What is after-sales? 50 tips for more success in service!

After-sales management comprises all entrepreneurial activities that follow the sale of a main product. Sales after-sales management describes communication and advertising strategies for customer retention. The after-sales service sub-division stands for sales and the provision of technical services such as maintenance, repairs, spare parts supply and much more.

For many companies, the after-sales sector is already more lucrative than the primary business. This area will also become increasingly important in the future. The ServiceLobby is a platform that deals exclusively with topics relating to this exciting and promising field. We explain how you can After-sales strategy lead to success. We have put together 50 tips for you below that will help you to improve. But first we need to clarify what we are talking about when we talk about after-sales.

1. sales after-sales management

Sales after-sales management refers to all marketing measures aimed at the existing customer base. This includes in particular

• - Customer loyalty programs (loyalty programs, discounts, exclusive offers, etc.)
• - Regular communication (newsletters, mailings, calls and customer visits)

The aim is to convey to the customer that they have a special status for the company. This should encourage them to make subsequent purchases.

2 What is after-sales service?

It is becoming increasingly difficult for companies to achieve good prices with their primary goods. This is where after-sales service offers the opportunity to stand out from the competition with better services and to stand out from the crowd with a more differentiated portfolio.

3. after-sales measures

The portfolio of industrial companies is divided into different after-sales services. The most common are

Installations generally only occur in the B2B environment, as many products here must first be installed by trained personnel. This is not usually necessary in the consumer sector (B2C). More info>>

Repairs can not only on site by a technician but also through the support of a technical hotline. In Teleservice, customer service employees connect to machines and systems to rectify problems without having to go out into the field.

Maintenance exist in various designs. The most modern is the Predictive maintenance. It works proactively and can even predict failures through data analysis. Preventive maintenance, on the other hand, is usually based on time intervals. More info>>

The Spare parts supply is the most lucrative after-sales measure for most companies. However, spare parts are often a difficult issue in the relationship with the customer. A price that is too high is the main reason why customers opt for a new supplier for a follow-up purchase. More info>>

Value Added Services are value-adding services that are not part of the main activities of a service provider. These include training, service contracts, consulting, data-based services and much more. More info>>

4 -> 50 tips for success in after-sales

The following 50 tips are certainly not everything you can do to impress with your customer service. However, they provide a good starting point for strengthening and developing your after-sales area in the long term.

4.1 Basic tips for your after-sales strategy

1. develop a well thought-out business model! Even today, service is unfortunately still seen as a necessary evil and a pure cost factor in many companies. Develop a suitable business model with which you can also generate profits. Use the 5 success factors for expanding the after-sales area as a guide. More info>>

2. monitor trends! In service, it is important to be on the Keeping up with the times. To ensure this, you can of course follow the ServiceLobby via email by entering your details on this page. We will keep you informed about developments and regularly publish exciting insights on after-sales topics.

3. use technological innovations in service! There are a variety of technologies that you can use in customer service to increase productivity. Find out more to discover the potential for your service business. You will find a separate topic area for this in our Insights.

4. Think service from the customer's perspective! The customer should be at the center of every service effort. Don't just start developing and planning. Always ask yourself first what really creates added value for your customers. Only if you think, work and develop in a customer-centric way will you be able to develop your company into an after-sales champion.

5. convince top management to invest more in service! Without the support of top management, it is difficult to make progress in after-sales and it is difficult to make your department a success. Service Excellence to lead. You need a tailwind from top management if you want to develop service into a business area on a par with others. More info>>

6. develop an outstanding service mentality! To inspire customers, you have to start with yourself and your team. To do this, it is important to approach the matter with the right vigor. Service is a matter of attitude! More info>>

7. structure your service organization sensibly! You need to find the right organizational structure for your after-sales area yourself or seek advice. The problem is often that companies think too late or not at all about how best to set themselves up in order to offer outstanding customer service and design new services. A wide variety of design options are available. More info>>

8. conquer new business areas in the service market of the future. Completely new business areas are constantly emerging as a result of digitalization in service. The markets of the future will offer completely new opportunities to earn money with machine data. More info>>

9. have confidence in yourself and your team! Service means more than just painting by numbers and responding to customer requests. Proactively develop your own ideas to become even better. Many tasks are not as difficult as they appear at first glance. Often the people involved simply don't know where to start.

