If you are not sure whether to place greater emphasis on your presales or after sales service, today’s blog post will help you to prioritize. In it, we explore the major differences between the two, both in terms of the way in which they should be implemented and their likely effect on your business operations.
How Presales and After Sales Service Differ in Terms of Implementation
The main way in which the implementation of presales and after sales service differs is in the initiation of new conversations with customers. For those involved in presales, a proactive approach is usually the best. Rather than waiting for prospective customers to ask for help or more information, presales specialists will approach their targets and engage with them as often as possible. After sales specialists, on the other hand, will often wait until they are asked before stepping in to provide additional information or personal assistance.
How Presales and After Sales Service Differ in Terms of Their Effect on Business Operations
There are a number of areas of your business in which the effect of presales and after sales service may differ considerably, among which the following are most prominent:
- Increased Sales – Better presales strategies and techniques often have a rapid (and sometimes dramatic) effect on turnover. Because presales service is all about helping customers to make a purchasing decision, it is able to make an almost instantaneous impact in certain cases. After-sales service can also lead to increased turnover, but this effect is necessarily a lagging one.
- Approaches to Research – Both presales and after sales service specialists need to conduct research on a regular basis but in different areas and with a different focus. When providing a presales service, the research is normally focused on determining exactly what potential customers need and measuring how well they respond to various sales and marketing initiatives. When providing an after-sales service, the focus should be on identifying new trends in customer feedback and on liaising with in-house product experts to resolve any design and manufacturing issues that may be uncovered.
- Customer Satisfaction – In terms of customer satisfaction, after sales service is undoubtedly more important than presales, at least in the majority of market sectors. It is predominantly unsatisfied customers that will be contacting your after-sales team and the way in which they are served will determine whether they remain in this state or are transformed into satisfied customers. Unless your presales service is unusually good or bad, it shouldn’t have a noticeable effect in this area. Nevertheless, it is still worth investing in presales training if you want to ensure that it does not have a negative impact on customer satisfaction.
If you’d like to learn more about the main differences between presales and after sales service, and how you can capitalize on the positive effects both are able to produce, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We offer a selection of training courses for sales professionals, including programs that cover core selling skills, negotiating techniques and customer service skills.
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