In recent years, companies have been making efforts to form marketing, sales, and customer service plans that target the most coveted and fastest-growing demographic today-millennials. These 18-to-34-year-olds started acquiring buying power and market share to the point where a 2013 Accenture report found that purchases made by millennials will comprise 30% of all retail sales by just 2020.

A recent study conducted by SoftwareAdvice found several trends present among millenials on the topic of customer support. Since many of our partners and customers are running a business that involves a help desk and/or customer support employees, we thought it wouldbe a good idea to share some of the trends we found from this report.

1. Millennials Prefer Slower-Paced Support

Most people would assume younger people are more likely to prefer fast-paced support and "get it over with." However, what was interesting to us was that most millennials still preferred a slower pace when asked about this subject in the study.

51% of those 18-24 preferred slower paced support and troubleshooting compared to 28% who preferred faster support. It's important for companies to train their support employees to remember that they are better suited providing support in a slow and steady manner, no matter the demographic.

2. Keep it Casual for Millennials

Millennials are known to be pretty laid back. The study aligned with this notion when folks were asked if they preferred support agents who were 'formal and professional' vs one who is 'more casual and friendly.' The study shows callers towards the older end of the spectrum preferred formal, but a lot of the younger people preferred casual.

The study went on to find that almost all age demographics, except for those 65+, preferred casual support. One idea your business can take away from this trend is creating two versions of the same support script, which have varying degrees of formality and can be used for different demographics accordingly.

3. Millennials Are Least Likely to Prefer U.S. Based Agents

This was one of the most interesting findings from the study. Apparently millennials don't have as strong a preference for U.S. based agents. However, the rest of the demographic groups certainly did. No one likes to speak to someone with a heavy hard to understand accent. So, if you have the ability to segment certain customers or route them to certain reps, it might be worthwhile to have some internationally based reps, just make sure their English is up to standard.

You and your business definitely need to consider these preferences when creating training programs and phone scripts. Being relatable and like-able to callers is just as important as the technical/customer support you provide.