Is It Time To Start Paying Commissions To Customer Service Reps

Writen by Tino Buntic

You pay commission for each closed sales to your sales reps. You don't pay any commission to your customer service reps. Perhaps you should. Perhaps it's time to start paying commissions to your customer service reps. Here's why.

You know that you need to compensate your top sales performers well. Commission is a big part of their remuneration package. Top sales performers will move on and work elsewhere if they are not competitively compensated for the revenue that they generate for your organization.

But, studies have shown that it costs less to keep a current customer than it does to convert a new one. Top customer service reps know how to keep current customers, keep them happy, and keep them buying from your organization.

With that in mind, ask yourself the following question: Could your firm afford to lose its top customer service reps? I think not.

When a customer service rep saves an unhappy customer from canceling an account, it saves a sales rep from having to sell a new account. When a customer service rep cross-sells an existing client it saves a sales rep from having to sell a new client. When a customer service rep renews an order, it saves a sales rep from having to generate a new order.

As you see, a customer service rep can generate revenue from existing clients and a top-performing customer service rep can generate just as much revenue for your firm that a sales rep can.

So, should you pay commissions to your customer service reps? If you can't afford to lose them to a firm that would, then you need to start paying commissions to your customer service reps. It really is that simple.

Tino Buntic created TradePals to provide free sales leads and free advertising to business professionals, entrepreneurs, salespeople, and freelancers across The United States & Canada. Tino is also an avid blog reader. One of his favorite blogs on the topic of customer service is Kevin Eikenberry's blog. Kevin Eickenberry's firm provides training, performance support development, performance coaching, and organizational development consulting.