Recalling a product is not a task that many businesses relish.If you’re in a position where you need to inform the public that you’ve made an error, then you run the risk of suffering reputation damage.And what’s more, if this error places the public in danger, then this reputational damage is likely to be grievous.
If performed well, however, a product recall can help to mitigate this damage – and in some cases, it might even improve your company’s reputation.Everyone knows, after all, that mistakes happen – and rectifying them swiftly is a sign of an effective organisation.
When you’re recalling, you’ll need to choose from one of two options.You can either perform the recall in-house, or you can call upon the aid of a specialist outside field marketing company to perform the task for you.Let’s examine a few of the reasons we might prefer the latter to the former.
Experienced Staff
A product recall is a task that isn’t, ideally, necessary very often.As such, if you’re doing your product recall in-house, then the personnel overseeing and performing the recall won’t have much experience of the task to draw upon – they might be unable to foresee and anticipate potential problems, and they’ll make mistakes more frequently.
Contrast this with a dedicated product recall specialist who performs product recalls on a regular basis.They’ll be able to anticipate problems and take steps to avoid them, and their mistakes will be almost non-existent.Moreover, the best will be able to keep you constantly appraised of the progress of the recall, and let you know if any problems do occur.
With so much at stake during a recall, it’s essential that everything is done properly.Just as you wouldn’t entrust an office administrator with fixing a building’s electrical supply, it’s wise to get an expert on board to help guard your company’s reputation against the effects of a botched recall.
Robust Infrastructure
Companies which elect to handle their recalls in-house stand at considerable risk of being overwhelmed by the task of safely removing harmful products from the marketplace.They simply haven’t the necessary infrastructure to communicate with the customer, and collect information on whether the product has successfully been recalled.After all, getting in touch with a customer can be time consuming – and it can often take several attempts before they finally pick up the phone.
A product recall specialist will have access to a call centre, and the staff necessary to man it.This means that they’ll be in a much better position to get in touch with large numbers of people very quickly.By contrast, entrusting the task to an already beleaguered office worker, with other things to be getting on with, is likely to result in stress.
Technology
Just as a specialist product recall company will have access to superior infrastructure, they’ll also have access to superior software.The best will come equipped with tablet computers, equipped with bespoke database software that’ll provide detailed information on how the recall is progressing.They’ll in turn be able to provide you with this information via SMS, email, or whatever technological means of communication you prefer.
Access to better tools can make a significant difference in how well any task is performed – and a specialist will not only have such access, but they’ll also have the knowledge and training to make good use of it.
Scalability
Most companies are used to dealing with a roughly consistent number of phone calls and customer queries per day.They invest in the resources necessary to deal with the influx, since any more investment would be a waste.Thus, in an extreme situation like a product recall, the company will quickly become overwhelmed.This lack of scalability is often what causes recalls to be delayed and even botched.
By contrast, a dedicated product recall agency will be able to rapidly shrink and expand their capacity in response to changing demand.This model allows them to operate well when there isn’t much demand for a recall, and yet still cope when dealing with many recalls at the same time.
In Conclusion
In most tasks in life, an experienced expert is likely to be able to perform better than a layman.And this is just as much the case with large organisations as it is with individuals.Thus, if you’d like your product recall to go as smoothly as possible, then you’ll need to select a trustworthy and reputable organisation to perform it on your behalf.