Viral Soap? (Part 2)

I recently discussed the viral complaints springing from a change in soap at Louisville’s Downtown YMCA. So why the change to a new soap after all these years?

If the Y is anything like our company, vendors are bombarding them with offers to help them cut their costs.

We have sales people vying to shrink our phone bills, trim our bookkeeping budget, and prewfreed are bloog poasts four les monies.

Times are tough and everyone is looking to save money. The YMCA does so much to help our community that I can easily envision them thinking, “Well, if we can save some money on soap, that’s ten more children we can subsidize for summer camp.”

My guess is that the Y saw an opportunity to lower costs by using a cheaper soap, and they took it.

We all make such decisions from time to time (I recently made the poor decision to cut my kids’ hair myself…big mistake).

But all too often, cheaper doesn’t just mean inferior; it means more expensive.

I repeat:

Cheaper things usually end up being more expensive.

As I mentioned in my previous entry, the new soap was inferior in quality. It just didn’t lather.

Whereas the old soap required 2 pumps to wash my hair (yeah, it’s pretty darn thin these days), the new soap required about 10 pumps.

So I needed to use 5 times more soap for the same lather, which I suspect not only negated any “per ounce” cost savings, but probably ended up costing the Y more money due to the need to buy five times more soap in terms of overall volume.

Then factor in shipping costs on the additional soap, plus the staff time to fill the soap dispensers more often, and all in all, it’s a bad deal.

Cheaper things usually end up being more expensive.

We’ve all made the mistake of thinking that we were getting a deal only to realize that the sacrifice in quality creates hidden costs that make the “deal” a truly bad proposition.

In this instance, the YMCA ultimately dropped the new soap and went back to the old soap, and I haven't heard a single complaint since.

So when sales reps start saying, “Hey, I can do that for half of what you’re paying now,” make sure to consider the quality of what they’re selling, lest their bargain basement prices end up costing you more money. 

Viral Soap?

These days, even soap can go viral. I’ve been a member of Louisville’s Downtown YMCA for several years, and a recent change in soap temporarily sent member satisfaction right down the drain. 

[Don’t boo; it’s a hard joke to resist.]

I can testify that the new soap was a definite step backwards in quality and that members were not simply resisting change.

The old soap lathered. The new soap didn’t.

It was impossible not to notice the difference, and in the days after the new soap was introduced, complaints about it were literally never-ending in the men’s locker room.

It was incredibly viral, as the cyclical, coming-and-going nature of locker rooms meant that newly arriving members were immediately infected with the topic by members who had just showered.

And once infected, those members would complain about the soap after their showers, thus infecting the next wave of arrivals.

And on and on and on.

[Insert your own joke about “slippery slopes.”]

I heard members openly complain to staffers about it, and after a few days, the YMCA even posted a sign outside the locker room to let members know that they were aware of the issue. 

Oddly, their sign asked for patience while they explored “other soap options.” I can’t be the only one who thought, “How about the old soap!”

How did the YMCA resolve this issue and what might have caused them to change soaps in the first place?

More soon.

Update: Part 2 now available; click here!

Service Review: Urban Active’s Super Trainer

We love stories of outstanding customer service. It’s a true joy to identify people who go above and beyond and provide stellar service and amazing customer experiences.

So we’d like to offer a huge shout of congratulations to Brian Leonard, who was recently named Trainer of the Year among all national Urban Active locations.

Jes’s whole family works with Brian, and the results have been tremendous. Under his brutal tutelage:

• Jessica and her mom have both lost over 60 lbs.
• Jes’s dad dropped 100+ lbs.
• Jes’s little sister dropped 142 lbs.

Brian also helped Jessica’s little sister, Jamie, win the national Urban Active “Biggest Winner” contest (here’s the video, complete with cameos of our family).

He puts all of his passion into everything he does, and it shows in the results he gets and the client relationships he forms.

Brian (center), with his band, Sugar Spell It Out.

We’d like to add to Brian’s distinguished resume by awarding him our highest service rating:

Brian Leonard of Urban Active: 5 Magnets