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Published on: 10/15/2004
Last Visited: 3/8/2007
George Smith, vice president of sales for Tully-Wihr, is an advocate for transitioning CSRs to outside sales."It's much better to have someone from the inside who is familiar with the way you do business move into a sales position," he says.
There are several benefits to training sales service specialists for outside sales.First, says Smith, they already understand the industry and are knowledgeable about the products.Second, they know your company's workflow."They know what it takes to expedite an order through the system," says Smith.Finally, seasoned CSRs buy into the distributorship's philosophies."We're very conscious of our reputation," says Smith."Our CSRs understand what we want, who we are and how we do things."
Tully-Wihr has eight customer service reps.Smith admits not all are suited for outside sales, nor would they all be interested in the job."It's important that the decision to move someone to sales is a good mix for management and the employee," he says.Some of the traits Smith looks for in a CSR-turned-salesperson are a personable nature, strong listening skills and the ability to ask solid questions that lead to solutions.But even some sales service specialists who exhibit these characteristics aren't cut out for sales.
One of the biggest hurdles, says Smith, is overcoming a myth about sales."CSRs see sales spending a couple hours in the office at most, then going out the door," he says.They hear about lunches and golf games with clients.But they don't see salespeople working side-by-side with customers for hours or catching up on paperwork at home on the weekends."Sales is not an eight-hour-a-day job," says Smith."Sales is doing whatever it takes to get the job done."He adds that customer service reps who prefer an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday should stay inside the office."As a CSR, you can work those hours," says Smith."As a sales rep, you can't."
Smith says training CSRs for outside sales is straightforward.They hit the road with Smith or another of Tully-Wihr's five principals, who introduce the new salespeople to clients.The principals work with the salespeople and help them develop for one to three months, then send them on their own.The distributorship also has another option for CSRs who want sales experience: telemarketing.
Four years ago, a sales service specialist approached Smith about an outside sales position."We really wanted to give her an opportunity, but we didn't have a position on the outside," says Smith.Instead, Tully-Wihr assigned the employee telemarketing duties."We had all these small accounts sitting around on the books that we couldn't actively support," says Smith.The employee calls the 300-plus customers and tries to upgrade orders.For instance, she convinces customers that order checks to also order envelopes.
The telemarketer works on salary plus commission: She receives a salary for maintaining the business, plus commission on any new business she generates from those accounts.Smith says she's almost doubled the revenues on those accounts, handling more than $100,000 in sales.
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