You can be on Entrepreneur’s cover!

5 Ways to Improve Customer Service for Seniors Tailoring your customer support to seniors' unique needs will help you build customer loyalty and position your business for success as the demographic continues to grow and change.

By Seth Bailey

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

While there is a plethora of articles out there about how to deal with millennial customers, the same can't quite be said for baby boomers. But the truth is, seniors still make up much of our purchasing population.

In fact, the number of seniors is increasing quickly. The percentage of the population age 65 and over increased from 4.1 percent in 1900 to 13.0 percent in 2010 and is projected to reach 20.9 percent by 2050. This demographic is also increasingly taking to online shopping. The number of consumers age 66 and older using this outlet to purchase products has incrased 4 percent each year.

If your customer base skews toward seniors, there are a number of unique needs to consider. Here are five special steps you can take to make your older customers feel welcomed, comfortable, and valued:

Related: The 4 Secrets to Achieving Customer Loyalty

1. When in doubt, write it out.

Many seniors have trouble remembering small details and thus appreciate having things in writing. Whether it's a brochure or a quick note reminding the customer when their order will be ready, small gestures will have a big impact. Keep a notepad and pens by the cash register for convenience, or include specific next steps on receipts and in emails.

2. Keep coupons handy.

Seniors, many of who grew up in hard economic times, love a good deal. Loyalty rewards programs, weekly sales emails and monthly coupon books all make it easy for your customers to take advantage of the promotional deals your company is offering. Brainstorm with your marketing team to find unique ways to offer great discounts.

3. Hire meticulously.

Seniors are typically less likely than younger shoppers to impulse buy, and they often have questions for the sales personnel. Hire patient, kind customer service representatives to accurately answer any in-depth questions and make customers feel confident in their purchase decisions.

Related: 4 Questions to Ask When Planning Effective Customer Messages

4. Show respect.

One common pet peeve of many seniors is feeling patronized while shopping. No one likes to be talked down to. Make sure that your sales and customer service representatives are trained to communicate in a respectful, non-condescending tone. Your marketing collateral needs to reflect this respect as well.

5. Communicate often.

Seniors appreciate the human approach. Whether it's a phone call to follow up on how a product is working for them or a personalized email to wish them a happy birthday, human gestures show that your company truly values its customers on a personal level, and this does wonders to cultivate a strong and loyal relationship.

Seniors are an important, but often overlooked, demographic. Tailoring your customer support to their unique needs will help you build customer loyalty and position your business for success as the demographic continues to grow and change.

Related: To Grow Your Customer Base Focus on EOA: Early, Often and Always

Seth Bailey

Chief Strategy Officer of iTOK

Seth Bailey is iTOK’s Chief Strategy Officer and has more than 18 years of entrepreneurial and leadership experience.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Multibillion-Dollar Crypto Fraud

Southern District of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan said that the loss amount to the victims of Bankman-Fried's crimes surpassed $550 million.

Side Hustle

This Mom Started a Side Hustle After a 'Shocking' Realization in the Toy Aisle. Her Product Was in Macy's Within the Year — Seeing Nearly $350,000 in Sales.

Elenor Mak, now founder of Jilly Bing, didn't plan to start a business — but the search for a doll that looked like her daughter inspired her to do just that.

Growing a Business

To Achieve Sustainable Success, You Need to Stop Focusing on Disruption. Here's Why — and What You Must Focus on Instead.

Instead of zeroing in solely on disruptive innovation, embrace a pragmatic approach to innovation, recognizing and leveraging the potential within ongoing industry shifts.

Marketing

5 Ways to Get on the Media's Good Side (and Stay There)

When you're trying to make a name and a mark for yourself and your business, it's really important to get on the media's good side — and stay there.

Business News

Mark Zuckerberg Told Meta Engineers to 'Figure Out' Snapchat's Privacy Protections: 'We Have No Analytics on Them'

Recently unsealed court documents detail "Project Ghostbusters," Meta's project to work around Snapchat's end-to-end encryption to intercept data.