Josh Waitzkin, who holds several World Champion chess and Tai Chi Chuan titles, has said, "A key ingredient to my success in those years (his youth) was that my style on the chessboard was a direct expression of my personality."
What does that have to do with selling to seniors? It can help you decide whether or not seniors represent a "world-class" market for you. Sure, seniors can be a viable market for anyone, but does your personality fit them and their needs? While that may seem like a fairly straightforward question, there are many hidden implications to address in making that determination.
What do you see?
When you think of seniors, what image comes to mind? Do you see people who are past their prime? Who have outlived their usefulness? Whose frailty simultaneously evokes sympathy and impatience in you?
Or do you see someone who has lived a rich, full life? Someone whose stories you find fascinating? Do you admire their wisdom and their willingness to share it? Is their frailty a source of inspiration to you? Do you find yourself hoping that should that day come for you, you'll deal with those challenges with equal dignity, patience and resolve?
How did you fare on the first test? On which end of the spectrum did you fall -- the "past-their-prime" end or the "admiration" end? Obviously, it's a wide spectrum, but the reality is that the further you are from the admiration end, the less likely that seniors are going to be a "world-class" market for you.
Beyond demographics
So far we've looked at seniors as a homogeneous market. As is the case with all markets, that couldn't be further from the truth. Let's take a look at some ways we can segment this market. There are a couple of non-demographic methods we can use: Age (biological, not chronological) and legacy. Using biological age, we typically see three categories: The young at heart, traditional for their age, and older than their years. Let's take a look at each of these in more detail before we begin segmenting by legacy.
Young at heart
Seniors don't have to jump from airplanes at age 85 (like former President George H.W. Bush) to qualify as "young at heart." They do, however, exhibit several common characteristics. They are active, fascinated by life, and often believed to be younger than their chronological years.
They enjoy dancing, sports, tai chi, yoga, travel -- virtually anything that engages them physically and mentally. They show little concern for their ultimate demise even though they may carefully plan for that eventuality.
Traditional for their age
These folks are quite content with their stage in life. They accept and adapt to the physical limitations they face. Unlike their young-at-heart counterparts, they build plenty of recovery time into their daily routines. It's not that they are inactive, they just set a slower pace for themselves.
This group is more likely to plan for the inevitable. Their methodical, pragmatic natures often cause them to start planning earlier than the young at heart.
Older than their years
It's tragic, but some people look for ways to avoid participating in life. Members of the older-than-their-years group tend to exaggerate their limitations. The reasons are many and varied, but the impact is always the same -- a pessimistic outlook on life, little joy in their lives other than commiserating with others of a like mind, and acceptance of limitations that don't really exist. Seniors in this group focus so heavily on themselves that it is often difficult to get them to focus on or care about what's going to happen when they die.
How old are you?
Biologically, not chronologically. One of the fascinating things in life is that our natures rarely change. The young at heart are that way all their lives. They're the ones who were involved in a variety of activities -- sports, glee club, student council. They always needed a lot of variety and activity to keep them happy.
Similarly, those who are "traditional" for their age have one or two activities in which they are genuinely interested, but for the most part they like hanging with friends. They are less inclined to try something new; they're quite satisfied with what's familiar.
People who are older than their years are also that way their entire lives. In their early years, they were viewed as more mature than other children, and as they grew older, they would have been categorized as more responsible or an "older soul." All along the way, they would have been viewed as much older than calendar years they'd lived.
Into which category do you fall? Were you on the student council, just one of the guys or that "old soul"? Knowing which category you fall into can help you attract the right type of customer. If you're older than your years, the young at heart will drive you nuts. You'll swear that they have undiagnosed ADD. You can't get them to sit down and tend to "serious" business. Not to mention the fact that getting a hold of them is like trying to hit a moving target.
The opposite is true as well. If you're young at heart, the older-than-their-years groups' whining will drive you nuts. You'll be thinking "Get a life!" You'll also find their inability to focus on anything other than themselves frustrating.
If you're traditional for your age, you'll have trouble relating effectively to either of the other two groups. You'll think that the young at heart are in denial, while the older than their years have one foot in the grave.
