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Executive director - Compliance for Quality Certification Alliance

Compliance Chat

By D E Fenton

About D

D E Fenton is executive director - compliance for Quality Certification Alliance. She offers practical advice and actionable tips to help companies implement compliance into their daily business practices.

 

Not So Technically Speaking

Dale Denham
The High Cost of a Low Training Budget
May 16, 2013

If you train your staff, there's a risk they'll leave; if you don't, there's a risk they'll stay.
...



Jeff's Rant

Jeff Solomon, MAS
Why...?
May 16, 2013

Why... be connected? I've often talked about my love of trade shows and the value of business relationships, which are...



Promotional Fashionista

Colleen McKenna
How to Celebrate National Bike Month
May 15, 2013

May is National Bike Month. Here are five bike-friendly products and apparel to purvey for the next two weeks....



Be Dazzled

Elise Hacking Carr
The Amazing Fashion: 3 Gatsby-inspired Looks
May 14, 2013

The Great Gatsby finally opened over the weekend. Does the unbridled glamour of 1920s-inspired fashion translate to the promotional products...



Selling Smarter

Rosalie Marcus
Help! My Customers Know the Codes
May 14, 2013

A promotional products distributor recently wrote me and asked how to handle clients that have figured out the industry's pricing...



Mike's Blog

Michael Cornnell
Entertainment Meets Marketing: Amazing Gatsby, Pop Art and Rock Music Promos
May 13, 2013

Entertainment and promotional marketing: A pairing that normally reminds us of being forced to eat Hulk-colored Taco Bell at gunpoint...



Beyond Words

Rebecca Kollmann, MAS+
A Blog of a Different Color
May 13, 2013

When we communicate with others—through a presentation, through graphics or through text in an article—the use of color can truly...



Embellished

Kyle Richardson
Call For Sources: Michigan Suppliers and Distributors
May 10, 2013

Do you work in Michigan, or do you sell into the restaurant industry? I want to hear from you....



Kiwi's Coaching Corner

Paul Kiewiet
Think Like Your Client
May 9, 2013

Getting out of the commodity game requires hard work, thoughtful work and requires learning new skills and work habits. You...



Be Bold, Be Different, Be Memorable

Rick Greene, MAS
The Fearsome Green Profit Margin
May 7, 2013

Or "Detective Fiction, Sales and the Art of Listening."...



The Hot Button

Mary Ellen Nichols, MAS
Have You Cleaned Out Your Teenager's Gym Bag Lately?
May 1, 2013

Performance clothing has changed over the past 10 years: silkier, stretchier, more mesh, even less stinky in some cases. So...



Big Picture Promo

Matt Kaspari, CAS
The Shift to Empowerment Marketing
Apr 25, 2013

Empowering is the act of giving away your power to those around you so you can elevate the group as...



Friday Sales-thought of the Week!

Dale Limes, MAS
Reverse Engineer Your Sales Success
Mar 18, 2013

Steven Covey reminds us that when setting goals ... "Start with the end in mind." That is to visualize the...



Editor's Notes

Nichole Stella
The Perfect Match
Mar 5, 2013

The Super Bowl has also become the Ad Bowl, where brands duke it out to see who has the funniest,...



My Two Cents

Rick Brenner
CPSC General Counsel Clarifies Distributor Responsibilities for Children's Apparel
Oct 8, 2012

There aren't many distributors who would describe themselves as manufacturers. But under CPSIA, the majority of promotional products distributors—at least...



The Sales Challenge

Bill Farquharson
Think and Succeed
May 29, 2012

What would happen if you woke up in the morning and your first thought was, "I am never going to...



Creating More Purposeful Sales Conversations

Lisa Leitch, CSP, MAS
Under 100 Days to Achieve 2011 Goals
Oct 20, 2011

It's hard to believe, but there are fewer than 100 days left to achieve 2011 goals! Are you on track...



Industry Voices

Guest Contributor
In a Recession, Dress Up To Cheer Up
Jan 20, 2010

A few weeks ago, I had dinner with Executive Apparel's president and its director of product development in Orlando, Florida....



Reputation Matters, Especially During a Recall

By D E Fenton | Posted on November 02, 2012
 
Reputation. Whether you realize it or not, your reputation is built with every product manufactured, sales presentation given, telephone call answered, advertisement placed and article posted on social media. Everything you do―and, conversely, everything you don’t do―shapes your reputation and ultimately your brand equity. And there’s rarely a more important time to have a stellar brand reputation than in the event of a product recall.

As I mentioned in my previous post, recalls are expensive on many fronts―product return and/or replacement, consumer compensation, and legal fees, to name a few. But the loss of consumer trust can impact sales for years to come. Many companies survive a recall, but many others do not. Why? The difference often comes down to how consumers feel about a company and how much they blame internal firm-related factors, according to a recent study published in the American Marketing Association's Journal of Marketing Research.

The study finds that consumers’ positive brand beliefs contribute to brand resilience in the case of an adverse event such as a recall. Consumers will refrain from immediate blame for brands they like, and these consumers are much more likely to seek out other possible causes for the defective or dangerous product. Companies without strong reputations that are less well-liked do not enjoy the same consideration.

The frequency of recalls also plays an important role in shaping consumer perceptions. In industries where recalls are common―such as toys, children’s products, automobiles and healthcare products―the study found that consumers are less likely to lay blame on a specific company if similar incidents have plagued other companies. But once again, companies that are not well-liked don’t benefit from this consideration.

In industries where recalls are less common, a product-harm crisis stands out and requires explanation. Even here, however, consumers will treat a recall from a well-liked company as an exception, a rarity or an accident, but they will blame a less well-liked company for a similar incident.

That said, having a good reputation only goes so far. Consumers can forgive a company for one misstep, but repeat incidents will not be seen as an exception or accident. Consumer confidence will wane and they will find new, more trustworthy sources for making purchases.

So what does this research mean to you as a promotional products professional? Part of your reputation-building initiatives should include having a comprehensive compliance program in place to reduce the risk of a product recall. Additionally, you can reduce the impact of having a recall by having an effective recall policy in place to proactively address any product quality or safety issues.

Building your brand’s reputation takes years. But it can be destroyed overnight with a product recall. The best defense of your reputation is a solid set of comprehensive policies and procedures that are effectively executed and strictly followed to prevent product recalls.

D E Fenton is executive director - compliance for Quality Certification Alliance, the promotional product industry's only independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to helping companies provide safe products. With more than 20 years of compliance experience, she offers practical advice and actionable tips that help make the complex concept of compliance easier to understand so companies can implement compliance into their daily business practices. She can be reached at dfenton@qcalliance.org or visit www.qcalliance.org for more information.

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