How to make product recalls painless for your customers and positive for your brand.

Last month Tesla recalled over 360,000 vehicles because of self-driving flaws and saw its stocks immediately fall by 5.7%. Despite numerous recalls and the divisive popularity of its owner, sales of Tesla continue to grow but not all brands are as resilient.?Problems with an FMCG product can quickly go viral, particularly if customer claims are not handled swiftly and satisfactorily, so having an effective response to a product recall as part of crisis management plans is critical.

According to research*, 55% of people would switch brands following a recall, and 15% would never purchase the brand again; so what can brands do to salvage their customer relationships and help relieve the unexpected financial, operational, and reputational strains on their business once a product is recalled?

“If product recalls are handled properly, a company not only can keep damage to a minimum but also may find opportunities to reap unexpected benefits.”?Harvard Business Review.

In the UK in 2022 there were over 240 product safety recalls by the?government?and over 80 food recall alerts by the?Food Standards Agency?which amounts to potentially hundreds of thousands of inconvenienced consumers. The most standard recall response is for customers to return the product to the store putting the onus onto the consumer and creating additional pressure on retail staff who must check proof of purchase and issue a refund or exchange.

Other brands may have a knee-jerk reaction to product recalls that are not the best solution for their business or customers. It is not unheard of for a brand to hire a warehouse, fill it with stock, and then organise temporary staff to mail out replacement products to customers – a solution that is complicated, expensive, and slow.

Instead, they should turn a crisis into an opportunity to create happy, satisfied customers by furnishing customer care teams with effective tools for proactive and rapid reimbursement.?savi?Carelink offers?a?unique combination of cash transfer and coupon solutions that enable brands and retailers to refund or reimburse in an instant.

The ideal solution for managing product recall resolution

Responsive?– A branded Carelink portal can be set up in response to a product recall situation within days and a Customer Service agent can issue refunds or offer replacement coupons in minutes.

Accessible?– Carelink is a live portal that Customer Service agents can log-in to anywhere in the world

Flexible?– Depending on the value of the item being recalled the Customer Service agent can issue cash refunds in any currency or reimburse customers with unique links to vouchers and coupons via Carelink

International?– Carelink localises to any country selected by the Customer Service agent and will translate customer links and make refunds in the appropriate currency

Customer first?– Carelink works side-by-side or can be integrated with existing brand CRM tools so that the status of a customer claim can be monitored accurately, it meets customers’ needs with flexible reimbursement methods, and can also wrap around a family of brands together on one platform.

A key benefit of?savi’s solution is that instead of only offering cash refunds, brands can reimburse customers for recalled products using generous vouchers or coupons, leaving them feeling positive towards the brand and likely to redeem their coupons or vouchers for the same brand or product instead of spending their refund on another.

Bounce back from damaging product recalls by delivering compensation and customer service in real-time; speak to our team today about responding to product recalls in the best way for you and your customers, contact?savi?here.

*Westgate.co.uk?research