Thinking back to my experience working on the sales floor of a consumer electronics retailer, I had the opportunity to see firsthand the effects of marketing and advertising. As a Marketing student, this was extremely exciting. Being exposed to consumer behaviour this close made me feel a bit like Jane Goodall, but with much much smarter gorillas who happened to have money.
This experience also confirmed that yes, Gen Y presents an interesting challenge to the marketing and sales teams of the future. There was a distinct difference in the way my transactions with Gen Y-ers went, as opposed to Gen X and Baby Boomers.
Selling to Boomers vs Gen Y
Here’s how a typical interaction with a Boomer would go, let’s say, for a printer.
Me:: “Hi! Welcome to ABC Electronics. How can I help?”
Boomer: “Hi. I need a printer.”
Me: “Alright, that’s something I can help you with. Let’s take a look at the printer aisle.”
Boomer: “You know what, I don’t know anything about printers. Just recommend me something.”
Me: “Sure, but first, let’s find out what you need from the printer. Do you have a printer now?”
This interaction would continue for a while as I probed for information to make an appropriate recommendation. It would take a lot of energy — I’d constantly be asking questions, gathering feedback and leading the interaction. If at any point there is an impasse between similar printers, I would inevitably get this question:
Boomer: “So which one would you buy?”
Depending on the day — sometimes we had certain goals, wanted to move particular units, or whether I just wanted to test my abilities — I would recommend different things. 99.9% of the printers we had could do everything the customer was looking for, so it didn’t really matter which one I recommended. However, a big part of how much they spent that day was dependent on me.
Let’s compare this to a typical experience with a Gen Y customer.
Me: “Hi! Welcome to ABC Electronics. Is there anything I can help you with?”
Gen Yer: “Hey there. Do you have the Canon Pixma 3000?”
Me: “Let’s check the printer aisle.”
Gen Yer: “Alright. And how much are your USB cables?”
Millennials had already done their homework, making their transactions much faster. In many cases, I couldn’t even engage the Gen Y customers, since they typically just walked in, grabbed the product they were after, then walked out before I could do my spiel.
Gen Y Customers: Smart but Unprofitable
As a salesperson, Boomer customers were great for the department. Since they often relinquished control of the interaction, I could persuade them to purchase my recommendations, as long as they were within a reasonable price. It was much easier to sell them high-margin accessories and services.
Gen Y-ers were also great customers, because they took very little time to serve and I didn’t have to spend half the conversation explaining what a gigabyte was. Generally, they knew their stuff and sometimes corrected me if I had my product info mixed up. They’ve looked at reviews online and know everything they need and what to buy, so it was hard to sell them accessories and services.
Google and Gen Y
Boomers can’t be faulted for their lack of preparedness. They don’t have what I call the “Google Reflex“. Gen Y instinctively looks something up online to get informed, where Boomers, in my experience, are much more comfortable hearing it from a “certified” person. This made them much more susceptible to upsells (which, by the way, aren’t always bad…just expensive) and pitches for accessories (which could be bought elsewhere for cheaper).
During a sale, it’s all about who has the information. Whoever has the information has the control. Whoever has the control wins the transaction.
June 12, 2008 on 8:50 am
I totally agree – Gen Y is absolutely harder to “influence” at least in this sort of point of sale marketing.
However, if we’re looking at how to influence Gen Y, perhaps brands should look to our data sources for exerting their influence. Next thing you know, there will be a streak of HP sponsored reviews on Amazon for their new multifunction thus boosting Gen Y’s impression of the device.
June 13, 2008 on 3:20 pm
as a gen Yer and son of a baby boomer i can say this completely true.
June 13, 2008 on 7:50 pm
Gen Y’ers are the forefront of the gen who grew up with technology. We’re not afraid of the buttons of our dvd player. We may crash our laptop with the wrong spyware on occasion, but en tout cas we learn and correct ourselves. The previous generations just weren’t brought up with this level of selfadaptibility, and – far more important – LOGICAL INSIGHT. Most of us can figure out a new phone just by pushing its buttons to see what happens. We rationally review our girlfriends’ arguments and convince her that her parents need a vacation. We wonder what kind of howl that little annoying dog would make if we kicked it through the window of that prick over there. We may not put it into practice, but we do wonder. And think. Not just a little bit. I dunno about the rest of you, but my mind is all over the place; without meditation and focus I might as well be a narcissistic politician.
