The millennials are coming. By 2015, millennials—76 million strong—will have a combined purchasing power of $2.45 trillion worldwide, according to a recent study conducted by the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. When millennials are looking to interact with companies/brands online, Facebook is the most popular platform as 62 percent “like” at least one brand on the social media network. Also consider the fact that the majority of Twitter users are between 18-29 years-old.
Born and raised in the golden age of technology, millennials consume information when and how they want to, expect immediate access to information via a number of contact channels, and perceive stellar customer service through an entirely different lens than their preceding generations. But clearly, companies are missing the mark when it comes to servicing millennials’ needs.
There will be severe consequences for companies that fail to adapt their customer engagement strategies to this generation. No longer can companies hang on to the antiquated tactics that worked on less tech-savvy consumers of the past. So here’s the critical question for businesses as the millennials’ purchasing power rises: Is your company’s contact center sophisticated enough to sufficiently cater to this generation? For example, does it boast omni-channel service—SMS, email, live chat—that provides millennials with anytime, anywhere access to information or social media software to enable social customer care that creates real value?
Here are two ways to ensure your existing contact center is measuring up for millennials:
Create Consistent Messaging: Whether it be through social media, mobile Web, text or live chat, millennials want answers. As a result, your company needs to implement consistent messaging across both live and self-service channels to keep prospective customers satisfied. For instance, the service over the phone should mirror the experience over social media. In addition, as consumers move between channels, they want a seamless transition to pick up where they left off. For example, if a millennial at work has to abruptly leave a live chat with a company, the phone call later that night should include the context of the earlier communication.
Social Media Engagement: We’ve all seen countless millennials swiping through their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds numerous times a day. Your company should leverage this power of social media to have meaningful, two-way conversations with your millennial customers.
By providing this next generation with a broad range of ways to contact your company, your millennial customers will feel attended to and noticed, leading to greater bottom line revenue for your company. For example, Aspect’s cutting-edge call center software, Zipwire, brings all contact options together in one place on one unified platform; your agents will be able to keep talking, typing and conversing with customers through the channels that are most convenient for them. By providing more channel choices and self-service features, agents will be empowered with useful, relevant and impactful information to give customers the flexibility, convenience and autonomy, which defines a digitally driven lifestyle that’s fast becoming the global norm.
Interested in learning how a modern contact center can improve your customer experience? Contact an Aspect representative if you’d like to keep the conversation going.
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