The saying goes, like father, like son. But in this case, son is not like father at all – especially when it comes to running a business.
According to a recent Ipsos Reid survey conducted on behalf of Microsoft Canada comparing experienced small-to-medium sized business (SMB) owners to the next generation of workers, both groups have radically different business ideologies.
A total of 1,230 small and medium sized Canadian businesses participated in the online survey that found that SMB owners, aged 55 and older, are more interested in reducing risks within their company and driving sales, whereas younger workers, aged 18 to 34, are more concerned with the technology and mobility-side of things.
Vu Ngo, SMB segment manager at Microsoft Canada, notes that business owners usually look for ways to make their business more successful, while the next generation typically, turns towards technology to solve business issues.
“Technology is more reflective with the younger generation who can’t seem to live without mobility,” Ngo said. “The owner usually stores a lot of business information in their heads, so there’s a big skills gap in the business there with the younger generation. Microsoft has a Dynamics CRM [customer relationship management] solution to help people in the business share the responsibility.”
So far, Ngo says there has been a lot of interest around Microsoft’s CRM solution, because many businesses are now moving beyond paper based processing and are instead moving towards a more efficient management tool, such as CRM.
“Customers want more of a customized relationship with their business and CRM enables the type of one-on-one, customized relationship that these customers are looking for,” Ngo said. “This is one of the ways small businesses can differentiate themselves from other big box stores.”
Hamilton, Ont.-based, Integrated Business Intelligence Corp. (IBI), a Microsoft Gold Certified VAR who specializes only with small and medium sized customers in Southwestern Ontario, is one of the many company that is deploying Microsoft’s CRM solution.
Barry Dowd, president at IBI, explains there’s a different method of approach that partners must take when it comes to dealing with the two generations of customers.
“The founder of the company is usually interested in building equity and in making sure sales are maintained and the business is profitable,” Dowd said. “The next generation is usually concerned with the actual functionality of the product. What these workers are looking for is more of a balanced lifestyle where they don’t need to put in as many work hours. They’re looking for a healthy balance between work and home life and are interested more in how the technology works.”
Dowd readily dishes out advice to other partners in the community who also work with multiple generations within a business.
“The trick to selling is to find out what the pain points are in any given business,” Dowd said. “We’re not selling software here at IBI, we’re selling a solution. Every sale is different and you have to look at the technology and how it will take the customer to the next step. This is what we call a solution-based selling technique.”
To support its partners, Ngo says Microsoft has a dedicated team of employees who support its small business specialists. He says training is provided to partners to help them better recognize pain points within businesses.
“The survey we just did helps us acknowledge with the channel that there’s a generation gap,” Ngo said. “For partners approaching the sale and communicating technology benefits to customers, they need to realize they have to take a different approach when reaching out to the multiple generations.”
Most importantly, Ngo says technology has no age limit. He goes on to say that partners have huge opportunities when selling technology and solutions to customers, especially concerning the Canadian SMB space.
Dowd also offers, “CRM is an excellent tool to capture knowledge and to help retain that. It’s a huge growth area in the industry right now and Microsoft has brought the price point down to a level where customers can truly afford this.”
In early 2008 Microsoft will launch its new CRM Live solution, a solution in where customers will have direct access to information where and when they need it.
And, the vendor hopes, maybe meet the needs of both generations.
