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Are you still keeping your sales team and customer service team separate? Are you facing difficulties in boosting your revenues? Perhaps it's time to rethink the foundation of how your business manages the relationship between customer service and sales. In this blog, we will explore the connections between customer service and sales and how your business can leverage them to boost sales with the help of customer service.
Customer service data plays a crucial role in implementing sales strategies. As the customer service team interacts directly with customers, they gather valuable insights such as the most common complaints post-purchase and the features customers care about the most.
Sharing this information with the sales team can help them better understand the customers' needs and create targeted sales strategies to address their pain points. This can be particularly effective in attracting new customers while retaining existing ones.
According to a study by McKinsey, companies that make extensive use of customer analytics are more likely to generate above-average profits than companies that don't. In fact, companies that use customer analytics extensively are 23 times more likely to outperform their competitors in terms of customer acquisition, and 9 times more likely to outperform them in terms of customer retention.
To achieve the perfect complementarity between customer service and sales in boosting customer satisfaction, customer service teams should document their interactions with customers to keep track of different conversations and emails throughout the day. This documentation should be transparent across the team in case they need to collaborate with other specialists to solve customer issues.
This proper documentation of ongoing relationships with customers can be a tedious task that requires technologies ready to help. For example, this type of feature is inbuilt into chatbots at Algomo. Data from every conversation with customers are recorded and analysed to give the best insights.
Up-selling is the act of offering customers an enhanced or higher-priced version of a product or service that they are already considering. On the other hand, cross-selling refers to suggesting complementary or related products to customers who are already making a purchase.
A survey of more than 500 sales professionals conducted by HubSpot Blog in 2022 revealed that 72% of salespeople who upsell and 74% who cross-sell say that it drives up to 30% of their revenue. This highlights the importance of these sales strategies in increasing revenue.
With their rich information and direct contact with customers, customer service staff are in an ideal position to up-sell and/or cross-sell to increase business revenue and customer satisfaction.
One example of this is during onboarding. If a new customer purchases a basic version of your product but really needs a premium subscription, then this is an up-selling opportunity that can help the business capitalize on a potential sale while still maintaining a customer-first approach.
To successfully engage in up-selling and cross-selling, customer service staff should be fast and flexible in assessing new prospects to provide upmarket items to customers. This is so that they can connect customers with the right recommendations that are perceived as the most helpful and relevant. This is to ensure that staff do not come across as too pushy, which can compromise the customer experience.
This means that customer service representatives should have a comprehensive understanding of customers and how they match the products or services the business offers. HubSpot research suggests that 49% of sales professionals say that understanding customers' needs and goals is a key strategy. This involves regular training and updates on new products and services.
Businesses can incentivize customer service teams to engage in up-selling and cross-selling by offering bonuses or other rewards for successfully making additional sales. By adopting a customer-centric approach, businesses can increase revenue and build long-lasting relationships with their customers.
Once your customer service representatives have established close relationships, customer service representatives are in a good position to ask customers for help in return for their excellent services.
The Local Customer Review Survey by Brightlocal has shown that online reviews are important for local businesses as 76% of people "always" or "regularly" read online reviews for local businesses, according to the Local Customer Review Survey by Brightlocal. Additionally, 57% of customers are "likely" or "highly likely" to leave a review if a member of staff personally suggests it. Therefore, asking for reviews during customer support can have a significant impact on diversifying customer reviews and attracting more customers who find these reviews relevant and positive.
There are various methods through which customer service representatives can encourage customers to write positive reviews. Firstly, customers are more likely to leave a positive review if they feel that the business went above and beyond to provide an exceptional experience. In fact, 81% of consumers are "likely" or "highly likely" to leave a positive review in such cases. Secondly, 79% of people would be "likely" or "highly likely" to leave a positive online review if the business had successfully turned a negative experience into a positive one.
Hence, to ensure a positive customer experience, customer service staff should approach customers personally and respectfully when asking for reviews during customer support. When customers receive exceptional service, they are more likely to leave a positive review if asked in a polite and friendly manner.
Effective communication and collaboration between customer service and sales teams are essential for any business looking to boost its revenues. By sharing customer data and insights, both teams can work together to create targeted sales strategies that address customer pain points and preferences.
Technology can play a critical role in facilitating this collaboration. Collaboration tools can help teams stay connected and informed, even if they are working remotely. In addition, businesses can leverage advanced technologies such as chatbots to improve their customer service and sales efforts.
For example, chatbots at Algomo can automatically capture and analyze customer data from every interaction and provide valuable insights to customer service and sales teams. This data can help businesses better understand their customers' needs, preferences, and behaviours, and develop more effective sales and marketing strategies accordingly.
