Have Wrench and Sales Brochure, Will Travel

Comcast’s field technicians bring two hats with them when they visit customers’ homes: one for repairing broken connections and one for selling new services. Judging by the results, they wear both chapeaus well. The MSO’s field tech sales program, which is designed to encourage field personnel to push new products, has worked so well that installers and technicians have scored more than 3,000 new product additions since the program was launched in 2000, according to SVP, Southern California, Debi Picciolo. The installers like the program because it expands their responsibilities and gives them the opportunity to make a small commission on each sale. In the last nine months, Comcast established standards and goals for technicians, which are then used during yearly performance evaluations. For instance, at least 6% of the techs’ customer contacts should result in a sale or sales lead. "We have created a sales environment here that starts at the top and goes all the way through the organization to the customer contact personnel, and it’s showing up in our numbers," Picciolo says. A similar project is being crafted for contractors and is scheduled to launch in the next 60 days, Picciolo says. Expanding the project to contractors will increase sales opportunities and teach them more about the products they are installing in customers’ homes. Naturally, Comcast will monitor the outside contractors’ work to make sure it meets company standards, Picciolo says.