Mark Walker, JM Walker Group

"Have you ever had the experience of ordering a product or a part, receive it and discover that you also needed something else to get the full benefit of the new item? If so, you experienced an Expansion Gap on the part of your supplier, who could have asked you a few questions, learned more about your situation, and recommended those additional items. This would have saved you time (and money) and increased his sales volume on the transaction.

I have seen an interesting mindset among some people in order departments or "customer service," departments that goes something like this: "I was hired to help people, not to sell to them." Ooops! This attitude can:

1. Cause overlooked opportunities to serve customers better and save them time and money, and
2. Create commodity-focused customers who don't understand the value of your organization over and above your competitors, and who then shop for price.

If you ask people to talk about someone they enjoy buying from and why they enjoy the experience, you will hear comments like, "asks me what I need or want," "finds out how I will use the product," "shows concern for my getting value," "helps me solve a problem." Then when you ask for a definition of "service," you will get the same or similar responses. So, service and selling are almost the same processes.

When a service person asks about needs, uses of the product or component, asks about other parts which are also likely to need replacement, or if anything has changed in your situation since your last renewal, two things happen:

1. Value is created for the customer, and
2. The size of the transaction is larger for the seller.

Think about this for a minute. One of my clients is an insurance agency. When their clients call their service team about a routine matter, it is a genuine service to that caller to 1) solve the problem or answer the question, then 2) offer a free review of the client's insurance to insure they have adequate coverage under current conditions. Sometimes the client says, "No thanks." But they are unlikely to be offended that a free service was offered. They will be very upset if, after suffering a loss, they find they were underinsured because the agency has not reviewed their needs in several years.

This customer service team frequently uncovers opportunities for one of the specialists or agents to make a client visit with a proposal for additional necessary coverage. This is a win/win, and it creates value for their client. The personalized service helps protect the insurance client, giving them confidence they will not have to suffer a change in lifestyle in case of a loss. It increases the self-respect of the people who provide that value, and their sales increase as well.

Remember the Golden Rule you learned in kindergarten? "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." This is the foundation for finding out what the customer needs. It is both serving and selling, and closes the Expansion Gap!