Are you prepared to handle a product recall?

The spate of major brand recalls in the last few years, for various reasons, remind us of the need to be prepared and ready to manage a product recall process well. When a product fails, either in a B2C or B2B environment, the potential for high costs and brand damage is high. Organisations need to be ready to handle a global recall quickly, safely and cost-effectively, whilst also ensuring compliance with local and international standards and regulations.

Brand damage isn’t an inevitable result of a product recall. Particularly where brand loyalty is high, a customer’s experience going through a product recall can actually be positive. Research suggests that when a product recall is handled particularly well brand loyalty can increase*.

In one study 93 percent of respondents agreed, “when mistakes happen that lead to product recalls, it’s an opportunity for a company or brand to show their true colors, and demonstrate whether they care more about consumers or their own profits”. Moreover, 87 percent agree they are “more likely to purchase and remain loyal to a company or brand that handles a product recall honorably and responsibly, even though they clearly made mistakes that led to a safety or quality problem”*.

Being proactive and thorough with planning will determine if a product recall is handled well. Taking control of the product recall process allows companies to make the customer experience positive. Better still, finding a partner to outsource the administration of your recall to will avoid resources being fully funnelled into the minutiae of administrating returns, and allow time and effort to be spent on maintaining brand equity.

Are you ready? Speed is of the essence when managing your brand reputation. The new Returns Portal from Sims Recycling Solutions (SRS) allows you initiate a global returns programme in just a matter of hours. The Portal provides a branded, reliable and transparent way to capture all your faulty products in a standardised way, wherever they are in the world.

With an easy-to-use interface, customers have a seamless experience returning products either in your retail outlets or online. SRS can manage the programme administration and logistics to ensure your customers get that vital positive experience. There is complex legislation associated with IT assets, electrical products and batteries across the world. SRS has the expertise and experience to navigate logistical, tax and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) regulations on your behalf and ensure that your recall is fully compliant.

By quickly removing products your customers will be reassured that you are taking every necessary action to ensure the recall has a minimum impact on their time and their wallet. At a critical time when your business will need an extra set of helping hands, the SRS team will be available for support , allowing you the opportunity to view your campaign 24/7 and providing daily online metrics. These portal return programmes are simple, quick to deploy and seamlessly integrate into your business processes. It is the cost-effective solution for global product recalls you’ll need at your fingertips to safeguard your brand reputation at a critical time.

To find out more about product recall services from Sims Recycling Solutions download our brochure.

*The Relational Capital Group, Candice Bennett & Associates and Dr. Nicolas Kervyn, a social psychology researcher at Princeton University, evaluated the impact of recent product recalls, congressional hearings and negative publicity on ten national brands – Tylenol, Advil, Toyota, Honda, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, AIG Insurance and Travelers Insurance.