Most businesses expend their energy in attracting new customers. However as long as they do not come up with effective strategies to retain existing customers they can no longer attain business success. Businesses can survive if they focus their attention more on retaining customers rather than attracting new ones.

1. After Sales Service Important for Retaining Customers
Most businesses expend their energy in attracting new customers. However as long as they do not come
up with effective strategies to retain existing customers they can no longer attain business success.
Businesses can survive if they focus their attention more on retaining customers rather than attracting
new ones. And the best way to retain them is through great service. Great service includes factors like
convenience, value for money and after sales service as substantiated by the findings of the American
Express Global Customer Service Barometer. According to the American Express survey, “buying
decisions of 89 per cent of consumers are influenced by convenience and 90 per cent of them attach
importance to value-for-money propositions, almost 90% of consumers make their purchases based on
the quality of after sales customer service.”
Today companies and organizations focus their entire attention on attracting new customers and hence
their concentration is entirely on sales and order fulfillment. Such an attitude on the part of the companies
worked in the earlier times when the business environment was not as competitive and strict as it is
today. However, globalization and the economic recession made the business environment highly
competitive and volatile. Moreover, customers are also no longer naïve. They know about their rights and
are not ready to accept anything that is imperfect or subpar, be it the products or customer service.
Today customer is king. It is not the customers but the companies who need the support of the
customers for their survival. Hence, the onus is upon the companies to provide customers with a service
that force them to come back repeatedly. However, companies have still not learned the importance of
after sales service. It was a non-core activity and it continues to be a low priority area for most companies
and organizations.
Today almost all companies survive due to word of mouth marketing. Hence, if the service is not good
then it means loss of business for the company. This has been substantiated by the American Express
survey, which states that customers are found to tell about their bad shopping experience more than their
good shopping experience. This should serve as an eye-opener for those companies who do not
recognize the potential of after sales service and take their business for granted. After sales service is no
longer a complicated process. Companies can seek the help of after sales service providers who can
automate, rationalize, and optimize the processing of the end-to-end after sales business process.
Also read on - business travel management, value network