As a new sales person, you are confronted with a multitude of boundaries, both internal and external. One that I personally had to deal with (or at least was afraid of), was the Age Gap.
I don’t know what it is about being a young person in sales, but when I started I always felt somewhat… underqualified (to be fair, I probably was). I was 21 years old, my coworkers were all between 30 and 40 years old, and my clientele were on average 60 years of age. As a salesperson, your clients are typically listening to YOU, as you are the ‘expert’ in your field (hopefully). However when I started, I felt like the power dynamic had shifted in my clients favor; creating a domino effect of chaos in my mind (and the meetings). I was nervous, awkward, and insecure about my knowledge of the products. I was too afraid to close (or even attempt to), too afraid to offer bigger ticket items, and God help me if someone asked me a question. I kept thinking about how the people all around me were so much more experienced and smarter than I was, and so I began second guessing every aspect of my job. Yeah, not fun.
Quote of the day: A lack of confidence is the impotence of any sales person.
In my experience, elder clients LOVE to chat. So here are a couple of tools that I use to help smooth over conversations with clients older than me.
Acknowledge Your Differences
Inevitably you are going to have differences (well.. other than age). You may have differences of interests, opinions and definitely experiences. While instinctually you might try to avoid your differences, I would argue to acknowledge them. Some of my most enlightening and entertaining conversations with clients have come from talking about our differences. There are no shortage of topics when talking about the advances of technology, change of work ethic, demographics, weather and more. Conversations between different generations is an opportunity to learn a lot and share a lot. I’m a big fan of hearing the wisdom that others have to offer (and what outrageous philosophies that others might live by too). Great conversions are one of the best ways to develop a stronger relationship with your clients.
One of my favorite topics to bring up are the advancements in technology. As the newer generations get more and more immersed in technology and social media, their communication skills have taken a major decline*. As a result, face to face communication doesn’t occur as often, or at least isn’t preferred as often. I then tie this into the fact that I prefer to meet clients face to face as it helps to build trust, a better connection and is always more fun.
*HERE is an interesting read.
This topic allows me to easily find common ground by talking about our differences; which is my next tip.
Find Common Ground
To overcome the age gap, it’s important to find common ground. Another great source of conversations, as always, are your things that you and your clients have in common. This can help to really to form great connections with people (not just as clients, but as human beings)*. If you find that the age gap may be getting in your way, than common ground is the KING of convo grease to smooth things over. In my experience, the more I have in common with a client, the more we start to forget that we aren’t even in the same generation!
Topics that you can always count on are your common demographics. If your clients live in the same area, for instance, chances are that they’re dealing with the same traffic, the same weather and the same endless onslaught of construction projects. I’ve always been an old soul at heart, and so finding common ground was a breeze with my older clients. I also hate traffic, crowds, noise and can spend my days sitting on the porch with a cold beer — Something that most of elder clients can relate to.
Hell, I’d be in bed by 7:30pm if life would let me. Huh, stupid ambitions.
*Check the importance of this HERE
Communication Mirroring
I’ve always been told by hiring managers that interview extremely well for my age, and that’s because of one simple technique. One that has rewarded me with plenty of sales, job offers and sugar mommas. No matter if it’s a client who’s 40 years older than me or a hiring manager during an interview, I talk to them like a peer. It’s nothing special, but it’s always worked for me. During interviews, when asked about my previous job experience, I approach the topic as if I was a manager as opposed to an employee (without saying it, of course). The same goes for my meetings with virtually any client.
It’s more than mirroring just their body language. It’s all about HOW you communicate. Whether I’m talking about our differences, or pushing women and children aside to try and find common ground, my approach is the same. Mirroring is a great way to build rapport with your clientele. I’m a big fan of doing this and definitely urge you all to give it a shot. Mirroring does not only work for bridging the age gap, but for any and all client interactions. When you sound like peer, people generally become more comfortable with you, and thus may be more willing to listen to what you have to say.
My favorite phrases to sprinkle in are “kids these days”, “back in the day” and “the younger generations”.
Sidenote: You can learn a lot about how to interact and communicate with others effectively in How to Win Friends and Influence People.
Conclusion
Honestly speaking, the age gap has NEVER prevented me from making a sale. It’s all about confidence. Trust me. As long as you don’t let it get in your way, then you’ll be fine. With that being said, there can be some ‘wrinkles’ in your ability to connect with these clients. Finding common ground, acknowledging your differences and communication mirroring are great ways to build more meaningful connections and have better conversations with your elder clients (and all clients for that matter). I do want to mention that elder clients tend to be some of the best clients that I’ve had. They are always willing to refer you to their friends and family. They’re also very appreciative when you take your time with them (so definitely do). Put in your effort with them, and you just might be rewarded with dinner and gifts.
Moral of the story: Age is just a number. So shoot your shot;)
Cheers.
If you guys have any other great advice please drop a comment down below!