My ex-CEO once shared with me that the key to survival in any company can best be summed up in just 2 key components, ie 1) Innovation and 2) Sales. Without any of these components, the existence of the company is doomed to failure. With this in mind, I wonder why many organizations today still don’t consider their customer service staff as their potential sales force to market their products and services? For me, customer service is more than just providing support and playing the role of a sales advisor. Many still view customer service as merely an after-sales service function, a cost center, and nothing more. They are rarely rewarded for indirectly engaging a prospect or closing a sale.

In all the companies I have worked for before, most of them have a standing instruction that they only need to forward any referrals to designated sales reps. In your daily interaction with customers, you’ll probably be able to tell your customers something they don’t already know, about a problem they may not even know they have, and in the process make them interested in learning more about your company’s products and services. . Target, the service staff does. By the very nature of their work, customers are likely to view them as more experts than their sales reps. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to include them as part of your sales force. Each and every one of your service staff has the opportunity to be an expert, because they have been a part of solving these same problems for someone else at other companies that are similar to your prospect.

Consider the following points when considering your service people as your future revenue-generating sales force:-

Leverage at your fingertips

They represent the many stairs to reach customers in a more sincere and lasting way. By doing so, your organization will also have the opportunity to attract new ones. Use them, but use them wisely and not just for sales. If you convert your job description from one that focuses on providing customer service to one that is mixed with sales, you may have trouble maintaining a good level of service, as your staff may be too preoccupied with chasing sales in instead of genuinely helping customers.

Include customer service people in your sales program

Customer service personnel are also often ignored for any suitable product, sales training, or sales incentives, which is a shame because most of these customer service personnel probably know more about the Company’s products and services. than any full-time sales staff. After all, customer service is on the front lines and has more interaction with customers and knows their needs better than anyone. Create a separate sales schedule that fits into your customer service staff’s schedule so it doesn’t affect their primary job function. Having the program tailored will go a long way in not only improving the sales knowledge and skills of your Customer Service staff, but also encouraging them to contribute meaningfully to the Company’s upper lines.

Link rewards to both sales and customer satisfaction

Don’t take advantage of your customer service people to refer potential prospects to you, but rather put in place a proper sales incentive scheme that just provides the right reward without compromising your key focus which is providing excellent after-sales service to customers. It’s not about being an expert on your products or services, in other words, being an expert on your story. It’s about being an expert on the threats, risks, challenges, issues, leaks or needs that affect your prospect’s KPIs – it’s about their story.

Bottom line, your customer service people are experienced in a resourceful way that guides your prospects through the process of seeing the changes in their world. Identify your role in solving the problem. Showing them the way to successfully manage the sales process. And, companies that have equipped their customer service staff with the right sales techniques and knowledge have nothing to lose by knowing full well, as they can facilitate, advise and train their prospects and clients in a more effective way. than anyone else.