Selling Services

A sizable number of technology companies use their technical support or field service engineers and technicians to sell a variety of services and solutions to their existing customers. The logic usually follows this rationale: On a daily basis, our technicians – or techs – see or talk to our customers who trust them. Therefore, they’re in a good position to do some selling. As those who have tried using their technical staff to sell can attest, this logic doesn’t hold up.

What are people doing to generate revenue in new and innovative ways? Recently, we asked Rebecca Whalen, Director of Technical Services Team to share with our readers a couple of examples. Technical Services Team (TST) is a division of Peak Technologies that provides field services on an outsource basis. The first example involves a medium-sized reseller based in Georgia.  In business for nine years, this reseller sells hardware, primarily printers, with accessories as well as services. They’ve grown their business to seven million dollars in revenues, two million of which come from services.

A ServicesRevenue Business Case. A light on Frank Akamura’s phone is blinking persistently. On another line, Frank listens as his division vice president asks him to assign his lead consultant to a new project with a new client in a new market. As soon as his boss pauses to breath, Frank explains Jimmy Fiche, the lead consultant is holding on the other line with a request from a long-time client to initiate a new project. Keeping this client satisfied is such a high priority that both men instantly recognize the problem they now face.

Which skills distinguish high-performing account managers from their low-performing counterparts? The ideal skill set is broad and comprehensive. It includes awareness of customers’ goals, a wider network of internal and external contacts and better use of information resources. Michael Hutt, Beth Walker, Ajith Kumar of Arizona State University and Gabriel Gonzalez of Colorado State University analyzed the skills of 58 account managers in a study sponsored by Yellow Corporation. The sample used for this study was drawn from the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico and included 19 high performers, 19 average performers and 20 low performers. This classification of performance was based on 2000 revenue and profitability achieved.