Are sales and customer service the same?  I bet you are saying no.  Sales is what happens when someone buys and customer service is after the sale, typically when there is some problem.  I agree in principle.  Except I think the skills you use are the same.

What Skills Are Used By Sales and Customer Service People?

You may think that customer service may require a need for patience and keeping one’s emotions in check as you deal with a difficult customer that may not be required in sales.  But I think sales requires a lot of patience and keeping one’s emotions  in check as you move through the sales process with a difficult or wishy washy customer.

Here are my top five skills used by both outstanding sales professionals and superior customer service representatives.

1. Ability to build rapport quickly.  You can’t sell if you can’t build rapport.  And when you have a customer calling because of a problem or something gone array the ability to build rapport quickly can quickly diffuse an emotionally charged situation.
   
   
2. Listening skills. Too often in sales we listen simply so we know the next question to ask or what we want to say rather than what is important to the customer.  How often have you called customer service and almost before you let them know the situation they are explaining their policy on returns or something else?  Masterful customer service professionals know what great sales people know…listening is the number one skill that leads to success.
   
   
3. Asking questions.  Most people don’t ask enough questions.  We want to get to ‘let me tell you about our product or service or policy’ etc.  You can’t understand what a customer needs without asking questions.  You can’t solve their problem without understanding what their problem is and both come from asking questions.
   
   
4. Authenticity.  Everyone is different and being yourself is what helps people connect with you.  There is nothing more attractive to others than feeling like they are connecting with someone as a personal level.
   
   
5. Tell the truth.  Sometimes you have to say no to someone or give them information they don’t like.  It’s part of life.  What upsets most people is feeling like someone wasn’t honest with them.  

Great Customer Service Leads to More Sales

I buy from Amazon regularly.  Partly I buy from them because they almost always have whatever I need, at a price that is the same or cheaper than I can buy going to the stores.  At least as important is their fantastic customer service.  It doesn’t matter if I had a problem with an order or something I purchased a year ago or getting technical help for my Kindle or Echo, they are amazing. 

They are incredibly responsive.  I never have to wait whether I call or chat someone is instantly there.  They always solve the situation to my satisfaction and even beyond what I would expect.  I feel well taken care of and it’s never a hassle.  So guess what?  Next time I have something to buy the first thing I do is go to Amazon and see if they have what I need, and most of the time they do.  I’m a customer for life.

Companies forget that making the sale is important but that customer service whether it’s before or after the sale is equally important and can be a huge factor in customer retention.  The experience a customer has with your organization from the person who answers the phone to everyone else they have to interface with creates an experience.  They remember the experience long after the sale is done.  Think of Disney.  The cost is now about $100 a day per person so it’s a big expense to take a family to Disney for three or four days.  They however create an experience that makes the cost less of an issue and people want to go back again and again.

Great customer service leads to more sales.  The skills used by top sales people are no different than the skills used by top customer service reps.  Ask yourself how you and your company stack up.  Do you think your sales is what makes your company successful?  Of course without sales there is no company and yet customer service cannot be overlooked in terms of the impact of both customer perception and desire to do business with you.