Reinventing Extended Warranties (Coverplan) for Currys

The Problem

Extended Warranties are a core element of the electrical retailing business, however uptake of them by mid-2004 was beginning to fall
Negative consumer press as well as increasing competition from household and credit card insurance compounded the problem
Critically a lack of engagement in the product from in-store personnel was creating a feeling that the product was “hard to sell”
Coverplan needed to be reinvented from top to bottom

The Process
Step 1: Immersion - the team immersed themselves in the world of Currys – store visits, interviews with staff from top to bottom in the organisation, consumer interviews, call centre visits and going on call-out with the service engineers.

The result was a thorough understanding of the differing and often conflicting issues along the customer journey.

Step 2: Idea Generation – a number of creative techniques were used to explore the options at each customer touch point.

Everyone was involved – from the shop-floor colleagues to the service engineers to the accountants. This process approach
helped create organisational alignment, support and positive momentum for the new product.

Step 3: Design and testing - finally customer and colleague research was used to iterate the various options:

to identify the features to best deliver the brand promise
to discover which features would most impact customer uptake
to identify what would make it most compelling for colleagues to sell

The Solution
Whateverhappens was developed with the following features:

• Pay as you Go pricing that makes buying it easier
• Increased Service Standards - making the product something that both colleagues and
customers could believe in

Stories were developed to make the service more easily understood and explained by store colleagues and more relevant for customers.

The Results
Whateverhappens was launched in February 2005 and is already showing great results.

The decline in performance has been arrested and colleague engagement has improved dramatically. Customer perception of warranty sales and of Curry’s in general has also seen a marked improvement.

Whateverhappens has been nominated for a National Business Award for customer focus.

“Working with ?What If! was a refreshing experience, their approach was simple but effective and allowed us to make huge strides in terms of performance, colleague engagement and customer perceptions.” Anna Burleigh, Brand Director, Currys

“It was the combined approach of innovation on the product as well as the customer experience elements of Whateverhappens that made it so successful. It was really rewarding working from insights all the way through to branding and design.” Shelli Baltman, ?What If!