Turning Crisis into Opportunity, Building Long-Term Relationships

Last month, one of our long-term clients, Emily, reached out to us. Emily is a UK-based wholesaler specializing in pet supplies. For over a year, she has been purchasing our plant-based cat litter products—Best Sellers: Tofu Cat Litter, Corn Cat Litter, and more. She has always trusted our quality and service. However, her latest email caught our attention:“In this batch of 9kg cat litter, several bags from one pallet arrived with damaged packaging, causing some tofu cat litter to spill. My warehouse manager is concerned that this might affect our customers’ experience.”

As soon as we received this email, our team promptly launched an investigation. Emily is a meticulous and rational customer whose feedback is always constructive. We immediately contacted her to understand the situation in detail while arranging a thorough review of every step—from individual packaging to bulk shipment and unloading.

During our communication, we discovered that the damage occurred due to improper handling by one of the customer’s warehouse staff during unloading. To help Emily resolve the issue quickly and minimize losses, we immediately shipped a replacement batch of 9kg tofu cat litter. Additionally, we included samples of our latest product, Coffee Cat Litter, to introduce her to our new offerings.

A few days later, Emily replied:“Thank you so much for your quick response and solution. I was especially delighted with your new Coffee Cat Litter. I’m impressed by how it retains the excellent qualities of traditional tofu cat litter while significantly enhancing deodorization. I’m already planning to promote it as a new product and look forward to receiving more details.”

This incident not only resolved the issue but also provided an opportunity to showcase our professional service and successfully introduce a new product. Although we were not at fault, this situation reminded us of the importance of strengthening communication and offering guidance on logistics and handling processes at the customer’s end. Following this, we proactively shared some tips on unloading and storage with Emily to help prevent similar incidents in the future.

Building trust doesn’t happen overnight, and maintaining it requires consistent effort and actions. While this incident was a minor “hiccup,” it reaffirmed that our quick response, thoughtful communication, and professional service are the key reasons why customers like Emily choose to maintain long-term partnerships with us.