This is very simple. It’s not about price it’s about value and quality.
You don’t hear about them on the doom and gloom news, but I know a lot of businesses that are thriving right now. They know and have known for a long time that quality is the name of the game. I learned this when I was 12 years old at my first job sweeping the floors at a company called Ranchview Floral and Interiors in Leawood Kansas. They were the premiere florist and interior decorators in town. When someone wanted the job done right be it a floral arrangement or decorating the interior of a house, this is where they came. Even then, over 40 years ago, the focus was on quality which in turn led to value and a very successful business that endured many a recession, adverse business conditions and the like.
They were by far NOT the “cheapest” place to go. But quality has an enduring value that made for a lot of happy customers.
This same, simple principle applies to every business. Take the Travel Business for example.
While so-called “Internet Cruise Brokers” offering deeply discounted fares are going broke almost daily, quality and value oriented operations are thriving.
Why?
Because “low price” is a very deceptive term that sounds really great up front but if not coupled with full-service, quality oriented business practices often ends up being quite costly. You see, those Internet Cruise Brokers make very little profit because they sell at such a very low price. After the sale there is very little attention paid to their clients, if any at all, resulting in what often turns into a disasterous relationship. Down the line a good travel agency follows up on the details that can make or break a vacation, offers expert advice in their field, and almost always ends up producing the better value for its customers. They do that by focusing on quality. Yes, their prices must be competitive to begin with, that has always been the case. But often, if prices go down after the sale, they pass along those savings to their clients, washing out what one might have saved with a price-only focus business. From beginning to end they provide their customers with the knowledge they need to get the most out of their vacation and have thier best interests in mind. Internet Cruise Brokers simply don’t have the time for that. It is not what they do.
I bet you can think of a business or two in other industries that has a similar story.
It is time for business to go back to the quality that made America great.
At one time Sears had everything with a total satisfaction guaranteed policy, at Ford Quality was job #1 and Coke was “the real thing”. Focusing on simple but enduring concepts like that, they dominated the marketplace.
I don’t think to say that todays ecomomy is “bad” is accurate. I think it is “adjusting” and will fall back to what made it great for decades: A focus on quality. Find these businesses, work with them and you can turn the ecomomy around right now.
