Episode #189: WARRANTY CLAIMS ARE OPPORTUNITIES IN DISGUISE

How often do we recognize the golden opportunities tucked inside of negative events? Probably not as much as we should. Turning lemons into lemonade is an overused cliché, that is undercapitalized in real life. Processing a warranty claim presents a viable opportunity to embrace this cliché, and deliver a customer-centric experience. Consumers understand that problems may arise, and all they really want is professional and expeditious issue resolution. It is at this intersection that many companies fail miserably. This episode is an opportunity to start winning glowing reviews, that stem from handling negative situations in positive ways. Invest the next four minutes hearing a couple of stories, and a few ideas about turning lemons into lemonade. 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

All right , Mr . Simple Show.

Speaker 2: 0:09

Hello everybody, and thank you for tuning into the Simple Biz 360 podcast. This show is gonna be so interesting. It is Processing warranty claims are actually opportunities in disguise. Yes. Have you ever looked at it that way? Well, we're gonna unfold that today for you and talk about it. So if you wanna follow us, we're on IGT V gab tv , YouTube tv, have our own channel there. And then we are on 28 listening platforms. So we'd love your subscription of follow , uh, uh, five star rating if we deserve it. And today we're gonna have some fun talking about how we can turn lemon into lemonade. So I'm gonna start off with a story. So I'm a wholesaler. I sell to a dealer and I win this large government program. And it ends up, I end up with 36 warranty claims that need processing. So I'm a wholesaler, right? My dealer takes over the process and in 120 days, they service six of the 36 warranties. So we have 30 left while the customer gets frustrated and says, Hey, can the brand take care of this? Can you guys and your customer service department take care of it? Yeah, no problem. We agree. In 90 days, we process zero of the 30 remaining warranties. So now 210 days into it, the customers only got six of the 36 warranties done, and they're frustrated. They're like, Hey dude, can you fix this problem for us? So I took it over and in 30 days, I got 30 warranties processed, and I was affectionately known as , uh, Mr . Go-to Guy from that point on. So , uh, you know, I , I was able to exercise what I call my personal operating values, which you see hanging on a graphics behind me here. And I was able to just , uh, you know, follow through and do the right job. Now, I was able to take that negative situation, and at least from my end, I was able to polish my reputation. And in the process, I'm sure I, you know, was able to do , uh, healthy things for the, the actual brand that I was working for as well. But I wanna give you another , uh, situation wrapped up in this, that, that was another opportunity in disguise. And that was that , uh, I, by mistake, got one of the warranties sent to me and I opened this box, and here was the product swimming around on the box, no protection, no note, nothing in the box. It was the ugliest box I've ever opened in my life. And I'm thinking, oh my gosh, the message you're sending to these people who've been waiting 210 days is that, you know what? We don't give two flip and hoots about you. Here's your warranty. It's not wrapped up. It's not pretty. It's in a box th five times the size of it , uh, that's necessary it , this thing swimming. And it was just gross. So, you know, bottom line is , uh, we were able to fix that situation. Everything went back in a poly bag on a hangar, in a box that fit with a little note. So here are the takeaways and what I'd love you to consider from these two stories, because it is really an opportunity for you to shine in disguise. So here's what you do. First of all, be apologetic. Second of all, be informative with the customer. Give them timelines , set the expectations. Be the director. Take charge, initiate it, get in front of it. Be a good package wrapper for Pete's sake . Wrap your warranty up in a nice way. Don't let it, you know, ship to the customer looking like it's some , uh, you know, cat. You drug out of a, a flipping dumpster for Pete's sake . And then include a message of appreciation. Let him know you really appreciate the fact that they gave you their money to begin with and their business. And guys, you'll turn lemon into lemonade. You will. So what's the lost in a shuffle track Today we're done. Lost in a shuffle Track is for king and country. Fix my eyes. Fix your eyes in a customer, fix your eyes and doing good. Turn lemon into lemonade. We'll see you next week. Thanks for tuning in.