Too many businesses think that customer service or after care is a nice thing to provide, if you can. It’s almost regarded as optional in the overall business offering.
“We’ll do it when we have the time” … “It might be good but it will cost a lot “ … “It’s a nice to have.”
The truth is, how you treat your customer both before and after a sale will affect not only your ability to sell to them again but can push them to influence others.
The weight of evidence is borne of regular industry research; almost a half of those surveyed recently (UK) felt that customer service was not a business priority. Yet the smart business knows that customer service is the public face of their brand. How customers are treated and spoken to will help them decide whether to spend money with a company. Regrettably far too many organisations spend money on sales and marketing to win business, but commit little or nothing to after care, risking the loss of repeat custom.
Our digital world has given a powerful voice to the disappointed consumer using review websites like market leading Trust Pilot who publish over 1 million new reviews every month. Get a poor score and you have a lot of work to repair your damaged reputation. And it’s a fact that the customer will make considerably more effort to register a complaint than to praise good service.
So how come, despite this, so many businesses make little or no effort to support their sales achievements (and business future) with well organised, professional after care? There are a couple of possible answers that come readily to mind:
1. COST - If you think that good customer service is expensive, consider the cost implications of a shrinking business.
2. CULTURE - We’ve never had it in the past! We’ve always done business this way and we’ve got 20 years’ experience; or do they mean one year’s experience repeated twenty times?
Whatever the reason, it is incumbent on every business owner to review how they support their customer before and especially after the sale. The new homes market is especially challenged as the build warranty requires the developer to provide a professional and reliable after care service for 2 years following the purchase of a new home. That requires trained resource, systems, processes, and a ‘can-do’ approach to every problem reported. Not easy to structure, particularly for small and medium sized new home builders. This is why we established After Build: Outsourced, fixed price after care for new homes.
Want to know more? Contact Mark Fawcitt (07342 037810/markf@afterbuild.com).
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