It’s every business owner’s worst nightmare: a product they manufacture or sell has been deemed unfit for the market. It might be unsafe for public consumption – or it might even put lives at risk.

Suffice to say, such cases can inflict considerable damage upon a company’s reputation. It’s vital, therefore, that they are handled competently. Companies forced to perform a product recall are, for the most part, faced with two options. They can either perform the recall themselves, or they can secure the services of an outside product recall service, such as that provided by Tactical Solutions. In this article, we’ll run over some of the reasons that the latter option is the better of the two.

Experience

One major problem with product recalls is that they happen only very occasionally. While this is a very good thing for the most part – no business can survive if they constantly issue products that have be recalled – there’s one respect, in which it’s not such a good thing. Because you never have to perform the recall, none of your business’s staff will have the experience necessary to handle the situation. In fact, many of them won’t be able to handle it at all.

By contrast, a specialist product recall company will deal with product recalls every day. Their staff will be vastly experienced with recalling products. They’ll be able to identify potential problems and solve them before they have a chance to develop. They’ll have the confidence that comes with experience, and they’ll have an excellent idea of what can be achieved and what can’t. This information will be crucial when it comes to communicating with retailers and customers.

During a product recall, a great many things might conceivably go wrong. The message might not be gotten out effectively, potentially inflicting further damage on the company’s reputation. There might be miscommunication, and other sources of stress. A specialist company will have the experience necessary to deal with such problems the moment they occur.

Efficiency

When it comes to product recalls, efficiency is vital. The longer the process is drawn out, and the more mistakes are made, the worse the impact on your company’s reputation will be.

For the most part, the general public is more forgiving than many of us might imagine. After all, mistakes happen in every line of work – not just retail. But when they see repeated mistakes, they’ll take this as a mark of incompetence rather than mere misfortune. During a recall, a company will be placed under greater scrutiny. Everyone will be looking to see whether you make another mistake. With the help of a professional outside party, these mistakes will be rendered far less likely – and the impact of the recall on your company’s reputation will be hugely reduced.

Technology

Specialist outside companies will also have access to a bevy of hugely useful gadgets. Their representatives will move from site to site with a tablet computer in one hand, connected wirelessly to a central computer. All of the items in this chain are running specialist, bespoke software that will ensure that the entire process is as efficient as possible, and that mistakes are as unlikely as possible. Like the experts who run them, these devices are exposed to constant scrutiny every day – and any flaws in the design are quickly addressed. The result is a system that’s far more efficient than any internal one.

Information

Besides making things much swifter and more efficient for the recall company, technology also allows us to create a paper trail, which can be referred to after the recall is finished with, and kept as proof that everything has gone according to plan. It also allows live updates to be provided to authorised parties automatically. This will ensure that everyone involved with the recall has an accurate picture of how it’s progressing.

Perversely, the person at the top of the business might have a better idea of what’s going on when they hire in outside help than they would if they relied on their own staff. With the help of a product recall company, you’ll be kept appraised of the situation throughout.

Cost

For the reasons we’ve just narrated, skimping on an outside product recall company can often prove a false economy. While the initial saving might be quantifiable, the damage to your company’s reputation in the event that something goes wrong will be incalculable. In most cases, not hiring an external body to perform the recall can be the costlier of the two options.