Gain loyalty with after-sales support

Effective aftermarket support is an opportunity. If done poorly, it can lead to unnecessarily lengthy downtime—for example, through the slow delivery of replacement parts, which costs both the vendor and customer. Loyalty, money and reputation are all at stake.

It’s been argued that manufacturers are becoming more and more like service companies and any line between the two is becoming harder to draw. Many articles have recommended that manufacturing companies invest in a high-performing customer service team to better meet customers’ needs that previously may have been neglected.

I work in aftermarket support, and in many ways I am now tasked with much of the responsibility of selling our machines, a role that traditionally sat with sales and marketing. I say this because the most effective way to build customer loyalty is by providing excellent aftermarket support—in other words, by being agile and responding quickly to customer requests. When we asked our customers, after-sales support was by far the No. 1 priority.

Wayne Drysdale (second from left), global after-sales manager at ANCA. Image courtesy of ANCA

Technology is transforming how a traditional customer service team operates, with remote diagnostics and preventive maintenance fast becoming the norm. This technology shift has made having a quality service team paramount to customers’ success, ensuring they minimize machine downtime and maximize production efficiencies.

An obvious place to focus on is after-sales service—for example, by providing effective troubleshooting advice, education and training on how to get the most from a purchase or by finding better ways to supply replacement parts if they are needed.

Service offerings at manufacturers can increase revenue, provide differentiation from competitors and increase customer loyalty.

Machine tool buyers increasingly expect things like around-the-clock, unmanned operation and remote diagnostics. A machine breakdown is a critical issue, and around-the-clock responses to such an issue are expected.

As technology enables better use of an asset, it also enables better service when there are challenges. At ANCA, this means offering remote diagnostics and responding to error codes. Remotely logging on to a customer’s machine to explore problems is also possible. But we need to continue to offer face-to-face support to customers as well to “up-skill” them so they get the best use from their investment.