Almost any product requires an after-sales service. Service activity is one of the promising areas of small (and not only) business, which will allow you to always have income. Whatever one may say, even the highest quality goods break down over time.
The specifics of the organization of service activities
When buying footwear, household appliances, cell phone, TV, the client is guided not only by the criteria "liked" and "suitable for the price", but also by the brand. Why? Because branded products have developed service activities, which means that in the event of a malfunction, the owner of this item will more likely turn to a service center for repairs, rather than go to the store to buy the same product. Naturally, in this case, the question comes down to money - repairs are cheaper than buying a new thing. In Russia, the organization of service activities has its own nuances. Communication and transport links are not as developed here as in Europe, so the distance of the service center from the place of residence can be of decisive importance. As for the technical literacy of users, it also leaves much to be desired: most of the malfunctions occur due to the fault of the owners due to improper operation of the device.
Pros and cons
There are three main ways you can set up your own service center. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. The first and most logical way is to build the whole company on your own. This tactic implies significant financial investments: you need not only a specially equipped room and the personnel necessary for any business (like an accountant and a receptionist). Highly qualified specialists will be needed, who will have to pay a rather big salary, they will need to organize their own warehouse facilities, where constant monitoring of the availability of certain components is necessary. Only large companies can afford such a scale.
In contrast to the first, the second way is to create an outsourcing structure. The plus is that the business owner is relieved of the headaches that come with organizing warehouses, recruiting employees, etc. Minus - clients can become clients of the provider company, bypassing the outsourcing company, and the level of service in small enterprises, as a rule, leaves much to be desired.
The best way is to create a two-tier structure, consisting of a head office that works with direct customers, and several service shops that directly carry out repairs. In such a structure, the head division is often engaged in, among other things, training personnel, and the service workshops with which an agreement has been concluded feel relatively stable.
