This is an interesting discussion on Manager Tools:
IMO, a CSR can, and (maybe?) is, obligated to treat every customer contact as an opportunity to upsell/cros-sell. But then, I’m into marketing, so what do I know re: sales? And they can be compensated accordingly. Not cold-calling or hardcore selling, but simply providing addt’l information to the customer, when appropriate, which might help them. If not, no biggie. BUT, now they know. In new business development, I heard way too often from our top 10 clients: “Oh, I didn’t know you guys did that!”
People in sales do posess a unique and valuable personality type, one probably not measurable in DiSC terms, according to this article from the July-August 2006 Harvard Business Review:
We have to admire salespeople’s resilience in the face of endless rejection, their certainty that things will work out in the end.At the same time, we’re repelled by what their job can do to them. (Think Death of a Salesman and Glengarry Glen Ross, dramatic portraits of hollowness and moral capitulation.)
Just what type of person goes into sales, and how do salespeople cope with their jobs? For insight into these questions, HBR approached G. Clotaire Rapaille, a psychologist, anthropologist, and marketing guru who researches the impact of culture on business and markets. In particular, he studies archetypes – the underlying patterns in psychology that illuminate the human condition – and shows organizations how to use those patterns to sharpen their sales and marketing efforts. He points out, for instance, that a keen understanding of the Great Mother archetype has helped Procter & Gamble achieve great success with Pantene hair products. By promoting nutrition – and reminding consumers that hair must be nurtured– the Pantene brand appeals to the maternal instinct.
Rapaille says that salespeople have their own archetype: They are Happy Losers who relish rejection and actually seek out jobs that provide opportunities to be turned down. That, of course, has implications for how they should be managed. Rapaille’s research shows that the leading motivator in sales is not money; it’s the thrill of the chase.“Hold huge company meetings where you give a salesperson the gold medal of rejection,” he advises. “Jonathan sold 500,000 computers last month, but he was rejected 5 million times! It may sound ludicrous, but this is the way to get fire in the belly of your sales force – particularly in America, where beating the odds is highly prized.
