmed to me is that the offices with the biggest profile are the ones that are enjoying good increases in numbers of both property and number of Landlords. (This is an import point because it needs to be recognised that the number of Landlords is growing significantly and the growth is not existing Landlords buying more properties) This is not the same when smaller offices are concerned because of the massive increase in competitors. Through both the growth in Letting Agencies and Estate Agencies ambushing our trade, the customer has very soon learnt to look around and there is no doubt that even in a technological age, the best place to look is on the High Street!
Web sites tell no story.
There is very good sense behind this, because on the internet it is very difficult to see any difference, in fact, the better the web site does not automatically mean the better or larger the Company and because of the financial implications of a poor service, the customer has taken to seeing with their own eyes! At Stafford, I recognised several years ago that when Landlords turned to the web for research, we needed something to make us stand out from competitors. Therefore with apologies to potential Tenants, if we only listed all properties we have available (as Rightmove eventually insisted, because of course Tenants are their customers) we would not look very large, so we have left all properties on our books on our site.
Best advice.
What this current trading pattern dictates, is that any new start (as we are only too aware!) needs to look very closely at where they are going to get new opportunities, because it is only new Landlords who will become their Customers (unless you have friends with property) because Landlords do not change either easily or often! It is the practical day to day reality of Management that confirms this, because unless you make a real hash of matters, you will always have the opportunity to resolve issues before any change is reasonably possible. (Consider standing orders for rents and relationships with existing Tenants) I always believe in placing myself in the position of the potential customer and what needs to be answered may be a hard reality, but one which needs to be faced straight on; Why should Landlords choose somebody operating from home, as against the choice in the High Street?
Starting again?
Not something I would like to do again at present and explains why those considering Franchising are not exactly rushing to the plate at present! But even and probably especially in hard times, we as Franchisors need to be both truthful and realistic for the benefit of potential investors in our Companies. Without and probably until professional recognition for Letting Agents, via licensing or qualification is introduced, however the Government decide to proceed as they surely eventually will to deal with an increasing level of complaints, we have nothing to differentiate us from the rest of the market I believe that the choice for Landlords will not diminish until such legislation is produced, so until then, we have to accept where we are and why!
Absolutely brilliant post guys, been following you.