When people first set up their business, they're all told to make sure you keep your overheads low and screw your suppliers on price to make sure you're always getting the lowest price.
 
Well, that may work for some people. But it's not Carol Jones’ from Interface Australia’s philosophy.
 
She doesn’t like paying too much, but she’s an advocate of paying enough to make sure you get the best service.
 
She say’s treating your suppliers with respect is what makes them move mountains for you when the chips are down, and she joins me now to share her philosophy.

Quality control is a process employed to ensure a certain level of quality in a product or service. Essentially, it involves the examination of a product, service, or process for certain minimum levels of quality. The goal of a quality team is to identify products or services that do not meet a company’s specified standards of quality.

There are many companies whose products and services fall short of their advertised claims, and despite whatever measures they have in place, customers continually are dissatisfied.

How does this affect your reputation as a business and what impact does it have on your success? And, if your quality control does slip up form time to time, how can you rectify it?

Today Carol Jones and I chat about how customer service can be your saving grace when your quality control falls though the cracks.

When most things that you want to buy - especially for someone else - seem to cost nothing and are all the same and made in China - what are you going to do?  When a product is made with no love or care - what does it mean to own it or to give it?  What is the energy invested in a product that is made only with cost saving in mind?

When it seems that all manufacturing is going to China and there are no manufacturing jobs left in the Western World - or much of the developing world either - what do you do?  Do we give up?  Do we try and make products in an even more mercenary way?

What some people are doing is that they are going back to a preindustrial manufacturing approach.  The web is empowering those who want to use real skills to make things because it can connect them directly to people who want to buy products that are made with love and care.

How do evaluate the integrity of the website you’ve just landed on. The Internet can be a scary place. It's hard to know who to trust. There are some fundamental things you can assess to help you decide if the website owners are people you want to do business with, like…
 

1. How easy is it to talk to a real person? Are there phone and fax details or is it just email?
2. Do they let you know who runs the company, where they're located and can you talk to them?
3. Are they telling you everything you need to know to make an informed decision, or are they just trying to sell you something?
4. Are the product descriptions full of detail, or just a cursory bang, bang, bang. Take it or leave it.
5. Does the site make you feel at home, or is it just a corporate bunker?
6. Do you get the impression they want you as a long-term customer, or just want an instant sale?

All these tips and more are part of a guide Carol Jones from Interface Australia has put together to help you evaluate sites. Listen tot hem now in this podcast.

When we talk about our business and political leaders, not to mention our colleagues, friends and family members, we often mention the importance of honesty, but what do we really mean by that? Are there acceptable deviations to this trait? Is any deviation, no matter how minor or well intentioned, a “slippery slope” to more dishonesty in the future?

Over the years I have found the concept of absolutism to be a barrier in many cases to understanding ourselves as well as others, both of which are extremely important to leaders, followers and friends alike. Absolutes become even more complicated and difficult to identify when you consider the cross-cultural aspects of globalization, i.e., what is always polite, what is always rude?

So, is honesty, as it relates to being virtuous, a relative concept?” Carol Jones from Interface Australia thinks so. Listen to what she ahs to say.

One of the places where you don’t see a lot of creativity in is guarantees. Yet they are one of the least expensive ways to market your products and service. In a world where it sometimes seems that there are only two guarantees (that death and taxes thing), it’s a great way to stand way out in front of the don’t-get-its in your market.

A guarantee serves one purpose to the client: it eliminates the risk that holds a buyer back just before they purchase. The expense of providing an incredible guarantee is extremely cost effective.  Why? Because a small minority of people will use them - and more importantly, if you are really doing your job - they’ll rarely be used. In 1994, Interface Australia was the first business in the world to ever guarantee an ironing board cover. Li sten to Carol Jones tell you why.

Most businesses deal with customers they know little about. They transact with strangers where there is little trust between consumer and provider.

But achieving a degree of trust between your customers and your business doesn't just happen. It must be planned and designed into the interactions between both. It can happen by chance, but chance doesn't achieve it consistently time and time again.

So how does a business go about convincing current and potential customers that it is a good idea to trust in their business? According to Carol Jones from Interface Australia, the best way to establish trust in business is to keep your word no matter what.