Define the quality of your product

A quality product is a product that meets the needs and expectations of its customers.

If you sell a $50,000 luxury car, customer needs and expectations are very different than an economy car designed to provide reliable transportation at the lowest possible price. It is important to define what your level of quality will be and then manage product and customer expectations accordingly.

When we built homes, we found that there was a wide variation in customer expectations for the finished painted drywall in our homes. We had clients come down the final run with lights that they wanted to hold square to the wall to make sure no seams were showing. They would also feel the wall for rough edges.

To produce a painted wall finish to match the finish on a car, the cost would be so high that we would never sell a house. The question is what is good enough to meet customer needs and then set expectations at that level without losing customers or driving the price of your product out of the market. We did some research and found that most specifications defined paint thickness and quality in technical terms that our consumer would never understand without mentioning our refinishers. After a lot of work we found an industry standard. This standard, if no defect could be found from six feet below normal, the wall was acceptable.

We added this standard to our home owner’s manual along with many other standards, from hardwood floor scratches to furnace performance in extreme weather conditions. In doing so, we set a bar of quality not only for our customers, but also for our commercial contractors, vendors, and employees. Take a look at your product and define the standard in terms that are meaningful to your customers that you can achieve 100% of the time. Then use this standard to sell and guarantee your product.