Is your after sales operation sustainable?

When you hear the word “sustainable”, you first thought might be environmental sustainability, but let’s expand the term. As an after-sales manager, your operations need to be sustainable in every way—from finances to processes and how you interact with your customers. Here is how you can prepare your organization to last the distance.  

Financial sustainability 

To ensure financial sustainability, you need to avoid rising handling costs for repairs and claims. Clear product tips and detailed information help customers use products correctly and prevent issues. If customers can fix minor problems themselves or avoid making mistakes, you won’t have to cover unnecessary shipping costs for avoidable returns. 
Do not discard returned products that could be repaired and resold. Selling them as outlet items is a more sustainable alternative. 

With the right system, you gain central visibility over incoming returns and claims. Should you reorder more of the same product to meet demand, or will returns cover it? The right solution also allows you to analyze whether you should even continue stocking products with high return or claim rates. 

Be part of your customers’ promise 

You’re likely experiencing growing sustainability requirements and pressure to embrace a circular economy. The more products that can be repaired and recycled, the less strain on natural resources. Reduce unnecessary shipments by ensuring returns and claims can be resolved in-store or repaired locally. Fewer shipments mean a lower environmental impact. 

Integration with repair shops enables customers to send items directly to them—while you still track the product—reduces shipping and enhances customer service. 

Solutions like these give customers a sense of being part of a more sustainable cycle when shopping with you: "I’m not contributing to a throwaway culture—I choose a retailer that helps reduce environmental impact." 

Evaluate quality 

Buying from many different suppliers can make it difficult for staff to determine where returns should be sent, leading to time-consuming searches for information. Cheap products often cost more in labor time to manage than their actual value, resulting in returned items simply being shelved in-store and discarded. 

Without insight into return and claim reasons, you may continue selling low-quality products without realizing it. To maintain sustainable quality levels, implement a system that provides return and claim statistics so you can easily evaluate suppliers and products. 

Readiness to scale up 

Eliminate dependence on individual employees’ knowledge of how to handle returns/reclaims of specific products. Using a centralized system that ensures all product data is transmitted to the relevant receiver from a single source makes it easier to scale up.

When information is stored accessible to everyone, you won’t need to hire additional staff or provide extensive training on handling specific brands. This allows you to expand your product range without immediately increasing personnel. And you can still ensure that all returns and reclaims are handled in line with your sustainability policy.

Is your brand promise sustainable? 

Is your brand promise sustainable even after the purchase, or do you consider your commitment fulfilled at the point of sale? 
As an after-sales manager, you should aim for fast, consistent post-purchase processes and ensure that customers receive the same response whether they visit a store or call customer service. Customers research company reviews, including how returns and claims are handled. This experience is just as important as every other aspect of the purchase experience. 
 
The customer journey continues even after someone receives their product. They want the reassurance that if something goes wrong, they will get quick and effective support. This is what creates satisfied customers—and something you can compete on.