A Silver Bullet for Field Sales!

Do this one thing and you'll unlock the field sales potential of your technicians.

A few weeks ago a client asked me "What is your silver bullet for field sales?". At the time my answer was that there isn't one.

Well.....that question "What is your silver bullet for field sales?" has been keeping me awake at night for weeks. If I can't answer that simple question then why would anyone bother to hire me and Mammoth Motion to help them incubate a culture of field sales? So I've been working on an answer. If there isn't a "One Thing" or a "Silver Bullet" or "One Ring to Rule the All".....or you get the point.... Then at least there is one critical step that if done well makes a massive impact on conversion rate. If it's skipped then everything else is blind luck.

The critical step is PREPARATION! In my experience team members that do preparation well are ALWAYS at the top of the leaderboard in converting single-play homes to double, triple or quad play homes. Team members that take time at the start of the day to review their job boards and do customer research on their days dispatches know how to convert repairs to installs. They are more prepared and therefore have more meaningful and specific conversations with customers. These more meaningful conversations add more value and then convert more frequently to add-on sales.

What does PREPARATION look like? Take 15 minutes at the start of the day to review your job board and ensure you refresh your memory prior to every visit once you pull up outside the premise. Even thinking about customers and what their needs are during your coffee break or eating during you lunch break (LOL, we all know that never really happens). It is critically important that you are well prepared in advance of meeting with the customer in order to ask specific questions that are RELEVANT to their situation. Be knowledgeable about the products and services that you support. What are the key features and benefits of these products and be prepared to communicate them to the customer. As you get ready to conduct your service visit, spend a few minutes to make sure you are going into the home with potential options already in mind.

Here are a few essential pieces of information that you need to know:

• What are the current details of the customer service (installation or repair) order? This is the baseline expectation of what you're there for today. What can you do to exceed customer expectations?
• Check the notes on the customer file. What have previous sales channels or field service representatives discussed with the customer. What objections did they have?
• What new opportunities are there to make upgrades or to offer adjacent products and services? (e.g. higher speed profile, additional channel packages)
• What promotional offers are available that the customer qualifies for?
• Are there any value added one time sales opportunities that enhance the customer experience? (e.g. smart home accessories, remotes, screen cleaner)

I still think there isn't a quick fix for teaching field service technicians to sell and it is a multi-year journey to change culture. The fundamentals can be put in place relatively quickly with experienced help but real sustainable change comes through commitment to changing values and beliefs on how organizations want to recognize successful customer engagements.

Successful, and more importantly sustainable, field sales is the result of a disciplined approach towards engaging with customers and being consistent in uncovering opportunities to add value based on customer needs and wants. It requires a commitment to changing culture, training, coaching and hiring team members that actually like people in addition to their technical competence.

Delivering enhanced value during customer visits is a game changer and positively impacts customer experience, revenue generation and profitability. It's worth it!

Written By Glen Westerhof

Glen Westerhof is founder and Managing Director of Mammoth Motion Corporation Operations Consulting and is an experienced Telecommunications and IT executive with 20+ years experience across telecommunications field service operations, IT operations, channel sales operations, retail operations and business transformation.? He leverages his broad expertise to assist with business transformation, building a customer first culture and enhancing shareholder value.?

Glen can be reached at www.mammothmotion.com