Killing The Infallible Customer: How to sell product in a post-boomer market

“The customer is always right” is an old adage, and a valuable approach to understanding how people typically enter into a buying scenario: they want their priors confirmed. A smooth sale is a good sale. But as the Boomer market begins to shrink before the onslaught of Millennials, who are ready to borrow and finance and subscribe to every possible service, “always right” bears some reconsideration.

Younger buyers are looking for expertise. This is a less confident generation that is used to constantly outsourcing their knowledge of the world to the digital collective. The service you provide, as both a brand and as a salesperson, is an intimate knowledge of your product. You are Google incarnate.

Of course Millennials and Gen Z have priors that need confirming: alignment on social issues, deals and discounts, delivery, Amazon compatibility, financing options, etc. The internet has balkanized product offerings such that the younger generation’s first instinct will always be to look for a better deal. Your best hedge against this is winning their trust, and again, thanks to the internet, Millennials come pre-trained for you to do this by using a robust digital presence.

“Content marketing” is a common buzzword, so let’s look at the core of its real value: it proves expertise. If you’re a clothing brand, your content marketing should be using Instagram to show young people combinations of potential trendy outfit (using the options you have in stock). If you’re gym, you should be handing out downloadable workout routines and free training session videos. If you’re an environmental nonprofit, you should keep a steady flow of blogs with lots of pictures showing tangible ways that donations have improved local habitats (bonus points if you can itemize the costs of some of your efforts to keep the campaign feeling transparent!).

Content marketing proves that you’re an expert and that you’re accessible. It allows you to sell more than just your product- now you’re also selling them confidence.

Now before the customer even comes in the door (either real or virtual), you have asserted that you are the one who is right, you can dictate the process, and you can make the upsell.

But that’s a blog for another time.