What do you and your team do after closing a sale? If the answer is to say goodbye to the customer and move on to the next one, it's time to rethink those concepts and invest in after-sales service.
The relationship with the customer begins after they purchase your product or service, and it is at this moment that the all-important customer loyalty process.
Post-sales service is crucial for strengthening relationships with your customers and achieving positive results. Do you know what this phase of the company's relationship with the client entails? Check out our article and understand how post-sales service can help you!
What is after-sales service?
After-sales service is a set of activities focused on customer relationship management after the consumption of a service or product.
It can be proactive or reactive. Proactive after-sales service is contact initiated by the company and may involve experience evaluations, research, and seeking greater knowledge about consumer behavior.
Reactive after-sales service, on the other hand, is when the customer contacts the organization to resolve problems, make exchanges, seek assistance, file complaints, and so on.
Maintaining post-sale contact with customers is essential to improve their buying journey and foster customer loyalty.
This is important because acquiring a new customer costs 5 to 7 times more than retaining existing ones, according to Philip Kotler, one of the leading names in Marketing.
Focusing on after-sales service doesn't mean you should forget about new customers and acquiring them, but rather that you should also turn your attention to those who have already started a relationship with the company.
It is these consumers who, when satisfied ,will return for new purchases, spread the word about their experiences, and provide the best marketing a company can receive: the famous word-of-mouth.
Investing in after-sales service speeds up the resolution of issues and gives the customer peace of mind. When contacting the company, they know their requests will be addressed.
Furthermore, it anticipates customer needs and strengthens the company's image in the eyes of other consumers and competitors.
How to provide effective after-sales service?
Now that you know a little more about the importance of after-sales service for retaining your customers, the question is: how do you do it?
It's clear that organizations have different realities, and each one needs to adapt its after-sales service to what is truly effective for it.
We've selected a few tips, but remember, after-sales service isn't like a ready-made recipe book. You need to test, understand your customer and your business, and discover the best method for you!
Get closer to the customer
In addition to improving the customer experience and delighting them, after-sales service is the ideal time to get closer to consumers and establish relationships.
Keep the customer informed about the progress of their order, in the case of an online, and provide more information about the products, in the case of a physical store, for example.
Simple actions bring the company closer to the customer and show them that they are not just another sales number.
Use phone calls or email to remind the customer of your availability. Seek information about their satisfaction with your product or service, or send simple thank-you messages for their purchase.
It's important to emphasize that this is not the right time to try and make new sales. The conversation is about the customer and their experience, not about the company!
Make delivery a special moment
Those who sell online know that customer expectations upon receiving products are high. Therefore, it's worthwhile to begin post-sales support as soon as purchases are delivered.
Unpacking products and interacting with your brand can become a memorable and enjoyable experience for the customer.
Invest in attractive packaging, personalized messages, giveaways, discounts for future purchases, and any other action that makes sense in your context and will certainly yield results for your customers.
Request reviews
For effective after-sales service, it is essential to listen to customer feedback about your products or services and then make improvements based on that feedback.
Encourage feedback on products, service, delivery, and any aspect involved in the purchase, but in a lighthearted way, not through a lengthy and tedious survey.
The user needs to be willing to respond, and it's important to show them how valuable that opinion is to the company.
Inform the consumer
Remembering the customer is part of after-sales service. Keep them informed about new products and solutions that emerge within the company.
Be present also through celebratory and birthday messages, for example, by giving gifts or discounts and showing their importance to your business.
Create loyalty programs
In some contexts, it can be beneficial to create loyalty programs that encourage consumers to always buy from you thanks to the benefits they will receive.
Offer extra benefits to your loyal customers, tell them about new products and services first, create special promotions, and make them feel even more exclusive to your business.
Use a CRM
To provide effective after-sales service, it's essential to know your audience and have as much information as possible about them and their interactions with the company.
Therefore, implementing a CRM can be a good option to integrate all customer actions, at every stage of the buying journey, and help make after-sales service even more personalized and effective.
Conclusion
Post-sales service is a great strategy to reduce your rate churn and build customer loyalty.
Maintaining contact with the customer, being open to suggestions and criticism, and being quick in resolving problems makes all the difference in their experience with the brand, and guarantees many positive points for the company.
Failing to provide after-sales service and abandoning customers after the financial transaction is a very serious mistake that can no longer be made. Maintain the relationship with the consumer and keep them close to your business.
A negative experience can be very bad for a brand's image, but several positive experiences will cause customers to spread the word about its actions, and more consumers will be reached organically.
After-sales service is part of a relationship management strategy that cannot be overlooked in your company.
How have you been handling after-sales service with your customers? Understand which of our tips make sense in your context, implement some simple tasks, and further enhance your relationship with consumers.
Now that you know a little more about after-sales service, take the opportunity to learn about our solutions that can help you in your customer relationship management!