Workforce Management Featured Article
Don't Assume Baby Boomer Customers Want Only Telephone Support
As contact centers become more omnichannel, they have a tendency to target certain channels to certain demographic groups. There is an assumption that older generations – Baby Boomers, generally – have little patience or understanding of customer support via digital channels, so many companies aim their content and support to grayer Americans via more traditional channels like phone. While the telephone will always be an important part of the customer experience, particularly as more Americans use mobile phones as their primary means of communication, it’s a mistake to assume that Baby Boomers are only about the telephone. Customers over 50 may not be rushing to Snapchat to share customer experiences as quickly as younger Americans, but they are addicted to email and they’re addicted to their smartphones, so expecting to reach you only by telephone is a mistake.
A recent study by Priceonomics found that older adults are as addicted—if not more addicted—to technology as teenagers. They just use technology in a different way than their children and grandchildren. Another study, this one from Nielsen Global, even found that, despite stereotypes, technology use during non-traditional times – mealtimes, for example – is actually higher among Baby Boomers then people in the so-called “Millennial” generation. For Boomers, email is the place they need to be, and now they’ve got it on their phones 24/7.
“Nearly 60 percent of adults check their work email while on vacation, and six percent have checked their email while a spouse is in labor,” according to the Priceonomics study. “Another six percent have checked email at a funeral, and 10 percent at a child’s school event.”
Analysts argue that the reason Baby Boomers are so addicted to email is that they’re the ones who elevated its importance to begin with. The same people constantly checking their email on their phones are the ones who create the “no off-switch” work environment today. If this is the case, then older Americans’ use of social media is also likely to explode. Once a time-wasting distraction, social media is now an important work channel. Knowledge workers look to share information with colleagues and partners on LinkedIn, marketers look for opportunities and “influence marketers” on places like Twitter (News - Alert) and Facebook, and companies can create viral sales and marketing campaigns in places like Instagram. As business diversified to these channels, older workers will also flee to them.
The point here is that by arbitrarily “assigning” certain communications channels to certain generations, companies are doing themselves a disservice. If your customers are all older, it’s tempting to skip staffing the social media and mobile app channels with customer support workers. (“We can’t be everywhere at once,” is the usual thought.) But if your customer support foundation doesn’t include social marketing and social customer support, and continue robust attention to email, you’ll be in a poor position to pivot to a broader omnichannel approach when your sixty-something customers decide to embrace newer channels in a big way.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi