Face it, there is no perfect product. So, brace yourself for product defect notifications. Even the biggest brands face issues on their time tested and trusted products. You are not alone and this does not spell doom. Take it up as a challenge and treat this as an exercise in improving quality standards of your product/service.
How do you deal with product issues?
The Basics:
STEP ONE: Do NOT interrupt the customer. He knows the malfunction. It is his story. Undivided attention to his account is extremely important as it is the basis of the solution. A courteous apology for product/service malfunction is expected from you and it would go a long way with customer satisfaction levels if you could deliver that. Make sure the customer never gets blamed for the issue.
STEP TWO: Document all the details provided by the customer. If it is new and doesn’t have a precedent, this would be the solution team’s Bible. If there is a precedent, things become simple and all you have to do is, refer the previous complaint’s solution document to execute the solution described there. If that doesn’t work, start afresh.
What are the obstacles you might face in finding the solution? How do you tackle them?
Keep the customer in the loop:
More often than not, the solution to the customer’s problem might not be available as soon as you get news of the defect/issue. It is a good practice to let the customer know of regular updates, if any. So, mail or call the customer regularly. Some issues might take time to resolve. The customer might get worked up if he/she has to call from his end all the time to know what’s going on.
Never tell the customer that you do not know:
There are times when you are stumped, for lack of other words to describe your situation. But that doesn’t mean that the customer has to hear that. Don’t tell him/her that you are clueless. Needless to say, it shows you, your product and your organization in bad light. You might lose credibility and future business with the same customer.
Get external help:
If all internal attempts at finding a solution are futile, hire an external consultant who can help you out. Remember that product issue resolution is a time bound process. The customer is going to be left unsatisfied if it takes too long.
What happens once the solution is available?
Avoid recurrence of the issue:
When you devise a solution, apart from offering it to the particular customer who has requested for it, also try to avoid this issue henceforth. This means that you have to look at every process from the production line until point of sale. If you feel that you should include legal terms that would protect you from huge losses because of this issue, look into that as well and protect your interests.
