The Art of Selling to the Affluent: How to Attract, Service, and Retain Wealthy Customers and Clients for Life, 2nd Edition

Chapter 8

The Emerging Affluent

Twenty percent of American households with at least $100,000 in annual income are Millennials (aged 18 to 30) and 33 percent belong to Generation X (aged 31 to 47).

—Factoid, Ipsos MediaCT’s 2012 Mendelsohn Affluent Survey

During a family weekend at the beach, I went shopping for dinner with my sons-in-law. When we reached the beer aisle, we were pleasantly overwhelmed with choices. Knowing which craft beer to choose has become as much an art as selecting a good wine. As someone who enjoys both beverages, but who’s never invested enough time to become an expert, I rely on the recommendations of others. Good old word-of-mouth influence.

Before I could put on my glasses to read the labels, one of my sons-in-law put his iPhone to good use. Logging onto the Beer Advocate app, he began ticking off the names of highly ranked beers. Within five minutes, we made our selections—all of them new to me.

I was impressed. Neither son-in-law can be classified as affluent—yet. Both are professional, well-educated, high-income earners with serious potential. They are diligent in researching their purchases, and they do spend money. In this instance, neither gave a second thought to paying a higher price for what they considered top-quality products.

THE GENERATIONAL DIVIDE

In most sales training, prospects are treated as a homogenous group. This is a mistake. Our research is clear about the gender differences among the affluent. Now it’s time to examine generational ...