Install a Sales Antennae

I heard a story recently that perfectly illustrates how Customer Service teams can help increase revenues.

An HVAC company sent a technician to a client for a reported problem. The technician was on the roof fixing a chiller and chatting to the building owner as he worked. ‘You know’, said the owner, ’you’ve fixed this machine so often lately I could have replaced it with the money I spent. Maybe I should get a price from your company on a new one.’

The technician agreed, but did not ask more questions. Nor did he give the sales department a ‘heads up’ when he got back to the office. No one followed up or called the customer. The customer took this silence as a lack of interest and called the competition. They got the replacement job, and sold the owner a maintenance contract on the new equipment. Not only did the original company lose a sale, they lost a customer.

Of course technicians are not sent to clients to sell, but having a basic ‘sales antennae’ is an invaluable client development tool? If they are armed with an ability to recognize a business opportunity when they see one and pass it on to the sales department, could they help keep customers and increase revenue? How many sales are we missing because our frontline people have the belief: ‘that’s not my job’?

Often, losing a customer is an invisible process. It’s not what we do, it’s what we don’t do.

When sending your technicians, installers, delivery staff and operators into the field, arm them with basic customer care skills that will help identify business opportunities. Once identified they should have a clear process to report the opportunity so that next steps can be taken in securing the sale.

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