Ravensburger: great client service

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

We often complain about what is going wrong or who is not meeting our expectations. 

That is why it is important to share positive examples and show what is possible in some organizations. 

Today, I would like to share my personal experience with Ravensburger. 

My son was working on a puzzle for many days and in the end, exactly one piece was missing. 

I went to Ravensburger’s website and searched for how to order a spare part. They offered a form for spare part requests. I described our situation. 

The first positive surprise was that I received a personal and detailed response within 24 hours. The lady explained to me in which cases their company would offer spare parts and why they would not be able to offer spare parts for every single puzzle in their product portfolio. After reading her explanation, I could easily follow their logic and understand their reasoning. 

She asked me for a picture of the puzzle showing the missing part and offered that they would replace the entire puzzle with no cost for us. I instantly felt valued as a customer.

I sent her the picture and included our mail address, thanking her for this great support. 

Within one hour, I had another reply in my inbox, explaining that they would not be sending the replacement puzzle to me, but that I should choose any puzzle from their online store and use their 13 Euro voucher. Delivery free of charge. 

Wow. Think about it. Not only did they make my son very happy, because he chose a new puzzle from their online shop. Moreover, they created a win-win situation for them as well, since they minimized any additional work (producing or sending a spare part or puzzle) and ensured to keep a happy customer. 

From an image  and branding perspective, they did well in the following areas:

• Easy problem and solution description on their website.

• Professional, personal, and timely e-mail communication.

• Easy solution offer with no cost for the customer.

• Additional benefit for the customer due to flexibility (free product choice).

• Marketing opportunity by offering a broad product range through their online shop.

It’s easy to damage a customer relationship, but it’s also not that difficult to choose the right approach and make the customer feel valued. Choose a strong customer focus and show that you care.