Dear Friends,
What are the components of Product and Service quality?
What do customers call "Quality?"
As you design and distribute your products or service, it's always good to keep in mind what the consumer feels is important as it is related to quality.
Your referrals cannot exist in the absence of quality.
No matter how hard you work, how good you think you are, how much the consumer should appreciate all the work and effort, if you don't touch these bases you will miss home plate.
Here are 8 components that subjectively define QUALITY from the consumer's eyes.
Performance
Does the service or product work? Not just work for them or as advertised, but literally work. I think we can all agree, not all products or services work very well. The first level is very elemental. It's got to work. If you are at a restaurant having a meal, does the food taste good?
Features
These are the "bells and whistles" of our core service or product. They are often hard to separate from our core performance. The danger here is when our "bells and whistles" are used to attract the consumer and the core service fails to perform at its basic level. If your home is listed with a Realtor and remains unsold after 4 months on the market with little or no showings, what difference does it make if your Realtor has a web site that keeps track of the number of visitors?
Reliability
One of the most important elements of refer-ability. Do you do what you say you're going to do, when you say you're going to do it? Do you do it right, on time, the first time? This is huge when it comes to repeat business and referrals. If you're selling insurance will the claim be paid with the same attentiveness as the initial sales process?
Conformance
This has to do with how closely the service or product matches the hype and advertising that has in some way shaped the customers expectations and perception. Does it conform to its advertising claims? If you're a lender will the closing be as "pain free" as the application process?
Durability
This has to do with the amount of use one gets from a product or service before it fails or becomes obsolete. If you're a Financial Planner will your advice fit the client's actual spending or investing habits in order to reach the desired objectives?
Things Gone Wrong
How good are you when something does fail or something goes wrong? Is your product easy to repair and is your service both attentive and responsive if something does go wrong? What do you do when things go "outside"Standard Operating Procedure? If you're selling motorcycles and there's a recall do you call your customer and make it easy to schedule the repair?
Aesthetics
Of course this is highly subjective and applies to both product and services. It's the customer's personal judgment of how it appears to look. We know this when it applies to our meal at a fancy restaurant but it also applies to the law firm with 50 partners and associates and its reception area and how personal one is received. Aesthetics are why the airline industry does not have
"dress down day" for pilots.
Reputation
Before a customer even makes contact with you your reputation is alive in their minds. Images, advertising, word of mouth, office or physical building location, all create and shape reputation. In the absence of complete information reputation matters. What are people saying about you right now? If your phone rings 12 times before it's picked up, does the customer have a perception of your company? What would your perception be? Your reputation may precede actual contact.
Of course customers all have different ideas of what defines a quality product or service. One thing is for certain, it's in the eyes of the consumer.
These 8 components should give you a snapshot outline of the general areas by which the customer defines quality:
Performance
Features
Reliability
Conformance
Durability
Things Gone Wrong
Aesthetics
Reputation
Whether you're a Realtor, lender, investment advisor, retailer or attorney the quality of your product or service is in your hands and is directly related to the number of referrals you are going to receive.
What are the components of Product and Service quality?
What do customers call "Quality?"
As you design and distribute your products or service, it's always good to keep in mind what the consumer feels is important as it is related to quality.
Your referrals cannot exist in the absence of quality.
No matter how hard you work, how good you think you are, how much the consumer should appreciate all the work and effort, if you don't touch these bases you will miss home plate.
Here are 8 components that subjectively define QUALITY from the consumer's eyes.
Performance
Does the service or product work? Not just work for them or as advertised, but literally work. I think we can all agree, not all products or services work very well. The first level is very elemental. It's got to work. If you are at a restaurant having a meal, does the food taste good?
Features
These are the "bells and whistles" of our core service or product. They are often hard to separate from our core performance. The danger here is when our "bells and whistles" are used to attract the consumer and the core service fails to perform at its basic level. If your home is listed with a Realtor and remains unsold after 4 months on the market with little or no showings, what difference does it make if your Realtor has a web site that keeps track of the number of visitors?
Reliability
One of the most important elements of refer-ability. Do you do what you say you're going to do, when you say you're going to do it? Do you do it right, on time, the first time? This is huge when it comes to repeat business and referrals. If you're selling insurance will the claim be paid with the same attentiveness as the initial sales process?
Conformance
This has to do with how closely the service or product matches the hype and advertising that has in some way shaped the customers expectations and perception. Does it conform to its advertising claims? If you're a lender will the closing be as "pain free" as the application process?
Durability
This has to do with the amount of use one gets from a product or service before it fails or becomes obsolete. If you're a Financial Planner will your advice fit the client's actual spending or investing habits in order to reach the desired objectives?
Things Gone Wrong
How good are you when something does fail or something goes wrong? Is your product easy to repair and is your service both attentive and responsive if something does go wrong? What do you do when things go "outside"Standard Operating Procedure? If you're selling motorcycles and there's a recall do you call your customer and make it easy to schedule the repair?
Aesthetics
Of course this is highly subjective and applies to both product and services. It's the customer's personal judgment of how it appears to look. We know this when it applies to our meal at a fancy restaurant but it also applies to the law firm with 50 partners and associates and its reception area and how personal one is received. Aesthetics are why the airline industry does not have
"dress down day" for pilots.
Reputation
Before a customer even makes contact with you your reputation is alive in their minds. Images, advertising, word of mouth, office or physical building location, all create and shape reputation. In the absence of complete information reputation matters. What are people saying about you right now? If your phone rings 12 times before it's picked up, does the customer have a perception of your company? What would your perception be? Your reputation may precede actual contact.
Of course customers all have different ideas of what defines a quality product or service. One thing is for certain, it's in the eyes of the consumer.
These 8 components should give you a snapshot outline of the general areas by which the customer defines quality:
Performance
Features
Reliability
Conformance
Durability
Things Gone Wrong
Aesthetics
Reputation
Whether you're a Realtor, lender, investment advisor, retailer or attorney the quality of your product or service is in your hands and is directly related to the number of referrals you are going to receive.
Thanks for spending 3 minutes with me.....
The best is yet to be!
On Your Team
Jeffrey Stanton
Your Trusted Advisor For Life
347-466-3047
One of the fastest ways to build a successful referral based business is by training. Now, with me, I like to invest significant time immersing myself in training, while some people prefer to take it in bite-size chunks. Whatever your preference is, now is the best time to contact me.
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