From a purely sales point of view, after-sales service has its own characteristics, which, developed in the correct way, allow us to distinguish very clearly between companies that are excellent at it and those that are not.

To start off, we need to know the market and our own portfolio. This shows us how we are developing, what our customers value, and how to create appropriate value propositions. We must also define adapted pricing criteria, not just in relation to the market, but adapted to the different situations that may exist in relatively close geographical areas (in many industries, what happens in one town is often be completely different from what goes on in neighboring towns).
Furthermore, from an operational point of view, a decisive factor is having sales networks with a large capacity for planning, excellent at preparing sales visits and with a great sales technique adapted to the business. The good news is that all this can be learned.

Lastly, and most importantly, it is vital to develop a clear and concise approach to customer loyalty, with a constant focus on getting back customers that were lost for whatever reason and—above all—keeping current customers satisfied.

Following the same method discussed, in this previous post, to analyze the starting situation from a sales point of view, the following aspects need to be improved:

Organization
• Planning
• Work Planning
• Resources Master Plan, adapted to the expected workload
• Definition of management indicators
• Short/medium-term business and productivity reports
• Operational meetings

 Processes
• Market data gathering
• Pricing process and criteria
• Sales process to boost business with customers and influencers
• Definition of visit categories
• Detailed visit guides
• Sales techniques

Management system
• Objectives
• Sales agenda
• Monthly/annual sales plan
• Definition of management indicators
• Short/medium-term management reports
• Individualized operational meetings

Training
• Training of middle managers aimed at maximizing sales quality
• Training of technicians that can apply top-level sales functions

After quantifying and prioritizing the opportunities, a specific action plan is defined for each customer in order to increase sales in after-sales operations by working on the same four pillars: