Why free lost and found software is never free
The travel industry has faced extensive challenges in the past year. Many, in an effort to save their business operational costs, have started considering free lost and found solutions. However, free services bring along more than just decreased expenses. In this article, we examine the option of free lost and found software and what that means for your business.
What free lost and found service really means
Free doesn’t exist in today’s business world. Businesses offer free services with another goal in mind. Usually, they promote free trials/samples so that users realize that their service is indeed essential to them — or to gain other types of valuable information from you.
For instance, online eCommerce stores often offer free shipping. Even in this case, however, nothing is for free. Most of the time, the costs a business has to transport goods has already been included in the overall price the buyer pays for the product. What remains is the illusion of a free service.
Social Media companies like Facebook or Google also don’t offer their services for completely free. Their unpaid offerings come at the price of private user data they can be sold or used for paid advertising plans.
Free lost and found software is no different. What might seem like a profitable investment at first can easily transform into unhappy customers and a damaged brand reputation. Most free lost and found services push for transporting the lost item to the owner’s address. However, they often charge disproportional transportation costs plus additional fees to the owner all while receiving a discount from the carriers. The result? Frustrated customers who not only got themselves into the inconvenient situation of losing their property due to inefficient service, but are now additionally asked to pay high fees to have their goods returned. Thinking about it from the owner’s perspective, bad customer reviews come as no surprise.
Let’s also take a look from the lost and found provider’s perspective. What does it mean to always offer all services for “free”? There is one obvious consequence — most of their revenue is spent on operative costs, living little to no room for new development and innovation. These improvements are not only limited to features, they can also extend to security and regulatory issues, leaving the customer vulnerable.
Benefits of investing in a premium Lost and Found software
Lostand Found Software is different. The Software only costs a subscription fee for organizations with thousands of found items because our technology saves them an enormous amount of time, effort, and storage. Additionally, the higher return rates also translate to increased customer satisfaction.
Thanks to our unique business models, we can offer the Software to smaller venues for free (with reduced features). In turn, these venues help all of us create the best and most holistic Lost and Found experience worldwide! The input they make trains our Image Recognition and Smart Matching algorithms, which improves the system for everybody.
When choosing Lost and Found Software for your company, it is valuable to rate the importance customer experience holds in your organization. Is this something closely related to your brand value, or not? Sometimes difficult financial circumstances, such as the current pandemic, will call for desperate measures. However, investing in a premium lost-and-found software for your company can prove lucrative in the long run:
1. Brand reputation
Satisfied customers are eager to talk about their positive brand experiences with friends. So good customer experience leads to positive word-of-mouth for your business.
2. Brand loyalty & user engagement
If a customer trusts that they will receive a pleasant service, they are more willing to stay loyal and engaged with the brand.
3. More sales
Positive experiences are repeated experiences. Trust is a huge indicator that a customer will buy from you in the future as well.
So before choosing a lost-and-found service for your business, think hard about how you want your brand to be characterized and positioned in the industry. The reputation you set for your brand is of utmost importance, especially during a crisis. Even though cutting costs seems like an appealing choice, don’t sacrifice your brand’s future for ill-conceived short term results. Choose a solution that actually adds value instead of superficially reducing costs. How is value added by premium lost and found solutions? By overall increasing your efficiency and reducing your costs through long term transformation of your operational excellence AND customer satisfaction. How?
Visit: www.lostandfoundsoftware.com
How to turn your Lost & Found into a Profit Center https://medium.com/lost-and-found-software/how-to-turn-your-lost-found-into-a-profit-center-16bf385de334
