B103.9 - Returns/Refunds/Rework |
The returns process is something that is often times overlooked for some because it is 1) infrequent 2) complicated or 3) uncomfortable.
Your returns, refund and rework process needs to be as smooth or smoother than your buying process. If someone has had a problem or an issue, they've likely had a negative experience or they are a challenged decision maker. The returns process is a way to provide balance to that, and it gives you an opportunity to leave them with the positive "BUT they handled the problem well and in an expedient manner" or "they give me the opportunity to buy more than I need and return what I don't use easily".
Handling returns well takes a more confident disposition than handling sales.
Your returns, refund and rework process needs to be as smooth or smoother than your buying process. If someone has had a problem or an issue, they've likely had a negative experience or they are a challenged decision maker. The returns process is a way to provide balance to that, and it gives you an opportunity to leave them with the positive "BUT they handled the problem well and in an expedient manner" or "they give me the opportunity to buy more than I need and return what I don't use easily".
Handling returns well takes a more confident disposition than handling sales.
- One needs to be able to quickly figure out and filter fact from fiction without unconsciously giving clues when fiction is sensed.
- One often times needs to kindly take control of a conversation to get the events or problems in proper order and perspective
- One often times needs to get the customer to shift from an emotional position to a mental position while trying not to be overly rude or course (although sometimes that is what is required to get the shift to transpire)
- One needs to decide if they are going to employ the "customer is always right" motto or if they are going to be more protective of their own boundaries. In small business, protecting boundaries is far more relevant than in businesses where hourly employees are on the front lines of the return process.
Case Study -- Creative/Artistic Stuff...
Returns/Refunds and Rework gets very interesting as the creative aspects of product and service offerings grow. You MUST be conscious of this dynamic as you grow and change into more or less creative endeavors or it could really bite you in the butt.
A creative type once did some fairly artistic renovation work related to loft style row homes. When the Real Estate Market and the Mortgage Industry Crashed, he was 6 months from a market exit that he had been sprinting for because of the wave that he could see was coming.
He ran into a liquidity crisis as did many others. He started to do "contracting work" for others to keep cash-flow coming in. Others liked his decorative work related to concrete, so that was naturally what he got asked to do. The problem was that he didn't have total control of the colors or the finish. He was working with acids and dyes and chemicals that could do strange things with the slightest change in environment (or mix-up from the supplier).
No matter how much he tried to manage customer expectations, it seemed like he got bit in the ass from one direction or another. It got to the point where he cringed even quoting the work and he eventually stopped doing any decorative work for others.
Quoting and delivering decorative or creative work for others is extremely challenging. It requires unique individuals who are willing to bend and flex, and it requires individuals who can occasionally be satisfied with a final product that the customer is not fully satisfied with. Some creative types can do this happily, others are better suited for something else. He learned he'd much rather sell products or very generic services as opposed to offering creative services.
Adding the business component into his creative work took away the enjoyment of his creative work. We are all different. If you do find yourself to have some creative depth, if you can make money using that, it is the dream most aspire towards; but often times you will make the best money with the least heartache by offering just the first 10% of your creative skill set. While that's good for you, the world loses and that's generally where we are now. Most creative types are hiding in holes, because of the nature of commerce today, but only they realize it.
A creative type once did some fairly artistic renovation work related to loft style row homes. When the Real Estate Market and the Mortgage Industry Crashed, he was 6 months from a market exit that he had been sprinting for because of the wave that he could see was coming.
He ran into a liquidity crisis as did many others. He started to do "contracting work" for others to keep cash-flow coming in. Others liked his decorative work related to concrete, so that was naturally what he got asked to do. The problem was that he didn't have total control of the colors or the finish. He was working with acids and dyes and chemicals that could do strange things with the slightest change in environment (or mix-up from the supplier).
No matter how much he tried to manage customer expectations, it seemed like he got bit in the ass from one direction or another. It got to the point where he cringed even quoting the work and he eventually stopped doing any decorative work for others.
Quoting and delivering decorative or creative work for others is extremely challenging. It requires unique individuals who are willing to bend and flex, and it requires individuals who can occasionally be satisfied with a final product that the customer is not fully satisfied with. Some creative types can do this happily, others are better suited for something else. He learned he'd much rather sell products or very generic services as opposed to offering creative services.
Adding the business component into his creative work took away the enjoyment of his creative work. We are all different. If you do find yourself to have some creative depth, if you can make money using that, it is the dream most aspire towards; but often times you will make the best money with the least heartache by offering just the first 10% of your creative skill set. While that's good for you, the world loses and that's generally where we are now. Most creative types are hiding in holes, because of the nature of commerce today, but only they realize it.
Case Study -- Industrial Bearing Company
In the mid 1990s, an engineering type with a business background worked for an multi-national industrial bearing company. There were 4 distinct product groups with 3-6 people in each group and there was a customer service group with 4-6 people in it who took orders.
Returns were initially being handled by whichever customer service person took the call. the Customer Service person basically took on a "return project" which is often times far more complex and time consuming than processing incoming orders. They had to coordinate issues between the customer, the product group, and manufacturing to get things done, and while doing that they were no longer taking income calls for orders. Generally, it was a wreck.
Finally someone got the idea of parsing off one of the customer service agents and dedicating her to returns. No one wanted the job because of the general negativity that came along with correcting company screw ups. The woman who got the job embraced it. It was painful in the beginning, but as she got more systems and procedures in place, and as she figured out how to deal with each of the product groups better (as she figured out how to force the engineers to get involved in their problems), the process turned into a relatively painless process.
The company gained much better insight into problems since one person was handling all of them, and there was more accountability by all not directly involved in returns, because there was only one person handling them.
Properly embracing the return process and acknowledging the costs associated with returns is a better way to go at all times.
Returns were initially being handled by whichever customer service person took the call. the Customer Service person basically took on a "return project" which is often times far more complex and time consuming than processing incoming orders. They had to coordinate issues between the customer, the product group, and manufacturing to get things done, and while doing that they were no longer taking income calls for orders. Generally, it was a wreck.
Finally someone got the idea of parsing off one of the customer service agents and dedicating her to returns. No one wanted the job because of the general negativity that came along with correcting company screw ups. The woman who got the job embraced it. It was painful in the beginning, but as she got more systems and procedures in place, and as she figured out how to deal with each of the product groups better (as she figured out how to force the engineers to get involved in their problems), the process turned into a relatively painless process.
The company gained much better insight into problems since one person was handling all of them, and there was more accountability by all not directly involved in returns, because there was only one person handling them.
Properly embracing the return process and acknowledging the costs associated with returns is a better way to go at all times.