Quality Is not exclusively only in production department

Product performance and customer service are closely linked in any quality program; the greater the attention to product quality in production, the fewer the demands on the customer service operation to correct subsequent problems.The up-front investment in quality minimizes the need for customer service.Besides its usual functions, customer service acts as an early warning system to detect product quality problems. Customer surveys measuring product performance also help to spot quality control or design difficulties and of course detecting defects early spares later embarrassment and headaches.

What should companies do to improve their understanding of customers’ perspectives on quality? We know of no other way than to collect and analyze internal data and to monitor publicly available information.Companies that try to define their customers’ attitudes on product and service quality often focus too narrowly on the meaning of quality for their products and services; an understanding of changing attitudes in the broader marketplace can be equally valuable.Integrity purchases are those made for their perceived importance to society rather than solely for personal status.These changes in buying behavior reflect the pessimistic outlook of consumers and their growing emphasis on quality rather than quantity: “If we’re going to buy less, let it be better.”By overlooking this fundamental shift in consumer attitudes, companies misses the opportunity to capitalize on it. If they do monitor the information available, managers could identify and respond to the trends earlier much more amicably.

The quality of customer service after the sale is often as important as the quality of the product itself. Of course, excellent customer service can rarely compensate for a weak product. But poor customer service can quickly negate all the advantages associated with delivering a product of superior quality.To be effective, a customer service operation requires a marketing plan. Customer services should be viewed as a product line that must be packaged, priced, communicated, and delivered to customers. An evaluation of a company’s current customer service operation—a customer service audit—is essential to the development of such a plan. In conclusion, the responsibility for quality cannot rest exclusively with the production department. Marketers must also be active in contributing to perceptions of quality. Marketers have been too passive in managing quality. Successful businesses of today will use marketing techniques to plan, design, and implement quality strategies that stretch beyond the factory floor.