Sandisk: We strive to provide an effortless support experience

Kevin Wineberg, Director of Global Customer Support at Sandisk, a leading company in flash storage solutions, explained that the company has a key goal of delivering a “seamless” technical support experience. With a distinguished career in the technology industry, Wineberg leads Sandisk’s efforts to offer an exceptional customer experience worldwide.

In an interview with The Daily Pulse, Wineberg discussed how his team addresses the unique expectations of U.S. consumers, optimizes support and warranty processes, and adapts to the rapidly evolving storage technology to ensure efficient and friendly service.

Below, we share his insights on the challenges and strategies that have solidified Sandisk’s reputation in customer support.

-          What unique expectations do U.S. consumers have when it comes to pre- and post-sales support for flash storage products, and how does your team tailor its approach to meet those needs?

Sandisk is committed to providing all of our customers worldwide with an effortless customer experience that will meet their needs via a channel of their choice. For the US consumer market, we provide pre-and post-sale support as well as technical and warranty support via our Sandisk support web site, our communities, extensive Knowledge base, Automated Chat, YouTube Sandisk videos as well as live chat, phone and web support. The US customers prefer support to be on a channel of their choice and at the time of their choice.

-          How has the rise of e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Best Buy's digital channels impacted the way Sandisk handles support and warranty replacement in the U.S.?

Consumer Warranty replacements can be a painful experience if not handled in an easy and efficient manner. Sandisk offers automated solutions for our customers to create and process their warranty returns quickly and efficiently. Companies like Amazon have set the bar high with the ability to easily create a warranty or return request and then guide the customer step by step with all the information they need being communicated to them along their journey. Sandisk’s’ RMA process has been designed to ensure entitlement, return of the defective product and that the customers replacement devises are received and shipped in a timely manner. We communicate status step by step from warranty replacement approval to shipping the replacement product are communicate to our customer in real time setting expectations and meeting them.

-          With U.S. consumers often being early adopters of tech, how does your support strategy ensure seamless onboarding for cutting-edge products like high-speed portable SSDs and next-gen SD cards?

Product packaging refers customers to our support pages where we have content rich Knowledge Base articles, Communities, Sandisk YouTube Videos, as well as live Chat, Phone and Web support to get our customers up and running.

-          What are the most common technical challenges consumers face with Sandisk’s flash products, and how has your team optimized support workflows to address them efficiently?

Our most common issues revolve around installation for our internal SSDs, pre-sales & compatibility questions as well as customers who may have content that is not being properly backed up.

Kevin Wineberg, Director of Global Customer Support at Sandisk. Source: LinkedIn.

-          With rapid innovation in storage tech, how do you ensure your support teams are always equipped to handle new product queries—especially with internal SSDs and high-capacity microSD cards? We strive to provide an effortless support experience.

Our Knowledge Base articles are continually being updated to reflect the many changes for host devices. Our agents regularly attend new product training as well as training on new host devices and any device OS \ firmware updates that might affect our products. Our product readiness and response team ensure that our content and our agents are equipped with the knowledge they need in the constantly evolving storage technology field.

-          Warranty claims can be a pain point for many consumers—what steps has Sandisk taken under your leadership to make this process more seamless and customer-friendly?

Our customers’ may self-serve by submitting their warranty claims effortlessly on-line or via our support site. We have live agent support available via Chat With Us or by Call Us depending on the support channel they prefer.

Customers may also choose to use our Chat With Us option, Call Us or Email Us channels for Pre Sales, Post Sales and trouble shooting in order to obtain support.

-          As more consumers become tech-savvy, how is your team evolving its support strategy to empower users with self-service tools or proactive diagnostics?

We currently utilize several automated means for support as mentioned, our extensive knowledge base, Chat bot and YouTube videos for our customers who prefer to self-serve. Our live agents are always available for Chat, phone or web request support if they prefer those options.