Why After-Sales Services are so Important
Business is an ongoing process. A lot of factors go into establishing a business from time, effort, and planning and many other things have to be considered before starting a business. Once established, keeping a business afloat is another humongous task in itself. Plus you can’t just switch businesses that easily, which you can do in typical employment. But here the question arises that since a business is established by putting in so much effort, what is the factor that keeps a business up and running? Well, the answer to that is pretty simple: Building a loyal customer base. A business is practically nothing without its customers and it’s about time brands should understand it. The customer comes first. This is the motto that has to be adopted by any business if they want to survive in this cut-throat environment of today, where every minute a new startup or company is entering the market.
The competition has become so harsh that once you lose a customer, there are very few chances of getting them back. Today, customers have thousands of options to choose from regarding a company that will provide them with the same services or products but in a better way. This is the point where customer service or after-sales service comes into play since this is the most important component that is going to keep your customers hooked.
Studies compiled by the US Small Business Association show that 20% of small businesses fail in their first year of service while 50% fail by the fifth year. But why are so many new businesses failing these days? The answer is still the same and pretty simple to figure out, which is that new businesses invest a lot in their infrastructure, marketing, and product or service. However, one of the most crucial things, which is after-sales support or customer service, is often ignored or not much worked upon.
Importance of Customer Service
Quotes like the “customer is always right” and “always put your customer first” have just become mere words limited to inspirational book headings. In the current consumer market, we see that companies are only running after revenue, keeping at stake their product or service quality, customer satisfaction, and brand value. This strategy does help them in the short run in which they make only money but after a while, the customer gets frustrated and leaves. Not only does that customer give bad reviews but this bad word of mouth spreads, thus tarnishing the reputation and revenues, ultimately shutting the company. Due to reasons associated with customer satisfaction and brand value, after-sales service is very important to keep thriving in the current landscape.
The after-sales process begins once the customer has purchased your product or service and requires any type of assistance regarding it. It is an ongoing process that continues till a customer remains associated with that particular company. After a customer selects a brand to do business with, the rest is up to the after-sales team how they deal with the customer regarding their services and this determines how long the customer is going to remain associated with a particular brand.
Suppose you buy an internet or TV connection from a well-known company. After some time, you get into some technical problems regarding the services and once it happens, whom do you reach out to? the after-sales service and support team. Similarly, Cox customers don’t hesitate to call the Cox customer service number for any query or request. After that, it’s the responsibility of the after-sales team to know how well they handle that problem and how efficiently they solve it, which directly affects the probability that you remain with the company or not.
Why After-Sales Services are Important for a Business
We have already established that after-sales services are important for a flourishing business. But, there are a number of components that work together in parallel with a good after-sales service that makes a thriving business. Here we are going to look at the aspects of a business that improve through good after-sales service.
Brand Image
Brand image is very important for any business since a business with a bad reputation will practically have no customers to deal with and when there are going to be no customers, there will be no revenue and without any revenue, the company is dead. So, in order to preserve and enhance the brand image, good customer service is necessary, since now we are living in an online world where everything is in the public domain including the interactions of a customer with your customer service team.
Once a customer leaves a company due to bad treatment from the after-sales team, they give bad reviews. Nothing damages a company’s image more than negative reviews since 70% of customers in the US look for online reviews before deciding to do business with a company. This means not only current customers are going to leave the company but also new customers would avoid doing business. In short, an all-out disaster for any business.
Longevity of a Business
We have already shared the stats that show how almost 50% of new businesses and startups fail during their first five years. After-sales service is key to the longevity of a business and it makes sense. Why would a customer stick with a brand that just sells the product or service and then leaves them to figure it out on their own? Eventually, 70% of customers leave a company that doesn’t treat them well and when a majority of customers leave a company, there’s no one to sell the product or service to. Thus, the business ultimately shuts down after a while.
Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is the key to increased revenue for your company. Because one simple rule of business is that happy customers mean more sales. Satisfied customers allow a company to upsell, plus happy and satisfied customers bring in more customers through their positive word of mouth. Thus, customer satisfaction is directly related to after-sales service. That’s why, in order to ensure customer satisfaction that directly results in better growth of a company, after-sales services are important.
Final Thoughts
In current times, customers aggressively research about a brand before doing any business with them and the most important thing in this research is how efficient a company’s after-sales services are since many companies do offer good products or services but their customer interaction model is flawed. That is why developing an efficient after-sales infrastructure is key to a good business, especially in today’s consumer-oriented market.
