The Client

Our client is a large U.S.-based manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional cleaning products, with a history stretching back over 100 years.

The Challenge

The client approached Harte Hanks for assistance during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their products played a vital part in maintaining sanitized environments, which meant any equipment malfunctions were a significant concern.

For many sites where remote working was not an option (such as medical practices) if the space couldn’t be disinfected, work couldn’t take place. As a result, a damaged machine wouldn’t just hinder our client’s ability to sell disinfectant solutions, but could shut down an important frontline workplace.

Our client needed a partner to handle returns quickly and efficiently, minimizing the downtime for these critical locations.

Our Solution

While Harte Hanks had been managing this client’s consumer support center, we had never previously handled their fulfillment.

However, the fact we could offer both customer care and fulfillment was ideal, as it provided them with a one-stop solution for their returns process. Our customer care department could talk directly to the fulfillment division, minimizing the risk of miscommunication or returns being neglected.

When a customer contacted us about a damaged sprayer, we would take the call, verify the problem to protect our client from fraud, and immediately dispatch a replacement from our warehouse.

If any customer was able to self-diagnose the problem with their sprayer, we also held a selection of replacement parts that we could ship to them, so they could perform the repairs themselves, if they so wished.

Whenever a damaged sprayer was returned, it would be shipped directly to a repair center, as they were relatively expensive (around $3500-$5000). Shipping directly to the repair center, rather than directing returns to our fulfillment center first, also saved time, energy and transport costs.

The Results

Our seamless internal coordination minimized disruption to businesses that relied on the client’s products for sanitization. As a result, our work both safeguarded our client’s reputation and helped critical workspaces remain safe and sanitized during an unprecedented global crisis.