Located in China, one of the world’s largest gas grill manufacturers became the primary supplier of premium, full-size gas grills to Canada’s largest retailer of gas grills – Canadian Tire. In an average year, the manufacturer was expected to produce upwards of 200,000 grills for the retailer. In support of this large program, the retailer expected the manufacturer to have domestic presence for both spare parts fulfillment and call center support, with national access to bi-lingual (English and French) agents.
In addition to the large scale of this program, the gas grill category itself presented many challenges from an after-sales perspective:
- Looking at end users, consumers can be nervous and unsure of themselves when dealing with propane/natural gas and open flames;
- Troubleshooting gas grills can be difficult particularly given that many of the problems customers experience stem from maintenance related issues.
- Similarly, while many consumers consider themselves to be barbeque “experts”, many do not truly understand the basics of cooking over an open-flame and therefore have unrealistic or incorrect expectations about grill performance.
Recognizing the challenges of setting up an effective after-sales program in Canada, the manufacturer turned to Osirus.