By knowing your personal style, you gain a clear picture of which category of senior you'll relate to best. The more naturally you relate to a person, the more quickly they become comfortable with you. The greater the comfort, the quicker the sale and the lower the likelihood that they'll leave you once you've begun working with them.
Legacy
Let's turn our attention to legacy as a way to differentiate our senior market. When considering legacy, we often find three different motivations: family, causes and personal recognition.
Family
The seniors who enjoy multiple generations within their family often focus on their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren as their legacy. Typically, they are going to want their wealth to be enjoyed by their family. This isn't always the case. Over the years, I've seen parents and grandparents who made it on their own and think it's healthy for their offspring to have to work for whatever they want. In those cases, it's useful to examine causes for which they have a passion or their desire for personal recognition.
Causes
As people get nearer to the end of their lives, they begin to ask themselves, "Have I made a difference?" This is especially true for those who didn't have children or who didn't have very pleasant child-rearing experiences.
Regardless of the reason behind this question, these seniors want to leave the world feeling that their lives had meaning. One of the ways to do that is to help them fulfill a dream that they didn't have the time or energy to pursue during their "productive years."
You may have to help them rediscover that dream. Often it has been suppressed for so long that the individual has forgotten that it ever existed. Help them find their passion, whether it be for special needs children, animal rescue, scholarships for children in impoverished families, helping abused women and children, etc. Then help them discover how your offerings can help them add meaning to their existence.
Personal recognition
Many seniors identified in the causes category will get all of the satisfaction they need from having done something to help others. Others want more. They want recognition for what they done and they want that recognition to continue after they're gone. This recognition might take the form of a stained-glassed window in a church, playground equipment in a neighborhood park, a scholarship fund or a hospital wing. Regardless of the form it takes, they're looking for recognition.
Which legacy appeals to you?
Is your primary interest in a legacy family, a cause or personal recognition? Again, aligning your nature with those whom you serve can translate into quicker sales and longer-term relations with your clients.
Back office implications
There is another advantage to segmenting the market according to biological age or legacy preferences -- your back office efficiency.
Imagine having most of your senior clients in the "traditional" age category. They're readily accessible because they don't travel much and their schedules are built with significant down times in them. Now imagine having to deal with the young at heart. You're making three or four phone calls trying to track them down. When you do catch up with them, they're on a month-long cruise and you have to try to find a way to get their signature on an essential document. Imagine how frustrating that would be?
Now imagine that the young at heart were your primary clients because you're one of them. You'd have all the latest technology available, the most effective delivery services, what the pick times were, what the various time zones are worldwide. Establishing a client base that fits your style makes establishing back office procedures a snap because these are already things that interest you.
Marketing
The same is true for your marketing efforts. The young at heart will love getting travel ideas, notices of eclectic events and announcements of new restaurants and theaters, while the traditional-for-their-age seniors will prefer news about neighborhood activities, specials at local establishments and family type of activities where they can just hang.
As you can see, there are some real advantages to segmenting the senior market and aligning their natures to yours. Not only will it help you generate sales more quickly, it will help retain and expand those relationships, improve back office efficiency and provide a higher return on your marketing dollars.
A caveat
One of the key issues with the elderly, and it strikes virtually all of them at some point, is the issue of trust. Not trust in you, but trust in themselves. As their capabilities decline, they lose confidence in their ability to make informed decisions. Often they'll turn to a family member, or a trustee or guardian will take over. If you're lucky that person will possess a nature similar to your client's.
If not, the tools outlined above can be used to identify their nature and give you the language necessary to help that family member or guardian how their ward viewed the world and why they made the decisions they did. This will position you to not only retain the business, but honor your client's wishes.
If you're considering seniors as a potential market, determine whether it's a market that has "world-class" potential for you. Then, like Josh Waitzkin, you will enjoy phenomenal success.
Dale Furtwengler, Furtwengler & Associates, P.C., is an internationally acclaimed author whose work is recommended by the University of Glasgow, University of New South Wales and the Australian Institute of Management. His work with business owners and professionals is designed to help them "increase profits without adding resources."
