Quality Should Always Be Worth the Cost

 

If I am being totally honest, toilet paper is one of those things that I appreciate almost more than anything else in this world. Give me a roll of ultra-comfort care over that cheap, single-ply, industrial-grade, giant roll toilet paper that you find in those cheap mall bathrooms any day and I will gladly pay the extra money. I would wager to bet that 90 percent of you feel the exact same way.

If we dig a bit deeper though, we realize that in theory they are the same product. It is just toilet paper and it has one job: to clean your nasty bits.  Why then should you spend the extra money on something that you are literally flushing down the toilet? The answer is simple: because it’s worth it.

In moldmaking, as with practically every other industry, there seems to be a demand for quality results without the cost. In other words, they want the ultra-comfort care experience at one-ply prices. This of course, is an unrealistic expectation in the toilet paper world, but why then do we expect it in our service industry?

There seems to have been a shift in the last decade to an emphasis of cost over quality. Over the last five to ten years of business we have seen a growing trend where we have quoted a job only to lose out based solely on price. In 39 years we have never lost a job to another company because we were told we weren’t good enough to do the work. In fact, very recently we were told, “You guys do amazing work. You are probably the best in the industry, but you are a bit expensive.” In this particular instance we said, “Thank you for letting us know, and just so you know we agree with you in both cases”.

I don’t think being the more expensive option is a negative. On the contrary, we take pride in the fact that we go the extra mile and are seen as the quality option. You see, like ultra-comfort care toilet paper we want to be there for you when you need us most. We don’t want to break under the pressure, leaving you a mess on your hands. We want to get the job done right for you the first time, without having to go back over it again and again. Our goal is to keep you pain free and happy, allowing you to go about your business as quickly as possible. We believe that quality and service come first and are non-negotiable in all that we bring to the table. This also means that we are never going to be the cheaper option and that is all right because we are worth it.

When all was said and done we did end up getting this job, but not the first time we quoted. Initially, the customer went to the “affordable” guy first, and they did the job to the best of their ability. But that’s the key right there, they did it to the best of “their” ability, not to the highest standard that was required for the job. In this particular case, the customer had to pay for the job twice, and lost time in the process by having to jump from vendor to vendor for the results that they required.

I bring this topic up to start a discussion about how to compete and thrive as a manufacturing industry without always looking for the cheapest available option. There will always be someone cheaper. I believe that success requires continual investment in each other, our businesses and our employees to put quality back at the top of the priority list. Let me ask you, given the choice between one-ply and ultra-comfort care, which would you chose?