After-Sales Service: A Key to Customer Loyalty

After-Sales Service

It is the set of mechanisms and tasks that the organization uses after the sale is done in order to obtain total customer satisfaction. It is an important source of information and should be considered as an investment. It is easier to sell new products to a satisfied customer than finding new customers.

Advantages:

• It provides greater customer satisfaction.
• It improves the image of the company.
• It improves direct knowledge of the market.
• It involves potential customer loyalty.
• It implies a likely increase in sales.

Disadvantages:

• It involves certain costs.
• It needs to be controlled.
• It can cause a possible increase in the number of claims.
• It implies a greater demand for service and quality.
• It causes more staffing needs.

Types of After-Sales Service

• Promotional: Special offers or discounts, participation in sweepstakes or contests, i.e., a card to accumulate money or points.

• Psychological: Services that motivate customers such as birthday cards, gifts, vouchers.

• Security: They provide protection, such as a warranty covering a period or the possibility of making a refund if the customer is not satisfied.

• Maintenance: It involves maintenance or a support service. Companies may provide an installation service and training or follow-up visits to ensure the customer is making good use of the product.

After the Sale of a Product or Service

Main Activities

Technical Services

That should be performed by trained staff:

• Installation: Operations performed on the premises of the customer to get the product ready.

• Maintenance: Products suffer wear and tear, and therefore some maintenance activities are necessary to restore a product or maintain it.

• Repairs: Carried out to restore the features of a product. During the warranty, the supplier will repair the product free of charge, provided the customer keeps the receipt.

Services Provided to Customers Directly

• Training for Use: The company trains or guides the customer to get the most out of the product or service.

• Handling of Complaints and Claims: Complaints reflect the existence of a possible defect in a product or service, but they do not necessarily reflect the reality of system performance.

Relationship of the After-Sales Service with Other Processes

The after-sales service has an impact on the planning, creation, and marketing of a product or service, and they all have a single goal: customer satisfaction.

Customer Satisfaction: Companies must offer a solid after-sales service to provide customer satisfaction.

Relationship: After-Sales Service - Quality

The after-sales service is a tool to achieve the best possible business goals.

Inputs from the Business Environment

• Data or information a company gets from outside the company to improve existing products or to create new ones.
• Needs and expectations of customers: through market research and the results of the after-sales services.
• Competitors: provide a better service than the competitors.

Inputs from Within the Company

Data or information from other departments that influence the performance of the after-sales service.

• Quality strategic plans: processes carried out by the company to achieve certain quality standards that must be met by the after-sales department.
• Sold products or services.
• Characteristics of the product or service. The after-sales service must know all the features and guidelines of the products/services.
• Process development: after-sales service must keep a record of its actions.
• Quality warranty. The terms and scope of the service must be known to the after-sales service.
• Available resources: human, financial, material, etc.

Outputs to the Business Environment

Results of the after-sales service activities to the market.

• Product or service fit for use: result of the services of installation, maintenance, and repairs.
• Training for use.
• Customer satisfaction.
• Solution to a complaint and/or claim.

Outputs to Other Departments Within the Company

Information from the after-sales service useful for other departments.

• Information for the control processes. It can collect information valuable for other departments (marketing department).
• Assessment of products and services.