What is After-Sales Service? Importance & Types

There are many factors that help organizations to achieve their goals. Besides product designing, promotion, marketing, and distribution, customer service is the most important factor to take into consideration.

In short, business growth is correlated with customer satisfaction.

What is After-Sales Service?

After-Sales service also called After-sales support, is any service provided to a customer after purchasing a product. After-sales service may be provided by a retailer, manufacturer, or a third-party customer service or training provider.

After-sales service is the customer support provided after the purchase of a product or a service. For many entrepreneurs, after-sale service can be as equally important as the initial purchase.

In Spite of the fact that it receives too little attention, why is it so important?  Let’s plunge into a few reasons why after-sales service is important and how it affects the growth of an organization.

Here are few reason that can be taken into consideration-

Importance of After-Sale Service

  1. Helps in Customer Retention- Customer Retention is a process of engaging existing customers to keep on buying its products. It is the best tactic that can be used to generate leads and form long-lasting relationships with the customers.
  2. Decrease Negative Publicity- A single unhappy customer can affect the Goodwill of a company. it can create a downtrend in total sales. So it is necessary to understand the customer’s problem and bring solutions.
  3. Lessor spent on Marketing- Customer satisfaction brings customer loyalty. When a  customer is happy with the services, they act as a marketer for the company. They bring new customers to the company.
  4. Chances of Repurchase Increases- If a customer is moderately satisfied with the product but is highly impressed by the service, then he won’t hesitate to try out another product. After-sale is made, We can ask the customer to rate the service.
  5. Motivate Employees- Happy customers make employees feel motivated. It inspires them to work more efficiently. Companies must recognize and appreciate their hard work because recognition is worth more than monetary incentives.

Types of after Sales Service

There are various kinds of After-Sales Service that an organization can offer to their customers are-

  1. Pre-Installation Service- Whenever a customer buys a product, a manual comes with it. Though, sellers must provide pre-installation services to their customers without charging any fees. Usually, furniture, air conditioner, cooler, ceiling fans require technical support and assistance to fix it. If the seller is new in the market, then it’s quite a good technique to attract new customers. Pre-installation services are an important type of after-sales service.
  2. Return or Replacement Service- Usually sellers provide Return or Replacement services for a limited period of time. It gives assurance to the customers. It helps in building trust between them. the replacement may be of the entire product, or in other cases, replacement may be only of the defective part.
    While in returns, the product is returned to the business and the customer amount is refunded or replaced the product.
  3. Warranty Service- Companies can provide repairing or replacement of selective parts for a certain period of time. Warranty service is a common type of after-sales service provided by most companies. For example – Dell computers & laptops provide repair facilities at your doorsteps.
  4. E-mail Support- E-Commerce companies have to provide online support via E-mail for any of the product-related queries. The customer can E-mail and discuss the problem and get it resolved. E-mail is very effective for software services and those problems that take time to solve as Chat & call support is build for small queries.
  5. Call & Chat Service– Under this kind of service, A dedicated support team is available to understand the grievances and bring a unique solution to the problem. The customer can call on the helpline number or chat and discuss the problem and get it solved.