Your customers usually assume that the products they buy and use are dependable and safe. Unfortunately, this is not always true. Sometimes mistakes in the manufacturing process happen and the products that are sold have faults and errors within them. This can be as simple as a small glitch or mechanical failure, or as serious as a dangerous fault that could cause severe injury or even death.
A product recall is a terrible situation. The worst part is that it is likely happening because some poor unsuspecting customer has been harmed by the faulty product in order to discover the issue. From that point on, it is the responsibility of the company to make sure that customers are notified as soon as possible about the product recall, so that as little harm as possible occurs.
If your brand can connect quickly and efficiently with customers during this tense time, you have a much better chance of preserving your reputation and resuming business once the crisis is over.
So how can you make sure that you spread the word as quickly as possible during a product recall? Here are some tips for informing everyone as efficiently as you possibly can during your product recall.
- Announce your product recall as early as possible. Start by informing the journalists and the media, then the general public. This will help to ensure that all reporters are fully briefed, which will avoid the spread of misinformation.
- Use as many different channels as possible. Communicate the essential information about the recall on television, radio, the internet, via mail and any other medium. Not every customer uses the internet or pays attention to emails they receive, but they might be more of a radio listener or a TV watcher. When you cover all the channels you ensure the best chance of everyone hearing about the important recall.
- Make sure that you inform and educate your internal staff about the recall. They will likely feel concerned, so make sure that they have the information they need so that they can be working together toward the objective.
- Increase your visibility online. You should have a section of your website that contains all of the information about the product recall and it should be easy to find from your social media accounts and your main website.
- Think about the potential questions that your customers will have and answer them in advance on the website in a “FAQ” section about the recall. That way, they can get the answers to their questions right away and you will save time by not having to answer them individually.
- Connect with customers on social media networks and have conversations with them about the product recall. Answer their questions, remain open to criticisms and accept and act on feedback. This shows how much you value your customers.
- Remember that content will get buried quickly on social media. Make sure that you are reposting and updating often so that you can keep your messages about the product recall at the top and within view.
- Let your customers know exactly how they should return the recalled purchases. Do they need to ship the goods themselves? Are they able to return them to the store where they bought them? Or, should they just dispose of the item in exchange for a full refund? Make this information clear so that there is no confusion and customers can act quickly.
- You might want to consider hiring a product recall team that specializes in exactly this situation. A field marketing and product recall team will have a lot of experience helping companies manage their product recalls and they can offer valuable help and advice.
- Once the recall has occurred, customers will have lost a little bit of trust in your brand. You will need to show that you are taking the necessary steps to improve your manufacturing process so that this could never happen again. Consider publishing videos giving a tour of the production facilities and showing the new safety measures that you have implemented.
These are just a few important tips that you can keep in mind in order to spread the word about a product recall effectively and make the process as seamless as possible.