Ever wonder how a premium brand like Apple has been able to conquer a considerable market share in a cost-conscious country like India? Yes, the interface is smooth and data secure, but we often hear how a smooth repair and replacement practice has earned the brand numerous loyal customers.
A brand’s sale depends on how good the product is, but repeat sale is determined by the quality of post-sale service, in which the warranty management system plays a huge role. While manufacturing focuses on product quality, features and value, the warranty management process engage customers even after the product stops functioning. The smoother and quicker the process, the more likely is the customer to return. The value of a product is not only about the cost but also its life cycle.
Unfortunately, what was introduced as a magnet to attract customers by assuring product guarantee has become an elaborate and manually intensive process. Organizations rely on various departments like the supply chain to customer service for warranty management, resulting in unnecessary communication, time, overlapping, human resources and cost.
Here are some of the common issues most brands and companies face due to the lack of an intelligent Warranty Management System
Data Entry – A Herculean Task
Most home appliance brands and multi-brand outlets still rely on physical warranty cards, making the data entry manual time-consuming and duplicate. The dealer stamps the blank cards with the date of purchase left blank and forgotten until the product stops functioning. The customer care executive has to update customer information multiple times, leading to human errors and miscommunication for details that could have been provided at the time of purchase.
Recurring Issues – Isn’t The List Endless
In the case of repair, the warranty process relies on the service department, resulting in neglected internal processes. The quality control team may be aware of hacks that the customer does not know and the service department does not care to know. The lack of a standard process between the customer and company and various company departments keeps the concerned staff from flagging information and trends.
Wasted Time And Efficiency – Can We Afford That!
The information gathered by customer care executives and field technicians is often not integrated into one place. One must keep in mind that both may vary each time a customer calls. Repeating the information, forwarding calls to the concerned department and lack of case knowledge can often leave the customer frustrated. This may spoil the company image even if the designated service engineer has done his/her job.
A Customer is never out of Warranty, even if his product is.
– Seth Godin
A standard tool may not work – Think Twice!
Some companies buy expensive ERPs and CRMs and the employees spend substantial time in learning these tools. Employers are often mistaken in thinking that such centralized solutions can help ease the communication process to manage warranty systems. This results in overspending on tools yet not having the problem solved.
Discrepancy in Data and Visibility – Who Wants That!
Manufacturers and sellers may often have different systems for tracking inventory and managing customer service. This may lead to incomplete data or misinformation regarding various warranty cases in hand, ultimately resulting in dissatisfaction and lower confidence in the brand.
Missed opportunity for product improvement – Bad Idea!
Due to the lack of a centralized system between quality control and the service department, information flow gets affected both ways. Neither can the quality control give product insights to service engineers, nor can the field technicians make the quality control department aware of its functional limitations.
Limited accessibility – Let’s Not Do That
Field technicians spend most of their working hours outside the office. They may not be able to update the current status on a common platform from where customer care representatives can use the information to provide to the customer. The lack of access to real-time data can further complicate the communication between the company and the customer.
Fraudulent complaints – No Way!
An organized redressal system should be able to differentiate between genuine cases and fraudulent cases. Sometimes, the customer’s intention can be genuine, but the product in question might be fake. Manufacturers must use an integrated tech solution that can help save time and resources on unnecessary complaints.
Warranty management is one of the most critical problems for sellers to ensuring post-sale customer satisfaction. It should be implemented in a way that is intuitive, saves time, cost and eliminates the problem of incomplete or incorrect data. What makes warranty management complicated is the uncertainty associated with it. Therefore, a smarter way to handle it is by sharing complete information at the time of purchase and unpacking, leaving no scope of fraud, repetition, or discrepancy at the time of repair or replacement. Responsive technology can record, distribute, and categorize data in various departments of an organization for smoother redressals.
Read Here to know more about the NeuroTags eWarranty Engine
A comprehensive and automated warranty management system, such as the NeuroTags eWarranty Engine is imperative to the growth of your business. Goodwill, improved customer relationships and repeat sales are only some of the added advantages. Eliminating manual internal processes, real-time data tracking and sharing can make product registration, warranty claims, returns, and replacements highly effective in your warranty management system.
