While most articles on the internet talk about how to treat customers properly in general, only a few talk about how to treat elderly customers appropriately. We understand that most customers nowadays are on the younger side or even in their 30s or 40s, but we shouldn’t neglect our older customers. In fact, we should ensure that they feel comfortable and at ease when doing business with us.

Elders need the most attention since they generally know little about how technology works nowadays. If you’re a business owner and a small portion of your customer base is elderly, here are some suggestions you can use to treat your elderly customers properly. 

Value Their Loyalty

While all of our customers want to feel like your business values them, seniors tend to be more loyal to brands and businesses that treat them with dignity and respect. In addition, seniors tend to have a lot of savings and are more willing to pay for more expensive customer service.

Not only that, but they will also reward the way you treat them regarding marketing and other transactions. That’s why ensuring that your employees put in extra time, effort, and TLC towards your elderly customers is essential. 

Focus on Communication with the Elderly

When you support aged clients regarding product selection or just customer service in general, you have to ensure that your employees are extra patient and understand their circumstances. By being polite and open in communication, these customers will feel like their pleas, concerns, and desires are being met. Whether they’re telling a story or asking about aged care financial advice, we should always pay attention.

Employees must learn how to write things down, speak more politely and slowly, and even help older clients with technology. It is vital to be supportive towards senior clients, especially with many technological advancements in business these days.

Also, seniors appreciate the human approach. That said, your approach should be personalized as if you relate to your customers’ situation. This is especially true if your employees are doing outgoing calls to follow up on a product or sending out emails. Show them human gestures that make them feel valued or even send our personalized birthday messages, and they will always appreciate it.

Seniors are essential, but unfortunately, they are often an overlooked demographic. To have a good relationship with them, you must tailor your customer support to their unique needs and desires. This can help you build customer loyalty and better understand how they operate so you can customize your services more for them. 

Give Coupons Whenever Possible

Recognizing the economic standpoint of the elderly is the first step of your business forging a great relationship with the older generation. Not to mention that the baby boomers are getting older now, which means that this generation will be more critical in product servicing and customer service.

Most of them live off retirement funds, so they can benefit a lot from coupons and discounts, which is why we sometimes have to give them these things whenever possible on our ends. Not only will this make them happy, but you will also have a good relationship with them. 

Patience is a Virtue with the Elderly

Seniors often take longer when choosing, understanding, and even requesting products or services. This can sometimes be annoying, but it should not be an excuse to show them that we’re annoyed or pissed at them. Remember, this comes with age, and we wouldn’t want our older loved ones to be exploded upon by annoyed employees.

That said, patience is a virtue, and we should always exercise that with all of our customers, especially the elderly. With the proper training on how to be patient with the older generation, employees can be better fitted with the knowledge on how to deal with these circumstances and how to meet the elderly customers’ needs adequately.

Ensure to remind your employees not to be condescending with their customers and appear angry when dealing with them.

Lend an Ear

Many older adults are lonely, primarily because they have no one to talk to, standing from a social standpoint. They sometimes cope with this loneliness by talking to whoever is available, including your employees.

We know that time is money, but if you want a good relationship with your elderly customers, you need to lend an ear and let them talk when the time allows. Of course, if the time comes when the talk should end, you should teach your employees how to end this scenario correctly and without being rude to your customers. 

Final Words on Customer Service for the Elderly

Even though a significant portion of our customer base is elderly, many businesses overlook them. However, they often tend to be among the wealthiest bunch. If you want to establish a good relationship with them, follow the tips we discussed above.