Sales vs Service……..what is the right balance when it comes to the focus of effort of your expensive Sales Team?
A good sales professional or account manager not only finds new win-win opportunities to sell additional products or services to meet the customer’s evolving needs, but also takes personal accountability as the “go to” point of reference for all issues and problems relating to ordering and delivery of the customer’s requirements. Right, huh? Well like many things……….it depends. It depends on the nature of your product or service, the buying cycle set by your customers, your organisation’s physical infrastructure (eg the presence of a dedicated customer service team), whether the Sales Exec is expected to hunt for brand new customers as well as account manage, the degree to which “service” can be handled remotely vs on customer site, the degree to which service can be dissociated from sales………..alright , enough already, I get the picture, I hear you say.
Like just about all aspects of a well tailored Sales System, there is no universal answer. Every sales organisation needs to develop its own unique solution. The main constant across any sales organisation is the need to get it right. Opportunity cost and the cost-of-sales are too high these days for any company to have its expensive Sales Exec resource spending time on the back foot reacting and responding if there are more cost effective ways to have the particular customer requirement handled.
Start by engaging the staff in the Sales and Customer Service functions in the debate. Get them to critically describe and define how the current accountabilities are split and how the various elements of sales and service are apportioned. Click here for a model to assist in the definitions. Get them to quantify their sales and service split on a spectrum. Click here for an example template. Then get them to repeat the exercise against the backdrop of what they believe the split would look like in a realistic “blue sky” better world. Then open up the floodgates to the “how and why” debate. What does the sales and service activity breadth look like when you analyse and debate, using a proactive-reactive-responsive differentiation? Click here for an example template. This will get the hearts and minds moving in the direction of finding a solution to a problem they (or you!!) may not have even thought exists. Click here for an example generic business rules model.
You may have read this post, and wondered how does the organisation set the right breadth of accountabilities for the Sales and Service roles? We’ll be discussing that question, and more, in our March post… stay tuned…
Visiting The Next Level’s website can help put this discussion in perspective – you can visit out Resource Centre, which is being regularly expanded, check out the Workshops and Bootcamps your company could benefit from, as well as finding out who our clients are, and what they have had to say about The Next Level.
Very interesting blog. Lots of BIG questions that make my brain hurt!! I have found that a great place to start this analysis is for the Sales Managers to ask themselves “what behaviors does the bonus system encourage?” and “What behaviors does our culture encourage?”
I look forward to the next post about accountabilities.
Cheers,
Michael
This blog really challenges the sales team paradigm. Successful Sales Managers of the future could benefit from evolving from achieving ‘a sale at any cost’ to building transactions through a more empathetic (service orientated) approach, by understanding their customers/clients real motivation and needs.
I agree with Michael Erwin, (poor) customer services often behaviour results from simplistic incentification. Satisfying customer needs is a more complex paradigm and results from a 360° effort – a well tailored Sales System describes and promotes this multi-dimensional relationship driven environment.
Interesting question.
Wouldn’t it be easier to ask:
“How much of an impact does performing customer service have on the sales team’s ability to increase sales?”
If by doing customer service role the sales force diminishes their chances on bringing in more sales while not mitigating an equally large risk of client defection or loss of existing sales then why would you diminish revenue?
This debate brings into play the very fundamental laws of sales/business management and that is a transparent appreciation for (A) the company’s goals by the sales team, and (b) the reciprocal state. The sales v service question is an integral part of the analysis that should be done before the final accountabilities are set for the period and therefore I agree with the author that in-depth 360 is vital.
I remember quite a few years ago when a customer was not paying his bills. As the “new” Account Manager our Finance department assigned me to have the conversation to find out why and get the accounts paid. I left numerous phone messages to try to talk to the customer. This was no easy feat. However, I persisted. Eventually I got to speak with the customer. To cut a long story short the customer was looking for ways to reduce his expenses. A new dialogue began on upgrade options so a sales cycle began that would not have if I had not taken accountability for this all aspects of this Customer.
The Customer also pointed out later that he admired my persistence and wished that his Sales people were as persistent. (He didn’t know that I was primarily acting as a debt collector not a Sales person). But we’ll keep that to ourselves.
What suggestions do you have for a small B2B consultancy which is attempting to address issues of sales and marketing and customer service without dedicated functions which address these areas?
Give up sleep! Just kidding. In the situation of a small B2B consultancy, the dichotomy between sales and service is often magnified because billable service delivery is often integrally tied up with selling and customer service. The answer really depends on the goals of the business. If the goal is to stay small, then the question becomes one of degree to which selling, servicing and billable service delivery can be all done simultaneously and interchangably. If the degree is high – thank your lucky stars……carry on being small……..and maximise profitability. If the answer is the highly probable low – then you will need to make a separation somewhere. Mostly likely between sales and billable service delivery + customer service. Stay small………and enjoy survival (and hopefully the lifestyle career choice you would seem to have made). If you want to grow your business, bite the bullet, figure out whether the current key resource is best at selling vs servicing + service delivery, specialise and focus that person to their strength, and hire someone for the other. Do it now and start growing.