Haier Introduces Industry-First Service Initiative to Upgrade Customer Feedback Experience Through a WhatsApp Survey

New Delhi, 12 March, 2021: Haier, the global leader in Home Appliances & Consumer Electronics and World's Number 1 brand in Major Appliances for 12 Consecutive Years*, today unveiled its new customer service initiative that is now available on WhatsApp Messenger. Through this service, Haier aims to conduct customer surveys through WhatsApp to improve the service experience.

In 2020, Haier had introduced a WhatsApp Channel that helps its customers resolve issues, generate new service requests & inquire about the status of existing ones. This channel is empowered with Chatbots & live agents to help the customers solve the issues they are facing. Taking it up a notch, Haier has now started the industry-first survey through this WhatsApp channel to gather information on service provided on a real-time basis while improving the customer experience.

Consumers can register for the service by sending a quick message or scanning the QR code that is directed to Haier's WhatsApp account on +91 8553049999. They can use WhatsApp to get technical assistance for Haier's appliances across categories, rate the customer service, and provide feedback on the technicians and engineers. Not only this, but Haier plans to explore and innovate further in the customer communication & experience space through WhatsApp. With the aim to provide best-in-class service offerings to its consumers, the company will bring in new features and also optimize the existing ones.

Commenting on the initiative, Mr. Eric Braganza, President, Haier Appliances India said, “Consumers are at the core of everything we do at Haier, and we're dedicated to providing them a first-class customer experience through our excellent service initiatives. In a bid to provide support to our customers in the new normal, our WhatsApp assistance will provide our consumers the luxury of giving feedback or raising an issue with just a touch of a button. We're optimistic that this new service feature will strengthen our customer relationships while offering them more ease. We hope that our consumers can take advantage of the newly launched WhatsApp helpline.”

Conventionally, white goods companies conduct customer experience surveys through outbound calls & emails. With the company's trademark to stay unconventional and redefine innovation, Haier took the lead and became the first consumer durable firm to start a customer experience survey through WhatsApp. With the disruptions that technology has made, today, WhatsApp has become the most preferred medium of communication in India. This step will enable the company to reach more customers to understand their service experience to improve it further and thereby generate a positive word of mouth. Customers will have more convenience to respond to the survey whenever & wherever they want.

In line with consumer feedback, the questionnaire has been kept brief and easy to grasp to encourage a better response to the survey. When a customer contacts Haier Customer Service Channels, contact center agents ask for the customer's WhatsApp phone number and attain an opt-in from the customer to deliver messages via WhatsApp. Once the Haier Authorized Service Engineer visits the customer's place and resolves the service request, a message is sent to the customer for attending a small survey. The questionnaire is short & simple to understand and the response can be provided in options.

ABOUT HAIER INDIA

Headquartered in New Delhi, Haier India has pan India operations and a vast distribution network across the country along with a manufacturing facility in Pune, Maharashtra. Product offerings of Haier India range from refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, TVs, water heaters, freezers to microwave ovens, with a special focus on local needs. For example, washing machines that work at nearly Zero Water Pressure help solve the biggest challenge that Indian consumers face in their daily lives, while Haier Bottom Mounted Refrigerators have also been well received by Indian consumers due to their large refrigeration capacity which caters to local people's dietary habits. A larger refrigeration capacity means the consumer can store more vegetables while the refrigerator also makes people's lives easier by placing the refrigerating chamber at the top of the machine.

ABOUT HAIER GROUP

Established in 1984, Haier Group is a world-leading provider of solutions to a better life. Focusing on user experience, Haier has been included on the list of BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands for two consecutive years as the world's first and only IoT ecosystem brand. Haier has topped Global Major Appliances Brand Rankings by Euromonitor International for 12 consecutive years. Its subsidiary Haier Smart Home is among the list of Global 500 of Fortune. To date, Haier Group owns three listed companies, has seven global brands such as Haier, Casarte, Leader, GE Appliances, Fisher & Paykel, AQUA, and Candy. It has successfully incubated 5 unicorn companies and 37 gazelle companies. Moreover, Haier has established 10+N open innovation systems, 28 industrial parks, 122 manufacturing centers, and nearly 240,000 sales networks around the globe, it has gone deep into 160 countries and regions globally, serving more than 1 billion users' families. (Data as of January 2021)

Haier Group is committed to working with its world-class ecosystem partners to continuously build a premium brand, scenario brand, and ecosystem brand, and to set up IoT ecosystems in clothing, food, accommodation, travel, health, elderly care, biomedicine and education, and to tailor personalized smart life for users around the globe.

*According to the Euromonitor ranking 2021

MEDIA CONTACT: For more information, please contact:

Shiraz Khalid I shiraz.khalid@2020msl.com

Anushree Sahay | anushree.sahay@2020msl.com