Manufacturers Warranty; All that and a Bag of Potato Chips!

 

Who doesn't love a good warranty? After all, warranties can be great selling differentiators for pool and spa products and a good warranty often translates into great closing ratios. When promoted properly, deployed effectively and utilized with intent and purpose in the support of a customers peace of mind with their investment, warranties reinforce a customers confidence, knowing they made the right decision. To get the most out of any warranty, promote peace of mind to your customer and ensure the after the sale experience is all that and a bag of potato chips, its important to lay the foundation and not sell yourself or your customer short on that new piece of equipment. Here are a few ways to get the most of a manufacturers warranty:

• Use a licensed, trained and qualified installer. This cannot be overstated. Many issues come about a result of poor, improper or down right head scratching, ready for viral prime time installations. It's OK to save a few dollars by seeking the cheapest installer you can find but always ask, WHY ARE THEY CHEAPER? Does Hugo come to mind?

• Make sure your installer reads and has the installation manual during the install. The old school way of doing things and using the manual as a knee pad don't cut it anymore. Advances in technology, procedures, efficiencies and set up requirements change regularly and if your installer doesn't know about them...well, he's a back yard mechanic working on your new BMW with a hammer. Hope you enjoy the new ride, hot rod!

• Train your customer how to operate and maintain their new equipment using the owners manual as the ONLY REFERENCE. You may know better than those silly product design engineers and guffaw at all the silly testing they did before sending the new equipment to you, but for the sake of argument, let's pretend the manual was written by someone who actually knows the equipment. The Owners Manual instructions, if followed properly will ensure your customer gets the most from their warranty and you get the peace of mind knowing you won't find unwanted lawn ornaments in the middle of the night.

• Use only manufacturer suggested warranty centers for any warranty service which mat be needed. Spending 4 hours of your or an employees time jiggling the funny colored wires, tapping the sides with a rubber mallet and flipping that breaker 20-30 times may seem like an obvious solution, but here's a novel idea; DON'T! Suggested warranty centers have factory trained technicians, parts and typically know that one big green wire you jiggled isn't what's causing the problem. Customers appreciate a fast response, but they would likely enjoy working equipment better. Find a suggested Warranty center for the equipment, let them handle it and you go get a slushy and make another sale. Customer, manufacturer and of course you, all happy.

Your customer invested in and trusted you to provide them with the best equipment and expect you to stand behind the products you sell. Manufacturers go to great lengths and expense to implement and execute sound warranty programs to sustain their equipment. They train technicians, invest in resources to manage the warranty and ensure your customer gets timely, efficient and effective support by engaging highly skilled companies to represent them in the field. Do yourself, your customer and the manufacturer all a big favor and leave the warranty to the experts. You are the best at what you do, let others be the best at what they do and everyone wins...especially the BMW!