Everyone in your organization is in sales. There, I said it. Don’t agree with me? Keep reading, and let’s see if I can change your mind.

To start, I want you to reflect on a recent experience you’ve personally had when you purchased a product or service from someone; not a nameless, faceless online purchase, but while interacting with a real person. Think about how many people you interacted with during that process. Was there just one person involved? Probably not.

After an initial consultation/call with a typical “sales” person, you probably were handed off to a “customer-support” team member who helped finish your product order or scheduled the service. There may even have been a different person(s) who delivered the product/service.

No matter how many people were involved, they all contributed to your customer experience with that company. They all had a chance to help or hurt your experience, which will determine whether or not you will buy from them again or refer them to your friends.

A first-hand experience

We recently hired a contractor to install an egress window in our basement. After getting quotes from multiple places and learning about how they would install the window, we made our decision and picked a contractor who was in the middle of the price point but seemed to have a good process in place. They made the initial estimate process easy and told us exactly what to expect with scheduling and when the crew would come out to do the work.

In all, we spoke to four different people during the entire process: the initial owner (salesperson), the
customer-service representative who scheduled our work and let us know exactly when the crew was going to be coming, the job foreman and a crew member (who I happened to talk to when they first arrived, before the supervisor got out of his truck).

It was clear that everyone within that company understood they were all responsible for selling a great experience to us, even the crew member. It was such a wonderful interaction that we are already thinking about hiring them again for a second window in our basement, something we hadn’t originally planned on doing.

And that’s the beauty of this organizational mindset! We are most likely going to buy from them again, because of the experience we had. They all did their part in “selling” us on why they are the best option for egress windows.

Who sells your company?

Now think about my story and relate it to your tree care company. How many of your team members communicate with the customer? How many opportunities does your team have to impress or turn off customers and/or potential customers?

From the initial sales conversation to the completed work, everyone within your company has a part in making that experience a wonderful one. That even includes the person in the office who is only crunching numbers, as well as your shop mechanic who doesn’t have any interactions except with your machines. These team members provide the customer-facing employees with valuable services or expertise that allow them to shine even brighter when working with your customers.

After all, isn’t that the point of a sale? You want to get a customer to select your company so you can provide them with the unmatched customer experience you believe only your company provides, right?

Cross-selling additional services

So how do you begin to create this mindset, so everyone sees themselves as a vital role in the sales process?

The first step is that everyone must understand how your company helps your customers. That doesn’t mean your in-office bean counter needs to know how to properly rig a branch over a fence during a removal. But it does mean they need to know that your company has the skills, equipment and expertise to perform that job safely and efficiently for your customer. They need to know the basics of what ancillary services you provide that help the customer’s trees and properties even further.

When each team member truly understands how your company can help your customers, they all have the opportunity to add value throughout the customer journey, which leads us to the second step – cross-selling.
Cross-selling additional services usually is reserved for the prototypical salespeople, because most people do not want to pressure people into buying more from them. However, if you have nurtured a sales culture within your company, everyone who interacts with a customer may be able to suggest additional services to the customer, or at a minimum be able to identify a cross-
selling opportunity. To properly instill this throughout your company, you need to consciously discuss the work you do for your customers with everyone.

Consistent success-story messages must be delivered organization wide, so people learn and remember how your team has helped your customers. With repeated internal communication regarding how you’ve helped customers, your team will naturally start to think about it and see opportunities to gain more revenue from your existing customers.

Cultivate a team sales culture

Last and perhaps most important, you need to debunk the negative connotation that often comes with sales. Clearly, everyone in your company knows you don’t have a business if there are no customers. To have a business, someone must sell your service. But you need to cultivate a team sales culture so that everyone understands that, no matter what their role is, they play a part in it.

If you need to incorporate incentives so that your employees who don’t have “sales” in their job titles start to understand the concept, do so. Have an after-work cookout/happy hour if the office team can cross-sell “x” number of jobs, or if the in-field crew upsells plant-health-care services to 10% of the jobs they are on. Whatever the incentive is, give those employees a chance to see how they can benefit personally from additional sales for the company.

So, do you now agree with me that everyone in your company is in sales?

Eric Petersen is president of ArboRisk Insurance, an 11-year TCIA corporate member company based in New Berlin, Wisconsin. He also is a member of TCIA’s Board of Directors.

This article is based on his presentation on the same topic at TCI EXPO ’23 in St. Louis, Missouri. To view a prerecorded video of that presentation, go to tcimag.tcia.org and, under the Resources tab, click Videos.