Customer Service vs. Selling

Selling is customer service and customer service is selling. The two actions are indistinguishable parts of a seamless process. Salespeople who make a distinction between the two tend to subscribe to the old scenario, in which “selling” means get the sale and forget the customer, and “customer service” means do as little as possible to quick-fix any problems that crop up. They see selling as something that you do to someone, and customer service as something you do for someone, albeit reluctantly. It is your job to make the customer feel better about buying– to make the buying process a reasonable, intelligent and enjoyable exchange. Whether your customer is a senior citizen counting out change at the grocery checkstand or a world leader trading commodity futures for high technology, your role is to 1) Answer questions 2) Balance priorities 3) Work out potential problems 4) Clarify solutions 5) Solve unavoidable conflicts and 6) Maintain equanimity even if the situation becomes volatile. You must never lose sight of the fact that you are working for, not against the customer. When customer service is your primary objective during and after the sale, things tend to go right. The customer feels right, feels good about buying, and looks forward to doing business with you again.