Sales and service are two teams that are some of the most important for your business, yet they can seem to be in opposition to each other.
Unless you want your business to turn into a walking Dilbert cartoon, you need to ensure these two teams are happily on the same page- and your business will thank you for it.
The idea that sales and service are naturally at odds with each other comes from a flawed notion that both teams have nearly opposite goals, especially when it comes to communicating with clients.
Sales teams are seen as over-promisers, offering up guarantees and product features that might be a stretch to win over a potential sale with their savvy pitch. Meanwhile, Service teams can appear to be pessimistic about their products’ function to be as realistic as possible, and nothing more than that.
While both of these stereotypes are true, they don’t automatically make your teams hostile to each other. While these teams often only talk when there’s a new product or onboarding a new client, this should only be the tip of the iceberg. Instead, your teams need to regularly meet with each other and work together to develop the best possible strategies.
If the service team offers more detailed information on the product's intricacies and shortcomings, the sales team has more material to pull from to craft a creative pitch rather than embellishing to win over the sale.
The service team could significantly enhance their operations by gaining additional insights from the sales department. By seeking more client feedback, they can identify preferences and adjust focus accordingly on the products that require heightened attention.
If your teams are not on the same page, it can lead to a very frustrating experience for your clients, as they will feel that they are promised something that is not being delivered. This brings added stress on the service team to live up to unrealistic expectations, while the sales team may begin to build a poor reputation and struggle to attract more potential buyers.
Ensuring the alignment and effectiveness of your sales and service teams requires regular meetings to strengthen communication channels and keep both teams on track.