By Pam Hadder
Question: what attributes assure business longevity?
Answer: QUALITY and ACCOUNTABILITY
Something to think about - when was the last time someone over-delivered on a promise? When was the last time that the quality of something you purchased actually exceeded your wildest expectations? Quality of both products and services, like true and abiding friendship, is a very rare and precious commodity!Quality's bench mate is accountability - they are very different attributes, but they work in tandem and their areas of responsibility overlap and intertwine. Higher level quality is achieved when accountability is firmly engrained in a business structure, and accountability is more achievable/saleable where levels of premium quality are established and maintained.
Why is quality so important? Does quality really matter? Well, consider my Mother's Maytag washer from 1974... it did countless loads of laundry for a household of nine (yes, NINE!) - seven kids and two very busy parents! And that same appliance, without a single repair, is still in use today in my Mother's home. Granted, the demands upon Mom's miraculous Maytag have eased up in recent years, but my last washer held up for 13 years, with only a fraction of the demand upon it, and I thought that was pretty decent.
The message - we are being conditioned to accept GOOD ENOUGH versus true quality. And by accepting "good enough", we allow accountability to be eschewed. Can you see quality and accountability's downward spiral - a slow waltz to oblivion while The Good Enough Band drones its melody of mediocrity?
Perhaps the current mix of green initiatives and global financial blundering will propel quality and accountability back to the main stage, where we can once again enjoy products and services with enduring value. If you think about it, quality and accountability also mean less waste, less gunk in the landfills, and let's face it - less stress too!
The bright side - here are a few recent personal WOW moments, where someone or something really over-delivered:
- Boyd Autobody - specifically Kendra at the Nairn Avenue, Winnipeg location; here is an individual that is a solid gold employee. Kendra has the magic mix of intelligence, good judgment, knowledge and what I crudely call, giving a %&@#! Car repairs are never fun, but Kendra will serve you efficiently and the repairs will be immaculate. (Hey, you are welcome - and make sure you are nice to Kendra...)
- iPhone - those 1200+ Apple techies make a wonderful, intuitive, brilliant device; in the words of MC Hammer, you just "can't touch this!" Some of the apps are also mind-blowing: Google Earth, Star Walk and Backyard Birds are three personal favs.
- My Revlon Curling Iron - from high school, it's Mattel pink and screams 1980s spiral curls and Valley Girls! This fast-heating little appliance still creates radical curls, and may just give my Mom's 74 Maytag a run for the money - time will tell!
