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Make Your Business Friendly to Seniors

Seniors are not a homogenous group and they don’t all behave the same way, but Janis Ehlers, founder of The Ehlers Group, a marketing and communications company in Fort Lauderdale, has found that there are some specific customer service approaches that work well with older customers.

Here are seven of them:

• Remember their names. This goes a long way to making people feel special, says Ehlers, and is important with seniors, who tend to have tremendous brand loyalty and commonly become repeat customers if they are satisfied. They like to be addressed as Mr., Mrs. or Ms.
• Make sure you can be heard. Place yourself directly in front of them where you can be seen and heard, enunciate clearly, speak a bit more slowly and avoid excessive background noise. Many people with hearing deficits don’t use hearing aids.

Countrywide Home Loans

• Consider your customer parking. Double check to ensure you have accessible handicap parking locations and entries with nonskid surfaces, steps and handrails.
• Comfortable seating is a good idea. Make sure it is easy to sit down on the seating you provide and easy to stand up again. Avoid very soft or low sofas, for instance.
• Answer questions patiently. Some older customers turn out to be consummate data gatherers who conduct endless research before making a decision.
• Brainstorm with your employees. Ask your staff to put themselves in the shoes of their grandmother and imagine her expectations and what motivates her.
• Gather seniors together for an informal focus group session over coffee. Seniors enjoy offering advice and being included in the process, and they can provide valuable insights. Ehlers emphasizes the importance of thanking them afterwards with a written note.

“We’ve repeatedly found that people do business with a person and a company they like, one that makes them feel special and comfortable,” says Ehlers.

“Begin with the basics: Can I be heard? Can senior customers easily enter my building? Then move on to the details that will make seniors’ experiences with your company truly stand out,” she says.

To order Ehlers’ book, “Marketing Seniors Housing,” which is available from BuilderBooks.com, click here.

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