ai-enablement, Sales

How Generational Shifts Are Reshaping the Selling Landscape

By Tony Smith — On December 3, 2025

Today's buyers aren't just diverse in industry or role, but also in generation. From Gen Z to Boomers, each generation differs in its preferences around outreach methods, technology, content, and more.

In an effort to uncover generational differences in the purchasing journey, a Seismic-commissioned survey of 1,000 respondents across the U.S. uncovered a clear divide: Younger buyers want modern, tech-enabled experiences, while older generations are more prone to traditional paths.

For revenue teams, delivering consistent, personalized encounters to meet each generation's needs is an uphill battle without the right tools. To win in an environment with shifting buyer demands, revenue teams must embrace generational nuance in outreach, content, and technology.

Let's dive in to the findings of our survey and what it means for today's revenue teams:

AI in the Sales Journey: Exciting for Gen Z, Overlooked by Boomers.

As brands look to embed AI into their customer experiences and revenue tech stacks, younger buyers are eager to engage with the technology.

Gen Z is the most likely to encounter AI chatbots (51%) and personalized product recommendations (42%), while over half of Boomers (56%) say they neither encountered — nor received — AI-powered recommendations at all. This reveals a clear generational gap: for Gen Z, AI-driven personalization is table stakes, while older generations still see technology as optional, or even unfamiliar.

Trust follows a similar pattern. Gen Z shows higher confidence in AI-generated recommendations (31%), but only 14% of Boomers are very likely to trust them, indicating AI is still optional and even mistrusted by this purchasing group. Younger audiences may be more forgiving with a bad AI suggestion, but for Boomers, a wrong recommendation is more than a minor annoyance; it's a dealbreaker between your brand and a competitor.

Brands cannot assume AI features have universal appeal. Building customer trust requires thoughtful implementation, transparency, and a focus on how technology enhances, not replaces, the human connection. Leveraging AI-powered enablement platforms provides sellers with the opportunity to lean into technology as a starting point, while still ensuring the human touch remains throughout the process.

Email Still Rules Outreach, But Flexibility Remains Key

Beyond AI, generational preferences around outreach from sellers also remain mixed. While email remains the dominant outreach method across all generations (39%), Gen Z is much more open to alternative channels, widening the field for additional selling mediums.

When it comes to social media outreach, 14% of Gen Z are open to social outreach, while Boomers are far less likely to engage with sellers on social media. Additionally, text messages (SMS) resonate with Gen X (21%) and Gen Z (19%), but less so with Boomers (12%). Social channels like LinkedIn offer new opportunities to connect, but without generational awareness, sellers risk alienating older buyers who prefer more traditional communication like email and phone calls.

As sellers seek to reach different generations of buyers, a mix of tried-and-true channels with emerging preferences will require adaptability and agility. AI-powered enablement makes this possible, equipping sellers to tailor content by channel and delivering faster, more personalized experiences.

Content Preferences Are Polarized

Selecting the right selling channel is only half the battle, as a one-size-fits-all approach to marketing content no longer works. Today's sellers must carefully match their content to generational preferences, ensuring tone and context hit the right mark.

Gen Z (78%) and Millennials (68%) find social video content helpful throughout the purchasing journey, while only 1 in 6 Boomers agree (16%). Older generations tend to gravitate towards traditional marketing materials, such as research reports, which 75% of Boomers prefer.

The growing content divide is in-line with generational trends around outreach as well. Given that younger buyers are both more open and trusting with social media, it's no surprise they find more value in social content. This divide only grows when it comes to influencers, with 18% of Gen Z trusting them compared to only 3% of Boomers.

AI-powered enablement allows sellers to create the right content for the right channel within minutes, making it easier to meet buyer preferences and close the deal.

Meeting Buyers Where They Are

Generational differences are shaping how modern sellers connect with buyers and provide them with the right content. Trust in technology only deepens these divides, making it crucial for sellers to tailor approaches across generations.

The sellers who succeed will be those who blend innovation with personalization, ensuring buyers of every age feel understood and supported. Tools like AI-powered enablement are essential to making this possible, helping sellers adapt to the modern sales landscape and elevate every buyer interaction.