10. be patient! There are a few obstacles to overcome on the way to the service Olympus. Not everything works overnight. Take a step-by-step approach and bear in mind that customers and your internal colleagues sometimes need a little longer to understand a new offer and develop interest.

11. drive decentralization forward! Your service technicians usually need to be on site quickly. It therefore makes more sense not to concentrate your personnel at a single branch, but to distribute them across various locations close to the customer. Especially in an international context. Nevertheless, a local team should consist of at least 10 technicians in order to be effective.

12. optimize your complaint management! Not every service request is a complaint. But ensuring that incoming complaints are processed correctly is a basic prerequisite for you to build a learning after-sales organization and continuously develop further. In this way, you will eventually be able to effectively increase your revenue by selling new, improved services. More info>>

13. surprise your customers! To not only satisfy customers, but also inspire them, you need to go the extra mile and surprise them with unexpected services. Ask yourself what your customer expects and what additional service you can offer them at a reasonable price/for free. Such positive surprises can be strategically planned. If implemented correctly, the customer will love you like children love Santa Claus.

4.2 More profit in after-sales

14. build a profit center up! Unfortunately, many after-sales units are still managed as cost centers today. However, this ensures that they are mainly perceived as a cost factor in the company. Sit down with your controlling department and consider what is necessary to manage after-sales as a profit center. Then you can focus on the contribution margin generated and work more specifically on the profitability of your area. A nice side effect is that the entire company will then see in black and white that you are earning your money. 

15. reduce unnecessary costs in your department! You need to find out where unnecessary costs are being incurred in your after-sales department. Of course, everyone will find different wastes here. However, a few problem areas can be defined where most organizations are lacking. More info>>

16. negotiate better with your service partners! In the private sector, people often don't realize that they can save real money by switching to a different electricity or telephone provider. The situation is similar in many service departments with regard to external service providers. Of course, long-term business relationships have an intrinsic value. However, people often rely on one partner for too long and don't even realize that they could do better with another provider. If you find out that your competitors are cheaper, you can of course talk to your existing partners again to see whether discounts might be possible. More info>>

17 Eliminate unnecessary goodwill costs! You should compensate customers if mistakes are made in your department and the goodwill policy is an important part of your service strategy. However, you should also take a critical look at your own actions in this area from time to time. There are also hidden goodwill costs that managers are not always aware of. More info>>

18. increase your sales! To implement this, you can start in different areas. However, there are a few approaches that experience has shown work for many companies. More info>>

19. monetize services in a meaningful way! Think early on about how you can earn money with a service you offer. Sometimes individual services are in high demand and yet it is difficult to charge the customer for them. This is often the case with hotline costs, for example. More info>>

20. create lock-in effects to bind customers to your company! There are different Types of customer loyalty. Unfortunately, in the service and B2B business, customers are not particularly loyal. That's why you should design your offer in such a way as to create lock-in effects that bind them to your offer in the long term. More info>>

4.3 Service contracts as a profit factor in customer service

21. promote the sale of service contracts! Service contracts are very valuable if you want to be successful in after-sales. As a rule, it is only possible to offset the costs of internal service activities and make service sales crisis-proof with the help of contractual agreements. In order to drive sales forward here, you need to start by drafting the contracts correctly. More info>>

22. get rid of unprofitable service contracts! Unfortunately, this point is too often forgotten. If you have contracts with customers that are no longer profitable for you, you need to sell or renegotiate them. More info>>

23 Offer customers availability guarantees! Many Service Manager are afraid to guarantee your customers a certain service life for their machines and systems. This is a risk that you can pay for. Properly implemented and planned, this field can be very lucrative. More info>>

24. create leasing offers! Leasing models are already used in many areas. With the right strategy, you may also be successful here. More info>>

4.4 Quality assurance in customer service:

25. develop a strategy for efficient quality assurance! You should always offer the customer a comparable and high-quality service with your services. In this way, you will always be able to meet and often even exceed expectations. More info>>

4.5 After-sales distribution

26. develop a profitable sales strategy! To get off to a flying start in after-sales, you must of course also focus more on sales tasks in service. The right strategy is crucial here. More info>>

27 Check whether your sales team is set up correctly for selling services! Services have to be sold differently than products. This is why even outstanding product salespeople sometimes find this difficult. Enter into an active exchange with your sales team. More info>>

