Customer service and sales are both
important functions for an organization. What happens when we put them
together? A study by Jasmand, et. al. (2012) delves into the nature of creating
ambidextrous
sales-service functions. Their findings determine a net positive result of
helping customers with their problems and offering those products/services that
better suit their needs. It creates some confusion among employees but seems to
improve customer satisfaction and overall sales volume.
There
is a natural mental barrier between customer service representatives and sales.
Customer service representatives do not view their job as including sales and
therefore are less focused on this activity. A lack of perspective limits the
abilities of firms to create higher sales through a level of mental merging of
the two functions. Training, time and commitment will be needed to bridge the
gap and improve upon the integration of both constructs.
Ambidextrous
goals and behavior in service and sales can be difficult for representatives.
It creates confusion on what actions should be taken and toward which goal. It
is a complex skill that low cost providers will have a hard time teaching as
the representative will need to know when a better product or service will
provide higher levels of customer satisfaction. Most organizations have trained
employees to focus on a single activity based on the definition of their job
function.
Let
us see how this works in a real life scenario. A customer calls in to complain
about a product. The customer service representative can log their complaint
and check the warrantee to make a return. However, if the customer service
representative listens closely and asks important questions they may be able to
suggest an alternative product that fits the customer’s needs better (customer
satisfaction). The sales portion may come into play if the returned product can
be used as credit for a higher level product that actually satisfies the
customer (improved sales).
The
study found that ambidextrous sales-service activity increases customer
satisfaction and sales but reduces efficiency. The total net effect is positive
on organizations whereby sales and customer satisfaction improves the company
beyond the loss in efficiency. The authors acknowledge that if proper training occurred,
organizational resources were adjusted, and the measurements of activities
improved, efficiency may rise. For example, if fewer resources are needed from
the sales department because the organization is fulfilling some of that
function in customer service and developing higher customer retention rates
then the sales-service activity improves net efficiency between the varying
functions.
Jasmand, C. et. al. (2012).
Generating sales while providing service: a study of customer service
representatives’ ambidextrous behavior. Journal
of Marketing, 76 (1).
