Good morning!
I had an opportunity recently to interview a Customer Service Representative. I was trying to get to know her company’s sales team and wanted her opinion and input. What she told me applies to more than just those reps.
The question was, “What do you think the salespeople need to change in order to be better at their job?”
Her answers:
- They need to do a better job listening to the client. This goes for everything from hearing the details and getting them right to reading between the lines and picking up the nuances which might give them some insight into future opportunities.
- They need to do a better job of solving customer problems. Precious few on her sales staff do more than just take orders and are therefore missing opportunities to sell higher profitability levels.
- They don’t understand their own products and services and worse, do nothing to correct that shortcoming.
- Basic grammatical issues in communication.
My next question to her was, “Okay, so when they get it right, what are they doing?”
Her answers:
- They are polite.
- They only ask when they need something.
- They tell us the story behind the order, which helps us look beyond the specs of the job.
- They are responsive to our requests.
Gang, your customer service rep can do a lot for you or a lot to you. They can save you or punish you. You could ask them what you might do to be better, but I doubt you will. So, learn from this list of pluses and minuses and help them help you.
Oh, and a written note of thanks from time to time goes a long way. That one was from me.
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