The New Customer Majority
This post by Bill Sims
Don’t forget about us.
You may be tired of hearing about baby boomers, but as you build or expand your customer base you shouldn’t ignore the folks that make up 1/3 of the population, have 77% of our nation’s assets, and control 57% of the discretionary income.
Is your young sales staff prepared to meet their needs and expectations? I know if I hear one more sales clerk say “No Problem” in response to my “Thank You” I may scream! A simple “You’re Welcome” would be much more appreciated, and I would’t feel like I had narrowly missed pissing him or her off.
The Nevada Small Business Development Center, along with a number of partners, is presenting an hour long, FREE program titled “Aging in the Silver State - The New Customer Majority” at 3:30 PM on Wednesday, October 18, in the Alumni Room of the Jot Travis Student Union on the UNR campus. The main speaker will be Harry R. Moody, Ph.D, Director of Academic Affairs for the American Association of Retired Persons. This presentation will explore marketing strategies that attract the growing elder population, namely those mature adults over age 50.
If you want to dig deeper into the changing nature of Nevada’s population, you might also check out our own Jeff Hardcastle, Nevada State Demographer’s, estimates on Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin (ASRHO) out to the year 2024 on his publications page.
True politeness goes a long way, and it is rare these days. It makes a customer feel respected no matter what their age. Smart businesses can differentiate themselves from the competition simply by being more polite.
If you are getting that uptight about two words perhaps you should re-evaluate you life perspective. You understand the connotation behind the phrase is the same otherwise you wouldn’t have written this blog.
As far as baby-boomers being the -next- big market I think they already are and have been for a while. It is great info to know that 57% of discresionary income comes out of one demographic.
Well Brian, the statement “I may scream!” might be a bit over dramatic, but words and perceptions count in dealing with customers. Although many people use the phrase “no problem” in place of “your welcome”, and their intentions are good, the connotations and the meanings of the two phrases are very different.