Tony Sciarrotta

Tony Sciarrotta, Former Directory of Asset Recovery, Philips Consumer Lifestyle
Dr. Annibal C. Sodero, Assistant Professor, Department of Supply Chain Management, University of Arkansas
Rubina Farooq, Director, Customer Operations, LG Electronics

Making sure that a customer has the right expectations and understands a product’s capabilities is crucial. Whether it’s an air conditioner that can only cool a certain size room or a tv that will only deliver top notch sound with a soundbar, there often seems to be an expectations gap. How do we close that? How important is the box in communicating the true capabilities of a product? Consumer education is a multichannel process, involving face-to-face interaction in a physical store, phone support and web resources – i.e., FAQs and product videos – that help consumers make more informed purchase decisions and drive down returns. Learn what strategies are being employed by industry leaders:

• 
  

Obtaining a comprehensive view of social media
feedback (blogs, Facebook, Twitter) to drive better
customer service: Identifying user experience hiccups

• 
  

Utilizing – and building awareness of - diagnostic
applications to resolve customer issues with purchases
categories vs. mature product categories

• 
  

Educating your employees on specific products to ensure
that they are able to address customer concerns prior to
the sale

• 
  

Informing the customer about support options so they
turn to those when experiencing difficulty, rather than returning an item out of frustration
o Online tutorials & chat
o Call center support with special attention to first-time
customer contact (priority handling)

• 
  

Home appliance strategies: Taking a proactive approach
to ensure a product will work in a customer’s home and
that it will be deliverable

Talking with your peers about how to confront shared business challenges is the most valuable part of this event. Consumer Returns 2014 has set aside seven hours across three days so OEMs, retailers and solutions providers can discuss current issues of importance. This is your opportunity to discuss ways to improve out-of-box experience, post-sales support and methods for maximizing recovery rate.

Roundtable Discussions:

1. Being Green Throughout A Product's Lifecycle: The Cradle To Grave Approach To Sustainability - Facilitated by Layth Hussain, Director, Operations, Americas, Belkin
2. Tracking Serial Returners: Retailer experiences & The Growing Consumer Backlash - Facilitated by Sue Martin, Vice President, Customer Service, Newegg Inc. and Kunal Thakkar, Senior Vice President, North American Operations, Newegg Inc.
3. How Do We Change Consumer Behavior Around Returns? - Facilitated by Frank Martino, Director, Service Division, Samsung Electronics Canada
4. Online Consumer Education - Facilitated by Rubina Farooq, Director, Customer Operations, LG Electronics
5. Leveraging Remote Access And Support Technologies As A Returns Avoidance Strategy - Facilitated by Lee Gibson, Director, Reverse Logistics, Huawei Device USA
6. Creating Organizational Structures That Enable Quality Follow Through: Applying A Fix To One Product And Making It Applicable To Multiple Product Lines - Facilitated by Ed Rayeski, Director, Handset & Device Support, ZTE USA, Inc.
7. Confronting Warranty/Service Fraud - Facilitated by Rachel North, Director, Post Sales, Toshiba America Electronic Components
8. Applying The Net Promoter Operating Model To Your Business: Building Loyalty To Your Brand - Facilitated by Tony Sciarrotta, Former Director of Asset Recovery, Philips Consumer Lifestyle
9. Customer Experience Management: Building A Strategy That Encompasses All Touch Points From Call Centers To Social CRM Channels - Facilitated by Tony Popson, Director, Customer Care and Quality, Nokia

Tony Sciarrotta, Former Director of Asset Recovery, Philips Consumer Lifestyle
Timothy Quinn, Manager of Logistics, Budget and Analysis, BJ's Wholesale Club
Anthony Mitchell, Senior Director, Service, Huawei Device USA
Jodi Meyer, Returns Recovery Manager, Colony Brands

The team behind Worldwide Business Research’s (WBR) Consumer Returns conference – with help from an advisory board of senior-level reverse logistics, supply chain and operations executives from international companies – has created a benchmarking survey that will be distributed online prior to the conference. The survey asks firms about their returns reduction strategies and plans to further optimize their reverse supply chain, while looking ahead to 2015 and what changes may be in store. One of the benefits of attending will be a thorough analysis of the survey results with members of the advisory board.