PUE Refrigerators: After-sales support
Summary
Good after-sales services are essential to building customer trust with last mile distributors who sell productive use of energy (PUE) refrigerators. As your distribution company develops its business operations for refrigerator sales it’s important to consider the after-sales services you’ll offer. This could include refunds, repairs, warranties, replacements, maintenance and customer usage guidance.
Ensure customer satisfaction
After-sales services are offered by almost all LMDs and for nearly all durable products.
These services play a crucial role in ensuring that customers remain satisfied and confident with their purchase. Warranties, proactive maintenance, customer service, training and usage guidance, as well as returns and refunds, are all considered part of after-sales service.
After-sales support is often more complex and intensive for PUE appliances such as fridges because they require more technical knowledge than solar home systems for example.
Good after sales service requires trained agents that are skilled in the technical aspects of the product you sell.
These specialised agents can provide in-depth knowledge and expertise, ensuring that both the sales team and customers fully understand the features, installation processes, and maintenance and hygiene requirements for refrigerators.
According to a 60 Decibels study in 2024 many customers reported challenges with their refrigerators. As a result, satisfaction was troublingly low. A Net Promoter Score of -1 reflects critical feedback on customer service, pricing and reliability. Frequent repairs and inconsistent cooling are among the top challenges faced by users.
LMDs should develop a robust after-sales service plan that reflects the most common issues. If these cannot be identified from historical sales data, then distributors could consult others or run a pilot first and list the most common faults.
By identifying after-sales issues early, LMDs can plan for adequate resources and staff training to handle them, reducing the likelihood of product returns and customer complaints.
Distributors should also consider legal and warranty requirements in their countries of operation. Ensuring that the after-sales support meets these requirements helps avoid legal issues and builds trust with customers.
Repair faulty fridges
POPO has plans to establish five storage facilities for spare parts throughout Uganda. This will ensure timely access to the parts that fail most frequently. While basic repairs can be done at the customers’ premises, products with more complicated failures need to be collected and serviced at a dedicated workshop.
Customers may have to be provided with a (temporary) replacement if repair cannot be completed promptly.
Customer education on hygiene and maintenance
Customers also have a role to play in product longevity through appropriate usage and basic routine maintenance.
Sales agents can educate customers on this, which can be supported with printed instructions or mobile videos when targeting customers with low literacy levels. With support from the GDC and Efficiency for Access, POPO in Uganda has developed customer education videos optimised for mobile viewing.
Instructions for appropriate use could include topics such as not overstocking the fridge. The desire to pack commercial refrigerators as full as possible is an understandable one. Customers should keep fridges about two-thirds full and space items evenly to ensure that air circulates and keeps everything evenly chilled.
POPO lets their sales agents or supervisors make monthly visits to new customers within the first three months after a fridge is installed. During this period the customer learns how to use the product and often has many questions and requests for support with troubleshooting.
What can manufacturers do?
LMDs look for manufacturers that can support their after-sales services. For example, manufacturers could provide a buffer for every stock consignment that will serve as replacements for faulty products they cannot help with promptly. For example, Last mile distributor Natfort suggest a minimum of 2% for every stock consignment of solar water pumps.
Providing a buffer stock lets distributors quickly address any product issues or defects without waiting for a new shipment. This immediacy is crucial in maintaining customer satisfaction and trust, as customers receive prompt solutions to their problems.
Keep reading
Read more about selling PUE refrigerators:
- Consumer demand and value proposition
- Sales and marketing
- Product and supplier selection
- Consumer finance
- Stock financing
- Logistics
Read our full publication
Want to learn more? The above articles have been taken from our downloadable publication: How to Sell Refrigerators for Productive Use.
Photo credits
Top graphic: Contains the following edited images: photo of a man by Freepik; fridge photo by muhammad.abdullah on Freepik; and strawberry icon by logturnal on Freepik
First photo: Image by Drazen Zigic on Freepik