Product Showcases

Quality First

"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected."
  --- Steve Jobs

The quality of our work is so important, but so often overlooked or put aside in lieu of "producing more and more and getting it out the door." Sadly, good quality in products and services is seen as a surprise more than an expectation. There are many companies still taking pride in producing good quality products, but some are pricing themselves out of the market and not able to compete with lower quality, cheaper competitors.

But there is a way to find a balance between keeping up with demand with competitive pricing and creating and producing quality. It all begins with instilling quality in every action, every motion made in the business toward every task at hand. If quality can truly be job number one, there is no limit to the success of the business.

"Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential."
  --- Bruce Lee

First, taking pride in one's work and one's actions is the first step. Thankfully, a quality way of life can be taught, so that you and your team members can learn to think quality at every step of the business process. By beginning with a quality mindset, new team members learn from the get-go, that quality is not an option, but the only way we do business around here. Team members that have been around for a while can begin now to develop the habit of quality in everything that is done around the shop, the office, in the sales process, and in the field.

"Quality is not an act, it is a habit"
  --- Aristotle

Making quality a part of your company's policy means allowing the fact of quality to permeate throughout the business. Include a statement of quality in your Vision and Mission statements, begin your company meetings with quality examples and facts and figures of results, and show how quality in your organization is beating the pants off the competition.

"The first quality that is needed is audacity."
  --- Winston Churchill

Next, allow room for mistakes in your business. Though this appears to go against the grain of incorporating quality in your company, it actually allows team members to break away from the norm and bad habits of simply going through the motions of work. Having everyone keep an eye on quality ensures that every action toward creating and producing quality products and services is on track. Give your people the permission and the tools to succeed.

"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor."
  --- Vince Lombardi

A focused concentration on improving quality in your business improves people and people skills. Begin this week instilling a sense of urgency to keep quality in the forefront of your company's culture.