When customers acquire products that are linked to after-sales service, the second innings of the customer experience journey starts then. An excellent after-sales service will enhance customer loyalty. Firstly, customers must find it easy to contact for assistance. Secondly, they must be handled professionally and serviced according to urgency and circumstances. Long wait times, inordinate delay in service, and inadequate communication can frustrate customers and result in a poor experience The customer experience journey A customer journey, which customers experience when interacting with a product or service brand, is divided into two phases — engagement and satisfaction. Engagement is the first, where customers acquire products. This phase is where customers provide feedback, try out different products and begin to purchase. Satisfaction builds upon the existing satisfaction when customers find it easy to engage with customer care. The satisfaction from customer care engagement is vital for a company, as enhanced customer satisfaction there would lead to an additional robust sale. Therefore, an excellent customer experience is essential for any company by improving after-sales service. The importance of customer service People buy from a company for reasons beyond its products or services. The entire experience of dealing with the company should be seamless, rewarding, and of good quality. Customer loyalty is a crucial success factor in today’s fast-paced world. Product companies from industries across all the geographies compete for their customers and high-quality sales force. Although customer-centricity is an essential element in a business, it can become a real challenge when the sales force focuses on customer acquisition rather than retention. What is after-sales service? 1. After-sales service helps service providers keep the door open for current and prospective customers by enabling customers to make quick, simple, and reliable purchase decisions and drive awareness and sales. 2. The industry’s after-sales model calls for better customer experience through 24×7 services and co-creation of new customer experience and loyalty. 3. After-sales service is often divided into two phases: Presence of the service provider: Service providers who are present at the time of customer service needs are considered to have good customer service. Service providers who remain absent for most of such times would be considered to have poor customer service. The customer experience journey To ensure that every part of the customer experience journey is enhanced and strengthened, here are ways to go about it. 1. Communication – Educate, educate and educate; How many times have you had to wait hours to get the part you need or made to drive from home to the supplier or the workshop, only to find that a technician couldn’t be found? Communicating with customers about the status of the parts and service requests as they happen can be rewarding to the customers without any anxiety in their minds. 2. Service – Offer compassion and empathy-How many times have you faced troubles with a repair or maintenance issue, only to be told you are at fault for something you didn’t know about? After-sales-service: how to provide an enhanced customer experience Maintaining customer loyalty and happiness requires various services and resources to be provided most optimally. In addition, after-sales service is not just about customer support. Instead, a method to enhance the service is to differentiate your product through unique offerings that support your products. A sound digitized after-sales-service module in the Retail ERP built in an integrated manner can make a huge difference. Hence, we embedded and integrated a robust warranty and after-sales-service module as part of our Retail ViVA and perfected it over a decade-long usage experience by our retail customers. Conclusion The high-touch customer experience design is the way to go to ensure customer delight. Research has clearly shown that the immediate satisfaction of customers is often most vital to customer loyalty and retention. Our experiences and relationships with others, including with brands, are critical predictors of the way we think, feel, and behave, as well as how we act toward them. It is also necessary that customers be empowered and to feel as if they have a say in how the brand functions and engages. The ingredients to optimize customer experience must be embedded within the business model and strategies of today’s leading companies through good digitization. Written by (Ragu)nathan Kannan
