Selling to the New Millenial Generation

I began to introduce myself, which we always do when running workshops, and I knew that the group consisted of building society salespeople so I thought I’d share some of my building society experience with them. Little did I know I was in for a shock.

I began by casually stated that my first job was dealing with customers on a counter for a building society. I mentioned this was 1982, the year of the Falklands War.

One girl chipped in and said “Wow, that was before I was born” And another added “What was the Falklands War?”

I stopped, froze and looked around at my audience and suddenly realised that every member of the group was probably born since 1982. I was working with a whole group of New Millennials. The day was very enjoyable but I felt a distinct gap. I’d always felt I could relate to the younger generation and I guess, up until then, I probably could. Was I being regarded as experienced but long in the tooth! Had I been allowed to grow old graciously?

I felt we hadn’t really connected on the day, so I challenged myself with a goal of finding out more on what makes this generation tick and so began my studying of the generations in the workplace.

You see New Millenials are typically people born between 1980 and the early 1990’s so the eldest are in their mid 20’s right now and have already begun to enter the workforce. And of course they are now consumers of your products. They are so different to the other 3 recognised generations that I’m devoting this entire article to them. But who are the other 3 generations:

Matures born before 1945
Boomers born between 1946 and mid 1960’s
Generation X born mid 1960’s to late 1980’s
New Millennials born 1980 to early 1990’s

Matures are mostly into retirement now and have a very traditional, cautious attitude to buying. They look for consistency and quality in the products they buy and aim to buy services that are tried and tested by others before them. They are extremely loyal to their companies they work for and the companies they enjoy the products of.

Boomers are competitive and very hard working and tend to be in high levels of authority in the economy. They are as such the wealthiest spending generation many sitting on high valued properties. They like to have trophies showing their hard work and success and they want their products to be a demonstration of this success. Some have taken to technology and some haven’t.

The Generation X’s were the creators of dress down Fridays. They are the non-conformists who reacted against the Boomers need for long hours and hard work. They can be sceptical since they were brought up in a world full of scandals and problems. Many bought houses in the late 1980’s only to experience the property slump of the early 1990’s. Pensions mis-selling and endowment mis-selling hit them hard and as a result, they are very mis-trustful of dealing with any salespeople. Gen X’s like to be in control of their purchasing, often taking to the internet before approaching you. They are the “I’ll think about it” buyers and will have little or no loyalty your company.

New Millennials are different. Optimistic, fresh, highly educated, totally wrapped up in cotton wool by their parents and see the world as a dangerous place. They seek refuge in their peer groups and seek to develop intense relationships with people not institutions.

So the Millennials are becoming voracious consumers and if you happen to be a Millennial yourself then you’re in luck, because you’ll naturally be able to relate to them, build a quick rapport and be successful in the sale.

But if you’re not, like me in my example, you’ll have to adapt your selling style and proposition quite substantially. And I bet most people reading this article are not Millennials! Are you guilty of selling the same way to everyone you meet, or are you guilty of just having clients or customers from an age range of +/– 5 years from your age (many are - particularly IFAs)

The honest truth is that you’ll need to change your ways if you want to appeal and be successful as a salesperson to the New Millennials and the generations that follow.
Firstly let’s a have a look at exactly who the New Millennials are. To understand them a little we need to know how they were brought up. They have been molly coddled since birth with parents who dote over them. Their parents have been guilty of working all the hours so they repay this by giving them everything they need. They have been protected since birth from a world that is increasingly dangerous with terrorism and all manner of atrocities and man made problems too with climate change and threats of global warming catastrophes. Millennials are wary of the world around them.

Millennials have never known poverty – their world has been prosperous and they have wanted for very little. They are used to getting what they want. Highly educated, more Millennials than any previous generation have entered University in the UK. Being used to prosperity, makes them value time over money. Whereas their parents valued money and the trappings of success, Millennials value friendship and time to enjoy the good things in life.

Weaned on technology, they have never known a world without the Internet, mobile phones, wireless hot spots, 299 channels on the TV, huge plasma screens in shopping malls and stations pumping out the news 24 hours a day, instant downloads and terabytes of information and data.

Millennials are often accused of having a very short attention span and they get this by having so much stimulation and massively over scheduled lives. Anything they want is available in an instant – for them the world is one big download, music, video, information, research – always available on the Internet and mobile phones.

Their parents protected them from overload and tried to spend as much time as possible with them to educate them as adults. Quite simply because these Millennial parents’ parents didn’t have the time to spend with them, so they wanted to make their children turn out differently. And they were successful here.

Millennials strive for individuality as this was encouraged by their upbringing. They want to be different but they also want their own peer approval, possibly for being different. This is very important to them.

They are very altruistic and care very much for the environment, the problems with the Ozone layer, recycling, sustainable energy sources. The list goes on.

Millennials are loyal more to people than companies. Their parents were often shaken by the downsizing in the 1970’s and 1980’s, the mass unemployment and changing face of British industry and their loyalty to companies was shattered. This ethos has transferred to their children – the Millennials – who now have little loyalty with companies preferring to link in with good managers and people rather than corporations.

