The Millennials Are Coming. Are You Ready?

As I mentioned in my previous post, we gave a presentation to members of America’s Community Bankers last Thursday during the association’s Annual Convention. The session titled: “The Great Demographic Divide” discussed the impact Generation Y is having, and will continue to have on the financial services industry.

During the session, a banker asked “When is all of this going to happen?” He was referring to the influence Gen Y will have on the industry, and the changes that will be required of institutions to attract Gen Y as customers and employees.

It’s already happening. Gen Y certainly presents a unique set of challenges to financial services executives and marketers – but this simply is not an issue that can be ignored or put on the back burner for later discussion. This is an issue that management teams need to address now, especially given an aging customer and employee base at institutions across the country, and that Gen Y has very different expectations of the consumer and employee experience.

The impact from Generation Y can be seen at companies and in industries across the country. In fact, last night’s episode of 60 Minutes featured a segment titled “The Millennials Are Coming” which discussed many of the same points we made during our presentation to the group of bankers last week. If you missed the segment, I recommend that you check it out.

The Millennials are coming (many are already here). Are you ready?

The Great Demographic Divide - Or Disconnect

Yesterday, Joe and I gave a presentation to members of America's Community Bankers in Las Vegas about the divide that exists between Baby Boomers and Generation Y. The presentation discussed the differences in the needs, values and preferences of both generational segments - and framed up ways for the bank executives to think about attracting Gen Y customers and employees.

During the presentation, I realized that with this audience, there may be more than a demographic divide between them and the younger generations - instead, it's more like a complete disconnect. The audience was composed largely of Boomers who are directors, executives and senior managers at banks; and, most of them looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language when I made references to: blogs, podcasts, and social media websites. And, perhaps even more surprising was that not one person in the audience had heard of companies like Prosper, Mint or Virgin Money.

A friend of mine brought up a good point after I told him this: we're not talking about the future here - this is happening now. The divide (or disconnect) needs to be recognized, as it impacts us all.