Does Quality Matter?

Quality is either so good or so bad that it may not be relevant anymore.

Last month I defended the quality profession in my column, “Quality Is Not a Four-Letter Word.” This month I’ve got a tough question to ask our readers: Does quality matter? It may be heresy for the editor of Quality Digest to ask such a question, but I think it’s time to re-evaluate quality’s role in our society.

Ask any U.S. airline executive how his customers define quality. Ask someone who’s just lost a job because of outsourcing how his or her previous employer defines quality. Ask any one of the thousands of local drugstore owners put out of business by Wal-Mart how his or her customers define quality. The answer in each case is price.

I know price is a component of the customer’s quality requirements. For example, I want a low-price airline ticket. I want a low-price call center to handle my customers’ questions. I want low-price pharmaceuticals. But isn’t quality about more than price?

Has quality advanced to the point where everyone’s quality is so good that quality is no longer an issue? After all, is one airline really so different from another? Their planes may be configured a little differently and they may board a little differently, but they all get you from point A to point B for about the same price and at the same level of safety. In fact, price competition is so fierce in the U.S. airline industry that attempts by the major airlines to raise prices by even $5 to cover rising fuel costs are repeatedly rejected.

Or could it be quality has gotten so bad that quality isn’t a factor in buying decisions? Again, there’s little difference between most of the airlines: You arrive hungry, exhausted and frustrated after most any flight on any airline these days. So does it really matter which airline you choose?

Back to my original question: Does quality matter? I think quality matters now more than ever because quality is about more than just price. It’s about service, style, substance, durability, the community (local, national and global) and the indefinable “wow” factor. Confused? Let me give you an example.

Look at Wal-Mart’s success. You know when you buy something at Wal-Mart you’re probably paying the lowest price possible. Is the quality of the items you purchased at Wal-Mart superior to items purchased at Target or Kmart? Probably not. Is the service you receive better? Again, probably not.

I don’t shop at Wal-Mart anymore because even though I know I will get the best price, Wal-Mart doesn’t satisfy my quality requirements. I don’t like the way Wal-Mart has abandoned U.S. manufacturers. I don’t like the way Wal-Mart treats some of its employees and suppliers. And I don’t like seeing thousands of mom and pop stores shut down in rural areas across the country.

It’s time for us to think about quality in broader terms. It’s time to stop whining about outsourcing and to start making intelligent, informed decisions about where we spend our money. This is still a market-driven, capitalist society. If you’re upset about manufacturing jobs going to China, stop buying products made in China. If you’re upset about your bank or software supplier or airline of choice using call centers in India, switch to a new supplier or at least let your supplier know how you feel.

I’ve always believed quality is a two-way street. If you’re unhappy about quality, do something about it. Define your quality requirements and communicate them to your suppliers. Vote with your wallet and make quality matter.