Extended Service Plans: Getting Down to Business As a retailer, you know that extended service or warranty plans are a natural product offering for your business. They’re both comforting to consumers and profitable from a business perspective. But how much do you know about how your warranty programs work? Who are the players involved and who’s responsible for the various elements in fulfilling the plan? What’s your return on investment? Understanding the life cycle of your warranty plans not only impacts your customers and profit margins, but also your brand. Start Here Filling in the family tree of a warranty program can be a confusing process. Who’s responsible for what, when and for how much can be seen as a burden that many retailers choose to disregard. But, unless you know the answers, you’re leaving your store and customers at risk. An easy starting point is uncovering who the insurance company is that’s covering your plans. The insurance company, or underwriter, is the one who insures claims liabilities from the warranty contracts. It’s important to look for insurance companies that are well-managed and well-capitalized because they are truly the foundation of your plans. This is the company that you’re building your reputation on when claims need fulfilling, even if your business fails. This is the group that needs to be trusted, vested and insured so you and your customers can have peace of mind. Next Steps A service contract provider is the company that is legally and financially obligated to repair or replace the customer’s covered product. This company is your business partner. They create and administer customized extended service plans on your behalf to meet your operations’ needs, customer expectations or product requirements, and in return, collect a fee for their services. Full disclosure of costs and margins is important because once plans are agreed upon with the service contract provider your store is able to mark them up accordingly or offer them to consumers at recommended retail prices. If you’re not sure what you’re paying for, you have every right to ask your service contract provider a few questions to level the playing field: 1. How is your cost divided between insurance and administration? 2. What is each entity’s profit margin?
3. What is the program loss ratio, both overall and by product? If your loss ratio is very low it should give you the opportunity to lower prices to sell more ESPs, be more competitive or collect more profits and put them in your pocket. 4. Am I going to receive all the information I need on a regular basis to ensure I am getting the best price and product compared to the market? 5. Do you participate in a profit sharing program with your insurer? 6. Is my program compliant to protect my company’s brand reputation? Have all statutory compliance and filings been addressed? 7. If there is an insurer and/or re-insurer involved, what is the financial strength rating of each and who is your contact at the insurer? The service contract provider and warranty administrator (or third party administrators) are usually the same organization. As a customer facing group, it’s critically important that your store has access to a contact person and your customers find it easy to work with this organization. They are also responsible for training your sales representatives on the ins and outs of selling warranty plans and how to facilitate a claim. Since you’re paying the administrator a fee, you want to align yourself with well-respected companies that work hard to earn trust and deliver on expectations — for your store and your customers. Working with administrators that allow communication with all parties, including the underwriter, keeps the relationship in check and ensures plans operate smoothly and adhere to specific terms and conditions. Additionally, administrator’s contract with repair facilities to repair or replace covered products, so easy access and open lines of communication are essential in this relationship to ensure the parties involved — you and your customers — get what they’re paying for. The Customer’s Role The service contract is an agreement between the service contract provider and your customer. The service contract terms and conditions may state that for service or to report a claim, the customer should call a separate number to contact the warranty administrator. For your store, keeping the administration and underwriting less than one umbrella provides a hassle-free arrangement that ensures warranty plans deliver positive results for customers throughout the life of the plans. Is Your Plan Working?
While creating an effective warranty program certainly takes a little work, becoming educated about the process and asking the right questions to ensure you’re partnering with the right service contract provider is critical to the success of your business. Bottom line, knowing who the extended warranty players are and how they impact your business can mean the difference in profit and loss — of revenue and customers. Article Resource: - https://warrantech.com/blog/june-2015/extended-service-plans-gettingdown-to-business/