Originally defined as a moral obligation, warranty has evolved into a powerful tool for enhancing the customer experience, which in turn drives sales. Continue reading
Tag Archives: customer satisfaction
The Redefinition of Warranty
Filed under Best Practices, Warranty
Some thoughts on how to use warranty to drive sales
In a recent webinar, Warranty in Practice – Can a company use warranty to help drive sales?, I talked about the cultural roots of “warranty,” its underlying polices, the laws affecting it, and how in modern times it has evolved from a cost-center to a sales tool. The presentation also touched on ways to use warranty to help increase sales. Here are a few more thoughts on the topic. Continue reading
Filed under Best Practices, Customer Experience, Warranty
Warranty in Practice – Can a company use warranty to help drive sales?
Can a company use warranty to help drive sales? It sure can. Just ask Hyundai Motors. It saw its market share jump from 1.1% to 4% after it extended its powertrain warranty in 1999. You might also want to put the question to Volkswagen, which saw its sales drop 30% in the three years after it shortened its powertrain warranty in 2002. Continue reading
Filed under Best Practices, Customer Experience, PR & Branding, Warranty
Groundhog Day: Another piece questioning the value of extended warranties
The same article keeps popping up every other week or so in one publication or another. Its headline either asks if extended warranties are worth the cost or screams they are not. It gives the same advice – “buy smart” – and generally reaches the same conclusion on whether you should buy a service contract – “It depends”. See here, then here, here, here, here, and here. Why is somebody always picking on extended warranties?
Here are 5 reasons why I think extended warranties make an easy target. Continue reading
Filed under Customer Experience, PR & Branding, Service Contract, Warranty
Consumer Reports to consumers: Choose risk or over peace of mind
In a September 6 piece, Why you should avoid home warranties, Consumer Reports again takes a shot at service contracts. Noting a recent complaint filed by New Jersey regulators against Choice Home Warranty for allegedly making it difficult to obtain benefits, CR “recommend[s] avoiding service contracts” because those “that cover homes and cars, for example, can cost hundreds of dollars.” But what if the car or home costs many thousands of dollars? Isn’t spending a few hundred bucks on a service contract worth it to minimize risk and secure peace of mind? “No,” says CR, “it makes much more sense to buy reliable products and maintain them as the manufacturer recommends.” Now it’s clear, just buy things that won’t malfunction or fail. Continue reading
Are warranties withering? Will service contracts surge?
Warranties are withering, claims an Arizona State marketing professor. This, he says, bodes well for service contract industry profits, but not for consumers.
But in many product sectors warranty is expanding and recent studies show that consumers believe that service contracts deliver value. Continue reading
Filed under Customer Experience, Risk Management, Service Contract, Warranty
Three cheers for plain language
Commenting on An Orwellian approach to legal writing, 3 readers share insights and experiences recommending plain language. Here’s a sampling of what they have to say:
“My crime briefs ‘read like a thriller,’” says Bapoo M. Malcolm, Advocate, Bombay High Court, India.
“Practice has shown that people appreciate simplicity & clarity in comprehension compared to more technical writing (jargons & all),” observes Janice Isu, Acting Principal Legal Officer, Office of the State Solicitor, Dept. of Justice & Attorney General, Papua New Guinea.
“A company can’t hide behind fine print written in legalese. Judges rule for the average person,” declares Paul Eveleigh, a copywriter from Melbourne, Australia.
There’s more. Continue reading
An Orwellian approach to legal writing
Responding to an earlier post, Plain and simple, Nick Fielden, a freelance copywriter from Perth, Australia, observes: “Perhaps when it comes to comprehension, we should be thinking less of simple versus complex, and more about clear versus obscure.” I don’t know that I’d put it in quite those terms, but before I reply further, let’s take a look at all Nick has to say: Continue reading
Filed under Best Practices, Customer Experience, PR & Branding, Service Contract, Warranty
A “high-five” for arbitration (sans the lawyers)
Recently, we’ve been discussing the merits of binding arbitration as a means of resolving consumer disputes. (See here and here.) Lori Crandell, COO of New Home Warranty Program of Manitoba, Inc., finds that the process works well when properly tailored to the nature of the dispute. Lori writes: Continue reading
Plain and simple
Want a better relationship with your customers? Want to spend less time and money dealing with frustrated or irate customers? Want more customers to walk out of the store with your extended warranty or service plan? There’s a sure fire way to make these things happen, plain and simple. Continue reading
Matthew Kelly
The Editors
Paul Wojcicki