Dazed and Confused- Over Laundry Soap

All of us hate change. The worst change is when something that’s been the same for years- maybe a small thing- changes. As my 15 year-old daughter says: “That’s annoying”. Think about yourself as a customer. You’ve been buying the same product or service for years, and then something changes. Maybe it’s price, quality, packaging or even availability (“We don’t carry that anymore”). Think about yourself as an owner. If the product or service changes, you need to educate your clients on the change- or risk losing the business.
“Laundry-detergent brands are about to face a messy marketing challenge: convincing customers to pay the same old prices for about half the detergent”. Why? Under pressure “from powerful retail chains such as Wal-Mart Stores, which are eager to fit more bottles on shelves, and detergent makers’ desire to cut their production costs” detergent bottles will shrink by almost 50%. A concentrated formula will mean the same amount of wash with less detergent. With smaller containers, retailers feel that they will lose fewer sales to products being out of stock and that employees will spend less time stocking shelves.
What could be the repercussions? As a consultant put it: “People will be mad, washing machines will overflow and people will call customer hot line a lot.” Because many detergent manufacturers are moving in the same direction, the angry customer may not have other choices if they’re dissatisfied. Every detergent choice may go through the change!
The Lesson: Changes in your product of service may cause confusion, anger and even lost business. Educate your customers before making changes to your product offerings.
Your Homework: Have you made change in your business that required an explanation? Did you explain the change upfront? Were clients confused, or did the change go smoothly? What can you do to make the next change less disruptive?
(Source: “Selling Detergent Bottles’ Big Shrink”, Wall Street Journal, 5/21/07)