The image of millennials as plugged in, disengaged and inclined to conduct as much of life online as possible is a powerful and pervasive one. Here at Mattersight, we wondered if the reality matched up with the stereotype. So not long ago, we surveyed 1000 millennial consumers (ages 18-35) to find out what they’re really looking for in their communications.
The results revealed all sorts of fascinating facts about this group that contradict many of the myths surrounding them, especially when it comes to where, when and how they want to interact with the brands they buy from.
HERE ARE THREE THINGS that companies — and call centers in particular — should know if they want to attract, satisfy and hang on to millennial customers.
Millennials want real-people connections
Yes, millennials spend a ton of time of their devices, and digital experiences factor hugely into their lives. But they haven’t replaced human experiences, just supplemented them. For example, retailers have discovered that while millennials have heavily integrated digital applications into their shopping behaviors, they still prefer to conduct actual transactions in brick-and-mortar stores.
The millennials we surveyed expressed similar preferences when it comes to customer service. 20-somethings may like every Facebook post a brand puts up and tag them in their tweets. But when they need a problem solved, they’d much rather connect with a real, live person. A full 76% said that they prefer call or email with a company to resolve a service issue, while only one percent (one!) said they’d rather turn to social media for customer service.
Brands intent on expanding their social service capability should think twice about draining resources away from the call center to do so, especially given the fact that…
Millennials are having bad call center experiences
Unfortunately, when millennials do pick up the phone to contact a brand, it doesn’t go that well. Of the more than half of the surveyed millennials who said they prefer to call a company’s customer service line for help, 85% cited at least one negative call center experience in the last year — and 50% of that group cited a bad service call within the last month.
When millennials turn to social media for customer service, it’s probably because calling or emailing didn’t work. That means they’re already in a state of disappointment and frustration. And while they may not want to solve their problems with a brand on social media, millennials readily complain about brands there. A recent UK study found that 59% of 25-34 year olds will broadcast a bad customer experience online.
Millennials need to click
More than half of the millennials we surveyed said it’s important to have chemistry with a customer service rep. It’s no wonder. As Jason Wesbecher pointed out in his article “How to Build a Team Like NASA”, most millennials can’t remember a world in which their preferences and needs weren’t automatically known and catered to.
Highly customized experiences are par for the course in millennials’ lives. Not being immediately, effortlessly understood by a brand or, by extension, a brand representative in the form of a call center agent, is completely out of step with their typical experience, as is inefficiency. So the things that drive everyone crazy about a bad service call – long hold times, multiple transfers, indifferent or inadequate help – are particularly intolerable for this group. They’re not used to them, and if a brand deals out too many of them, they’ll walk away.
With their current purchasing power massive and their peak potential still years away, millennials represent a huge, critical target for brands. The good news is, old-school tools like phone and email aren’t just sufficient to effectively communicate with them — they’re ideal! Companies that invest in those tools with innovative, experience-improving thinking, training and technology are the ones that will win millennials’ hearts, loyalty and dollars today and in the years to come.
To find out more about what millennials want out of brand interactions, read our full report, The Millennial Surprise: Craving Human Connections in the Digital World.