After months upon months of hype, Apple unveiled its next entry into the smartphone world: the iPhone X. The latest and greatest technology from Apple includes a dramatic redesign that eliminates bezels and uses infrared face scanning instead of a thumbprint to unlock the device.
And phone capabilities, if you’re into that sort of thing. My two teenagers have iPhones, but I doubt they’ve used the “phone” part of the device more than a dozen times. Whether they’re supposed to call their grandmother on her birthday or a doctor’s office to schedule an appointment, they remind me of the opening scene of “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
These same teenagers send hundreds of texts, tweets and snaps to their friends every day. They are perfectly comfortable with short bursts of asynchronous communication, but they balk at the idea of speaking directly with another person.
Based on recent research, they’re in good company. Microsoft’s 2016 State of Global Customer Service report found that 64 percent of millennials believe social media is an effective channel for customer service — a far cry from the 27 percent of Baby Boomers who feel the same way. The report also indicated that 52 percent of millennials actively use social media to resolve customer service issues.
To capture the enormous purchasing power of millennials and Gen Z, you need to shift your style, tone and conversational mechanics to match the preferences of these young consumers. It’s time to drop the phone and take up the social media mantle.
Shifting priorities
The media world has covered the buying preferences and behavioral tendencies of young consumers ad nauseam, with countless pieces detailing how millennials are killing everything from cereal to designer handbags.
These young consumers are admittedly more demanding than past generations and expect to be able to interact with brands at any time and on any platform. Millennials and Gen Z consumers want two things: responsiveness and self-service. But when frequently asked questions pages and troubleshooting chatbots fall short, you need to be ready to fix issues quickly and completely.
A failure to meet these demands will cause a flood of negative feedback. Past generations would simply stop doing business with a company because of poor service, but younger consumers feel obligated to warn other consumers via social media and review sites. A report by Nuance Communications notes that 27 percent of Millennials have written a negative review — only 16 percent of baby boomers have left online criticism.
Consumer preferences are evolving, and you must find ways to keep up with these changes. Social media platforms provide the ideal avenue to address customer service concerns at a time when conventional social skills have fallen by the wayside.
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