Catching the Millennial Customer Requires a New Approach

Catching the Millennial Customer Requires a New Approach

Courting the millennial customer is just as challenging as incorporating the millennial employee into your workplace.

One thing is increasingly clear to human resources departments and that is, the old rules no longer apply.

The millennial client is cooler and more independent in their thought pattern than any previous generation. They research an intended purchase online, they want to know the full answers to their questions, and they even want to know how the creation and sale of the product they are considering adds value to the world.

How do you train your sales and marketing staff to deal with this new breed of client?

Start by abandoning the high-pressure sales pushes of the past and substitute them with a new team of sales consultant who are willing to discuss issues like value and purpose of the product.

Knock down the wall between your sales and marketing and customer service departments. In the new game, they need to think as one.

According to research by Google and CEB, most people are about half-way through the process of buying something before they ever speak with a sales representative. They have researched the product or service online, examined what your company and your competitors offer, and they want to make sure or get some questions answered before making the final decision.

If your sales, marketing and customer service departments are all on the same page, you have a better chance of landing this well-informed consumer.

If you are making changes in bringing those crucial departments closer together, make time to change your training modules as well. The 2016 trend is to disregard the one-size fits all assumption about your customers.

With any product or service there are two types of customers emerging: one makes their final buying decision based on price; the other makes their final buying decision based on value.

Decide which customer base you want to pull from and confirm your production and price variants to be attractive to it.

Keep in mind that both of these new customers practise skepticism to a new level. Make sure that your staff is not quoting incorrectly from any study or research done on your product. Make sure that they are aware of the Internet literature about your product.

Securing your customers in the future will involve a much more precise strategy than in the past. Start training now to ensure that your team is ready to meet it. Also See Catching the millennial customer.