In a world that is increasingly based on cost optimizations, wanting to maintain a certain level of quality is at its best a prodigy and at worst an illusion.
While process optimization and the increasing use of technology can maintain or even increase quality, what quality are we talking about? And most importantly, how far will this exercise be possible?
A friend of mine recently told me that she would rather use a device that says hello, certainly in a pre-formatted way, than go to a counter where a not very well-awakened employee will try to sell her something. Isn’t that a terrible observation?
We are obviously all a bit guilty of this situation because we take advantage of opportunities available to us as customers. Should we, however, support all initiatives aimed at levelling benefits down?
Large companies are increasingly relying on professional buyers for whom price is the “single” component of trading. This can be a strategy like any other, but it is often done at the expense of quality.
In addition, will the supplier be inclined to show some largesse in sensitive circumstances? Let me doubt it and my professional experience has shown me otherwise. As the Anglo-Saxons say “no free lunch” …
On the other hand, one of the major concerns is to better frame quality and allow those who want to offer this difference to be able to survive in an increasingly competitive economic environment.
It is not a question of going back to methods that were sometimes questionable or “unorthodox”, but of finding the right balance between quality and price.
The future will tell us whether the younger generation born under the sign of “all free and immediately” will reconsider its positions over time. In general, age is responsible for making beneficial corrections. I can’t wait to be tomorrow even though I love living today!
Have a good read and see you next time