Bizsuccess

Thursday, October 29, 2009
By Pattie Baker

I have to tell you about the potato toilet. I want the potato toilet.  I have seen this water-saving, Australian-designed toilet at several eco-expos in the last six months.  This was, in fact, the item that a group of teen reporters I had “commissioned” determined was the very coolest thing at a recent expo—more so than fashion, makeup, music, anything.  The potato toilet.  Oh, come on now, it’s not actually named the potato toilet.  We call it that because the toilet is demonstrated by flushing a potato (to show how well it works, obviously).

When we had a plumbing problem a few weeks back, I thought of the potato toilet. As coincidence would have it, I actually got an email from the potato toilet company around then.  I took this as a sign from above, of course.  So, I entered into email conversations asking how easy exactly is it to go from a home with no potato toilet to one with one.  Other people may have been out at a fancy restaurant or a just-released movie, but this is what I was doing that night.

And here’s where the potato toilet story gets a bit, shall we say, mashed.  What I wanted was a turnkey solution where I pay one price and suddenly the potato toilet installation is complete.  What I got was a series of emails explaining all the measurements I would need to take, phone calls to plumbers I would need to make, terms I would need to know, and other details I would need to consider to ensure that the potato toilet and I could fulfill our destiny.  It was just so complicated, and it made me concerned about making such a switch.  I mean, what if it didn’t work?  What if I had to spend a fortune just to get that thing installed correctly?  What if I got fried by the potato toilet experience?

I didn’t get the potato toilet, and I won’t until I can get it with ease.  Keep this in mind when you are offering products and services to potential customers.  Most people are experts in something, but most likely not in what you are offering, nor do they want to be.  Watch the jargon.  Find out ways to make purchase, delivery and installation as easy as possible.  Limit the hoops through which they have to jump, because the thought of each hoop gives them an additional opportunity to wonder whether or not they are making the right decision, and to back out.

Here’s what I need.  Now, if Home Depot would just start selling the potato toilet . . .