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CEO Corner

 

Avoid Inadvertently Gouging Your Customers

 

During times when the fuel market is unstable, it is extremely important to monitor your pricing to ensure you are not inadvertently gouging your customers. Even by following a regular pricing protocol, let’s say to match a specific competitor; you could be unintentionally gouging your customers without all the necessary information being a part of your pricing process and decision.

With hurricane season quickly approaching, you can count on a volatile fuel market and Attorney General Investigations around gasoline price gouging. And with talk of Congress pushing for price gouging legislation it is more critical than ever to be on top of fuel pricing decisions

Unfortunately, at times, customers will confuse market volatility with price gouging which puts your good reputation on the line. Ensure you are able to protect and prove yourself with complete price validation and auditing.

In order to be proactive and being prepared to show that gouging didn’t occur requires two things:

1.  Validation of your prices before they reach the pumps:

  • Know the law – whether it’s limiting price changes to once each day, adhering to below cost pricing requirements or the different responsibilities should a State of Emergency be declared - be aware of your how you are expected to price at each site in your network
  • Have a pricing system in place that systemically and automatically ensures that you meet these legal requirements or, at least, informs you that a proposed price may breach a legislative requirement

2.  Thorough audit trail capabilities:

Your pricing system should provide the ability to easily audit all decision points in the pricing process

  • When was a competitor survey submitted
  • What costs were used as the basis for margin decisions
  • What competitor prices were used as the basis for price proposal decisions
  • What protocol was used to make a price proposal
  • When was that price proposal sent to the site
  • Was that price proposal price executed
  • When was the price proposal executed

Having a robust and rigorous approach to price validation will ensure that you will not price gouge; maintaining a thorough and accessible audit trail will allow you to quickly prove that should you be falsely accused.

02 June, 2009

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