28 Involve service technicians in sales! Opinions in customer service sometimes differ as to whether it makes sense to partially integrate service technicians into the sales structure and entrust them with corresponding tasks. If well thought-out solutions are found here and the necessary tools are made available, this can definitely help a service department move forward. More info>>

29. use service guarantees profitably! Service guarantees make sense in many cases and increase confidence in your services. However, you should take the necessary measures to limit the risk for yourself. More info>>

30 Use your customer touchpoints to inform customers about your service! It makes sense to draw customers' attention to your service offering at an early stage during the purchase process. Think about what touchpoints you have with customers and how these can be used. More info>>

4.6 Developing innovations with service design

31. design new innovative services! Service design is a multifaceted topic. Digitalization in particular offers a wide range of options for designing new services. There are a number of established processes that you can use for this purpose. More info>>

32. develop suitable advisory services for customers! You know best how to use your machines effectively. Your buyers may want to benefit from this. Consultancy can be a very useful value-added service for customers. The consulting relationship can be structured in very different ways. More info>>

33. introduce product-related services before higher-value services! It is an advantage if you first expand your maintenance and repair business before developing completely new services. Once you have achieved this, you will have the confidence you need to venture into more creative tasks.

34. introduce new services to loyal customers first! Your loyal regular customers will have a higher tolerance for mistakes if you want to try something new. This trust is an advantage when it comes to implementing a project in the long term.

4.7 Internationalization

35. be aware of cultural differences in service! Different nations often have completely different views of the after-sales sector. In some countries, for example, customers are very much in favor of service contracts. Elsewhere, on the other hand, you have to do a lot of persuading in order to conclude contracts. Take a look at the "Internationalization" section in our Insights.

4.8 Customers

36. know your customers' expectations! Of course, customer expectations are not only very different in an international comparison, but also very diverse overall. Nevertheless, there are a few basic customer needs that you should meet with your service. More info>>

37 Improve customer communication! Communication is an important building block in your relationship with the customer. It can also be strategically planned and implemented. More info>>

38. build customer trust in digital services! Digital services are difficult to grasp. Data protection is not the only uncertainty factor for many companies when it comes to innovative services. They should take appropriate measures here to reduce reservations. More info>>

39. act proactively in customer service! Don't wait until the customer comes to you with complaints. Instead, you can proactively obtain feedback. More info>>

40. compensate customers appropriately in the event of damage. If you have made a mistake, you should compensate customers appropriately. Think about suitable strategies as part of complaint management. More info>>

41 Give customers back the feeling of control! A machine breakdown or standstill is always a nuisance for the customer. You can better involve the customer in finding a solution by giving them back a sense of control over possible solutions. This often helps to avoid unnecessary frustration. More info>>

42. create opportunities for employees to pass on customer feedback to management! To ensure that employees pass on feedback from your customers, you need to create the right environment. More info>>

43 Ensure an excellent service orientation in your company! The first machine is sold by sales, the next is sold by service. There is a lot of truth in this saying. A high level of service orientation is therefore absolutely profitable for you and your customers. More info>>

44. better justify additional costs to customers! Additional costs should be set in such a way that they are accepted by customers. More info>>

4.9 Employees:

45 Increase employee satisfaction to retain service professionals! Good staff are valuable and happy employees will remain loyal to you for longer. You should therefore take sufficient measures to ensure that employees are happy to work for your company. More info>>

46. fill the different roles in after-sales! Each after-sales activity is divided into specific areas of responsibility. You do not have to fill all of these roles with a single employee. However, all areas should be covered in order to be able to work effectively. More info>>

47 Compensate employees financially for dealing with difficult customers! Dissatisfied customers are a huge stress factor for your service technicians. There are many different ways to show your employees appreciation for their difficult work. However, research shows that in this particular case, financial compensation in particular keeps employee satisfaction high in the long term. More info>>

48 Promote the development of employees through appropriate skills management! You should always keep an overview of your staff's skills and actively promote employees. This way, you know exactly which technician is the right one for an incoming order and can train your staff strategically. More info>>

4.10 Outsourcing & automation

49. think about sensible outsourcing strategies! In many cases, it is advantageous to outsource simple tasks and assign orders to service providers. This allows you to concentrate on the lucrative tasks that require your comprehensive knowledge of the products. More info>>

50 Automate service processes! You can also save yourself unnecessary work through automation and concentrate your efforts on the really important issues. More info>>