Sales vs service call scorecard: can one form fit both teams?

The short answer

Evaluating sales and support agents on exactly the same form is unfair; entirely separate forms make comparison impossible. The model that works combines a shared base with modules that change by the purpose of the call. The base — opening, accuracy of information, process compliance and closing — applies to every call. A sales module checks the need, the offer and the next step; a support module checks understanding the problem, the solution and confirming it worked.

The most important rule: a support agent who does not sell should not lose points on "did not make an offer". If a module does not apply to the call, it counts as "not applicable".

Why one form is unfair

A single form holds both sales and support criteria. An agent helping a customer with a technical problem gets "no" on "identified the need and offered a suitable product" — although selling was not their job. A sales agent is penalised for not solving an issue with an earlier order, when they should have passed it to support.

The other side is the weight of "not applicable". If half the form does not apply on every call, the score rests on few criteria and comparisons between agents become unreliable. And agents see that the form does not describe their job, and lose faith in the results.

A shared base: criteria for every call

• Did the agent introduce the company and themselves
• Did the agent ask for or confirm the reason for the call
• Was the information the agent gave (price, condition, deadline) correct on the date of the call
• Where required, were identity confirmation and mandatory disclosures done
• Did the agent summarise what was agreed
• Did the agent tell the customer the specific next step or outcome

These six criteria mean the same in sales and support, and they are the basis for comparing teams.

A sales module

• Did the agent ask questions that clarified the need before making an offer
• Was the offer tied to the need the customer described
• If the customer objected, did the agent clarify and answer it (no objection — not applicable)
• Did the agent agree a specific next step: a date, a time, a responsible person

Whether a sale happened is not in the module: it is an outcome and a separate measure. A completed sale does not prove a call was good, and a lost sale does not prove an agent error.

A support module

• Did the agent understand the problem without making the customer repeat it
• Did the solution given follow the company's approved procedure or knowledge base
• Did the agent check with the customer that the solution worked, or explain how to check it
• If the problem was not solved on the call, was the customer told what happens next and when
• If there was a transfer, were the reason and the information passed on explained (no transfer — not applicable)

Mixed calls: selling in support

A support call can open a sales opportunity — the customer asks about a faster plan, say. Write the rule for such calls in advance:

1. 1Resolve firstThe sales module applies only after the customer's problem is solved or a clear next step is given.
2. 2The customer's interestThe module switches on when the customer shows interest. Agents are not required to make an offer on every support call.
3. 3Otherwise — not applicableWithout interest, the sales module does not affect the score.

The model for selling on a support call is described in our cross-sell on support calls guide; here the subject is only how to evaluate it.

How to determine the call type

• By line or queue: a call to the sales line is evaluated with the sales module — simple, but it misses calls that landed on the wrong line
• By the agent's role: does not work in teams where roles are combined
• By the content of the call: the most accurate way, but the type itself can be misjudged — when the type and the criterion results do not fit together, send the call to human review

How to compare scores

Keep two numbers in the report: the base score and the module score. Compare only base scores between teams. Compare module scores only between calls evaluated with the same module.

In this illustrative example both agents are at the same level on the base criteria. The 70 and the 90 are not compared: one measures the quality of solutions, the other sales behaviour. The conversation with the support agent is built on the weak criteria of the solution module; with the sales agent it is about something else.

A plan for moving from one form to modules

1. 1Freeze old resultsScores from the single form are not directly comparable with the new base and module scores. Mark the switch date clearly in the report.
2. 2Test the baseEvaluate the same ten calls with the old form's shared criteria and with the new base — the results should be close, because the criteria are the same.
3. 3Calibrate the modules separatelyCheck the sales module with the sales team and the support module with the support team — each team should see how its own work is described.
4. 4Explain it to agentsShare in writing who is evaluated with which module and the rule for mixed calls. For support agents, "sales criteria no longer apply to you" is often the quickest way to win back trust.

Limits

A modular form needs more upkeep: a change to the base affects both modules and needs a version record. In a small team with mixed roles, determining the call type will be the weakest point. Do not fold sales results into the module score, and never let a module score be the only basis for a decision about an agent.

Modules in Vexvon Audio Analyzer

In Vexvon Audio Analyzer a company can keep several standards — "sales" and "support", for example. One is set as the default, but another standard can be chosen for any analysis run. Each call keeps which version of which standard it was evaluated against, so results can be split by standard. Put the shared base criteria into both standards' text in the same words so they can be compared; and "not applicable" never counts against the agent.

The general structure of a form is in the scorecard template, and the "not applicable" rule in the three statuses guide.

First step

Split the criteria on your current form into three groups: applies to every call, sales only, support only. The first group is your base. Work out how many points support agents lost on sales criteria last month — that number shows why moving to modules is needed. More in the agent scoring section; get in touch.

Further reading on this topic: sales discovery call analysis.