The overall impact of Generation Y is still deeply underestimated – especially to those selling vendor solutions
by Scott Roller
Any good author or publisher within the mortgage and credit union space knows that interesting headlines will attract eye balls. These days, a simple reference to “Millennials” is guaranteed to drive some very nice traffic. (As you can see, we think so too. Hey, “When in Rome”.)
The overall impact of this group, also known as Generation Y, is deeply underestimated, especially for those of you selling your vendor solutions. Millennials are not the “Holy Grail” for lenders only. It’s time for vendors to understand the seismic shift within their universe as well.
Most industry articles seem to drive our thoughts down a single and myopic rabbit hole – Millennials are the largest population of potential home buyers and we need them to move out of their parent’s basements with that down payment (gifted to them, of course) in hand.
Let’s take a moment to step away from these common stereotypes, and detour our minds down a less well-traveled path regarding how Millennials truly impact our mortgage and credit union ecosystems.
Estimated to be roughly 2 billion in number (globally), Millennials have been entering our workforce for about 15-years now, ascending to influential procurement positions, serving as key influencers and decision makers. They are often deemed as willing to try something new, and either quickly adopt or abandon it. Gaining their loyalty means adding consistent value to their purpose. Innovation alone is not enough. When you delight them and make things simpler and more efficient, Millennials are likely to begin digitally informing everyone they know. So, make it easy for them to do so. Conduct your business in their channels of choice – their online hangouts.
A study published by the Pew Research Center says 81% of Millennials are on Facebook, with a median number of 250 friends, causing them to check their mobile devices 43 times a day, on average. Separately, LinkedIn claims to have 87 million of them, accounting for 38% of their total subscriber base, and says that Millennials will represent 50% of the global workforce by the year 2020.
Inc. Magazine published results of a study on Millennials in 2016. Below are a few compelling findings that should help you understand the Millennial mindset, as you think about refining your approach and messaging in the marketplace:
- 64 percent of Millennials would rather make $40,000 a year at a job they love than $100,000 a year at a job they think is boring.
- 92 percent believe that business success should be measured by more than just profit.
- 84 percent say that helping to make a positive difference in the world is more important than professional recognition.
- Millennials are not just virtually connected via social networks; they value the role that they play in these online communities.
Now, let’s go a layer deeper, overlaying some Millennial mentality across vendor sourcing within our industry. In speaking with countless numbers of them in recent years, this generation seems to share the following common viewpoints:
- They don’t do “word-of-mouth.” They may respect you, but they have more of an affinity for their own online due diligence. And where available, statistically significant ratings and reviews will triumph.
- Use the word “Rolodex” and you may get a blank and confused stare. (FYI, Rolodex was first marketed 60-years ago – time to upgrade).
- As a digitally-dependent society, Millennials demand technology. Immediate searching with immediate results, recommendations and next steps.
- Speed is paramount. They want valuable information, and they want it now. Often, it’s all about shortcuts to them, yet without sacrificing quality.
Online search engines have become incredibly popular and populous with Millennials and the rest of us. Search engines have invaded our lives faster than the deer in the vegetable garden. Here is a challenge for you. Watch television tonight, even if just a 30-minute episode, and see if it’s even humanly possible NOT to see a commercial for a search engine – cars, travel, hotels, handyman, loans, realtors, etc. You will probably fail the challenge, and there is a good reason why. Search engines have built-in intelligence and they work! They can remove days or weeks out of searching for anything, because results produced are based upon searcher-desired selection criteria. Talk about value add – find exactly what you are looking for, and get real-time quality results. That is pure Millennial-speak.
At last, these robust sourcing solutions are now becoming available to the mortgage and credit union ecosystems, and Millennials are quickly becoming their loudest advocates, digitally sharing these tools with friends always and often.
If you are responsible for sales or marketing of vendor products and services, what specifically are you doing to meet the needs and wants of Millennials? In retail sales, and within home buying, they are the single largest cohort driving the incredible consumer boom we are experiencing. But, have you ever truly considered how they influence the procurement of your vendor solutions?
If you are not willing to assess the landscape here, and re-align your approach, Millennials may actually find the real Holy Grail before ever discovering you. So, consider getting some “voice of the industry” feedback from the buyer side to help you re-tool. Here are some thoughts to help drive your feedback capture process:
- Know that since Dodd-Frank was enacted into law, most sourcing decisions are now made by committee, not a single person or department. What roles or departments are represented? This varies widely across organizations.
- Millennials prefer online channels for everything, especially learning about their options.
- So, you attend industry conferences and tradeshows to prospect. Do your potential buyers ever attend them?
- It generally takes time and patience to build loyalty with Millennials. You cannot just “reach out and sell” your goods to them. Millennials place high value on content marketing – a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material that does not explicitly promote a brand, but is intended to stimulate thought. When Millennials repeatedly find value in your messages and overall content, saving time or cost, and solving pain points, they may soon transition to paying customers.
Content marketing often takes the form of well-planned and consistent activities like the following:
- Blog posts
- Social media posts
- Industry articles
- Webinars
- Brown bag “lunch-and-learn” educational sessions
- A professionally developed explainer video of your company and offerings
Of course, you must determine which distribution channels will serve your objectives best. Think about where your target audience is most likely to congregate online. Look for centralized hubs and industry portals that drive site visit traffic in large numbers. Where can you generously spread your word?
The more valued and relevant content you publish, the faster it contributes to your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) results. Internet search engines, like Google or Bing, place an incredible amount of emphasis on your online content. Their robots “crawl” the Internet non-stop, discovering nuggets of information their own users should find valuable, then the robots make automated decisions as to whether your content will be on page 57, or hopefully, steadily migrating you to page one.
Vendors – How do your sales and marketing strategies match up to the motivations and habits of this incredibly talented and prominent segment of our industry population? With every passing day, Millennials are becoming your buyers. Adapt.
Scott Roller is co-founder of Vendor Surf LLC and founder of 3W Partners LLC, with each company dedicated to revolutionizing the sourcing of vendors in the mortgage and credit union ecosystems.
