The Millennial Force Has Awaken. Have You?

The Millennials - the generation born between 1981 to 2000. The rise of this generation has taken place and there is no denying that they will play a major role in reshaping the economy. They will impact the way things will be bought or sold, forcing companies to examine, re-think, re-strategized and transform the business. This article tries to address how companies should prepare themselves in terms of 3 different perspective - buyer, seller, management.

But before we do that, let us understand why this is so important and what's the big deal with Millennials.

The Millennials have expectations and priorities totally different from previous generations. They are tech savvy and multitasked. They are highly educated. They grew up in the age of digital, terrorism, single-parent families etc... And they will be the ones taking over the management positions of the world. The transition has started.

Their key characteristics include but not limited to :

- confident

- diversity

- extreme fun!

- highly competitive

- likes attention

- sociable

- street smart

- techno savvy

- avid consumers

- high morals

- Now!

So it makes perfect sense for us to start thinking how we should engage them as buyers, sellers, and as employees as well. It impacts everyone - retail, distribution, schools, even etc... even as parents.

Millenials As Buyers

Yes. You guessed it. Leverage on internet has become second nature to them. Internet will be their haven for information before they purchase. They will be the major consumers for e-commerce.

From a business standby, how do we attract and engage these set of buyers? Our business needs to transform to be digital-friendly. The content we provide needs to be spot-on. The buying experience needs to provide "wow". And we need to make it simple for purchase to be done. Ignore this, the business will likely be spiraling downwards.

Millennials As Sellers

The sales people in Millennial Sellers, are extremely adaptable to using technology to help them sell more and faster, almost twice as fast as the other generations.

They readily access prospects via social media platforms and build fellow millennial networks easily. Social media is a sweet spot for this group of generation.

Millennials also have entrepreneurialism in their DNA. The entrepreneurial nature makes them solution-oriented, creative, and hungry.

Managing Millennials

It is advisable that when we manage Millennials, it is best we manage the structure but how they do the tasks. When we say structure, it means providing a framework on the program, deliverable and executable. But we need to allow room for their own personality, style and approach to that structure.

In terms of providing incentives, it is no longer about bags, money etc...Giving experiential incentives are more exciting and appealing to them. Examples of experiential incentives include things that give them a broader view of the outside world. Things that offer once-in-a-lifetime experiences. A hot air balloon ride. A tour. A stay at an acclaimed resort or cool nature lodge etc...

We also suggest spending more time coaching Millennials, finding out what motivates, and drives them. Also, help them see from the client's perspective, since the prospects that they currently engage are still older than them. If you could, partner with them a more senior mentor to share experiences from their perspective.

If you have to provide them with training, which we highly recommend, do remember to come in short bursts. The attention span for Millennials are shorter. And do include gamifications.

Give them space. Millennials needs space. They may go off during lunch to gym, but that does not mean they are lazy people. On the contrary, they can end up finishing work late as well.

Lastly, give them lots of feedback and recognition. There's a reason why millennials are called Trophy Kids! This generation wants glowing recognition.

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So here you have it. Some suggestions on getting ready for the coming of Millennials. We hope you find them useful. Do give us your comments as well. We'd love to hear from you.

Cherry-O!

#Awareness