What Makes a Good Pre/Post Sales Support Specialist?

[Recruiter Pat]

I work with a number of companies in the industry ranging from huge OEMs to Mom and Pop dealerships, and I have noticed that not everybody uses Pre/post sales support specialists. Is this position even necessary, or would it be best left to sales reps to learn more about the technical side of things and handle these roles? I absolutely see the value in this position, but wanted to get some opinions on what traits, experience or certifications would make for a good pre/post sales specialist. Looking forward to hearing thoughts from the community.

-Recruiter Pat

[CopierTechofOmens]

Re: What Makes a Good Pre/Post Sales Support Specialist?

Personally I don't think one person can handle every type of situation that might arise. Good company structure is key

Good customer support has almost as much to do with customer perception as it does in problem resolution. The less a customer has to remember numbers and talk to machines the happier they are. Instead of being a serial number or contract number they are "Sally from Mom's meat market".

In our organization you always talk to a person. The sales person usually will call the customer back quickly. If it's over his head he will then have one of our highly trained service personnel call them back. With any customer interaction the skill comes from being able to make the customer feel like their concerns matter, no matter how relatively insignificant they may be.

So, you have good customer perception, that's good. That will only hold for so long. Then you need to be able to give the customer "satisfying" solutions. Not just sweep the dust under the carpet so to speak. If a solution is not readily recognized the problem gets escalated to our resident problem solver. When he shows up to a customer, you can see the relief wash over their face. Like a person stranded in a burning building when the fireman bursts through the door.

[Recruiter Pat]

Re: What Makes a Good Pre/Post Sales Support Specialist?

Personally I don't think one person can handle every type of situation that might arise. Good company structure is key

Good customer support has almost as much to do with customer perception as it does in problem resolution. The less a customer has to remember numbers and talk to machines the happier they are. Instead of being a serial number or contract number they are "Sally from Mom's meat market".

In our organization you always talk to a person. The sales person usually will call the customer back quickly. If it's over his head he will then have one of our highly trained service personnel call them back. With any customer interaction the skill comes from being able to make the customer feel like their concerns matter, no matter how relatively insignificant they may be.

So, you have good customer perception, that's good. That will only hold for so long. Then you need to be able to give the customer "satisfying" solutions. Not just sweep the dust under the carpet so to speak. If a solution is not readily recognized the problem gets escalated to our resident problem solver. When he shows up to a customer, you can see the relief wash over their face. Like a person stranded in a burning building when the fireman bursts through the door.

I like the analogy of a firefighter bursting through the door. It seems that the sales rep are the first line of defense when a fire does arrise, but it is good to have the technical support for issues over their head. Not only does this free the sales rep up to do what they should be doing *selling*, but it also makes for a happier customer when somebody who understands the technical aspects of the machine can intervene. It is good to see companies that hire the pre/pos sales support rather than leaving it all on the shoulders of the sales rep. While it is good for building and maintaining relationships for the rep, I think the customer is best served by having a technical guy break things down more thoroughly. Thank you for the input!