Selling the Y

Kids these days…

It’s difficult to get through to them right? How is it possible to keep their interest when it seems their faces are constantly glued to one screen or another? We really have two options here.

1. Say “forget it” and keep on keepin’ on with your current client base and grow your business with this demographic, which isn’t sustainable for the long-term.

OR

2. EMBRACE IT.

Let’s face it. Kids are our future, and they are the ones who will continue to grow our business. However, in order to get through to them, adjustments in selling must be made. To do this, we need to consider 2 questions.

Who is Generation Y?

- Generation Y is the group of “youngsters” born in the mid-1980s who crave adventure, understand branding, and their attention span leaves no time for “fluff”. These entrepreneurial minded individuals might be interested in what you’re selling, but they want it short, sweet and with real-time, authentic information. They don’t have time for old news and they want to be entertained.

How do we do we sell to them?

-Simply because Gen Y is made up of technologically savvy, self-thinkers, it doesn’t mean that Baby Boomers are out. Let us introduce Generation C, the generation of people who places an emphasis on technology as an instrumental part of their daily routine. In fact, according to Randy Bancino, Baby Boomers are, in many cases as tech savvy as Gen Y & Gen X. While the majority of boomers take to Facebook as their preferred social media platform, Gens X & Y take to twitter. However, these groups appear to be spreading across all social media platforms.

One thing we need to keep in mind is that, as Directsellingnews.com puts it “One of the inherent values of direct sales is its focus on relationships from people to people, and that’s where technology is going. It makes us a bit more human AND digital everyday.” It’s simply a matter of adapting direct sales into a modern and consistently evolving era.

Now, where do we go from here?

Computers are your friend, mobile is your BEST friend. In fact, “By 2013 more people will use mobile phones than PCs to get online.” (RapidMarketplace.com)

Take advantage of the opportunity you have to sell online.

-Skype and Google+ (G+) are great opportunities for hosting “virtual parties”. Take the opportunity to consult with your clients over the web. Should they be interested in purchasing your products, simply shoot them the link via the chat box for them to complete the purchase.

-Pinterest — This is a HUGE opportunity for you to show off your artistic skills. Create a montage of cosmetic application tips that link back to the products used. You can also create short videos via YouTube and pin them to your boards. Simply provide the link of the products used for ease of purchase.

In the end, technologically suits direct sales, and direct sales suits technology, so use them in unison and we’ll all be better for it.