Customer Service Goes Hand-In-Hand With Sales
by Ron Zemke
(Copyright © "The Business Journal", April 16, 2002.
All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.)

A weekend hunt for a new pair of running shoes reminded me of the importance of product knowledge in the delivery of quality service.

A morning spent in three shopping mall sport-shoe stores left me completely befuddled; unable to tell the difference between 20 models of the Adidas line, the 500 or so Nikes and the dozen or so New Balance offerings.

Unwilling to let me toss in the towel, or hear me complain about my old blown-out Reeboks any longer, She-Who-Will-Not-Be-Denied made a suggestion: "There is a small shoe shop in the strip mall near my office. They always seem to know what they are talking about and they have running shoes. Try them before you give up."

I was skeptical: Small store, limited selection, salespeople without referee shirts -- they weren't even wearing sports shoes -- it didn't seem promising.

Misgivings aside, Dave the sales guy hooked me immediately: "Can't blame you for being frustrated. Except for price, it's sometimes hard to tell most sports shoes apart."

He proceeded to pry product preferences out of me -- wide toe box, lateral stability, something that wouldn't exacerbate my plantar fasciitis, and shoes that would last me through the summer. He pulled out two pairs of shoes he thought were in the range and a couple of brochures. In the ensuing three-and-a-half minutes, we had a seminar on everything an overweight, over-the-hill male sports wannabe needed to know to buy a pair of running shoes that wouldn't break his arches or budget.

Along the way, I picked up a smattering of new information on plantar fasciitis, courtesy of a Mayo Clinic newsletter Dave had under the counter, a copy of which went into the bag with my New Balance 800 series cross-trainers. And the 15-percent-off Bostonian loafers that fit my orthotics like they were made for them. I went away a happy camper -- make that jogger -- and a convert to Dave's store.

The lack of "Daves" on today's retail floor -- people with an easy, intimate product knowledge -- may be at the root of a survey finding I saw in The Washington Post last December. The researchers, who intercepted shoppers in the act, came to the conclusion that half were more than willing to give catalogue companies and online providers their trade in the future.

Why? Because they were growing tired of dealing with salespeople who knew less about the DVD player and microwave than they knew before they walked into the store.

Leonard Berry, J.C. Penney professor of marketing at Texas A&M University, one of the country's preeminent customer-relations researchers, has long held that great, bring-'em-back-again service begins with good selling. Sales and service are not separate functions. They are two sides of the same coin.

And even though you may have separated selling and servicing customers for operational reasons, there are at least four situations in which those service specialists should be thinking "sell."

The first situation is when the product or service the customer is using is wrong, but there is a model or system you offer that will fit the bill.

A second is when the product or service the customer acquired from you is right, but some part, piece or program is needed before the product or service will perform properly: "Your laptop's operating system is version 4.9. Our software is designed for the new 5.0 operating system. We have an upgrade that should work."

A third situation where selling from the service bay makes sense is when an add-on feature will forestall other problems. "I see you decided against extended warranty protection. Since you've had two problems during the warranty period, I wonder if you shouldn't reconsider that decision?"

And, finally, selling from the service posture works when changing the customer to something different will be seen as value-added or TLC: "This checking account requires a very high minimum balance. That's what caused the service charge. I'd like to recommend a plan that will fit your needs better and save you incurring future charges."

It is important to remind your service people that even if it says customer service on the name tag and nothing in the job description hints at a sales responsibility, serving customers well is always a two-hat job. Good selling equals good service and good service sometimes means selling as well.