6 Ways Millennials Are Changing Customer Service From Previous Generations

In a recent article, Oleg Yemchuk points out that millennials are now the largest generation demographic for retailers. They will be spending billions of dollars every year, so it’s important that companies are able to serve their needs. Oleg’s article discusses the following six ways millennial customers are different from previous generations and how companies can meet their expectations.

1) Born and raised with internet and smartphones, millennial customers rely on multiple technical resources to research companies and products before making a purchase decision. Yemchuk says that companies need to have a responsive website so millennial customers can jump from device to device and find consistency across all platforms. If a company doesn’t provide a fluid experience across all channels and platforms, customers will get frustrated and go to brands that will provide a better experience.

2) Many millennials are interested in learning and experiencing new and different things due to their upbringing of having more information at their fingertips. Yemchuk recommends companies find ways to experiment and make the shopping experience unique to stand out over competitors. Basically, give your customers something to talk about instead of just another shopping cart.

3) Millennials value time and expect a response to their customer service ticket in less than ten minutes. What’s more, an extremely high percentage of millennial customers will abandon one company for another if they don’t receive a quality customer experience after three attempts. Companies need to respond immediately to customers with relevant and helpful answers for effective millennial customer service.

4) A large number of millennials would rather avoid calling a company for help with their inquiries. They’d rather do their own research and find the answers themselves or use social media or texting to contact companies. They key takeaway from this point is that companies need to offer multichannel service, including text messaging, email, live chat support, and social media customer service. In addition, brands need to offer FAQ pages, message boards, or other self-help options.

5) People want their technology to be reliable and user friendly, so companies need to ensure they’re utilizing redundancy in their software so their digital experience is consistent, intuitive, and satisfying.

6) Millennial customers want to support brands that align with their values and ideas. In addition, they prefer brands that are known to be charitable and engaging. Companies should be honest and open in their marketing, be it on their websites, social media, or other channels. The more willing you are to be transparent and giving to the community, the more likely people will be drawn to your brand.

How Contact Centers Can Help Companies In The Age Of Instant Gratification

Multichannel capabilities are there to help customers in a time when people expect instant gratification and a variety of options for service. Contact centers can provide companies with traditional inbound and outbound calling and digital alternatives such as live chat support, social media customer service, and email support. This gives customers the means to interact with companies in a way that’s more casual and instantaneous and more inline with self-service that a rising number of people prefer.

This blog post is based on an article from CustomerThink. To read the original article, please click the link below:

Why Millennials May Hate Your Customer Service – Oleg Yemchuk