From my Campus Commandos Blog
I recently watched an episode of Men of a Certain Age on TNT. In one scene, a Gen Y’er was walking into a dealership to look at a Chevy Camero. He had his cell phone out before the salesperson even walked up to him. He knew what he should be paying, the pros and cons from reading reviews and even facts about the individual dealership. This got me thinking….
For a salesperson, Gen Y’ers will be harder to sell than older consumers. They’ve already looked at reviews online and think they know everything they need to know, so it’s hard to sell them a leather seat upgrade. It could, however, be a much faster sale since they know what they want and exactly how much they’re willing to pay.
As a salesperson, Boomers were great customers. They were receptive to help, and recognized the expertise and product knowledge a salesperson could offer. On top of that, they were more interested than Gen Y in accessories and leather seat upgrades.
The availability of information has changed the sales process, especially for high ticket items like cars.
Sales execs, how have you adapted your own sales process to work with Gen Y as well as older generations?
To start ask a Gen Y’er, how much research do you do before making a purchase? What makes you purchase an item at one store over another? It is important to keep asking these questions. Don’t simply build your plan from 1 market research study you saw online. Especially those that are over a year old. You need to understand it by asking questions.
