1. Use seniors-friendly office decorations. Older adults prefer doing business with people who are similar to them. You can do it by displaying pictures of your children, grandchildren, parents or grandparents. Consider decorating your office with paintings or pictures using pastoral scenes or patriotic artwork. Using nostalgic artifacts from 40 years ago serve as great conversation-starters. A trip to a flea market sale will give you lots of ideas of which ones to include.
2. Control distracting background noises. Many Boomers and older adults are experiencing hearing decline. Background noise may interfere with the prospect’s ability to comprehend, and interfere with your sales message. Look for signs of hearing issues and respond by slowing down the pace of your remarks. Always look them in the face when you’re speaking.
3. Comfortable seating is important. For seniors, chairs with armrests are preferable. Low-slung sofas are less comfortable and difficult to get in and out of. Consider adding a chair pillow or cushion for them to use as a back support.
4. Check out your room lighting. With age, vision decline causes problems, such as glare from windows or bright overhead lights. Low wattage lamps that don’t provide enough room light can be a problem. Increase your floor lighting to aid depth perception problems, another issue with older adults. If you are using a computer for presentation, position it to avoid reflected lights. Have several sets of reading glasses handy, in case they forgot theirs.
5. Control the room temperature. As a younger person, you may not feel it but aging causes increased sensitivity to hot and cold and as a result can cause attention problems. With age, many seniors tend to be hotter when it’s hot and colder when it’s cold. Check out overhead air vents and reposition chairs to avoid drafts, if need be.