The quality of customer service and user experience is what differentiates competitors in business today.  Those who deal with customers have an opportunity to extend their influence with a simple technique: the after-sales call email.

This is the view of Louis Laurie, Marketing & Sales Director at Dac Systems, who believes that a disciplined, professional approach to a post-sale email can reap many rewards.

These benefits include keeping a clear, comprehensive record of discussions with a prospective client. “This is very handy if one is temporary unavailable or away, there is a record of discussion immediately available so that there is no loss of momentum or any frustration or inconvenience caused,” Laurie explains.

Another advantage is the fact that this mail not only serves as record of discussion for the benefit of the client, it also helps to manage client expectations.

“All these messages and emails are date stamped and that helps to keep track of the engagement. Larger organisations have specialised Customer Relations Management (CRM) system to enable vendor and client teams to engage effectively with one another,” says Laurie.

Laurie says that while professional sales staff are trained to set a goal for every sales call made, perhaps the most important function of the after-sales call email is that it helps to position sale staff for the next step in the process.

“During the meeting, you discuss your follow up actions and with this email, you re-enforce them so that when you get to the client again, you confirm what was agreed,” he continues.

In terms of goal setting for the after sales call, there are specific stages that ought to be completed according to marketing experts at Dac Systems. Firstly, it is recommended that the goal or objective be identified before the call is initiated. Then it is the job of the sales person to set the relevant expectation during the meeting and reiterate it upon exit.

“Good communication ends with a message of hope, so in the context of the follow up actions mentioned above, your email should be phrased to highlight your client’s ideas and highlighting the benefits she has accepted as much as inviting yourself back for the follow up meeting. The principle is straight forward – optimise the use of your personal resources, especially your time,” Laurie adds.