Product recalls for any company can be a stressful endeavour. However, it should be known that any business that attempts to grow will experience these types of challenges along the way.
Product recalls can bring serious consequences to a company when not handled properly.
According to marketing experts, there are several effects of having a mismanaged product recall.
- Negative publicity towards potential customers – when people are thinking about buying a product from your company, allowing them to hear about the product recall can be bad news. This happens to a lot of larger firms such as those in the automotive industry, electronics, or manufacturing companies who occasionally have faulty products.
- Disgruntled customers – your customers who will be the focus of the product recall may feel frustrated or angry about the situation. In this scenario, you have to be very careful in handling customer concerns. Keeping them satisfied will allow you to minimize the damage that is done by the product recall.
- Loss of brand reputation – as much as possible, companies should do quality testing before launching any product. However, there may be inevitable circumstances where an item proves to be faulty after a launch. This may cause your company to suffer from a poor reputation because of the single incident.
How does a company survive the backlash of a product recall? Are there ways to minimize the fallout in such instances? This article highlights a great method to inform your customers of a product recall without blowing the issue out of proportion.
How To Effectively Alert Those Affected About A Recall
- Inform your customers through a phone call
Phone calls are a discreet way to reach out to your customers who need a product recall. Compared to advertising on the radio or TV, you will only reach those who are affected by the issue and will avoid spilling over into other groups who may be potential customers. It will be helpful to assign an informed customer service representative who will be dealing with clients and their possible questions.
- Keep your lines of communication open
During a product recall, you can expect a larger than normal volume of customers will be trying to reach your customer service department. At this moment, it would be best to allocate more time or more employees to answer these requests. If you decide not to do this, there might be a risk of frustrated customers who feel like they could not reach you and end up complaining on other platforms such as social media, message boards, or review sites like Yelp. Make sure to satisfy as many customers as possible in the shortest amount of time that you can. This will minimize the lasting damage to your company’s reputation.
- Use targeted advertising
Through digital marketing, there is a way to reach clients that may be concerned about the product recall. This is done through targeted advertising. Some digital marketing companies adopt artificial intelligence in their software and can target customers who have previously searched product recall terms. For example, if a client searched for Depuy Knee Lawsuit, this certain company will be able to target users to show information about product recall or compensation.
- Send emails to your clients
It is important to utilize every contact detail that your company has to reach out to your clients. One of the best ways to reach out to your customers is through email. People open their emails at least once or twice a day on average. You can be sure that your clients can see your email, and this allows you to create a template that addresses the issue for those who are concerned. You can create a title that will be easily identified such as “Depuy Knee Lawsuit Compensation”. Be honest and straightforward with the issue and provide specific instructions on how to participate in the product recall. Also, provide additional contact details in case they want to reach out to you personally.
- Prepare your headquarters and satellite branches for the product recall
Your product recall should be as convenient to your customer as possible. After letting them reach out to you, you should be able to assure them that they can find information or seek compensation through the nearest branch in their community. If this is not likely, try to offer a digital means to receive incentives or returns through shipping or paying money electronically. Plan all these steps before announcing the recall to prevent further frustrations from your customers.
Product recalls may be difficult to handle, but it is not impossible. With enough planning and quality customer service, you can handle all these problems with ease.
About the Author: Mark Alvarado
Mark Alvarado is an established freelance writer. He has an interest in lifestyle topics, traveling, business, and financial management.
Leave a Reply