Selling To The Millennial Customer

By Daniel Scipione, Senior Consultant, CAMTEQ Professional Systems, ASCII member since 1998

Many of us have owned our businesses for numerous years and come from the Boomer Generation. Boomers are frugal for the most part, and were raised with dial telephones, three-channel television, and in a single-income family.  We saved our leftovers, ate everything on our plates, and the stores were closed on Sundays. We grew up with a mindset of budgets, and when we got out of college it was the ‘70s. We listened to vinyl records, FM radio, and drove an American-made car.

A lot has changed. Millennials, born in the ‘80s were teenagers when the computer age had launched. They have never known adult life without the Internet, email, cell phones, MP3s, computers, and satellite TV… instant gratification;  entertainment at their fingertips; and immediate communication in the form of cell phones, emails, and IMs. 

Equally, the value of money has changed for Millennials. Many Boomers think spending $5.00 on a cup of coffee is ridiculous, while Millennials see it as how they start their day, every day.  Millennials recognize they are paying for an experience, not just the product. They have an image associated with the brand they buy and share that image with their peers. In the ‘80s, going to work meant wearing an expensive suit and tie, but now Millennials go to work in jeans and a polo shirt.  How do they distinguish themselves as successful? As an example, the daily cup of double-shot, venti, nonfat latte with their name written on it carried into the office displays they can afford it, and they get it their way, right away, every day.  See the pattern?

Please log in or register below to read the full article.