Photo (CC) Jason Taellous, on Flickr
Some of you may remember the Ford slogan of the 1980’s, Quality is Job #1.
That slogan was true then for businesses. And it remains true today.
Yet, quality sometimes remains hard to find. For example in the last year, two households in my family had to purchase dishwashers. Two different brands were purchased but, to our amazement, both of them had production mistakes that needed to be fixed during installation. The chances of that happening just seem to beat the odds. Neither company seemed to live up to the quality expected.
Will the companies that produced the products survive? Probably. They are large and can overcome it. Large companies have shown time and again they have the capacity to overcome mistakes, although not without some pain.
Small businesses, however, may not have the resources to overcome quality issues. And small businesses in small communities are even more likely to get hurt as word will quickly spread if expectations are not met.
Quality was, is and will remain key to building a successful small business.
When thinking about it, remember:
- Quality is not a cost – It is possible to cut costs and retain quality to a point. But at some point, that relationship will no longer hold true. And as many companies will attest, short-term gains can turn out to be large long-term losses.
- Quality is not a statistic – You may think that 99.9% success is a great number. It’s a good number but would we accept 12 babies a day sent home with the wrong parents or 1300 calls per second going to a wrong number, one other than what was dialed.
- Quality is not a buzzword – Talking about quality or including it in your slogan does not make it happen. Quality is a culture. Quality means giving people control and responsibility.
Quality counts in your small business. Make it part of every task and included each day in your work.
Quality opens doors and builds life-long customer relationships. Make it a key part of your business.
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Glenn Muske is an independent expert on rural small business, working as GM Consulting – Your partner in achieving small business success. He provides consulting, and writes articles for county extension agents and newspapers across North Dakota. Previously, he was the Rural and Agribusiness Enterprise Development Specialist at the North Dakota State University Extension Service – Center for Community Vitality.
Thank you so much for this post. This is the battle we fight every day. As a maker of artisan iron work we can not compete price wise with the big box operators. So we offer high quality custom product that are meant to last. I totally intend to quote your principle that quality is a short term investment with long term gains. Bargains are short term gains with long term losses. Can I get an Amen from the other makers in the group!
We encourage folks to come and watch product being forged as it gives them a whole new perspective on the labor involved and the process as a whole. It does more to change the attitude on price than anything else we do.
Thank you for your flow of information. I am so glad I found you.
I’ll give that an amen! And I love this idea of inviting folks to come watch your product being forged. That is brilliant!
Yet another great post. Living about 40 minutes from the nearest big city, people will still drive out of town for (perceived) quality. Unfortunately in our small town, people scrimp on quality to try to make a dollar but it ends up hurting them in the long run (as stated) because you lose any potential repeat customers. If you give people a great product AND give them the feeling that they are getting more for their money (perception) AND treat people with kindness and appreciation, you have success. It’s really not hard but there are those that just don’t get it or have no business in dealing with the public. Brutal but true. :)
Amber, I love that the principles you listed are also a good characterization of the best in small town businesses. (We have some worst of small town businesses, too, like you point out.)