What is After Sales Service? How does it impact your Marketing? What are its Types, and how can a business improve its after sales service?
Every Business is born to satisfy customers and make a profitable business by providing great products. These two objectives move parallel and are equally important. To satisfy your customer you need to supply Product that meets or even surpasses their expectation.
Also providing great products helps in improving your business. But, helping your customer in any possible way after selling the product is equally important. A business must make sure that the customer’s questions are properly answered even after selling the product. In simple words After-sale service plays an important role as much as selling its product.
What is After Sales Service?
After sale service is any support provided to a customer after the products and service has been purchased. As it typically leads to higher customer satisfaction, retention and even word mouth marketing.
Sometimes a product goes through different hands until it reaches the end user. In this process the question may arrive: who will provide after sale support? Therefore a manufacturer, distributor or even a third party may provide after sale support.
It is an almost mandatory section in the overall marketing strategy of distribution business. In another word it's a complimentary gift that comes when the customer buys an offering from the business.
How does it impact your Marketing?
Customers start believing in the brand and get associated with the organization. Once brand image improves it definitely has a positive effect on business for a longer duration.
It boosts the relationship of trust between the seller and the buyer. A satisfied and happy customer itself is a waking-market of the company bring more individuals are eventually more revenues for the organization
If this process is handled effectively, it can work as another income generator. A company good with after sales service can convince its customers to buy other products from the same company.
Type of after Sale Service?
Real-Time Online Support: - Real-time online support includes email, chat and social media interface that assists in responding to criticisms. This may include providing all necessary required product technical documents. Providing instant assistance and increasing customer satisfaction.
Pre-installation Service: - Pre-installation services include anything that helps your customer install or put together your product. Depending on your product, this could be an installation manual or a technical sheet some items are more complicated or require technical expertise to install or assemble. In this case the customer is looking to the distributor for a solution. You can preempt their frustration by providing them with everything they need to use your product, along with an excellent customer service line if things go wrong.
Initial Training service: - Depending on how much expertise is required to use your product, the customer may need training. In these cases, businesses often offer user training as a post-sale service to teach end-users how to handle the product. Training adds extensive value to your product and can improve customer satisfaction for a long time after the sale. By providing training, your customers also get to see your expertise and helpfulness in action, contributing to your Company image.
Attain Complaint: - Customer complaints act as an initial perspective of how your consumers feel regarding your products and services Addressing customer complaints needs patience and time, however, companies need to find ways of resolving the queries for generating greater business success.
As a distributor, you should always look for ways to please your customers with the product or service so that they will choose you over the competitors. Customer complaints serve as a great insight into the areas of improvement in your business.
Replacement/Return: - Any product found broken or in a damaged condition must be exchanged immediately by the sales professional. Don’t harass the customers. Listen to their grievances and make them feel comfortable. Replacement can be either of the entire product or one part only. Having a good warranty and returns policy is a great way to build trust with your customers, particularly if your product is expensive.