Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Quality is Defined by Customer Value

Quality is defined by the value a customer derives from a product or service. It is not defined by conformance to specification. Last night I learned this lesson as I rejected my new car - for which I have waited 60 days - and left it lying in the dealer lot. The problem wasn’t a clunky gearbox, or an ill fitting door. In fact I never even sat in the car. I didn’t even have the keys in my hand. I could tell from 50 paces away that the car lying in the lot, wasn’t the car that I ordered. Sure it was the right color and the right model but a key factory fitted option - the roof rack bars - was missing. Without these the car wouldn’t serve one of the two purposes for which I was buying it: purpose 1 - commuting; purpose two family vacations and weekend trips in comfort. With a child (or two), a dog, camping gear and several bikes, a roof rack is essential equipment. So the salesman was left to scratch his head and wonder where it went wrong. The sales manager lost an end of month sale to close out his figures for August. And, I was left spending 2 hours of my evening family time, sitting in a dealership, tired and hungry while we tried to sort the mess out and agree what would happen next. Disappointment all round.

What will happen to the car I ordered? Well it will be sold before the week is out. 2 weeks ago the dealers inventory manager told me that he could have sold it five times over. It’s in an unusual but in-demand color and while it showed on their inventory, several other dealerships had asked to swap it as they had customers who wanted one. Meanwhile, I’ll still be commuting by bike and bus across the 520 to Redmond.