Should Tech Support Sell?

Yes, there are risks. But that means you've got to do it right and you've got to be consistent with your own people.

by Brock Henderson Principal, Henderson & Associates [February 9, 2007]

At the Fall ISPCon in 2006, Mike Cassidy said that every ISP should provide incentives to IT staff to sell service. Recently I was asked if I agree with this philosophy; and my answer is an unequivocal, "Yes!"

While I realize that some in Tech Support may feel that "sales" is beneath them, or that they don't like to sell, they are in the best position to sell. There are three simple reasons to make Tech Support an integral part of your sales efforts.

First, it is easier to sell to an existing customer than to sell to a non-customer. Since an existing customer already has an established relationship with you and trusts you, they are more open to suggestions that they purchase more services. Notice I said "suggestions"; tech shouldn't do any arm-twisting, just mention what you can offer.

For example, during the course of the conversation it may have come out that the customer has children, then the technician could say, "are you aware we now offer parental controls to help keep your child safe on the internet".

Or if it's a business, they could mention improved webhosting capabilities, or improved T-1 pricing, or whatever else you might be offering business customers.

Second, if the customer is talking to tech support, that means tech support has just answered a question or resolved a problem for the customer, putting the customer in a much more pleasant mood. What an ideal time to suggest additional services.

And if the customer isn't happy with Tech Support . . . why not? (But that's another article.) The point is that the customer is relieved that their problem or question has been successfully resolved, and that is the best time to approach the customer with add-on sales ideas.

Third, who better? Tech Support is your "face" with the customer. They are the ones your customer has the most dealings with. They are the ones most logically to interface with your customers. It makes perfect sense at the end of a tech support call to suggest additional services offered by the ISP. What else would you have them do, put the customer on hold and transfer them to sales? NO. Tech Support is where add-on sales should be happening.

Some thoughts about implementation
For each sale, the Tech Support person should be provided a monetary bonus; I suggest that the bonus be based on profitability to the company, not on the retail price paid by the customer. Give the Techs a higher bonus on services that yield you more profit. Upgrading from one speed of DSL to another may generate more revenue, but not a lot of profit. However, getting the customer to add parental controls may generate more pure profit even if the revenue isn't as high. So focus the bonus on profit generating add-ons.

Do not put a cap on the bonuses. A cap will just cause the individual to stop selling once they have reached the cap; let the sky be the limit. When someone sets a new record high in bonuses make a big deal about it, publicly praise the individual. Keep your people motivated through money and praise.

See to it that the bonuses are automatically included into their pay; they shouldn't have to fill out any forms to get their money. Make it easy for them to collect.

Once you have started this program—don't stop! It may take a little while for some in Tech Support to warm up to it, but given time, the program will work to everyone's benefit.

—End