Customer Service in the Millennial Era

Millennials have drastically changed the way we do business across all industries. This group thrives on technology and the increased speed of service it creates. Gone are the days of picking up the phone and enduring long wait times; millennials would much prefer doing business online, and in fact, if no voice contact is necessary they are even more content and likely to rate your service higher than that of a company utilizing antiquated means of communicating with their customers.

With this in mind, how can we ensure that our businesses are capable of meeting millennials needs when it comes to customer service?

·      Up the ante on your social media presence. Millennials are more likely to check out your business on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram than previous generations. If your company is not leveraging social media today, it is quite possible that you are missing out on a large client base. Consider creating and/or revamping your presence on these websites to tap into this generation and ones coming up behind it.

·      If you are not text capable now, your millennial customer base has already taken notice. Millennials are more likely to look for businesses to have alternatives to reaching you by phone, and if you are falling behind the times in this area you are at risk of losing this customer base. There are several options to make your business capable of providing live chat and text capabilities, such as TextMagic and LiveMessaging. You can also engage your customers via your social media pages if you choose; just make sure you have adequate controls and coverage in place to handle the incoming communications.

·      If your business is capable, create options for self-service. Millennials thrive on self-service. The more that they can control without engaging a third party the better. FAQ’s, message boards, and smartphone apps are all viable possibilities that you and your business may want to consider using to engage your millennial generation of customers.

·      Timing is everything, and millennials expect speedy service. Studies have shown that millennials expect responses to inquiries in minutes, not hours or days. In addition, they also demand service beyond the typical business hour time frames. The more your business can digitalize and automate processes, the more likely you are to receive praise and increased business from millennials regardless of your industry. Revolutionary technologies such as AI and Blockchain could be viable possibilities depending on your business needs and requirements, as well as increasing your global presence to offer around the clock services.

The millennial customer comes with a new set of expectations than the generations of customers preceding them. If you and your business are able and willing to evolve to meet their demands, including enhancing your technologies and social media presence and brand, you will find your business booming with this generation and beyond. The only constant is change; make sure you use it to your advantage and increase your customer base and satisfaction levels.