Inadequate notice to consultants for product line changes.
LyndaLucas 
- 11 Jan 2005
I have been a consultant for almost a year and a half and I have noticed that Mary Kay corporate does not provide adequate notice to its consultants when product line changes are forthcoming. Come now, they know when a new product will be introduced or a product discontinued, yet they often fail to inform the consultants of these changes ina timely manner. No doubt this is done to ensure they deplete their inventory before the consultants no longer order the products from them. I think this is disrespectful to its partners, the consultant sales force. I scour the MK website almost daily, as well as the Applause magazine monthly, looking for clues as to what will be discontinued next so that I can ensure I deplete my inventory prior to the product no longer being included in the Look or Beauty catalogs. Often there is not even a hint to a product's discontinuance. One of the most recent examples I can think of is the MK nail color change introduced in December - my Director was not even aware of it! They discontinued all of the regular line nail colors except for two and introduced six more, without any notice at all! I logged into the MK website to find out that my personal website was advertising nail colors I didn't even have in inventory! There should be some happy medium where the consultants are given enough advance notice of product line changes so that they have an opportunity to sell their inventory and move on to the new products.
Great points! ON another forum, the ladies were talking about the current TW change and it also left alot of them very hot, but what I heard from them is that their directors were aware of it, but were told not to say anything about new products coming out. No reason given, yet some directors do let you know what's coming and being a former director myself, directors receive samples of new products from corporate way in advance of their 'debut'. I find it hard to believe your director did not know this. Her hands might have been tied to not say anything. It is very unsettling and I think it's very disrespectful to consultants and in a way, kinda makes consultants look like fools for promoting a product only to have it abruptly removed from access and replaced by something else the consultant has to 'fall in love' with to sell. I'd write to Tom Whatley, the Marketing director about this dilemma, I think you have great points and they should be expressed to him!
_________________
Quit whining!!! Product launches in every company are done in a timely fashion. If you didnt know about the nail colors you obviously don't keep up on things. Quit blaming your director. She gets the info shortly before you have it available. Nobody is trying to pull one over. It's called strategy and people go to college to learn about it.
The products are placed on the discontinued list for 3+ months in order to give you time to move them off your shelves or stock those you feel you might need longer. It should take you a good year to learn what you need to carry most of so you don't get yourself in a situation of having too much of something.
You can donate things to a women's shelter and get a write off. Give your discontinued product as gifts for birthdays and holidays. If someone wants more of something show them the new product instead. It works for me and I've never had a problem with it.
MK does extensive re-search on product changes and I've never had a problem with how they've handled them. If you're real consultants you would be sending your concerns to the company and not on this site. You obviously have no respect for them and for the company your represent.
This business is 90% attitude and you wont go anywhere if you don't change yours.
You must register before editing pages or using other extended features on this TWiki system.