The Route to Success – Satisfying the Customer and Consumer
Satisfying the customer and consumer is a fundamental step to success in any business. The product you offer must generate an image of Desirability, Quality, Trust, Consistency, Service and Value.
Whilst there is reasonable and logical emphasis on satisfying and motivating the consumer, the customer (ie the person or organisation who sells your product to its final consumer) is arguably just as important, because if the product is not displayed and sold effectively – an activity largely out of the manufacturer’s hands – then the product is unlikely to be successful. With a new business or new product, identifying the right outlets and then developing your relationship with relevant distributors and retailers is of the utmost importance.
Desirability
A product has to be desirable and this parameter is slanted towards the ultimate consumer, although it does help if the seller likes and is enthusiastic about the product as well. Trade promotion is very important and effective in creating interest in your product and finding ways of motivating the retailer, particularly in the launch phase, is very important.
“Desirable” means different things to different people and at different times, so a high degree of clarity is needed in aligning your product and its availability with the needs and wants of your target consumer and circumstances.
The category or sector into which the product fits is important – is it for example a gift, a refuel, a personal indulgence, something to share. There are many different uses for confectionery, and you need to be clear what your product provides to the consumer, because not only will this affect your approach to marketing the product, but it will also strongly influence where, when and how it is sold.
Products for gifting between individuals need excellence and impact and in some ways the presentation and packaging are as important as the product itself – although this must never disappoint. Innovative and exciting products, which are away from the norm will prosper in this category. There are real opportunities here for innovation, niche products and premium pricing.
Gifting between mother (or other close relative) and a child are founded totally on trust. The product can often be quite “conventional” but it must be consistent, pure, well labelled and utterly reliable if it is to be presented in this role. Even the slightest deviation from perfection and expectation will ensure that there is no repeat purchase and very rapid dissemination of the discontent and disappointment with the product. This is an important sector because it has a very strong “recruitment” component – the chocolate you first taste often stays as a favourite throughout life.
Refuel products are used by people moving around who may not have the time or opportunity for a meal or proper break. They tend to be high in energy and “satisfying” (but this is not essential and may not be considered desirable in many cases) and they are often sold in impulse purchase outlets such as service stations, railway stations and newsagents. The market for these products is currently dominated by long term conventional offerings from the major manufacturers, so there may be opportunity for less conventional products which still satisfy the appetite but do so in a different, perhaps less calorific way. Enhancing alertness can be an important additional factor in this sector, which is not generally a component of most existing confectionery products, but is a very important aspect of the parallel drinks market.
Indulgence and sharing products tend to be fairly conventional (chiefly moulded bars and count lines) but there is always an opportunity for innovation.
Confectionery products specifically designed for occasions such as exercise and outdoor pursuits seem very ordinary at present and genuine sports nutrition may well be a new and exciting opportunity if products can build reputation and performance. Packaging design could be an important element in this niche sector to avoid problems with litter at outdoor and sensitive locations.
Part of desirability is building a brand and you can now build a brand and an image even on a small and local scale thanks in part to the consumer access facilitated by social media. The opportunity exists to build desirability through positioning and appealing directly to a target consumer group.
Quality
There really is no room in the confectionery market for anything other than high quality products and clear and obvious quality is absolutely essential for any new product trying to enter the market.
This basic rule applies to the whole range of products across all categories; even “economy” products must have a quality feel and image. The relentless increase in the consumers’ demand for quality has been a prominent issue in the late 20th and 21st centuries. Poor quality products and ranges marketed at the “economy” end of the scale in earlier times have either been driven to improve quality or have been eliminated. The approach and activities of the major retailers with their own brands has been significant in this change as they have driven the expectation of quality at low cost. The consumer now demands ever-increasing quality of product, presentation and service.
Consumers are not only faced with a wide range of products to choose from but they are very conscious of the pressure on disposable income and therefore will seek out products which appear to have, and deliver, quality in terms of ingredients, packaging, image and of course flavour, eating qualities and appearance. It is also often forgotten that people want to be proud of their purchases, so make your product something to be proud of in every respect.
The initial impression of the product, the way it is presented on the shelf, its name, the way the product and its characteristics are described on the pack must all attract and interest the consumer and motivate purchase. That impression must then be re-enforced at every subsequent stage, the way the pack opens, the appearance and odour of the product, its taste, texture, aftertaste and the satisfaction the eating experience delivers, must all make the consumer satisfied and motivated to want to come back and buy another.
A strange thought perhaps, but maybe a key characteristic of a product is to make the consumer want to buy another one – think about it, what is it in your product that will make the consumer want to repeat purchase
Packaging
The way in which a product is packaged fulfils a number of very important issues for the manufacturer, customer and consumer.
For the consumer it is the first point of eye contact so it must have impact and transmit the messages required to encourage purchase. It must define the product, so that the consumer is sure of the nature of the product and it must provide protection whilst allowing easy access.
For the customer – the retailer – packaging (including cartoning as well as primary wrapping) must provide protection so that product is not damaged or made unsalable in storage or while on display and has a good shelf life. For smaller retailers cartoning which itself provides a display with impact is potentially important as it greatly simplifies and improves their display.
For the manufacturer the primary functional purpose of wrapping is to provide both direct protection for the product (such as moisture and odour barriers) and mechanical protection in the supply chain and hence deliver shelf life to the retailer and quality to the consumer.
Consistency
It is essential that the product delivers the same experience to the consumer every time it is purchased. The consumer has decided what he or she wants and likes and will be disappointed and discouraged if the product varies even slightly. This may seem obvious, but small-scale batch production needs real care and attention to achieve complete consistency over a long period and in addition there is a need for a proper system for understanding, defining and monitoring the characteristics of the product – it must be something more fundamental than one person’s opinion!
