A common frustration with sales people this day and age is that they are struggling to communicate with prospective customers, especially the young ones. They often experience cases like no response to voicemails, the feeling that people are always busy with their phones, and that in general – millennials are just impossible to reach.
It might sound surprising, but there is a very good chance millennials are communicating with you, and you don’t recognize it. Probably because they are using other ways to communicate, not the standard, practiced ways that you’re familiar with (such as email or phone calls).
So how can you detect if millennials are contacting you and what are the best ways to communicate with them?
Let’s start with social media. Young people are spending a lot of time on various networks – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more. If they need to search for a printing company (be it personal or for work), they will probably start searching on social media.
Your company must have a business page that is regularly updated, has great reviews (people and especially millennials are taking reviews very seriously), and shows your expertise and experience.
Always check your inbox, there is a very good chance they will drop a question or a request for further details. Every network has a different inbox, so be sure to check all of them regularly.
Another important thing to remember is that millennials often value ratings from complete strangers. When a millennial needs to make an online purchase, they browse through items and check for reviews and testimonials from other users. No feedback, no purchase. Also, anything less than five stars out of five seems questionable to them. This is the life they have come to know and this is their standard. And these are the rules that you need to play by if you wish to make contact.
This is why your website should be informative and inviting, with plenty of testimonials and five-star ratings. It should offer pictures of ideas and examples, and show your capability and competency. You must have a contact form so people can type in their details and ask for more information, because the millennial, rather than picking up the phone like people used to do, will type in their name and contact information, and request that someone be in touch.
The millennial has now done the unimaginable — they contacted you!
Now, the clock is ticking. You probably get lots of inquiries a day and, yes, most of them will not follow through and probably not worth your time. But like one California printer discovered while following up on a web inquiry, each one deserves your attention. In his case, he earned Apple as his client.
Incoming web inquiries need to be seen as urgent and important. People who are reaching out — millennials or others — have jumped several steps in the sales process and are now ready to buy. They seek your attention and your expertise.