Is There No Love Lost Between Baby Boomers and Tech?

Vuk Confidential
Aug 24, 2017 · 6 min read

In last week’s article, there was a lot of talk about how moving companies can get practical and break through the noise in the world of online marketing. The sole purpose of that piece was to motivate movers to start deploying their efforts where customer attention now is.

The marketing rant prompted a conversation with a marketing manager at a major moving company. Her company has been using SurveyBot for a couple of months now, and has found success with it during the busy summer in the US market. Big shout out to this incredible person who has an enormous passion for her job. Anyway, we started talking about Baby Boomers, who aren’t that tech-savvy, and how they fit into the whole picture.

It was a great idea for my next article…

Meet Baby Boomers

Everybody has been talking about millennials these days. Whether you’re one or not, that’s not relevant compared to the impact they’re making on businesses worldwide. Social Media aside, just think about how buying behavior is entirely different to what it was a few years back.

As a millennial myself, I really enjoy that this is the case. The only reason why I’m not buying everything online is the fact that there’s no supply for my demand. At least not in Eastern Europe. My love for this era is so much vibrant that my dad, baby boomer by the way, is starting to adopt a part of it.

A month ago he started asking me how he can shop on Amazon, and just last week he showed his sincere wish to get educated on how to use Facebook for his business. I was so proud, as funny as it sounds.

Going back, the Baby Boomer Generation was born between 1946 and 1964. But even people who are 40+ can easily be the subject of this article. The main trait all these people share is their understanding that you can have it all as long as you work hard.

They are accustomed to face-to-face communication and phone conversations. That’s just the truth. From the mover’s angle, it makes perfect sense why in-home estimates, especially for local services, are still more than alive.

Baby Boomers are big believers in good customer service. The weird thing is, Millennials are too. The difference is, Millennials are looking for good service on Facebook Messenger, while Baby Boomers will rather go for the in-store experience. They just want to feel and touch the product or service. They won’t sacrifice their comfort zone.

But, according to Oracle, 29% of Baby Boomers, compared to 26% of Millennials, answered “no” when they were asked if shop staff possess enough information about the product they’re actually selling. And 68.4% of people who are just not that into tech were checking up product info on their phone while shopping in stores.

Furthermore, almost 40% of Instagram users are 30+, with 11% of them being 50 or more. Oh, and Instagram has over 700 million active users. You do the math.

Baby Boomers In The Moving Industry

Moving companies, including the one I mentioned at the beginning of this article, offer different types of estimates. Customers can opt for an in-home, phone or video survey. Phone estimates are in serious decline, due to their inaccuracy, with in-home estimates being dominant. No surprises there…

As a person who works in a company that makes a living from selling video surveys, all I can say is — good for you. I’d be doing the same, because it’s not about what you or I want, it’s about what market dictates. Keep crushing it, whatever the ratio of estimate performance in your company is.

But, there’s a small difference to mention. You’ve probably stumbled upon a famous contrast that has been used a lot on the internet. I think I used it in last week’s marketing rant too. While Ford was building the first car, a lot of people were buying more horses. There was also talk about whether cars will be safe, with the general opinion being that they are too complicated and that it won’t work out.

Every new thing in the market draws doubts and hesitations. In the short-term at least. But a long-term mindset always wins. The market will accept our victories if we’re good enough to have a victory. To back this story up with numbers, we’ve spent some time with companies like Crown Relocations and Joyce Van Lines (clients of ours), who were expanding their video survey offerings to other office branches, because their customers are enjoying the experience. Numbers we’re seeing are backing it up, you can’t fake that. It’s out there.

If a customer wants you to come to their home and do everything in person, then by all means go and do it.

Although it will sound like me selling, I challenge you to ask that type of customer if they would prefer to do a video survey instead, because it saves time and allows you to send a quote faster. Uber is winning because it’s saving people time. Time is a rare commodity, and that’s the way you deal with reluctant and uninformed customers. You explain that it’s all about them and how they win.

And it’s easy to bring this up in conversation. They already know that you need to see their things in order to give them an estimate, so you can just add that there is an easy and quick way to do this, right through their tablet or smartphone.

You will be amazed with the response you’ll get. Sure, there will still be some in-home estimates to be done. However, you’re most likely talking to a person who’s busy and doesn’t have the time to take off of work to let you into their home. They will appreciate you being considerate of their time, and most likely will take you up on your video survey invitation. So, it doesn’t matter if they’re 20 or 40. Most of our customers range between 37 and 45 years old. In the end, you just have to offer it right.

Think about it this way. It’s 2007, and I’m calling your cell phone. Hey Rick, do you want to buy a smartphone? You say no. But, tomorrow I come from a different angle. What’s up Rick, you good? I have this amazing phone that will blow your mind. It’s a phone, a music device and you can surf on the internet — all at once. Now you might buy it or not, but I have your attention. And yeah, you’ll probably end up buying it because you’re talking to me on your old-school Nokia.

It’s the same thing with video surveys. It’s how you present it. The truth is some people will like it, some will be indifferent, while others will say no. And that’s fine. The bottom line is, video surveys are not just convenient for them, they are convenient for you too. In 90% of the cases, they will save you time, money and allow you to be much faster and much more focused on things that matter most.

Take it from Crown. Pickfords. Joyce Van Lines. Hilldrup. Hughes Relocations. Beltmann. Continuum. Take it from the people moving. Here’s Erik Christensen, Crater’s Director of Global Industry Relations & Strategic Partnerships, visiting another one of our clients who’s crushing it this summer, Zippy Shell Moving and Storage.

There’s not a single Crater-ist who is not super excited about the further transition of the moving industry towards even more convenience. In storage for example, or the way quotes are delivered. Do you realize that, with this pace, moving will become completely straightforward, from A to B? Without all the erratic turns that are taking place today because relocation is still too complex. That’s why you need to be thinking long-term.

Nobody is saying to ditch the in-home surveys completely (at least not yet). Crater is saying, prepare for what’s coming and that’s already producing results for many movers worldwide. I’ll make you a deal right now. Test drive SurveyBot for free, no commitment needed, and then jump on a call with me on your last day of trial to let me know your first impressions and results. You do the talking, I’ll just listen.

Thanks for your attention. I wish you speed and success in everything you’re doing at the moment.


Originally published — gosurveybot.com on August 24, 2017.

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Vuk Confidential

Written by

Head of Growth @lemlist | Marketing Practitioner 🐺 | Vukasin Vukosavljevic | vuk@lemlist.com

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