Why I Gave Control of My clients to My Team?

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As a considerable amount of time and effort goes into creating and nurturing a relationship between a salesperson and a client in an organization, doesn’t it make perfect sense for clients to directly reach out to the person they’re most comfortable in the company to ask a question or show their concern?

It is very essential for any business to ensure that a client receives an exceptional customer experience at every step of the sales process. The promise to deliver a personalized, high-quality customer experience is the responsibility of every department in an organization. However, the salespeople being the representatives of any business, who get the most face time with customers, have a much bigger and crucial role to play.

However, there could be exceptions, especially in the software industry when a company fails to deliver the output on schedule. Many-a-times, the tech business owners, wanting to appear respectful and compliant, focus completely on their team and expect their exceptional management skills to magically bail them out. And that’s a mistake they are making. In such cases, it’s always advisable for the top management to step in and handle the matter to keep their credibility on and instil confidence in their client.

Customer experience is composed of all the numerous interactions that a client has with any business – from browsing the website to receiving a thank you note from their sales representatives after a deal is closed. No matter how great a company product is or how talented its staff is, customers are most likely to remember the direct interaction they have with the company. So, isn’t it the best strategy to build a customer-centric ethos into the company culture at every level? And that’s the reason to implement this culture!

Technology Empowers Employees to Interact Confidently with Clients: The advent of data hosting on the cloud, and the ever-present mobile broadband connections have given the salespeople the power to answer client questions effectively – irrespective of where they are in the world! With today’s salesforce being smart, educated, communicative and accountable; giving them control over clients has relieved the top management allowing them further time to focus on business growth.

Making use of technology that is easy to implement and use, has allowed the integration of data emanating from sales, accounting, and customer service department. This has enabled the salespeople even better equipped to present clear and concise answers to clients without delays.

Salespeople are Best Placed to Detect the Fruitfulness of Customer Experience: With mounting pressure on sales managers to increase revenue, it can get counterproductive for many sales professionals to let go a deal on the table. However, there are times when landing a deal can only lead to a lacklustre customer experience for the client and a frustrating ordeal for the employees in a company.

A contract may not align between the company and the customer, mainly due to reasons related to the product or its cost. A salesperson can only forego a deal if taught how to detect an unfruitful experience right from the start. Thus, if the sales representative knows how to discourage a sale that is unlikely to benefit a customer, they can potentially extinguish what could result in a poor customer experience organizations think that customer demographics and qualitative data should be the sole domain of the marketing department. However, savvy sales reps can also use this information to fill gaps in the customer experience pipeline.

Data points, such as a detailed map of the customer’s buying journey and records on what they buy, how they buy, and when they buy can be critical for the sales rep to create a strategy when selling to a particular client.

Clients Get a More Personalized Buying Experience: By giving sales employees an access to data that gives insights into a client’s buying journey and records, the sales personnel can strategize when selling to a particular client. It can allow the sales representative to create a more personalized buying experience for the customer, making them feel that their needs are being addressed even before they vocalize them!

This gives the salesperson a unique opportunity to wow the client and makes a memorable impression. On laying this foundation, it forms part of the core cumulative client experience with the business. As seen, giving direct client data access to the sales team, converts into a win-win situation for all – the business, the employee and the client!

Enables Company to be portrayed as Customer-centric: Every action or communication from a business is with the sole intention to make a customer’s life easier. Therefore it becomes imperative for a company to implement customer-centric policies. The honesty of a sales representative with customers at all times, even at the cost of losing a potential sale, only demonstrates care for client interests and well-being. By giving direct access of clients to the sales team, it is likely to convert into a long-term and mutually beneficial relationship. Practicing active listening, a customer instinctively understands that a product is not being thrust on them by hook-or-crook to close a deal.

The personal touch and active-listening create trust and understanding of a helping hand. This trust forms the foundation of the collection of experiences with the company. A lot of effort goes into winning a new business deal that involves the initial prospecting, early conversations, budget consideration, and creation of deliverable timelines. The team that is the first face in meeting the client’s expectations and clinching the business deal plays an important role going ahead. It is this team that is responsible for developing longstanding relationships withstanding good times as well as rough times.

As seen above, it should be noted, that a business should consider customer experience satisfaction above higher sales revenues to grow forward. Incentives have the power to shape what salespeople value – this, in turn, affects how they interact with the client during their interactions. Revenue will be seen as number one priority if incentives are tied only to revenue goals. If the employees are rewarded for delivering outstanding customer experience, they will always prioritize it in all their future engagement with customers.

The customer service team in a company is often its face! Customer experiences are defined by the skill and quality of the support they receive. Good customer service delves around carefully listening and attending to customers’ needs and desires. If customer services are not prioritized or improved constantly, chances of a business taking a hit increases manifold. For a successful venture, it’s imperative for a company to train and discipline its employees and inculcate a customer-centric approach, finally giving control of clients to the team.

Neel Sinha
Neel Sinha is the creator of MyLnk. The innovative link shortener and URL management solution. The platform helps to shorten a link right away with great analytics. He is also the Founder & Principal Consultant at NFaktor and creator of the popular Comic Strip "Norman Liker." He has invented MyLoc, a new way to own your digital location pin. An IIM alumni, and an engineer with around 25 years of a successful professional career. He has excellent exposure to diverse markets, products, and solutions. Neel has traveled across the globe in sales and leadership roles.

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