When it comes to persuading someone to buy your products or services, have you used the "good, better, best" sales model in your marketing? This is where you offer three different scenarios each with an escalating list of perks and add ons, which corresponds to an increasingly larger price tag as the offerings get better or larger. This may be a method of the past in the near future.

One of the items we use to evaluate a target market is called a VAC analysis. VAC is an acronym for Values, Attitudes, and Choices: three components that describe how a certain age demographic makes purchases. For instance, my parents grew up during the Great Depression. People who came of age during this era, given a choice of a good, better or best pricing strategy would choose good or better. They would make do with something that was utilitarian and got the job done rather than fork out the extra cash for a top-of-the-line item with lots of bells and whistles. This does not describe all of the Silent Generation, but it typifies a strong majority. They were tight with a dollar and learned to get by rather than splurge on themselves. Compare them to my age group: the Baby Boomers who liked the bells and whistles. We all wanted to purchase the best. In fact we demanded the best. We expected to pay top dollar for the best. In other words, quality cost something and we were willing to pay it. The Silent Generation were labeled stingy and the Boomers were labeled over-spenders. Whatever the label, you could work the good, better, best scenario in each of their situations and you knew what to expect.

Skip a generation ahead and you now have the Millennials who have come of age and have grown up with nothing but the best. Their expectations are akin to royalty. In fact, suggesting that they lower their standard of living just a little below the best is quite insulting to them. However, they have a different opinion about paying for the best. In fact, they expect the best at a bargain basement price… or better yet, they want it for free. Their attitudes about a good, better, best sales model does not equate to a reasonable price, more expensive price, most expensive price in terms of paying for what they want. Not to disparage them too much – they were given only the best for which most of them did nothing to earn, so waiting patiently until you have enough money saved up for what you want sounds about as foreign to them as planting petunias on the moon!

So what do you do if you are in charge of marketing to a group of people who expect to get the X-large on an X-small budget? First, take a look at what they value. We define values as beliefs that are ingrained in someone to the point that they will not change over their lifetime. (As opposed to attitudes, which change as popular sentiment about them shifts.) Values can be strongly held convictions about social issues. It can also be beliefs about certain consumer goods and the technology behind them. So what do Millennials value? For one thing, cutting edge technology around communications. Think about the number of smart phones and mobile devices that are used by this group. They would be lost without it. If you want to get them to buy anything from you, you have to engage with them in this manner. Next, you have to get them to engage with you at a very low price or for free to have a shot at a sale on down the line. For instance, creating an app for what you are selling is a very good way to connect with this group. This is especially true if you have something that has caught their attention. For instance, the phone app Gasbuddy is a way for people to find the lowest gasoline prices with a click. It is easy to become a Gasbuddy member and very simple to use and it is free. What does a convenience store that has gasoline pumps need to do to entice this group to come and make a purchase? Get listed on Gasbuddy and lower your prices. But what happens if I am not making enough margin on gasoline sales? The smart marketer gives the gasoline purchaser an incentive to go into the store and purchase any number of food product choices, where the markup is much greater. This might take the shape of a swipe card that keeps track of points every time you make a purchase. This marketing model works great with Millennials. Watch them the next time you purchase gas.