What if the reason why we are currently experiencing an economic crisis is because there are too many ‘get rich’ schemes ripping people off or products being sold that are not quality or do not provide value? How can they get away with it? Maybe it is time for those ‘advantage takers’ to step back and realise they now need to provide value and quality or they won’t get the droves of customers they were getting a 1-3 years back.

Have you noticed all the ‘deals’ that seem to be popping up lately, like ‘buy xyz car and get $000s cash back’; and that’s not all, you also get a set of steak knives (just kidding). If you are in business that provides a product that is ‘not’ of sound quality (unless you are a bargain shop), what do you think is going to happen to that business down the track. In recent months I have purchased several items through online wholesaler sites. The items were for personal use mostly, but here’s the thing, most of the items have either been thrown out or just not used at all because they were not of the standard I expected.

Here is the other thing, most customers will NOT complain, they will just NEVER return to buy from you again and will tell their friends not too. Frankly, if I had seen the same items in a retail store, I would have thought they weren’t worth the money, unfortunately the Internet makes products look very inviting and can easily cover up any imperfections.

Here is a classic example: (more…)

It is now more vital than ever to stay ahead of what is going on around us, so that our businesses remain in tact and stronger than ever. I strongly believe a ‘quality system’ is one way to do that. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to go to all the trouble and cost of obtaining an accreditation certificate to ISO 9001; what it does mean is that you can use the ISO 9001 guidelines to setup your very own quality system.

If you are having problems in areas of staff performance, comebacks, customer satisfaction… a quality system can help you:

• identify problem areas and rectify them quickly
• track customer feedback
• improve performance of staff
• with continual improvement
• develop or provide better quality products and services
• force you to communicate more with your staff and customers
• increase sales and profits
• grow your business
  
• define an appropriate supplier
• protect your business
• standardise processes and procedures
• gain recognition from external bodies
• with obtaining government projects (usually certification is needed here though, but not always)
• define roles and responsibilities of management and employees- reduce overhead costs
• and heaps more benefits

There is a catch though … (more…)

Below I have created a little questionnaire that can help you determine if you are providing ‘quality’ products.

If you have more than one product, write down or type up your answers (excel maybe more suitable) so you can see if there is a pattern by product type, supplier and so on. Below is a list of questions to ask yourself: 

That should get you started towards figuring out where your business sits in regards to ‘quality’ products but … you might like to setup a ‘quality management plan’ that includes any issues related to the above items and the action you are going to take to rectify any problems. Try to make each item in the plan measurable, so that you can see how much your system has improved over a period of time. It’s like tracking your marketing campaign really.

Congratulations if you are not experiencing any problems associated with questions 1, 2 & 3. You obviously have some sort of quality system setup, regardless if it is documented or not, and you likely know how to supply ‘quality’ products. Of course, there is probably always room for improvement and documenting a process that is working well also helps you delegate tasks to others, so you can spend time working on your business, rather than it in.

How did you go on a scale from 1-10? Please leave a comment and share your experience with us.