Reason 1: Providing solutions to problems
Par of the reason why good aftersales support is important is that there will inevitably be some problems with your products, and having good support allows the problems to be solved. This can allow customers to get the most out of your product, and avoid the possibility that the customer will return it to the store. If you are able to solve the customer issue, this may be much less costly than having to deal with the return.
Beyond the financial justification for providing aftersales support, your customers have purchased a product, and solving their issue is important to allow them to get the most out of using the item.
Reason 2: Retaining repeat customers
Good aftersales support can also allow you to retain repeat customers, who may go to a different firm if they are unable to receive the support that they need when they run into issues. Having a product not live up to expectations can be a disappointment, and not being able to get the support that you need to solve the issue can be a particularly frustrating experience.
Reason 3: Word of mouth referrals
Beyond the individual customer, providing good aftersales support can also impact your broader reputation with customers. While a positive support experience – where customers are able to get support easier than they anticipated – may lead to word-of-mouth referrals, a bad experience may lead to customers discouraging their friends and colleagues from buying your products or services.
Reason 4: Maintaining good relationships with retailers
Another reason why aftersales support is important is that it can help maintain good relations with retailers. Dealing with returned customer items is expensive, and if a larger percentage of your customers return items to retailers, these retailers have to incur costs associated with processing the returns. Depending on the extent of these returns, it is possible that your distributors may drop stopping your product.
By providing good aftersales support, you reduce the likelihood that customers will return their items – in turn helping to maintain a positive relationship with retailers.
Reason 5: Learning from customer support queries
A final reason for the importance of aftersales support is that there can be learning opportunities that come from understanding the issues that customers are enquiring about. You can then use this information to help improve your product – both reducing further queries and also improving the quality of your product i the process.