How much are you relied on for customer support?

Question

Obviously this depends on how your org is structured, but more than ever recently I have been getting pigeonholed into providing customer support when my job is supposed to be GETTING NEW SALES.

Recently we had two people quit who would focus more on these tasks and now that they are gone it's getting pushed to me.

-customer support emails from our general inbox being sent to me that I have to reply to

-direct customer calls forwarded to me about their past purchases

-and a few other specific support role tasks that are more suited for a customer success manager (We do not have anyone in that role unfortunately)

For those of you out there who handle new account acquisition and closing, how much do you find yourselves providing after-purchase help?

And yes before you ask this is something I am bringing up to my director in my next meeting because these are things that take away from my selling time and not the KPIs that I'm measured on...

Unless something changes here I'm going to blow up about this as I'm in sales to SELL!

Accepted Answer

I work in media so closing the initial deal is only the beginning for me. One of the reasons I am looking to make a change honestly

Answer

Nope! Once the contract is signed it goes over to CS and I never talk to them again. I like it that way and would not want a sales role where I'd be expected to perform service/support. Upselling maybe, but that's a big maybe. The $$$$ would have to be there.

Answer

Ive been in orgs that work both ways (sign it, chuck it over the fence, and handholding for upsell). But it sounds like youre just getting hosed until a new CS is hired.

Answer

I am not responsible for post-sales support (we have a team for that), but I am attached to my accounts, and am expected to set up the internal kickoff meetings and monitor during implementation until launch. I am also, as a result, on every email and get outreach constantly from those seeking information from me because they can't remember who they're supposed to contact.

But no, I'm not personally responsible for providing support to the customer.

Answer

I was selective in intervention. I set up a report in my CRM dashboard to show open cases by account. I would give them a glance and see if any were prime opportunities for upsells. If so, I'd intervene.

Answer

We don't have a CS department (small company) so everything is either through me or the quality dept.

Answer

I completely understand the pain and I chose to have it cut into my sales time. I dealt with an less than efficiently structured organization in my past sales life where sending customers to anyone else without serious hand holding meant losing the client all together.

Answer

No better ways to earn referrals than to participate in (and excel at) post-sale support.  Helps the upsells as well.

DungeonsNDemos

How much are you relied on for customer support?

Do you provide post-sales support as an Individual Contributor?

11 comments

DungeonsNDemos

How much are you relied on for customer support?

Do you provide post-sales support as an Individual Contributor?

11 comments

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