After Sales Service
While the bulk of your planning so far has focussed on getting your product to market, your export strategy should also include an assessment of the nature of your after sales service. After all your hard work winning a deal, the last thing you need is to damage your reputation by failing to live up to the buyer/clientĄs expectations. If you work on the calculation that every disgruntled client will tell ten people, and they in turn tell ten people, you soon get an idea of the potential fallout from one mishandled deal.
The strength of your after sales service will go a long way towards ensuring the sustainability of your export activities.
In developing your after sales approach you should consider the following questions:
- Do you have the capacity to fulfil a repeat order soon after the initial order?
- Should you warehouse stock in the market?
- Does your product or service require installation or training of local staff?
- Is there a need to integrate it into an existing system?
- Will it require maintenance and/or parts replacement?
- Can any of this be sourced locally?
While you may choose to complete the entire sales process personally, consider carefully whether maintaining your market presence in this way is practical in the long term. It may be worthwhile at this stage to consider appointing an agent or distributor.
Consider too your client’s expectations that their customer support needs will be addressed within their time zone.
