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How to tell if you are offering a quality product or service
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How do you recognize quality, and when do you know that you've seen it? It turns out that's actually a really tough question to answer. Why? Because quality is a highly subjective and relative term based on personal likes and dislikes.
Ironically, what is actually really easy to recognize is the ABSENCE of quality. Imagine sitting in a restaurant and you see that your table is dirty. Or you look at a new lawn mower in the store and the handle is made of a cheap plastic that's also uncomfortable to grip. Or you fly to Denver but your luggage flew to Pittsburgh.
It turns out that quality is more like a scientific hypothesis. It only takes one instance to disprove it.
So what does that mean for your new product or service? It means that if you eliminate all instances of non-quality, the end result is quality. Take a look at your offering from the perspective of a first time buyer. What do they see and experience? More importantly, what parts of that experience haven't been perfected? Do you have enough staff to handle your busiest shopping days? Do you ship your product on time? Do you get returns? Is the motor in the electric screwdriver you make powerful enough? Is your web site order form clear and understandable enough?
Justice Potter Stewart once said, "I know it when I see it." And for most of us, it's not what we see that matters but what we see that's not right. In your new startup or business, quality is truly the absence of non-quality factors. You get a little closer to wonderful every time you fix some aspect that isn't.
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