81
Chapter 9
Sales vs. Customer
Service
When they returned from the break, Charles instructed
the group on how to read their own reports and had
everyone quietly go over their results. Many laughed
out loud as they read their proles, and many more
nodded as they went along.
“The creepiest thing about this is how accurate it is,”
shared one participant. Others nodded in agreement.
“It’s spot on,” said another.
“Yes, these assessments are highly accurate. It’s
amazing how effective they are at capturing not just
your natural behavior, but also how you ex to meet
the requirements of your job,” offered Charles.
After spending some more time answering questions,
Charles nally came to the point of the discussion that
Eliza was waiting for. He shared a version of the DISC
82 ◾ Transforming Teams
wheel that had each of the participants plotted out with
regard to where they came out on the spectrum.
Sales and Customer Service Group Wheel
= Sales rep
= Customer service rep
C
=
C
o
n
t
r
o
l
l
e
r
S
=
S
u
p
p
o
r
t
e
r
I
=
I
n
u
e
n
c
e
r
D
=
D
r
i
v
e
r
“Here’s the group wheel of HDS Tech’s sales and
customer service teams,” Charles began. “As you can
see, you are well primed for conict since you basically
have two opposing behavioral styles at work.”
What Charles was describing was the fact that every
one of the sales representatives fell equally between the
“I” and the “D,” on the right side of the wheel, and all
of the customer service team fell on the left side of the
wheel, between the “S” and the “C.”
It took a moment for the teams to absorb the
information.
Sales vs. Customer Service ◾ 83
“So, what you’re saying is that everything that we
are, behaviorally speaking, the customer service team
isn’t?” inquired Dave.
“That’s right. And everything the customer service
team is, you aren’t. What do you think about these
results?” asked Charles.
“Well, it sure explains a lot. It’s actually really sur-
prising,” said Dave earnestly.
“Really, are you kidding?” demanded Claire. “We
could have told you this ages ago. The only thing that
is surprising to me is that you’re surprised!”
Charles stepped in. “Actually, the more dominant
behaviors tend to be less aware of other styles, and less
dominant behavioral styles tend to be more aware of
others, so you both are right.”
“Wow, so this is a problem,” continued Dave.
“No, Dave. I see it differently. This is perfect,” inter-
jected Eliza. “Your behavioral styles provide a diversity
of perspective. It goes back to the badger and coyote.
If you were all chasing down leads and not worrying
about the details, things would fall apart. But if you
were all introverted and focusing on the details, we’d
never land a client. Between the two teams, together
you guys create a diverse ecosystem. This is exactly
why we did this exercise! And this is why we are here,
to get all of you to start focusing on and appreciating
each other’s behavioral style and contribution to the
HDS ecosystem.”
With that, Eliza took to the whiteboard with a
marker in her hand. Turning to the customer service
84 ◾ Transforming Teams
team, she asked, “From a behavioral perspective, what
makes this sales team great at what they do?”
“They are super friendly and approachable, usually.
When they’re not mad, that is,” offered one customer
service rep.
“They are optimistic. They can handle rejection and
just keep going. I could never do that,” offered another.
“They are competitive and don’t take ‘no’ for an
answer,” suggested another.
Eliza wrote these all down and then asked the same
question of the sales team about the customer service
group. In the end, she had the following list of how
each team assessed the other:
Attributes of Sales and Customer Service Teams
Sales Team
Customer Service Team
Friendly, warm, sociable Steady, stable, reliable
Optimistic, handles rejec-
tion well
Detail oriented
Competitive, don’t take
“no” for answer
Great follow-up and follow-
through
Strategic, see big picture
and big opportunity
Care about clients
Looking for new ways of
doing things
Have a lot of institutional
history and stability
Able to walk in clients’
shoes
Ask great questions and
force us to look at things
dierently
Commied to success of
HDS Tech
Commied to success of
HDS Tech
Satised, Eliza turned to the group and said, “This is
what I need you to start focusing on. Instead of focus-
ing on the negative side of each group’s behaviors, I
Sales vs. Customer Service ◾ 85
need you to understand and appreciate what each team
brings to the table. You are all committed to the suc-
cess of HDS Tech, and without each other, we fail.”
Eliza asked for further analysis. “Reecting on this
list, what do you see? What conclusions do you draw?”
“Well,” said Ben, a sales representative, “I didn’t
realize how many of our disagreements and difculties
stemmed from our behavioral styles. It’s really surpris-
ing to see that style seems to be the root cause for a lot
of our challenges.”
“I agree, I thought that was surprising,” said Keisha,
the customer service rep. “I also think I spend too
much time focusing on all the behaviors that annoy me
in the sales folks. Eliza, you’re right. I think it’s de-
nitely doable to focus instead on how those annoying
behaviors can really be a benet to us all.”
“And for the record, you guys have some annoying
habits, too—habits that we should really learn to appre-
ciate,” said Dave.
The group had clearly come together. It was obvi-
ous they were observing each other from a new van-
tage point.
Charles stepped forward and said, “Okay, we’re
almost done here. But before we go, I want you to do
a quick exercise for me. I want you to stand up and
group yourselves together by your most dominant
behavioral style.”
Once they got up and organized themselves, with
the instructor’s help, into four groups based on behav-
ioral similarities, Charles continued. “Okay, I have a
little exercise for you. Here’s the situation: you are
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.