(Yeah, ok, ok, there are no other types of politician. I know.)
It’ll be interesting to see what the next gen does. I think we’re up for a bad bout of goldenagism. Corporations will be bent through their workers, not by deals between the shareholders and the White House. And I’ll do my damnedest to bring it about, too. Makes sense, to a simple generation Y’er.
- Mei
June 13, 2008 on 10:26 pm
Uh…what happens when the power goes out and we have to grow our own food? Self-adaptability within technology is a fairly specialized claim. Self-reliance within the world is much more valuable.
June 14, 2008 on 11:58 am
Actually Gen Y’ers also rely on other people’s advice and opinions when making a decision about which product to buy.
The difference is, they trust the online community much more than a sales rep. Thus, reviews are crucial sources of information. And the most useful ones are usually reviews submitted by regular web users.
In order to be able to influence web based decision making, marketers need to be present in Google as well as in various social settings.
June 14, 2008 on 1:51 pm
Well, I’ll have to call BS on this generalization. I’m sometimes mistaken for a ‘boomer’ because I do have a few gray hairs and I’m pushing 50 but that also means that I’ve been working with and using personal computers and related personal electronics since their inception. There are a lot of us out there who’re older and plenty tech savvy.
Technically, I’m a Gen-Jones-er which is really a different demographic than Boomers. We get ignored in the larger scheme of things in sales and marketing even though we include people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs among our ranks.
June 15, 2008 on 8:35 pm
Very largely true, and I’d confirm the same thing from personal experience as a shopper and as a Radio Shack employee. Part of it with electronics is that the typical Gen-Yer has had more daily exposure to electronics than those from previous generations. Growing up around the stuff, we get to know it and take a big interest in it. It’s like a hobby for some of us.
As a shopper, I’m like a Gen-Yer. Occasionally I’ll buy something just because it’s a good deal. But only if it’s something I’ve already been thinking about getting. Most of the time I know exactly what I’m looking for, what features, and what’s the cheapest price it can be found for online. I also know that some of the “experts” working at these stores (like I used to) only know what they’ve learned online, from personal experience, and what they’ve had to ask the boss. In other words, just because you work somewhere doesn’t mean you’re an expert on every product in the store.
And I have a lot less money, so of course I price shop.
June 16, 2008 on 1:40 am
@James Connors & @Kjartan
I hope companies don’t start infiltrating reviews as a means of advertising. Otherwise, it will all degenerate into something like the state of webhosting advertising — it’s nearly impossible to discriminate genuine vs fake reviews.
June 17, 2008 on 8:07 am
@David
I agree that reviews should optimally be kept as pure as possible. We can’t really stop companies and employees from reviewing themselves, unless we limit who can post reviews (for example only after you have completed a purchase).
But companies should encourage users to leave feedback and make this an easy and natural task when browsing. Eventually the user community will edit itself, and hopefully genuine reviews will be appreciated more than obvious self promotion.
July 5, 2008 on 8:36 am
@shinyribs We whip out our iphone/blackberry and use our cellphone providers internet to google “how to grow X food in Y location.” Then we start to grow our own food. Chances are we twitter about it, too, thus allowing us to link up with other people growing the same food, which in turn allows us to grow better food more quickly.
I’d say this post is definitely accurate. If I ever step into a store, 95% of the time I already know exactly what I want, and if I even interact with a sales associate, it’s to find where my item is. If they try anything more than that, they’re just annoying and in the way.
December 30, 2008 on 11:43 pm
@Dave
I respectfully differ in my opinion that false or manipulated reviews are not differentiable. As you mention, Gen Y’ers are tech savvy and do their homework before making a [relatively] significant purchase. After reading several reviews of the same product, any self-respecting Gen Y would be able to get a reasonable idea of which reviews were more veracious than others.
Simply put, a worked review would contain little if any negative aspects. I’m always wary of reviews that are overly positive; even the best products and services have their flaws, and if a reviewer is unable to detect them, either due to lack of expertise or because a third party has their paws involved, that reviewer has lost all credibility in my opinion.