Q & A Table of Contents
They Won’t Listen To Me
From: Umang, New Delhi, India
Question: I work in an international call center in India and we deal with American customers and clients. The department that I work in is a Customer service cum Sales operation.
After I solve my customer's concern, I am supposed to ‘upsell’ other products to them. That sales work contributes a major part to my pay check. I have been a good seller, but in the past two weeks, my immediate supervisor has changed and I have been moved to a new supervisor. I am just not able to SELL AT ALL...!!! whenever, I probe for selling either the customer hangs up or interrupts me with "NO,THANK YOU"....and that's it..I don't have anything to sell more and this is adding to my irritation and cutting down my hopes..
MY CUSTOMERS AREN'T READY TO LISTEN TO ME AT ALL..!!! What should I do?
Response: It is very complicated to get people to switch gears when they’ve initiated a conversation. People who call for customer support generally have a single basic interest in mind: to get their problem solved. Their ideal expectation is that the customer support people with whom they talk can help them work through the problem and that, as a consequence of the conversation, their equipment will do the job for which it was bought.
When customer support is really a sales operation, people are likely to be offended. In American terms, it may have the feel of a ‘bait and switch’ operation. If your job description requires that you act as both customer support and sales staff, you need to tread lightly if you want people to switch gears from seekers after support to potential customers. During your support conversations, you should ask questions to determine whether the product about which callers are asking is satisfactory for the purpose for which it was bought. If the product is designed to under perform so that ‘upselling’ is a logical consequence of the initial purchase, that raises a serious ethical question.
On the other hand, if buyers’ purchasing decisions have not been the result of misleading advertising and if their exposure to the product makes them want something that will do more, then upselling is actually a positive service you can offer.
You need to have a clearer understanding whether you are being asked to be part of a ‘bait and switch’ operation or whether your upselling duties are really meant to add value to the customer’s situation. If you’re part of a bait and switch scam, it is no wonder potential customers are not interested in buying. Moreover, you need to question whether having that role truly fits with your personal ethical standards.
If the upselling part of your job genuinely adds value to your customers’ circumstances, then probing questions during the technical support segment of your work should reveal whether they are likely to be interested in whatever they might gain from an additional purchase. If your questions yield responses that give you the sense you have a potentially interested customer, then there is less chance they’ll be offended when you move from your customer service function to your selling function.
Ask questions of yourself in terms of whether you are being asked to perform a legitimate, value adding function — and determine whether the answer satisfies your ethical standards. Ask questions of your customers to find out whether they are likely to be interested in upgrading their product or adding to it — if things sound positive, then selling may well work favorably.
Switching from service to sales is not what people are looking for when they call customer service. Unless the modification of the call’s topic can be done gracefully and with the tacit permission of the customer, it should be no surprise that you receive negative responses.
Good luck,
Steve
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