If not, you should be asking yourself why not. Techs in the field are the closest contact with your customer, which means they have the potential to be your best salespeople. Here’s why:

Field service techs are in a great position to turn their success into an upsell. There is gold in the question, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” Customers respond to a service rep that helps them solve their problem in front of their eyes. The nature of Field Service requires customers to be present to watch your techs work their magic. To satisfy a customer and then demonstrate how they could be delighted, with an upgrade, creates a natural, low pressure, effective sales environment.

Field service techs can demonstrate expertise and quickly become a trusted advisor. When techs arrive with the right tools and the right skills to solve a customer’s problem, they immediately elevate themselves to a position that any salesperson would crave for: the trusted advisor. Are you putting that status to use?

Field service techs can confirm and update install base information. Accurate information about your install base is critical for core support and in structuring campaigns for future growth. Your service techs can verify existing install base data and update as necessary. This makes future campaigns and sales easier. It is essential they have the tools available to access, edit and correct this critical data.

Field service techs can sense the competition. Service techs observe while they work. They can see what work has been done on the equipment or accounts they have been servicing. They are incredible elements of radar to help you identify when the competition is approaching and help you respond, before you lose an account.

In order to take advantage of these natural opportunities, your field techs need the tools to first be successful in serving your customers. Then, they need the tools to sell. Can they create orders? Can they collaborate with sales teams and experts in your organization? Can they access knowledge to provide the right solution to your customers?

If so, they can be your best sales team.

This all requires a common platform for your entire organization. Sales, Service, Marketing, Communities, Analytics and your custom apps need to work together to support your field organization. This will allow them to not only meet the needs of the customer, but to extend the strategy of your entire company.

Collaboration tools should replace phone calls between sales and your resources in the field. Dispatch should be able to make real time adjustments – and the entire organization should be aware when these happen.

And the success of your techs in selling should be visible across the organization in an analytics solution that provides real-time dashboards and reporting that are easy to use and configure. Provide incentives for your field teams to upgrade, upsell and generate new sales – then track their progress. Reward them with the same incentives you would provide your core sales teams.

Make room at Club for some guys in hard hats and tools belts.

Want more? Check out the interactive infographic about the state of field service in the connected world.