Date: October 8, 2020
Category: Blog
Customer contact methods aren’t one-size-fits-all. It’s important for brands to understand their demographics and to cater their experience to those who use that particular channel the most. For example, if a financial services brand find that a younger generation are utilising social media the most, then they will likely want to ensure that their student card teams are available via social- as opposed to the customer being told they will need to contact the team over the phone instead.
Of course there are always going to be exceptions, but by harvesting insight for the large majority of their customers brands are able to improve the customer experience even further.
Here are the preferred customer contact methods by generation-
The Silent Generation (1901- 1945)
This generation seeks a more formal response from the brands that they interact with, preferring mostly face-to-face or spoken forms of communication.
Where written forms of communication are concerned, this generation much prefers letters over the likes of email or live chat, generally steering clear of digital methods of communication.
Baby Boomers (1946-1964)
Similar to the above, Baby Boomers spent their formative years prior to The Digital Revolution, and therefore prefer face-to-face or phone customer service.
There is, however, a difference when it comes to email- with far more Baby Boomers than The Silent Generation accustomed to this form of communication, thus being this generation’s preferred form of digital communication.
Generation X (1965-1980)
Gen X was arguably the first generation to incorporate digital forms of communication and technology in to their daily lives.
For this reason, email is a popular customer service tool of choice for Gen X, along with the trusty telephone.
Although a Google Study found that Gen X account for 1.5 billion views on YouTube each day, the generation appears to associate social media with personal activities as opposed to utilising social channels for their customer service requirements.
Millennials (1981-1996)
Currently aged between 24 and 39, Millennials are now the largest living adult generation, and so it’s important that brands have the means of communication Millennials want ready and waiting in order to drive both conversions and retention.
This generation is comfortable with technology, and adapts to new digital tools with ease.
Millennials expect an almost instantaneous level of service, and for this reason many favour live chat/messaging or social media to tackle their customer queries, preferring human contact as opposed to chatbots or virtual assistants.
According to Social Bakers Social Media Trends Report 2019, Facebook and Instagram’s largest age demographic were those of the Millennial generation.
Gen Z (1997-2012)
Aged between 8 and 23, Generation Z are the most recent generation to be categorised, and are fast becoming key consumers for brands.
This generation are used to phones, tablets and laptops being very easily accessible, and they are usually early adopters of new social media channels and digital communication tools.
Research from Business Insider suggests that Gen Z’s favourite social media channels are Snapchat and Instagram.
Similar to Millennials, Generation Z expect snappy, instantaneous responses. For this reason, digital channels such as social media and instant messaging are their preferred methods of customer service communication, favouring interactions that enable them to multi-task across their devices and to continue with their every-day tasks. .
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