Are your customer service and sales departments viewed as separate silos? What would happen if you united them for a seamless flow with the ultimate goal to build loyal customers and thereby increase sales?
Many small businesses, not to mentioned much larger ones, view customer service and sales as separate departments. Customer service people take all the calls related to the products or services while sales people get the orders. This perspective creates silo thinking which leads to silo behaviors that will decrease sales instead of increase them.
For example, what would happen if you focused on the end result to build loyal customers from your customer service department and sales departments? What would this look like within your small business? What behaviors would everybody have to consistently demonstrate to build loyal customers and to increase sales? You may need to return to your strategic plan and look at your values statement.
Many businesses are short experienced sales people. This creates a significant gap with the business owners having to return to pounding the pavement so to speak. Yet, their customer service people, many who may be just administrative support personnel, are now becoming more involved within the sales process.
So if all businesses operated from the perspective that every interaction with every client, every perspective client, every vendor and every person who either calls in or stops must be focused on the goal to build customer loyalty, what would happen to their bottom line?
No longer will the statement That is not my job will be heard in your business. Employees will need to not only be respectful to external customers, but to other internal employees as well. Everyone is now focused on creating those loyal customers who not only provide repeat business, but make those critical business referrals necessary to grow your business.
Silo thinking creates far more problems than probably any other type of organizational issue. Your goal is to unite your sales people and customer service people so that you build loyal customers and ultimately increase sales.