How will you deliver these attributes?
Developing trust with customers and consumers is a 52 week job. It takes time to develop and you can erode it very quickly. Think of every interaction with customers and consumers impacting that meter of trust.
8 weeks hitting your service level targets builds trust and helps you develop a relationship. One week of 50% service level, perhaps during a key seasonal selling period and you probably have eroded the 8 weeks of solid performance.
When consumers purchase your product and they are happy with it you are building trust. One product recall or perhaps the product does not last until the stated best before date and you will erode all of the trust you developed.
In our C.A.R.T. process T stands for Trust. My experience has been suppliers want to invest their time and efforts on consumers and customers but lose sight of how important it is to develop trust. The Trust column includes the question; How will you deliver the attributes that build trust ?
It is their definition not yours
Often, we get focused on our own definitions. It is what we know and what we believe is important. The great suppliers are able to get past this to figure out how customers and consumers perceive the key attributes.
If you agree trust is built with Price+Quality+Experience- remember it is the customer and consumer’s definition of these attributes.
Price
Price is much more than your everyday low cost or ‘regular price’. Usually this is negotiated up front and both you and the customer have to agree on it. Once this is set the retail is created and consumers will have the option to buy your product. If you get this far that means customers believe there is value in the product and the price you are selling it for.
You build trust with price when you develop your promotion programs and work on cost increases.
Do your best to keep a level playing field. If you participate in the loyalty program with one retailer find something that delivers equal value to you at a different retailer. It is your job to figure out what works best with each customer. Just remember you should be able to keep the offers equitable. If one customer sees your product with a 30% discount or a loyalty offer equal to 30% discount at their competition, they will be expecting something comparable. For this reason, it is very important to build your promotion plan and take a second look to make sure it is effective and equitable.
Quality
Customers and consumers have expectations for how products will perform. When you meet or exceed these expectations you build trust. This is also related to what you tell them about your product. If you promote your product as the best, you better make sure it delivers. Remember their definition, not yours.
Quality is tough because it can be subjective. If possible, find attributes you can measure that allow you to confirm you are delivering what you promised. These might be internal measurements that you know will impact the customer’s and consumer’s perception of your quality.
If you think of a product like ice cream there are many variables that impact the quality. Ingredients, the amount of air in the product, the amount of extrusions etc. You can measure these things but they do not mean much to consumers. They think in terms of creamy, flavour etc. If you say you are the best you have to measure up.
Experience
There are many interactions your customers and consumers have with your products.
For your customers it starts when you deliver the product to the warehouse or the store. If your order is complete and on time, you build trust with service level. If your code dates meet or exceed epectations, you build trust. If your product flows through their supply chain with the right labels and packages you build trust. When your product scans properly at the checkout you build trust.
The definition of experience with consumers is similar, yet different. When they go to the store and find your product in stock you build trust. When they look at the category and your product delivers value, relative to the competition you build trust. When they take it home and their family are happy with how it performs as an ingredient or on its own you build trust. All of this should lead to repeat purchases which is a great measure of trust. If people buy your product a second time, at regular price you have built trust. When products only sell with demos or discounts the trust is still not there.
Trust is important every week
There is no doubt when retailers trust you as a supplier and consumers trust your products you will be more successful. You will get the opportunities and the repeat purchases. Make sure everyone in your organization understands how important this is and it really can be 3 steps forward, 7 steps back if you erode the trust.
If you have any questions or help figuring out how to get your product on the shelf or in the shopping cart you can always call me at (902) 489-2900 or send me an email peter@skufood.com.
We are adding more industry updates and interesting ideas to your SKUFood newsletter. If you see things happening let us know so we can share them with our community. We also want to hear if you find this helpful and benefits your food and beverage business!
More Oreos and this one is a no brainer
For those of you who have been following SKUFood for a while you know we like to watch the introduction of Oreos. They do a great job keeping new SKUS coming to the market. The Oreo brand is in many channels and given the changes to consumers a gluten free Oreo is an obvious line extension.
Thanks to Stephanie Foran for finding these in store. She was so excited to share with her Dad, Steve Foran that he could now include Oreos in his gluten free diet.
Food service and Beyond Meat
Despite the challenges in the food service channel in the last 14 months, it is still a great way to build your brand. When you can work with a food service brand to include your branded product on their menu there can be a lot of benefits. Consider it a great paid demo. In this case Pizza Hut is buying the sausage from Beyond Meat and promoting it to their customers.
People can also buy Beyond Meat products in grocery stores. Although the sausage crumble is exclusive to Pizza Hut, the brand recognition is there.
Research influencers
We know influencers are having more impact on consumers all the time. People spend more time on their mobile device and the products they buy can be influenced by these people with established online communities.
If you are wanting to learn more or perhaps even find the right influencer this website will help you. Similar to promoting your products in other channels you need to do the research and find the best fit that will be most effective for your products.
