A CX-centric approach to after-sales can be a powerful brand differentiator, giving businesses an edge in highly saturated markets. When their after-sales offerings deliver clear value to the consumer, businesses often see increased CLVs, decreased revenue leakage, and stronger customer relationships. However, developing a successful after-sales strategy requires access to comprehensive cross-organizational analytics. And with the average business holding more than 2,000 silos of data, holistic analytics can be challenging to derive.
Software systems play a significant role in cultivating a culture of analytics throughout the organization—and improving visibility around after-sales touchpoints. Investing in solutions that clean, blend, and provide deep insights into cross-functional data is key for driving the types of decisions that encourage brand loyalty (and by extension, a willingness to pay a premium for the brand's offerings). Equipped with data on customer buying habits, support needs, and behavioral trends, businesses can take proactive steps to ensure ideal long-term experiences with their products or services.
Help desk analytics
When leveraged effectively, help desk data provides multiple avenues to impactful after-sales CX. The most obvious advantage is that businesses can use metrics like first response time and escalation rate to provide more effective service to current customers. When 85% of customers say they'd be willing to leave a company due to poor service, ensuring positive support interactions is vital for post-sales loyalty. However, help desk data can be used to improve a range of cross-organizational functions that impact long-term CX.
Companies that track common complaints, for example, can gain powerful insights into the new features, upgrades, and products customers are most eager to see.
They can also develop clearer timelines for when preventative equipment maintenance or routine product updates will become necessary, ultimately extending the life of their offerings and reducing friction throughout the customer journey.
From a sales point of view, help desk analytics can reveal which complimentary products and services are most likely to improve the user experience. This allows teams to plan cross-sell and upsell initiatives that will appeal to current customers—and execute those initiatives at the time when they're most likely to make an impact.
Social media analytics
Social media analytics help businesses keep a finger on the pulse of the topics and trends that matter most to their customers, even as the market landscape shifts and evolves. While often leveraged for marketing campaigns and initial sales strategies, the data derived from a company's social platforms can also be used to influence the post-purchase experience.
Sentiment and behavior analyses help businesses zero in on untapped after-sales opportunities and identify areas where their current offerings can improve. A dropoff in post-purchase customer activity, for instance, could indicate a need for more frequent and creative engagement with current customers. A pattern of comments regarding slow or inconsistent support resolutions could point to a need for help desk optimization.
Meanwhile, metrics like share of voice and share of market help businesses understand how their after-sales offerings are performing, and where they may be losing business to a competitor. For example, a car company may be dominating the conversation when it comes to initial sales. But if customers are promoting a secondary provider for maintenance needs, the company could be losing out on a significant after-sales revenue source.
Survey analytics
It's common for businesses to deploy post-sales surveys to learn about customer satisfaction with an initial purchase. However, a strategically crafted survey is far more than a QA tool. Surveys can reveal what drives follow-up purchases and what the brand must offer to retain the customer long-term. They can also help businesses identify the tone, language, and brand positioning that resonates most strongly with their customers.
Using this information, marketing teams can better highlight the value of after-sales offerings during follow-up campaigns, and elevate the appeal of their loyalty programs. Both of these steps are crucial for strengthening customer relationships. While more than half of buyers say that value drives their repeat business, 30% say the company's loyalty program plays a significant role in their decision.
At its core, an effective after-sales strategy retains customers by offering top-tier CX well beyond the initial POS. Survey data can offer definitive insights regarding what that looks like to the customer—and how they'd like to see it delivered.
Reconceptualizing the customer journey
By moving beyond the perception that a customer's journey ends when a purchase is made, and identifying ways to deliver ongoing value, businesses can forge stronger and more profitable customer relationships. But crafting high-impact after-sales touchpoints requires an understanding of how the customer's needs evolve after an initial purchase. Tracking their sentiments, behaviors, and preferences on a continuous basis is crucial to achieving this understanding.
In many cases, this will require a shift in the company's procedures surrounding data collection and sharing. However, investing in systems for gathering more holistic insights into the highs and lows of a customer's post-purchase journey can lead to significant returns. Businesses that position themselves as the go-to source for service, maintenance, and complimentary products stand to reap the financial benefits of customer loyalty, while enhancing their overall reputation as a CX-centric brand.
Zoho offers a suite of intelligent enterprise business software, including an award-winning CRM suite, the industry's only comprehensive analytics and BI platform, and a powerful low-code development ecosystem.
