Whether a patient or an employee, someone’s age is a big factor in determining how they want to be treated. There are 5 generations of Americans living today, and you’re likely dealing with all of them in your practice. According to statistics for the United States released earlier this year by the Pew Research Center, the generational breakdown includes:
| Generation | Age | % of US Population |
| Gen Z | 14-29 | 24.7% |
| Gen Y/Millenial | 30-45 | 22.5% |
| Gen X | 46-61 | 17.5% |
| Boomer | 62-80 | 11.8% |
Last month, we examined how to meet the eyewear needs of children and teenagers. Here, Eyecare Business connects with Shep Hyken—trainer, speaker, author, and host of the “Amazing Business Radio” podcast—to examine what makes each group tick and how that should help determine the approach you take when interacting with patients in the optical.
Training Tips
Each generation has its own preferred style of communicating on the job as well as a favorite training format.
Here, Danfe, a subscription-based onboarding platform, shares those preferences:
- Boomers like face-to-face, email, and formal meetings in instructor-led training.
- Millennials are collaborative and want feedback. They like digital and video-based learning.
- Gen Xers seek out self-paced e-learning modules.
- Gen Z likes autonomy and digital training formats that include mobile microlearning and content powered by artificial intelligence.
Customer Experiences
“Our research finds that [experiences] are more important to older generations compared to younger ones,” Hyken told EB. “While this conclusion is counter to the typical narrative that younger generations have higher standards, it doesn’t mean that service isn’t important to younger people; we simply need to keep each generation's priorities in mind.”
According to Hyken, here are 3 of the top customer service areas and their importance to various age groups:
-
Convenience: “While 94% of Baby Boomers and Generation Xers say convenience is important, just 88% of Millennials and 87% of Generation Z consumers agree.”
-
Helpful staff: “At 94%, Gen X consumers find staff demeanor more important than other age groups, followed by 92% of Baby Boomers, and 87% of both Gen Z and Millennial shoppers.”
-
Product knowledge: “It’s Gen X (at 95%), followed closely by Baby Boomers (at 94%), who prioritize savvy staffers the most. Interestingly, Gen Z (at 88%) now finds staff know-how more important than their younger Millennial cohorts (86%).”
What’s Next?
What about the future? One big difference that will definitely impact optical is the ever-increasing amount of time people spend in front of screens. A new report from Eyesafe, a blue light management company, projects that individuals who were born in 2025 will spend approximately 21 years—over 181,000 hours—viewing screens. That represents more than 25% of their lifetime and, even more astounding, over 40% of their awake time.
This means practices will need to put even more emphasis on the increasingly divergent needs of different generations.