Franchise marketing for service businesses has to build trust and generate appointments. In services, customers do not buy a product but a person or a team. We make every location easy to find, show the people and their experience, and provide a short route to an appointment. With 375 franchise brands and 9,721 locations, services is the largest franchise sector in the Netherlands.
Bron: NFV 2025
How big is franchising in the services sector?
According to the NFV franchise statistics (reference year 2025), the services sector has 375 franchise brands with a combined total of 9,721 locations. That is 27.8% of all franchise locations in the Netherlands, with an average of around 26 locations per brand. Think of estate agents, mortgage advisers, childcare, staffing agencies, hairdressers, cleaning and car servicing. Every location is a local marketing channel in its own right: a profile, reviews, a page and local customers.
| Characteristic | Services | Entire franchise sector |
|---|---|---|
| Franchise brands | 375 | 936 |
| Locations | 9,721 | 34,937 |
| People employed | 37,400 | 438,800 |
| Revenue (excl. VAT) | €4.7bn | €50.5bn |
| Average number of locations per franchise brand | 26 | 37 |
How does a customer search for a service business location?
In services, customers usually search with a problem or a life moment: selling a house, a mortgage, childcare, staff, a haircut. They compare a few providers nearby and choose on trust: reviews, experience, specialisation and a face. An AI assistant is often asked for a recommendation here, such as "good estate agent for a flat in Zwolle".
Because services are so diverse (from hairdressers to staffing agencies), we map out the customer journey for each franchise brand. The principles are always the same, though: visibility, trust and easy first contact.
What marketing challenges do service franchise brands face?
These are the bottlenecks we come across most often at franchise brands in this sector. They can be fixed, but they take time and specialist knowledge that a head office marketing team rarely has.
| Challenge | Consequence if you do nothing |
|---|---|
| Trust has to be built in advance | Without reviews and faces, the customer chooses someone else |
| Specialisms differ per location | The customer does not know which location suits them |
| Long decision time | Leads are lost without follow-up |
| Rules on advice and advertising | For example in financial services |
Which channels work best for service franchise brands?
The order below is our starting point for this sector. In the scan, we test it against the figures for your locations.
| Channel | Priority | Use per location |
|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile with services and appointments | Very high | Services, specialisms, appointment button |
| Review management | Very high | Reviews with substance about the adviser or the team |
| Location pages with team | High | Faces, experience, specialism |
| LinkedIn and social media | Medium | Professional expertise and local involvement |
| Google Ads | Medium to high | Lead campaigns around current questions |
No time or expertise in-house? Leave your franchise marketing to us.
How do we approach local visibility for service businesses?
We put the people front and centre: every location page shows the team, the specialisms and genuine experiences. The profile describes the services in the words customers use. Review requests specifically ask about the experience with the adviser or staff member, so the reviews contain substance that Google and AI assistants can use.
For franchise brands with a long decision time, we link leads to an email sequence and a quick call-back appointment, so no lead is left lying.
Which figures do we measure for a service franchise brand?
In addition to the standard KPIs in the monthly report, in this sector we also look at the following figures, per location and for the franchise brand as a whole.
| KPI | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Appointments and leads per location | Direct revenue signals |
| Reviews with substance per month | Trust and AI visibility |
| Cost per lead | Campaign return |
| Visibility for service + town | Local visibility |
| Benefit | Explanation |
|---|---|
| All locations equally in order | One standard for profiles, pages and reviews |
| Time back for your team | We handle local execution |
| Comparable figures | Strong and weak locations become visible |
For which service sectors do we have an approach?
Within services, we work out the approach per sector, with its own search behaviour, bottlenecks, rules and KPIs. Choose your sector:
- franchise marketing for childcare
- marketing for mortgage advice chains
- franchise marketing for accountancy firms
- franchise marketing for estate agents
- marketing for staffing agency chains
- franchise marketing for cleaning companies
- franchise marketing for tutoring
- marketing for removal company chains
- franchise marketing for self-storage sites
- franchise marketing for solar panels
- marketing for insulation chains
- franchise marketing for landscape gardeners
- franchise marketing for handyman services
- marketing for hotel chains
- franchise marketing for holiday parks and campsites
- franchise marketing for insurance brokers
- marketing for recruitment chains
- franchise marketing for training institutes
- franchise marketing for travel agencies
- marketing for pest control chains
- franchise marketing for funeral directors
- franchise marketing for owners' association management
- marketing for payroll chains
- franchise marketing for childminding agencies
- franchise marketing for indoor play centres
- marketing for painting company chains
- franchise marketing for window frame companies
- franchise marketing for security companies
- marketing for courier chains
- franchise marketing for dry cleaners and laundries
- franchise marketing for IT service providers
What does franchise marketing deliver per location for service businesses?
The NFV figures make a simple worked example possible. On average, a location in the services sector turns over around €483,000 a year. The Growth package costs €3,000 per location per year. The break-even point is therefore a revenue increase of a fraction of a percent. The scan of three locations shows whether that is achievable.
Our permanent team carries out the work: Gijs Bodenstaff as your point of contact, Angela for analysis and content, Elisabeth for local Google Ads, Peter for local authority and ten trained freelancers for profiles and reviews per location. You can read more about the people behind this agency.
More about franchise marketing for service businesses
The foundation for every service franchise brand is local SEO for franchise chains, supplemented by reviews answered within 24 hours. After that come search ads around every location or social campaigns per location, depending on your customer journey. Also compare the approach in other sectors: franchise marketing for healthcare brands and marketing for non-food retail brands. You will find all sectors at a glance in franchise marketing by sector, and the prices per location in what franchise marketing costs.
Frequently asked questions about marketing for service businesses
Does this also work for childcare or staffing agencies?
How do you show the people at a location?
Are there rules for advertising in financial services?
How do you make sure leads are not left lying?
From how many locations do you help a service franchise brand?
How large is the franchise services sector in the Netherlands?
Which marketing channels work best for a franchise in the services sector?
How does a customer in the services sector search for a location?
Which KPIs matter for a franchise in the services sector?
How do you make sure reviews of a service provider have substance?
Sources
Gijs Bodenstaff
Franchise marketer, local SEO and GEO specialist, author
Curious how your service business locations are performing? Request the free scan of three locations.