Generations Expectations: Genz vs Baby Boomers vs Millennials

The definition of excellent customer service has evolved. People hold all businesses to a higher standard and expect them to consistently deliver the finest experience they have ever experienced. With fierce competition, shifting customer preferences, and dwindling brand loyalty, organizations that engage in knowing their customers and adapting to ever-changing needs will be able to stay ahead and earn their trust.

When it comes to building customer care experiences that appeal to many generations, one size does not fit all. Every generation has its own set of general characteristics and preferences. To develop great customer experiences, your company must address these diverse generational needs. Understanding the complexities of customer traits is the key to successful personalization.

Baby boomers vs Gen Z vs Millennials

Baby boomers – The traditionally cool generation

Some of the Baby boomer facts that can help you understand them better-

Facebook is by far the most popular social media site for baby boomers.
58% of boomers named email as their top channel for brand communications.
Only 42% of boomers believe in loyalty programs
70% enjoy watching videos about products and services – Source

Baby Boomers have high expectations of anyone with whom they do business. They want answers quickly, yet they still prefer to transact in person or through traditional ways. They want customer support teams to be available by phone 24/7, and to provide resolutions the first time they contact them.

A baby boomer’s customer service standards often concentrate on flexibility and options. They want specifics and information to ensure that every possibility is considered. As a result, when delivering customer care, it is best to have multiple options/solutions accessible for customers to pick from. Before asking for a decision, provide them with as much information as possible. An automated email reply can be helpful to ensure and assure them that the brand is working on their issue.

Baby Boomers preferred channel for communication with brands – Source

What are the features that can help you handle baby boomer queries like a pro?

Self-serve portal- Since baby boomers are more inclined towards reading and watching the tutorial video to learn and help themselves. Implementing a customer self-serve port that is easily accessible and easy to use with a lot of informational videos, FAQs, articles, and other knowledge material can be helpful in delivering a delightful experience.

Learning Management System– Baby boomers want to learn more and ask more questions than the rest of the generations. The agents are trained and ready for any kind of questions asked. Quizzes, community forums, training videos, articles, and assessments can be helpful in training agents and keeping them updated. When your agents are trained and equipped with the knowledge, they can resolve every issue in a faster and more accurate way.

Customer 360- A 360-degree customer view is a unified, all-encompassing view of a customer’s data. The data could comprise a customer’s basic contact information, past and present purchasing history, and interactions with business touchpoints encountered on their customer journey. 360-degree customer perspectives are strategic methods that allow firms to provide the greatest possible customer experience across unified channels and touchpoints. This ensures personalized and contextual resolution for every customer.

Gen Z- A mixture of both modern and traditional methods

21% of 18 to 24-year-olds claim to have higher expectations in terms of customer service interactions
According to research, up to 89% of Gen Zs use social media to express their thoughts with their friends and family.
29% of young consumers claim more patience with customer service interactions
For 32% of Gen Z experiences, a bad experience with customer service is not a sufficient reason to leave a brand.

40% of these generations even prefer talking with a chatbot over a customer agent – Source

This generation is social media obsessed. They utilize it not only to engage with their friends and family but also with the brands from which they buy.

Generation Z is the first generation to have grown up with access to the internet. This implies that kids were exposed to digital ads, social networks, and mobile everything from an early age. Generation Z understands internet jargon. They are at ease with all types of digital communication and so omnichannel is essential. Phone calls are less frowned upon among this group than among them.

To ensure that you gratify this generation of customers, provide genuine, on-brand messages. An omnichannel presence will also help your business engage with this younger generation of consumers.

Gen Z represents both a challenge and an opportunity for organizations, challenging them to adapt to their digital customer expectations, especially as AI maturity develops. They want unified, smooth experiences when switching between channels, as well as assistance from agents if they are unable to obtain answers. They also want businesses to be able to constantly address issues and themes that are important to them. These expectations need agents to have the knowledge to address new problems.

Features that can help you improve CX for your Gen Z customers

AI-powered agent assistant- An AI-powered bot that scans through the queries, detects the keywords used in the query, and provides the most accurate solution by combining the data about the customer and the knowledge base. Agents don’t have to look through the knowledge base for the resolution making it
Knowledge Management system- Create an easily accessible knowledge base containing articles, FAQs, solutions, etc. that can be used by both agents and customers to get accurate resolutions.

Millennials- The internet-friendly generation facts

In 2021, 53% of millennials cared more about the quality of customer service than they did in the prior year.

53% of millennials would choose another company after one bad customer service experience.

61% of millennials would pay more money to receive quality customer service.

Baby Boomers (53%) were less enthusiastic about the idea of spending money.

Millennials prefer live chat for customer service over every other communication channel.

Millennials demand immediate client service. When judging an organization’s experience, they emphasize speed and efficiency. They are sensitive to negative feedback and are more prone to share them with their social networks. Millennials, more than their Gen Z predecessors, value personalization.

As the first generation to be introduced to social media and internet life from an early age, they are comfortable sharing personal information and believe that by doing so, they will be more likely to be offered unique offers and services.

They search for value in what your product provides rather than merely believing what you say. They investigate your product by checking product reviews and looking for social proof about your offering. This makes it important for you to monitor all the negative feedback online and resolve or at least reply to those customers publicly to show you care about them.

A customer support agent should be knowledgeable about the product, and provide quick and effective responses. Even better, as previously stated, this generation actively uses social media, therefore deploying social media chatbots for automated customer care on these channels would be a smart idea.

Features that can help you stay on top of customer service for millennials

Omnichannel- Social media is one of the most preferred channels of communication for the millennial generation. This makes it important for the brands to be active on and monitor all social media channels. It brings in all queries from different channels.

Hybrid chat– Calling support is something millennials avoid and as per the above statistics, they prefer to chat or social media over anything to communicate with brands. A hybrid chatbot that is empowered by both AI and live agents will be the most effective solution for millennials. AI bot can be used to resolve most frequently asked queries while it can direct the chat to a live agent if it’s a complex issue.

Reporting and analytics- Collect and analyze the feedback using to deliver a more personalized customer experience. Make them your lifetime customers by implementing the feedback suggested by the millennials so that they feel heard and valued and stick to your brand for a longer time.

In fact, Forrester’s research has shown that live chat customer service is 17-30% cheaper than a phone call.

How to make it better for all?

While text and chat are currently popular with younger consumers, phone and email assistance are also used by other demographics. These modes of communication are preferred by all age groups over social media interactions.

Self-service and automated solutions are still wonderful ways to give younger clients convenience while not replacing the human touch of your customer care employees. If your company actually provides omnichannel customer service, you won’t have to select which services to provide to Millennials, Gen Zers, or Baby Boomers.

Customers will be able to readily connect with your brand if your firm provides a variety of channels, such as social media, phone calls, and emails.

Eliminate the toggling screen and reduce the handling time by bringing all your queries to a unified inbox with Kapture.

About the Author
	Ankit Kochar
	Ankit Kochar is a content writer at Kapture CRM who loves to write creative as well as informative content. He has worked as a creative and academic content writer in the past and has a keen knowledge of writing reports, essays and dissertations. His current field is helping him research and hone his SaaS knowledge.