Quality vs Price.

It's the age old argument, dating back to the first transactions from the stone age where BC (old cartoon for those of us that remember) could argue his dinosaur necklace was worth more because he risked his life to personally extract the teeth from the T Rex as opposed to finding some bleached teeth from a dead dinosaur. They were newer teeth, more exclusive and as such should command a premium price on the dinosaur necklace market. Not much has changed since then and companies are still risking their reputations and brands by trying to pry lose those elusive dinosaur teeth.

Commoditisation has made many products irrelevant in the quality versus price argument as generic and low cost equivalents of originals become the norm. Baked beans are baked beans and the shelves are full of generically wrapped cans. Cars are cars and the lots are full of low cost 4 door 4 wheel vehicles that have no purpose other than transport from A to B. Even airlines, which used to have the elegance and romance of travel as their calling card, have commoditised their wares to an extent where it is difficult to tell the difference between them, except on price.

All of that is true and yet people still buy a Mercedes as opposed to a cookie cutter version of a car that only has two things in common, 4 doors and 4 wheels. Yes it's important to get from A to B but how and when you get there can be just as important. Certainly no one expects the cookie cutter car to be as expensive as the Mercedes, after all, luxury ride, engineering excellence and technology should cost more.

So things that are manufactured have the constant challenge of quality versus price but the truly exceptional or exclusive will always command a premium. Rolex versus the petrol station watch, Apple tablets versus anything in the market and German engineering versus Chinese generics are all areas where a premium can be counted on to bring quality and price into alignment. Just the way you could command a premium if your service was outstanding and your exclusivity gave your clients the peace of mind that the quality was beyond reproach.

In service industries, where everyone says they are the best, they are the most successful at what they do and they should be the ones looking after you and your dollars, the quality versus price challenge leaves most contenders on the mat. How do you differentiate yourself from the pack? The easiest way is to work with your zealots, those people willing to follow you anywhere and use their loyalty as the beacon to attract others.

It's always a pleasure for me to recommend colleagues I know, that provide exceptional service as the thank you notes come back to me as well as the service provider. Everyone loves to be able to opine on the subject of quality versus price and who they deal with. You only need a small group who today have the power of the net to bring you business but woe be tide if the scale of quality tips low because then price will trip you up so badly that recovery is often untenable.

Do you deliver quality or are you running with the pack? Without it you'll be driving the cookie cutter car forever, and who wants that?