Chat generation - what it is and why it is important?

Although there are different approaches and discussions about what it should be called “Gen Y” -can be defined as those born between 1976-2001.

These people, raised by the audiovisual media, are savvy with technology, constantly online and use the web alot as a source of information. They are bound together by sharing of the online experience. A generation crossed by immediacy and internet, defined by face to face but miles away talks, emails, instant messengers, skype and facebook. They are voracious consumers of electronic media and many studies had projected them to spend 1/3 of their lives online!!! Online is where they go first for their information needs.

Why is this generation important? because they are probably 50% of your current clients now and most importantly, they will be 100% of your clients within the next 5 to 10 years.

So, what should sellers/retailers/business’s do when facing this new social paradigm? How do they sell/capture these cyber sailors?

First, by being present where they are searching for you.

Now that you have your website, with all possible information about who you are, your products and services; you need to drive traffic to your site, in other words, you need to get them there. You concentrate efforts, do your utmost to get them where you want through mainstream e-marketing or other non-conventional -at least for now- paths.

But, they are not there to see how pretty your website is, nor to appreciatie how creative your marketing staff are, they are there to KNOW about and to BUY from you. That is always your ultimate goal. If there were people walking into your shop, would you leave them to wonder around? or would you rather have a sales person engaging and interacting with them?

Chat generation is frenetic of speed and demands instant answers. They expect to get what THEY want-when THEY want it. So previously typical examples “I will call you back with an answer”, or “please give me your Full Name and contact details” are no longer an acceptable minimum customer service standard. Generation Chat has raised the expectations of customer service standards and at the same time, reduced the time with which they expect to be serviced.

By implication this is a tough market to serve, but it does not imply that you can not be prepared enough to be meet their demands and expectations.

What do you do? you CHAT. You use their same codes, their innate language, and you create trust by establishing a constant flow of communication.

Words such “how can i help you” while flipping through a website can turn the customer experience up side down. If they ask for a product you have the ready link from where they can get it from you, instead of leaving them to find it by themselves.

What is your gain? We know that one of the biggest problems e-commerce faces is trolley abandonment. When the moment comes to fill in CC information the visitors just get discourage. By using Active Reception you will decrease the shopping card attrition, hence achieving better and more sustainable results.