UNDERSTANDING QUALITY O The longer the relationship with the

customer, the higher the

QUALITY profitability.
Reputations for poor quality last for a long time O A loyal customer will commit more
and good or bad reputations can become national spend to its chosen supplier.
or international. Yet the management of quality
can be learned and used to improve reputation. For O About half of new customers come
any organization, there are several aspects of through referrals from existing
reputation which are important: clients.

O It is built upon the competitive elements of Many companies use measures of customer loyalty
being ‘On-Quality; On-Time; On-Cost’. to identify customers which are ‘completely
satisfied’, would ‘definitely recommend’ and would
O Once an organization acquires a poor ‘definitely repurchase’.
reputation for product or service quality or
reliability, it takes a very long time to Meeting the requirements
change it. O If quality is meeting the customer
O Reputations, good or bad, can quickly requirements, then this has wide
become national reputations. implications. The requirements may include
availability, delivery, reliability,
O The management of the competitive maintainability and cost- effectiveness,
weapons, such as quality, can be learned among many other features.
like any other skill and used to turn round a
poor reputation.
Quality is often used to signify ‘excellence’ of a
product or service –If we are to define quality in
a way that is useful in its management, then we
must recognize the need to include in the
assessment of quality the true requirements of
the ‘customer’ – the needs and expectations.
O Quality then is simply meeting the
customer requirements.
O Quality assurance is broadly the prevention
Other authors has been expressed in many ways; of quality problems through planned and
systematic activities (including
O ‘Fitness for purpose or use.
documentation). These will include the
O ‘The totality of features and characteristics establishment of a good quality
of a product or service that bear on its management system and the assessment of
ability to satisfy stated or implied needs’ its adequacy, the audit of the operation of
the system and the review of the system
O Quality should be aimed at the needs of the
itself.
consumer, present and future.
O Quality control then is essentially the
Consistently meeting customer requirements, we
activities and techniques employed to
can move to a different plane of satisfaction –
achieve and maintain the quality of a
delighting the customer. A development of this
product, process, or service. It includes a
thinking regarding customers and their satisfaction
monitoring activity, but is also concerned
is customer loyalty, an important variable in an
with finding and eliminating causes of
organization’s success. Research shows that focus
quality problems so that the requirements
on customer loyalty can provide several
of the customer are continually met.
commercial advantages:
O Customers cost less to retain than
acquire.
You are loved beyond measure.
-Romans 8:38-39