“Millennial” is no longer the dirty word that it was years ago.

The term, indicating that a person was born between 1981 and 1996, encompasses around 71 million adults between the ages of 38 and 23, as of this year.

With that population number being so high, a propensity for entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as so many of the “Baby Boomer” generation moving towards retirement age, Millennials are in charge of making decisions for more B2B companies than you could imagine.

As Brambaly continues to grow and work closely with Millennials in charge of a slew of manufacturing, wholesale, and distribution companies, we wanted to share a few tips we’ve gained along the way about how YOU can sell more effectively to the growing Millennial B2B market!

Show, Don’t Just Tell

While independent thought is in no way a Millennial generation concept, it is one they hold near and dear to them. Millennial decision-makers very heavily rely upon data, research, and the right knowledge to be divulged in the right way, so that they can then make a ruling. 

What we mean is that if you have a modern and updated website, full of all the information they need about your products- they will find it. They will play detective on it and trace reviews, figures, videos, and similar companies down the line until they have encountered THEIR answer. Supply them with the information they need without being intrusive about it or overbearing. Let your Brambaly-designed business website not just TELL but SHOW them WHY your products are the one for them. Then let the enlightening of the HOW and WHAT resolve from what they can soak up on your site, amongst other promotional materials and adjacent links they find.

Use a Varied, Customizable Approach

As we discussed above, Millennial decision-makers will seemingly run from one side of the internet to the other to research your products before making a decision. Sure, this slows down the time-consuming decision-making process that B2B industries already endure, but in this day and age: it makes sense. In a world where everyone has a computer in their pocket and can share their opinion about you to millions with a simple click, getting ahead of potential customer service issues like this is paramount. 

One of the ways Millennials do this is to be hands-on with your products before committing. They will request samples; they will want to make sure it is customizable to their needs and they will push the boundaries of it. They will ask competitors how their product is better, and then ask partners who bought directly from you what they think, boldly and without batting an eye. They want to eliminate “buyer’s remorse,” which can turn into “internet fail,” if what they create using your products doesn’t work out how they anticipated. Don’t be surprised if much of this communication happens via email, versus your traditional sales call either!

Make sure you adapt your strategies to allow for all of the above. Have your products available for testing with detailed information about them not only on your Brambaly-built website but send samples out to reviewers to talk about it on their channels, whether that be a YouTube video or a magazine article. Also be able to alter your pitch or marketing to a buyer in the blink of an eye so that it suits your Millennial client directly, and (seemingly) no one else.

Don’t Shy Away from Reviews

It should come as no surprise that Millennials make a considerable chunk of their decision making based upon online reviews and testimonials. That’s one of the reasons why websites like Yelp, Angie’s List, Foursquare, and the major social media platforms stay in business. People care about what other people like them think about products. If they love what you do, maybe they’ll post something positive about you online, if they hate it, well, we’re sure you know where that can lead.

Don’t be afraid to ask trusted partners for their testimonial to post on your website. If you think you have an excellent relationship, maybe taking it a step further and having them post on a review website of some sort will help too.

Sure, not everyone is your industry is going to use one of the above websites to get reviews of your manufacturing, distribution, or wholesale products. If that’s the case, track down the leading online and in-print publications in your industry, and discuss them writing a review! Those writers love getting new things to play with, and you’ll love what they have to say and the “viral” nature that a stellar review can stir up for your B2B business. Your prospective Millennial client will track the reviews down and digest every-single-one before making a decision. We promise.

If you need help building a reliable, up-to-date website for your B2B manufacturing, wholesale, or distribution business: don’t hesitate to contact the expert team at Brambaly today (which, fun fact, has a few millennials in the staff  )