Want to do a great job, build a brilliant reputation and boost profits? Then try keeping your grown-up customers really, really happy.
That’s the advice of the Institute of Customer Service (ICS).
They’ve been poring over the books and they’ve come up with the magic figure of £27 billion – they say this is the amount of revenue companies are losing out on by failing to take proper care of their middle-aged customers.
It turns out, while young customers are the ones with the smart phones and smart attitude, it’s the older generation who actually have the money.
The ICS has dubbed this the ‘silver pound’ and, if you have your sights set on any of the exciting customer service opportunities on s1jobs, pay attention because this is where you could really make a difference.
Only 7% of the Baby Boomer generation believes customer service is geared towards people of their age, which is bad news for companies trying to do business with them.
That’s because this is not a submissive generation. They’ve grown up voicing their opinions and now in middle age they’re voting with their feet – often by turning their backs on products and suppliers that deliver poor service.
When they say “employees lack the skills to meet my needs”, you can bet they’re very cheesed off.
But what’s bad news for business in general could be very good news for you – if you treat customers in this category with the care and respect they say is lacking, you will be a big step ahead of your job-seeking competitors.
Jo Causon, big boss of the ICS, says: “It makes business sense to target the millennial market to build relationships that establish lifelong loyalty.
“But repeat purchases from the younger generation is by no means a guarantee of better business performance.
“If business can identify core values that both sets of customers are aligned with, it could transform their bottom line.”
So what is it that the Baby Boomers are demanding? Clear and effective communication – and that’s just for starters. They also want to be treated like individuals, not like numbers, or ‘yesterday’s people’.
This is the Me generation we’re talkin’ ’bout . . . and a better service for them means a new and re-energised career for You.
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