Whilst basic analytical techniques can help with consistency, confectionery products often have key characteristics that are developed within the manufacturing processes. The precise way in which, for example, flavour is developed during processing is often poorly understood and defined even in major manufacturing operations simply because it is so complex. This means that even apparently unimportant steps in the manufacturing process and all aspects of ingredient specification need to be closely monitored, recorded and controlled.
Tasting is an essential component of product monitoring because it is the overall eating sensation that is important. There are simple statistical tests (eg the Triangle test) available for formal difference testing and these are certainly valuable but do need a reasonable number of respondents to be worthwhile.
A reasonably successful system in small to medium sized businesses (and even larger ones) is to have regular, preferably daily, tasting of products by as large an internal group as possible. This does not need to be done in a formal environment but must become part of the culture of the business and it must be done in a way that results and response are rapid and people are unafraid of criticising the product if they feel it is below standard. Product quality needs to be a driving force for the entire business, not just a functional responsibility.
Trust
The consumer and the customer must develop trust in both the products and the company producing them. Building trust takes time and any new business needs to find ways of moving quickly to a position of trust with the customer and consumer. One of the key buying decisions people make is “do I trust the product” so think about how you are going to make consumers trust your product at first sight.
Just as important is establishing trust with the customer – the retailer in most cases. The people who stand between you and your ultimate consumer need to know that your products will be wholesome and reliable and will reflect well on their own business and will not bring a string of dissatisfied customers.
Transparency is a essential for any business trying to build trust – stress your values (and demonstrate that you live by them) and show the consumer the purity and origin of your ingredients, how you use them and how you run your business and relate to employees and customers. Environmental awareness and avoidance of synthetic flavours and colours are also potentially important potential “plus” points. Think about organisations you trust yourself or have a reputation for integrity – and those that don’t – and try to understand how they achieved their position. This is another area where social media can now play an extremely useful role as it allows direct contact with and response from significant numbers of actual and potential consumers.
While building trust takes time, destroying that reputation takes an only an instant of inattention. At one time or another every business is going to have a “problem” of one kind or another. It can be big or small but in either case how you deal with it will determine the future of the business and how well it recovers from the incident.
- Have a pre-selected crisis management group with established, written procedures – if you are small then it might only be one person but the same basic idea still applies. This team or individual must also have sole control of communications to ensure all messages are aligned
- Acknowledge that there may be a problem from the outset – even if you don’t think there is one – “we are investigating something reported to us”
- Find out what people think the problem is
- Find out exactly what the problem actually is, use whatever resources it takes and do so quickly
- Plan and execute the response and the solution to the problem very thoroughly and very quickly – silence definitely is not golden, keep communicating
- Make sure your story is credible and is the one people hear first (social networking again can be useful) and make sure the customers and consumers understand it and believe it – use whatever techniques you have available to find out what customers and consumers think and react and reinforce the message as necessary
- Explain clearly what you are going to do to make sure that the same does not happen again – and please avoid the thoroughly discredited phrase beloved of some institutions – “lessons have been learned” – which seems to be code for “we really don’t care but had to say something to the media”
Service
Service both for the customer and the consumer can be summarised as: –
“What is wanted, where it is wanted, when it is wanted”
This applies equally to the product itself and to all the other responses required from a company – answers to enquiries, payment of invoices, prompt deliveries of product, correct deliveries, range on the shelves, available from outlets which are open when the consumer wants the product, new products to make sure the consumer doesn’t get bored, reliable quality, ethical standards in sourcing and operating, quick and polite response to complaints. Think of the things that you yourself find frustrating and make sure it doesn’t apply to your business.
Consumer complaints handling is an aspect of service that is sometimes under valued. If a consumer takes the trouble to complain then he or she is deserving of a prompt, courteous response, even if the complaint is unfounded or outside your control.
An effective response to a complaint will nullify not only an individual consumer’s disappointment but will also avoid or at least reduce the “word of mouth” impact of a poor experience associated with your product.
In any event you must take the complaint seriously and investigate it properly because for every consumer who takes the trouble to complain there will be many who simply stop buying your product. In fact you should actively encourage dissatisfied customers to contact you and listen to them
Value
Hand in hand with the demand for ever improving quality has been the demand for ever improving value.
Value is something quite subtle, because it relates to the consumers’ evaluation and perception of what a product delivers compared with the resource it demands (not only financial, it can include availability and other factors). It is also something that can change with time and circumstances.
Value consciousness is driven not just by consumers’ circumstances, it has also been driven by major retailers’ promotion of their own brand products that do frequently deliver quality at a lower cost than branded equivalents, thus adjusting consumers’ benchmark.
Manufacturers and retailers must always be aware of the key value of a product to the consumer and ensure that through display, packaging and delivery the consumers’ satisfaction is maximised. They must also be aware that the key value to the consumer may not be a constant:-
- It may change over time, for example as a new product moves from “novelty” to “routine”
- It may change with the location or time of purchase
- It may be different for different consumers – age group for example
This means that the manufacturer must tune presentation and marketing to suit circumstances, particularly for outlets where different purchasing drivers apply – for example a gift shop or petrol station may require quite a different presentation to a late night corner shop or a supermarket
Conclusion – Satisfying the Customer and Consumer
However good your idea or product it is unlikely to be successful if you are unable to provide the customer and consumer consistently with the quality and service that he or she is expecting.
The product itself has to meet expectations and be desirable and available to the consumer where and when it is wanted whilst providing perceived value and a trustworthy image for the manufacturer.