Handy Handy Andy Case Study

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Handy Andy, Inc., a maker of trash compactors, had a problem with how the distribution of their products was being done by distributors and retailers alike. The company made two models of trash compactors the standard and the deluxe, the latter having more capacity thus a higher price. The distribution of the trash compactor to the end user worked like this, a customer makes an order for a trash compactor through a licensed retailer, once the order is made the retailer buys from the distributor to fulfil that order and then delivers it to the customer. The initial agreement between Handy Andy Inc. and the distributors was based on delivering and installing all units in a period of 5 days after an order was made by a retailer, as compensation …show more content…

There are several problems with the way distributors and retailers were handling the distribution of the trash compactors. First the retailers offered such a bad customer service that it was making customers wished they never bought the trash compactor in the first place. Retailers took longer than they should to deliver trash compactors to customers and after doing so they didn’t offer any help in the installation process and in some occasions were rude towards customers. If the poor customer service continues customers will eventually buy trash compactors from other retailers that do not carry Handy Andy Inc. brand. Customer service is considered the most important factor in order to generate sales and the quality of customer service is usually the factor that determines if the customer buys from you or the competitor, but somehow these retailers forgot that. Second because it was in the best interest of distributors to sell the deluxe trash compactors due to their higher price they would contact the retailer’s customers that made orders for standard trash compactors and …show more content…

In order to convince the buyer of purchasing the deluxe version distributors created the incentive of fulfilling repair orders of deluxe units before standard units. This behavior is not only unethical but it also decreases the quality of customer service because the customer already decided to buy the standard version and not the more expensive deluxe trash compactor. The last thing a customer wants is having to cancel his or her order due to the item not being in stock and having someone on the phone trying to sell them a more expensive version. This behavior would eventually result in lower sales due to customers having a bad experience when they buy from these retailers. Third, distributors were telling customers that they were the ones offering the one year warranty and not Handy Andy Inc. By doing this distributors were discrediting Handy Andy Inc. in order to gain popularity among customers. Once more distributors proved how unethical and unreliable they were.
There are several things that the distribution manager of the company can do to improve the distribution of the trash compactors and hopefully fix the problems mentioned above. In order to fix the problem of distributors taking the full credit for the warranty being offered, and contacting retailer’s customers

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