Millennials are your future. Embrace them, because someday they will be the majority of your franchisees.

By Evan Hackel, CFE

I went to the International Franchise Expo a few months ago at the Javits Center in New York. The convention center was full of booths for all kinds of franchises hoping to attract new franchise buyers. There were ice cream shops, cleaning services, pizzerias, coffee shops, security services, auto repair shops, and more.

Plenty of young, millennial people were walking around the display floor, but not too many of them were stopping at booths to get information. Most of the potential franchise buyers who were having conversations at the booths were baby boomers, or even older. Why?

My first thought was, “Maybe these kids don’t have as much money to invest as older people do.” That could be true. Millennials, however, are risk-takers, and much more innovative and entrepreneurial than their previous generations, which makes them ideal candidates for franchising. They were there, so there was a reason they weren’t stopping. It seems that most franchise systems aren’t set up to attract and retain younger owners: millennials.

Your most important demographic

Millennials today are a small part of the potential marketplace for prospective franchisees. That’s true today, not true shortly. According to statistics from the International Franchise Association, the median age of today’s franchise owners is 45 to 54 years.

The message behind that figure is that in about 10 years when the oldest millennials will reach age 45, they will become the largest demographic group of franchise owners. Will you be ready? Will you start to attract them now?

Here are some more figures from the IFA: Franchise owners tend to be well-educated, with 44 percent of all franchises owned by college grads; another 19 percent are owned by people who earned advanced degrees. And 12 percent of all owners are veterans. Another interesting statistic? About 72 percent of are men.

How to attract millennials

How do you attract millennials and make sure they stay around? Let’s consider that trade show experience. If you have an ugly booth with a bunch of people standing around waiting for someone to come in and strike up a conversation, that is not enticing to millennials. It is intimidating. If you want to attract millennials, your booth design needs to be interesting, enticing, and comfortable. Millennials are attracted to modern companies that are very professional and forward-thinking technologically. Chances are they know your brand already. They’re judging you by what your booth looks like and how it “speaks” to them.

Online matters

You also need to take a critical look at your online presence. What does your website look like? Does it allow visitors to explore and learn what they really want to know about your company? Or are you expecting visitors to phone you to request information? Millennials won’t do that. They’re going to judge you on what they can learn about you online.

Also pay close attention to your Facebook page, Twitter feed, YouTube channel and other places where millennials are going to be looking at you. If you think that your website is all you need to build your presence online, you’re not casting your net wide enough to bring in millennials.

Values matter

Millennials care about your company’s values. You need to share those values, talk about them, talk about your vision, and of course, really live them.

Dealing with leads

What happens after you get the lead and a millennial is thinking of becoming a franchise owner? Do you communicate via old-school and tired technology, like leaving voicemail messages? These days, even emails are starting to look out of date. Consider texting instead. Millennials will be judging you at every step of the way, looking to be treated as knowledgeable and intelligent people. They want to see that your company is very comfortable with technology.

Keeping millennial owners happy

And when millennials become franchise owners, how can you keep them happy and — even more important — make sure they will stay with you for the long run?

Keep thinking about technology

Is the technology that you use to communicate with them contemporary or old and tired? What about the way you communicate with customers? Millennials expect to see that you are advanced technologically.

Become a great training company

How is your training? Do you do online training? And how about training on mobile devices? According to “Millennials Want Jobs to be Development Opportunities,” a survey conducted by Gallup in 2016, 87 percent of millennials believe that opportunities for development are important in their jobs; it’s the No. 1 one thing millennials look for in the work environment. And they want good training in your franchise system. Don’t just create the training, stress it on your website, in your materials, and in the conversations you have with potential owners. Proclaim: “We are the company that believes in training.”

To give your millennials the tools they need to be successful, you need to be a great training company. The good news is that millennials will actually use your training tools. In the past, older generations were not nearly as enthusiastic about training and shied away from e-learning especially.

Branding and marketing

How strong is your brand? Your marketing? You need to have an expertise in social media and a modern, up-to-date, responsive website. Millennials are going to look at these things.

Your millennial franchise owners will look for validation from other franchisees, but they also want to hear what your consumers are saying about your brand. They’re going to want to know how socially minded your company is. There’s a reason why companies in Silicon Valley are so publicly progressive on social issues; it’s because they’re looking to attract millennial employees and customers.

Explain the steps to success

“If you work hard, you are going to make it,” is not a statement that appeals to millennials. They like games, like to know the proper steps to win. Give them a clear path to success and they will follow the plan to victory.

Letting millennials lead

You want to create an organization where youthful people have a seat at the table, make important decisions on how your franchise is run, and control their own futures. You want them to think, “I belong right here… there’s a place for me… this is the franchise for me.” Make sure that millennials are represented on your advisory councils and other committees.

Create a networking group for your young franchisees. Host get-togethers for them at your conferences and meetings so they can interact and talk about issues that are important to them. Many franchise systems have groups for franchisees under age 40. 

Build trust

Millennials want to work for companies where there is a high level of trust and transparency.

Here are some steps to take: 

  • Conduct a trust audit of your company. If trust has broken down between your leadership and individual franchisees, have the guts to confront that problem. Chances are you know where the problem lies. Don’t live with it, fix it.
  • Review your communications. They are a sticking point in many franchises. No one likes communications that are time-wasting, hard to understand or repetitive. Millennials, who are the texting generation, like communications that are fast, concise, quick and clean. Move to short, but frequent communications.
  • Involve franchisees in your planning process. Get them involved when you are looking at new ideas. And get their input before making final decisions.

Millennials are your future. Embrace them, becasue someday they will be the majority of your franchisees.

Evan Hackel, CFE, is Principal and Founder of Ingage Consulting, and a member of IFA’s Franchise Relations Committee. Find out more about Ingage Consulting at franchise.org/ingage-consulting-supplier.

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