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It's Not
Your Father's Customer Service Anymore!
by
Ann M. Obarski |
"Tell me about your
employees who are 25 years of age and younger", is a
favorite question of mine during one of my workshops,
"Communicating and Managing the X and Y Generation
Employees." The reaction from those significantly over
the age of 25 is one of head shaking and frowns. I
consistently get the following replies: no work ethic,
always talking on their cell phones, want to work their
schedule not the one that is posted, sloppy appearance,
and most of all, no communication skills. How did you
answer that question?
I recently read the following statistic," 72% of retail
employees enjoy customer interactions. But that
satisfaction level drops to just 55% among employees
between the ages of 16 and 24."
Interestingly, the research reported 74% of workers
between 35 and 44 years of age claimed they were pleased
with dealing with customers and a whopping 83% of those
polled between 44 and 64 years old said they enjoyed the
time interacting with customers.
So what's going on with the young employees and yes, the
young customers? I predict that dealing with the "Y"
generation, those born after 1980, will be the biggest
wake-up call businesses will need to address, and soon.
If you have children born after 1980 you already realize
some of the signs that the people in my audiences have
addressed. However, their "baby boomer parents, who are
currently 40-60 years old" have written this behavior
off to just that, behavior of young people as they
ponder their Woodstock days. Ah, it will pass and these
fresh faces will conform to our management and customer
service training. Think again.
Let me share some information from Eric Chester, author
of the book, "Employing Generation Why". Eric's book has
really made me take a closer look at my own Gen Y kids
but also take a totally different look at the
expectations we have for this age group when it comes to
their first real jobs and not only how we are going to
manage them but how will we deliver service to this
instant gratification generation.
Eric says, "Generation Why has never known life without
cell phones, pagers, fax machines and voice mail. Their
world has always included minivans, bottled water, cable
television, overnight package delivery, and chat
rooms….And sadly enough; Gen Whys have never known a
world without AIDS, without crack or without terrorist
attacks. They've never known a world where kids didn't
shoot and kill other kids. He goes on to say, "Gen Why
has grown up in an instant world and they don't buy in
to the old "patience is a virtue, and "good things come
to those who wait" axioms".
The scary thing is that we "Baby Boomers" created this
fast paced, technology savvy, multi-tasking generation
and I think what we see, sometimes frightens us.
Research shows that the Gen Y group is over 60 million
in size, just about the size of the now "retiring" Baby
Boomers. The "Gen X" group who were born between
1965-1980 is a little over one half the size of the Baby
Boomer numbers. Why is this important?
Well, when the Baby Boomers start to retire there is not
going to be enough "Gen X'ers" to replace them. The next
people up for promotion are, yes you guessed it, the Gen
Y's!
Do I have your attention yet?
We are dealing with a generation who has a different set
of values and attitudes and beliefs, most of which we
helped to create. We were the ones that scheduled those
little tikes every night of the week with baseball or
soccer practice, dance lessons, voice lessons, tutoring
for kindergarten and heaven knows what else would fit
into their tiny schedules. No wonder why my kids never
had a problem sleeping at night, they were exhausted.
Here's how to kick up your expectations of Gen Y and
look at them an important part of your business instead
of a hindrance.
1. Recognize their intelligence.
This is a group of young people that have been eager to
learn. They grew up with technology and it is an
important part of them. While the boomers are still
trying to program their VCR, the "Y" generation is
watching videos on their ipods that they have 5,000
songs downloaded to. Harness their creativity and their
knowledge of technology to make needed changes to your
business. Request their feedback when trying to solve
business problems as they may come to the table with
unconventional yet very smart solutions. Make sure that
you acknowledge their accomplishments publicly since
this is a group that has grown up with trophies and
certificates and awards as feedback for a job well done.
2. Recognize their impatience.
Chester calls this group, "stimulus junkies" and that
title makes sense. This is a group of multi-taskers that
can have an IM conversation with 8 people on their
computer, text message someone else on their cell-phone,
while listening to their i-pod and downing a burger and
a Red Bull! Lists don't intimidate them so provide them
with enough work to keep them busy and don't waste time
in the explanation. Be direct and to the point because
that is how they have learned to communicate. When you
hold a meeting, stay to the point and use visuals if you
can as they have been used to stimulation during their
learning processes.
3. Recognize what customer service means
to them.
This is the area I believe businesses will struggle with
the most. The Gen Y group has been able to get whatever
they want, whenever they want at lightening speed and
they don't really see a need to be loyal to anyone. They
have been used to employees at Old Navy with headsets
and roller skates to bring them whatever they wanted
while they were in the dressing room. They don't think
twice about Googling a business and purchasing on the
internet. To them, speed is a way of life. My son has
worked for McDonalds for a number of years and his
experience with giving good customer service is getting
the correct order into the hands of the customer as
quickly as possible.
If you want them to build a relationship with a
customer, you are going to have to explain "why" first,
and then deal with the how. The Gen Y's don't make eye
contact very well because they tend to be focused on
screens of all sizes and not a human face. Maybe that is
why only 55 % of that age group actually likes
interacting with the customer. When you are training,
try using video or web training or even roll playing to
explain exactly what your customer service should look
like to your customers.
But what about Gen Y customers and what they want as far
as customer service? It's no different from your Gen Y
employees. These "customers" will probably make very
little eye contact, probably engage in very little chit
chat and want to get what they want and get out of the
store in a short period of time. They won't really care
if you ask them about their day or what they are wearing
or if they have been in the store before. They will get
frustrated very quickly if you don't know the answer to
their question immediately and they can smell BS a mile
away and they don't need it or want it.
As you can see, it will be even more important to
educate your Gen X and Baby Boomer employees on how they
should be greeting and treating this new customer
instead of making the assumption that they are cold,
uncommunicative, young punks.
On the contrary, they are our future. This group of
fresh faced young people will embrace change, they will
find the answers to curing AIDS and breast cancer, they
will teach society how to reject prejudices and they
will demand ethical behavior in business and those they
choose to do business with.
It's not your father's customer service strategies
anymore. Frankly, it's not your father's business
anymore. How will you change what you are doing to
embrace the Gen Y's in your business as employees and as
customers? The future of all of our businesses rests on
that answer.
Anne M.
Obarski is "The Customer Service Spy!"
As a professional speaker and trainer, Anne will
work with your company to provide you with the clues to
keep your customers coming back. For more info go to:
www.merchandiseconcepts.com or email Anne at
anne@merchandiseconcepts.com.
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