It's Not Your Father's Customer
Service Anymore! By Anne 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.
