Well, not directly anyway. Producing a quality product or service is less about your commitment to satisfying your clients and more about who you are and what you believe. Believing in quality service is a mindset and only secondarily a commitment to your clients.
I grew up in Virginia and the mantra back then was; always do your best, a good day’s work for a good day’s pay, and nothing beats a good name. Those axioms have no boundaries. They don’t just apply to one’s profession or career, they are based on life lessons and apply across the board. The incentive for producing a quality product, or delivering a quality service, is because you value getting four hours of sleep at night and knowing your offering is flawed, or sub-standard, would keep you up all night.
A few years ago, I was discussing a minor error in a document that was about to go out to a client. I brought this to the attention of a staffer (no longer with our organization) and the staffer’s comment was, “That’s such a small error, the customer probably won’t notice, so who’s going to know?” My response was, “Well, you know and I know and I think that’s enough.” You don’t catch errors and strive for excellence because you think the client will notice. That’s down the line in the hierarchy of goals. You strive for excellence because you don’t believe there is an alternative. It has to be a mindset and a way of life before it is something you hang from your company rafters.
Lewis Parham
President
Writer’s Cramp, Inc.