How to improve post-sale customer warranty support

How to improve post-sale customer warranty support

Tips on how to turn customer grief into a brand loyal following

The grief when the product stops working

Imagine the following; you bought an electronic item, set it up, and are happy using it; however, the day comes when your kit breaks down. If the item is your everyday item in your daily life, it is even worse because the terror it introduces to experiencing life without it seems like the worst thing ever. Then you have to figure out how to get it sorted. You, the customer, have to go figure out who made it, what retailer you bought it from and who and how to get in touch to get it brought back to life.

That is how every customer’s journey into testing the manufacturer’s strength of aftermarket warranty service starts. The customer then has to rummage through the website and dig the support information, which is usually “submit a ticket” or “email us”, and we will get back to you within ten working days.

Let’s discuss how you, the manufacturer, can improve the post-sale customer support when an inevitable failure strikes with your high-quality electronic equipment in the customer’s hands.

Every support call is an opportunity to show excellence

The customers buy into established brands because they want to ensure they will be cared for throughout the gadget’s entire life cycle and sometimes even beyond. When a customer invests a significant amount of money or even leases the equipment, they want to make sure that it will be easy to fix when they have an issue. Having an easily approachable post-sale support procedure is another chance to improve your image and get your customers to rave about your brand.

It works out as a good return of investment to have an optimised and customer-focused returns process as this pays off well over the customer’s lifetime value to the brand. The process can be further improved and optimised by having an internally dedicated team handle such queries. If having the internal team cannot be justified, the next best thing is to seek a specialised professional local company to handle the reverse-logistics process.

It allows you to showcase your brand capabilities to provide outstanding service again. The first time was when the customer bought the product; you got to show your quick delivery dates and unboxing experience. This time the customer expects their issue dealt with quick.

We can start discussing the significant steps and what manufacturers can do to reduce the downtime and pain the customer has to go through when they experience an issue with their electronic product.

Be available on multiple channels

Transparency of the reverse-logistics process matters when providing an excellent electronics warranty service experience. We understand that product manufacturers are mostly revenue-driven and invest most of the resources into manufacturing new products, selling them, and even prioritising new product research & development over working on solid returns management.

There are multiple ways to improve customer post-sale experience. First of all, the customer wants to be heard and acknowledged. Then they want their issue to be dealt with swiftly whilst keeping them up to date on the process. And they want to be in control of the process.

• Make it easy for customers to get in touch about their issues. You can start by optimising your website to ensure support links are visible and maybe even implementing a real-time chat. However, be wary of chat-bots; they are super annoying and cause more grief than bring value to the customer.
• Various companies also implemented a strategy to be available on social media for support, which helped them further increase the product experience and develop the following on the social media channels.
• Another strategy we recommend is prioritising your existing customer chat requests or support tickets product issues over general enquiries. You can ask customers to choose their enquiry type and direct them to a prioritised support team.

These three options are a good start at optimising your customer experience, which will improve your brand recognition and build a cult following. And we know that loyal customers spend more.

Conclusion

When the disaster strikes and product failure is always a disaster from the customer’s perspective, make it easy for them to reach out by being clear on how to reach out. Listen to them and validate their concerns.

Remember, the customer is the customer, and they are always right. If you try to prove them wrong, they will take their business elsewhere.

Finally, prioritise existing customer issues. And, having customers who talk about how great your after-sales support is will do great things for your brand.