What does 'quality' mean to you when investing in a premium product or service?
Have you ever repeated a word enough that it starts losing all meaning? I’m sure you’ve experienced a similar effect. The promise of quality on every box and ad confuses the word almost entirely before you can decide which product you want.
How do we ensure we receive the quality as advertised? What do we measure against? And to what extent do we hold each other accountable?
Naturally, I can’t speak on behalf of an industry, and I won’t risk assuming any facts. So, in an attempt to help you navigate this maze of potential frustration and disappointment, I’d like to share with you iDetic’s thoughts, values, overall approach, and guarantees regarding the idea of quality.
The Tangible and Intangible Measurement of Quality
When you purchase a service or product of high standard or quality, it usually involves a noticeable premium compared to its mass-market or lower-quality alternatives. But what exactly are you paying for?
It may seem unnecessary or excessive at face value, but let’s consider the following.
Certain criteria are non-negotiable to be considered a premium or the ‘highest quality’ of a product, service, or service delivery company. Many of these criteria require a hefty investment in people (time) and money. I’ll touch on a few that are most visible.
Tools and Compatibility With Directly Connected Services or Technologies
- Compatibility with different technology types, and even competitor products, are crucial in the Smart Home Technology and Entertainment industry, where multiple technologies need to work together flawlessly – and consistently so – to provide the world-class experiences promised on the front of the box.
- Naturally, someone needs to install these products. In a world of an almost uncountable number of possibilities and solutions, a small gap in knowledge can mean endless support headaches, the service or product not being delivered exactly as promised, expensive delays in installation and implementation, and added complexity to accommodate for incompatibilities… The list goes on.
Quality in Product and Experiences
- As Measured From Within the Industry
In other words, the entire pipeline until the product or service is handed over to you through reviews, testing, comparative analysis, and often through internal Quality Assurance processes, guarantees, and dedicated teams of testers and researchers. - As Measured Through the Public Domain
Clients, blog writers, technology review companies, Google Reviews, HelloPeter, and every person who purchased the service or product within the last three decades all contributed to a thorough, tangible, and honest reflection of the performance and expected quality attached to the premium brands and companies.
Accessibility of a Product or Service
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Local and Regional Availability
Local Guarantees and Warranties, local hardware or staff to ensure reasonable support turnaround times, accessible support structures for incidents, changes, upgrades, and overall brand presence are the key frameworks for these solutions. If any of these fail or are missing, you risk the integrity of the entire structure. -
Product Knowledge Through Brand Involvement and Training
A higher quality service or product almost always translates to an increase in complexity. An important measure in a premium product is how, and to what extent this complexity is hidden from an end-user. If done well, these complexities are completely hidden and live behind a single button or feature. A net positive for the consumer.
The important consideration here is that the complexity still exists, and without a thorough understanding of the technology and everything surrounding it, there is no way to deliver a product – or holistic and consistent support that is conducive to the brand or the expected experience.
A necessary consequence of these facts is that the complexity needs to be absorbed into fundamental principles applied starting back at the design phase and threading its way through the entire process, bearing fruits during installation and implementation stages, and becoming a reality in the design of a universal remote control in the palm of your hand.
None of this is possible without a clear and easily accessible path to comprehensive documents, workshops, seminars, webinars, and training workshops, to name a few. Manufacturers and service providers have a responsibility toward their products and clients to ensure the correct and optimal use of their products.
In turn, installation and support teams have a responsibility both toward the product owners and the client to invest the necessary time and money for staff training, as well as local upskilling of both customers and retailers.
The Promise of Quality
While misaligned expectations often lead to frustration or disappointment, the primary motivation of the article wasn’t an ambitious effort to curb a trend or to prove a point. The motivation to start this discussion was to provide you with iDetic’s view on what it should mean to buy and sell with the promise of quality while empowering you as a consumer or client.
Charl Lotter (iDetic’s MD) and I have been good friends for many years before iDetic was formed, and since day one, it was clear to me that ‘quality’ wasn’t just a one-dimensional measure of a product or service but a guiding principle in how he lived.
Charl demanded quality of himself before expecting it from others—guiding him in his decisions and motivations—and, by extension, this created a demand for quality in others. So ingrained is this principle that he would be willing to sacrifice as much for someone else as he would for himself in the pursuit of improving service, experience, or simply the quality of life. This approach played a major role in Charl’s values and guiding principles, as well as those of iDetic.
When doing business with iDetic, you can rest assured that you’ll receive the quality service, product, and elevated experience you’re paying for. I’ll close by sharing a list that Charl shared with me. It does a great job of summarising these points concisely and clearly, and it’s an answer to the question:
When you pay for quality, you not only pay for a premium service or product but also for:
- Expertise and Knowledge
- Training and upskilling
- Specialist Tools and Products
- A personal approach, a team that comes to you
- Professionalism. Punctuality and Accountability
- Consistency and Accuracy
- Local Warranties and Guarantees
- Bespoke Solutions and Unique IP
- Product and Financial Securities
