It is important that everyone in the organization understands what you want your technicians to do. As a service, technicians will use their knowledge and expertise, their understanding of the customer’s goals and objectives and their proximity to the customer and their business for the purpose of exploring for ways to help that customer make improvements. Once an opportunity is identified, the technician will make the recommendation to the customer and show them how they will benefit. This will only occur when the technician truly believes that their recommended action is in the best interests of the customer. When technicians act in this way, they provide a service that allows the customer to say, “I am better off for having known you.” There is no higher level of service that we can provide.
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The Limiting Reality of Getting Technicians to “Sell” – 4 Reasons Why
In my opinion, a technician who feels – based on their knowledge and experience – that the customer would benefit from a particular product or service in some way, and brings this to the attention of the customer is providing a service and is not selling. It is part of their job – as important as their ability to fix or maintain the equipment itself. In fact, I suggest that they have an obligation to the customer to discuss any action that would be of benefit to their operations.
Want your Technicians More Proactive in Promoting your Services? Your Perspective May be Getting in the Way
But this view may just be what is limiting performance and results. When we think of service as a distinct activity and look to “move our technicians towards the right” on our chart, we tend to see selling as an activity that is an “add on” to what our technicians are doing now (service) and not part of the service itself. This can result in a “while you’re there” perspective as in, “While you’re there, keep your eyes open for other things that we can sell to the customer.” It is this viewpoint that can limit the potential of our initiative and may even erode the relationship with the customer.
Technician Sales Training – Inverse Relationship Between Trust and Technique
Training for technicians that is singularly focused on sales technique also fails to adequately take into account that success will also be dependent upon whether the technician sees this business development role as part of their responsibility. If technicians don’t recognize that the conversations with customers about how their services can help them is an integral part of the service they provide – as important as their ability to repair and maintain equipment – then they will be less likely to engage in this behaviour. In addition, if they focus on technique at the expense of building trust, they might be perceived as merely selling and lose the trust advantage they had in the first place.
4 Questions to Ask When Evaluating Technician “Sales” Training Programs
There is a considerable amount of debate over the role of technicians in promoting services. Below are my key beliefs about the role that service technicians play in your organization and 4 questions to ask when evaluating training programs that can help you ensure you get a higher ROI.
Posted in Business, Education, Management, Service Tech Training
