It is a rare situation in our home businesses where we are only interacting with people who are of a specific generation. While some industries seem to cater to a specific demographic or generation, we most often find ourselves dealing with individuals who might be senior citizens, or young parents or even teenagers. This can be one of the challenges of operating a home-business—learning how to interact and work with a variety of people of different ages.
Recently, I read an article in my local newspaper about the various work ethic realities of different generations in the United States—specifically how the expectations and different working style of the younger generation (those born in the 80’s and 90’s) are changing how things are being done in many work environments. The article pointed out that different age demographics have different expectations, attitudes about money, working styles, etc. and this definitely has an effect on the work and business world. I think it can really have an effect on HOW we do business.
Depending on your field or industry, it might be a good idea to do a little research to find out how various ages view your product or service and what they might expect from an interaction. While everyone is an individual, there are some generational generalizations that might help you in your customer service. Things to look at and consider might be attitudes about time, service delivery, and customer service. Whether a customer expects immediate gratification or is willing and able to wait can be a big one. Different generations might have a different focus on things like value and product quality too.
The more you are able to adjust your home business to differences and changes in various age demographics (generations), the more adaptable and flexible your business will be and the larger your potential target market.
See Also: Traveling With Three Generations–Where to Go With the Grandparents
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