There is a lot that goes on when a sale is made. Depending on the caliber of the salesperson, things are about to get either very messy for customer support or a nice smooth transition which leads to a happy customer. Typically customer support complains about sales and vice versa and it is a never ending battle of "They just don't understand what it's like on this side." And for the most part that is true on both ends.
No matter what you're selling, there is usually some sort of fulfillment that must happen after the sale is made. That is most of the time done by customer support after sales has collected the information needed to process the sale and get the account rolling.
So let's look at it from the organized salespersons approach first. The hand-off from the organized sales person is usually pretty easy. You hand over the required information that you were supposed to collect, fill in customer support on the expectations that you set for the client and your job is done (for the most part). If you do this correctly even 7 out of 10 times you will have customer support behind you as a salesperson. This means your issues will be handled properly, timely, and usually the support person will go above and beyond to satisfy that client. This is a marriage made in heaven and the client will most likely have a great experience with the company because what they were sold, they received.
And then there is the situation when an unorganized salesperson sells something. And even worse, when they rushed it. All hell breaks lose. If you're an outsider looking in, the situation is quite comedic. You'll hear things like "Jim just closed one....can't wait to see what kind of crap he told this guy that we can't fulfill" or my favorite "let's see how much of his job I have to do on this one." Usually the first couple of times it happens, there will be mild rumblings from the support team. Maybe they'll poke management and mention it to them. But for the most part, it's just dealt with. BUT then there is that truly magical moment when the support person completely loses it. It just happened for maybe the 3rd time in a week and they've had enough. And it begins. "Why would you sell it like this? We can't fulfill that in the time-frame you promised. We don't even have that feature! Forget it, YOU'RE talking to this guy!"
The battle has begun!
In my opinion, this is the biggest recipe for disaster that a company can have if they have any interest in client retention. Sales and Support battling will ruin office moral, cause mini battles within a company, and cause favoritism all over the place. It just leads to nowhere good.
I have found that even if a support person is having a bad day, or you know you screwed something up that you have to hand-off, the best thing to do is be nice. Don't rush anything. Don't assume anything. Simply talk to support and treat them like the client you just sold. If you help them initially, they will help you fulfill the length of the contract, help with getting referrals, and make your book of business the one everyone wants. There is a ton of things that can go wrong when a sale is passed along to support BUT if communication is there, and you simply have manners and don't treat them like dirt, you'll have an incredible experience. These guys have one of the toughest jobs around. They are basically the complaint department and they smile the whole time. I could never do it. Hats off to them.
Those that support a sales staff have a lot going on. Be the salesperson that sticks out, stays on their side and helps them help your clients. Otherwise, you will get the bare minimum treatment (which is totally acceptable in my opinion) and your clients won't get what you promised. Which most likely, was the world.
Go thank your sales support team tomorrow and see how they react. Oh and don't ask them "did you get to that email yet?" because I promise you this. They saw it, they are going to tackle it and they are thinking of a way better solution than you. Just go sell another one and they will have your back.
Dave Altimari
"You become what you think about all day"
Being in sales, you are dealing with hundreds of people a week in thousands of different situations. It's very difficult to sort through everything, so I am choosing to write it down and share it so that I can share my experiences, and give advice on what I consider one of the most stressful, yet rewarding positions you can have.
No comments:
Post a Comment