The Fourth
Annual Extended Warranty & Service Contract Innovations Conference recently
took place in Nashville, Tennessee. One of the major topics covered was the
industry’s image problem. Warranty Week was there to cover the event and
submitted an article regarding Warrantech’s involvement. The following is an
excerpt.
Sean
Stapleton, president & CEO of Warrantech Corp., part of AmTrust Financial
Services Inc., also spoke at the conference last week.
His
presentation in Nashville, entitled "A Holistic Approach to Warranty &
Service Contract Administration," looked at a service call not only as an
opportunity to fix a broken product, but also as an opportunity to cement a
relationship with the customer.
"How
the service provider responds to a claim will drive the customer's perspective
about the underlying failure," he said. If it goes well, the customer will
have a higher level of satisfaction than even cases where there was no claim.
Escalate It
Stapleton
said service contract providers should never let the customer forget why they
bought the coverage. In fact, he suggested that in cases where the customer's
product failed soon after it was purchased, the service provider should really
make a fuss about it.
Maybe an
early failure requires a response with a heightened service level, and a
heightened sense of urgency? Maybe the failed product should be replaced with
an upgraded unit and a sincere apology? Or maybe it's just a matter of giving
the customer a gift card, as some sort of compensation for their troubles?
Stapleton
also suggested that service providers have to acknowledge that some of their
social media activities need to go beyond just marketing, into actual problem
resolution. And that can get tricky, because a service contract company such as
Warrantech is really operating behind the scenes, supporting their retail and
OEM clients and the brands they sell and manufacture.
For
instance, a manufacturer or a retailer may post items to Facebook, and a
disgruntled consumer may see one of those posts and take the opportunity to
voice a complaint about a repair gone badly. Others see the complaint and add
their own comments, and soon it's hundreds of follow-up comments that have
nothing to do with the original post. The longer it sits there unresolved, the
more abuse it attracts.
Alternatively,
let's say there's a complaint, and soon there's a response from the company,
and the problem is resolved. People read that and note the quick response, and they
begin to form an image of the brand based upon its ability to respond quickly
to problems.
Imagine, for
instance, it's the lonely Maytag repairman, who seemingly has nothing better to
do than to monitor the appliance company's Facebook page. When someone
complains, there's nothing more urgent in the world than fixing that problem.
And the conversation is there for all current and future customers to read.
Brand Image
Protection
That can
turn out to be even more important a service for an administrator to provide
than it is to operate a massive 24-x-7 call center that responds to complaints
over the phone. For while a phone call is private, a Facebook thread is public
for all to see, much like an advertisement run on television.
"I'm a
huge advocate of using your partner's brand versus building our own
brand," Stapleton said. "We're the guy behind the scenes."
Another
attendee wondered how that would work, since it would require the administrator
to essentially speak in the name of the retailer or manufacturer.
"It’s
their brand you’re messing with," he suggested.
"No,"
Stapleton responded, "it’s their brand we’re protecting."
For more
consumer tips and information regarding extended warranties and vehicle service
contracts, be sure to visit: http://amtwarranty.tumblr.com/
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