Our policies may be designed to adversely affect the customers’ experience, and we may be not aware of this. Here are some examples of such policies:
Sales Return Policy
• Many companies make exchanging damaged articles or returning the bought items for changing as difficult as possible for the customers. This harasses the customer. (E.g. a showroom selling formal garments for working executives has a rigid rule of allowing returns or exchanges only between 2 to 4 pm on Wednesdays, when generally all their target customers are at work and if they have to come to the showroom for a return or exchange, they have to take a special leave or permission from the office.
• If we wish to target a particular type of customers, we should be aware and sensitive to their lifestyle and their priorities.
• While designing return policies and processes, we should think like a customer and see from her perspective.
• In case of B2B also, sometimes, the buyer needs to return the goods due to some genuine reasons. Our return policy must be practical enough to safeguard the interests of both, the buyers and our own company. It should not be deaf and blind to the customers’ problems.
Pricing Policy
• Hidden charges are a big reason for customer dissatisfaction. Charging a customer for something which was not told earlier is a bad practice.
• Before a customer makes the buying decision, we must confirm the final landing cost to her, which should include all the add-on charges which we may not have mentioned in the price list or the product price tag.
• Some companies give “Free” holiday packages to customers and then when the customer goes to avail the same, she is charged with some other kind of charges (e.g. compulsory food and beverages or service charges) which more than cover the price of the “Free” package. We should not give such “Free” offers which are not actually free, because in the end, the prospect will be unhappy and will never like to do business with us.
• The products sold at standard Maximum Retail Prices are sold at a higher price at some locations like cinema halls, parks etc. without any apparent reason. For some high value products also, some companies charge different prices from different customers. Sometimes, some new customers are given higher discount, just to bring them into the fold. Such discriminatory pricing, when found out by the affected customers, leaves them hurt.
• Sometimes, in case of some high value products, the company significantly reduces the prices on a specific day. The customers who bought just a few days earlier to that are not given any benefit of the price reduction. This gives rise to the feeling of being cheated among the customers. The company should find some solution such that the customers who bought within some period prior to the price reduction must be satisfactorily reimbursed. They may be given some additional warranty or some free schemes or something of value to offset the feeling of being deprived of the discount offer.
• Some dining places announce “Unlimited” meals at some “All inclusive” fixed rate and when the customers enter and settle on the table and start to eat, they are offered some items which are not included in the “Unlimited” menu and will be charged extra if ordered. This becomes embarrassing and awkward for the customers who believed that everything was unlimited and was included in the fixed rate charged. We should either include the charges of such optional items by pricing the meals appropriately or inform the customers upfront, before they settle down for a meal. We should not give unpleasant surprises to the customers at a later stage.
• In short, we must ensure that no hidden charges are levied on the customers. We should be transparent in pricing.
Warranty and After-sales Service Policy
How a customer is treated when she needs our support when our product or service gives problems to her, determines her future loyalty towards our brand. Warranty and after sales service are sensitive issues which impact customer experience definitely.
• Some companies set confusing warranty terms and conditions to minimize the cost of supporting the customer after sales. They hide a lot of things from the customer about some hidden terms and conditions in warranty at the time of selling to the customer. But, when the customer comes back with some problem, expecting a reasonable cover through the warranty, she is shown the terms and conditions which finally result into some extra charge to the customer. Such companies try to give minimum benefit of the warranty to the customers. These practices are unfair and drive the customers away from us. They will not continue to remain our customers. We must be fair and very transparent in setting the warranty terms and must execute them to the satisfaction of the customer. If certain things are not covered in the warranty, it should be clearly communicated before the sale. Unpleasant surprises lead to lost customers.
• With some companies, getting after-sales service becomes a headache for the customers. These companies’ service centers are not equipped with the right manpower, equipment, technology, spare parts or training to ensure the satisfactory level of after-sales service to the customers. This results into delays in response or service, negligence, carelessness etc.
• Sometimes, the company policies fix exorbitant charges for repairs or replacement of spare parts. Some automobile companies are notorious for this.
• All this affects the customer experience adversely and results into customer switching to other brands due to poor performance of our after-sales service setup. E.g. today there are a large number of mobile phone brands available in the market, but very few have good and enough number of service centers. The lack of servicing facility spoils the customer experience badly. Such experience forces them to choose another more service-friendly brand even if that brand is expensive.
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