Lots of stereotyping here, of course, but also a lot of truth and if you’ve been nodding your head as you’ve been reading this article, you’ll appreciate that this will make a big difference to how you perceive the Millennials.

So how do we sell to them?

I’ve broken this down into 3 stages – prospecting for their custom, presenting to them and closing.

Let’s look at how we get to speak with Millennials. Self esteem is very important to them. They don’t want to show it with physical trappings of success like their parents, the Boomers, they prefer to be acknowledged by people around them. Ever since they were born they’ve been told how special they are and they have begun to believe it. So if you’re prospecting for their custom, make them feel special and individual.

Approach them in the banking hall and literally hold their hands to help them make the purchase. They’ve never had to make many decisions in their lives – their parents have done this for them – so help them to make the decision to talk with you. Provide them with structure and outline the next steps with them. Use signposting regularly.

When marketing to Millennials, individuality is important but then so is peer approval. Use viral marketing methods especially viral emails which are so 21st century and backed up completely by peer recommendation. Definitely a must for your marketing department.

It goes without saying but use new technology to reach this audience on an individual basis. Get into myspace.com, EBay, YouTube, Squidoo lenses. Think their world and put your message out to them. Work their mobiles, email, instant messaging. It’s the generation that will make Web 2 work.

So you get to sit them down and talk with them. Millennials have short attention spans as they are the most over-scheduled generation and their friends come before you.

Dump the 2 hour interviews. I know it’s difficult but we’ve got to find a way otherwise we won’t get this audience. Admittedly many people in their early 20’s are not buying property because they can’t afford it and are still living at home. But there will come a time when they will be needing to attend the mortgage interview. Go beyond 30 minutes and you’ve lost them so break down your interview format, use technology more before and afterwards to reduce the time spent face to face, and adapt your sale to them. You’ll capture a massive market as a result.

Millennials strive to be happy. They’ve delayed responsibility to enjoy themselves more choosing to have families later, mortgages later. They enjoy gap years travelling the world finding themselves, they have chill out times, they have “me” times.

Make your product make them feel good about themselves.

Let your product have an immediate effect on them since they’re used to instant gratification. Offer them instant solutions as they live in an instantaneous world. Give them the on the spot mortgage offer, use lenders that automate the valuation systems, and rely on web based employment checking, arrange for them to get their credit card that day, give them instant decisions by empowering sales staff more. Nothing irritates them more than having to go to head office for a decision. Remember they don’t have any loyalty to your company.

Individualise your product for them, provide customisation, make them feel individual and special. Ensure your product can be tailored to their needs but don’t make the decision too onerous. This will cause stress and they’ve never experienced this as their parents shielded them as much as possible. Flexible mortgages, off set mortgages have their names on them.

Use peer testimonials. “We’ve been helping customers for over 100 years” will not mean anything to them. “This product has been designed for people like you, but still allows you to personalise the look and feel,” will appeal.

Highlight any altruistic practises you or your company adopt. Focus on ethical funds, have the points from the credit card go to Greenpeace, publish your firm’s recycling targets, show them that your firm is a good corporate citizen and thinks of others before profits. Use recyclable paper, better still don’t use any paper – make it all electronic so it’s quick and instant and much kinder on the environment.

Be very very good with your technology. Don’t fumble with the laptop keys, you’ll get away with this from some generations – boomers and matures will sympathise with you, but Millennials won’t. Remember they were weaned on technology whereas you may have been introduced to it later in life.

Communicate to them via email, text, instant messaging, RSS Feeds. Phones are fine but use a mobile. Their mobile is like a third limb. Email them or text them or phone them but be ready to communicate via voice mail. Remember they are time poor and prefer to spend their time with their hobbies and friends and not you. Many Millennials have never picked up a land line telephone in their life so don’t rely on this. That’s ancient history for them. Ask them how to stay in contact and don’t force your preferred way on them.

How do you ask for the business with a Millennial? Whereas the Generation X like to make their own mind up and will disappear to shop around and get more information, Millennials are not skilled decision makers, they’ve never had to be as their parents have done it all for them. With the close, you need to relieve the stress and hold their hands through the decision process. Gain agreement through small bite sized chunks and staircase to the close. Help them to make that decision but always provide a safety net. They need to know that their decision is the right one but just in case…there’s a get out clause. The Cooling Off notice is useful here.

It’s tricky not to pigeon hole these generations and I’m sure you appreciate that not every person born between 1980 and 1990 fits in the mould but many do. You may know people that fit it perfectly and have chuckled to yourself whilst reading this article. Take a little time to get a feel for the person, ask a few open questions to find out about themselves and their values and then adapt your selling style.

Do this and you’ll continue to enjoy success from the whole market rather than just people around your age range.

If you can’t do this, then just employ more Millennial salespeople but be prepared to sales manage them completely differently. They just so don’t fit the model of traditional employees! Cool huh!

Paul is an international sales speaker, sales trainer, author and coach based in the UK.

He specialises in rapport selling and rapport coaching and can ignite his audiences large or small.

Sign up to my weekly eZine of sales and coaching tips and get a free report on getting the best out of 2009 plus a free hypnotic relaxation MP3 to download. www.archertraining.co.uk

01452 730276

paul@paularcher.com

Blog – www.paularcher.com

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