Developing Working Relationships with Millennials

Remember those millennials we’ve been speaking about? In a recent blog post on developing your future leaders, I spoke of the importance of understanding how to relate and develop younger executives on your team.

Lets look externally now. Whether you are in corporate sales, private equity or retail sales, meeting and creating professional relationships with this crowd is mission critical to grow your business and deepen your reputation.

In short, you are going to have to offer your product and services to this new generation so, you had best respect that they are here to stay. But that can be good news for you!

First of all, these young execs are our future. Secondly, once you create a meaningful relationship with a millennial there is a great amount of loyalty and follower-ship you can drive. Its essential to realize we have something to contribute to this generation and our business experience is a gift when presented in a relational/caring fashion. It’s fulfilling to have a millennial understand aspects of business they have not yet experienced. Find that kind of future executive and you’ll know you’re time spent will pay off for your department and company.

The Payoff

They will return the gift in the form of the partnership made with you. Millennials, being loyal, will grow the relationship by their continued alignment with you. From this you discover their frame of reference. This is key to understanding how to imbue your relationship and, in turn, offer more products/services as solutions for them.

It’s also important to have staying power when explaining a recommendation you know will assist them. Remember the adage: when you are speaking to them you are NOT speaking to yourself Therefore, understand what’s important to them and tailor your ideas to this aperture. Give the gift of your experience…you’ll stay young!