The quality approach to marketing

 

Marketers have long cared about the quality of the goods and services sold by their organizations. After all, it is harder and less gratifying to sell defective goods or inept ser�vices. In recent years, however, many organizations have taken their interest in quality a step or two further by embracing total quality management (TQM). TQM is an organi�zation-wide commitment to satisfying customers by continuously improving every busi�ness process involved in delivering goods or services. Instead of merely correcting defects when they are identified, organizations that practice TQM commit employees to continually look for ways to do things better so that problems won't arise in the first place.

TQM AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION At an organization that practices TQM, mar�keters and other employees don't just say, "Our products should be good." Rather, every employee takes the attitude that the people who receive his or her services should be satisfied with them. Some businesses even say that customer satisfaction is not a high enough objective; they say TQM should aim to delight customers.

Satisfying or even delighting customers requires not only doing one's current job well, but individually and jointly looking for ways to improve work processes. In the jargon of TQM, such efforts are called "continuous improvement." The philosophy underlying continuous improvement is: if you do the little things right, the total gain will be enormous. One way in which organizations can encourage continuous improvement is to invite�and use�employee sugges�tions. For example, teams at Toyota generate almost three million ideas a year, and management implements 85 percent of them.

The "customer" of a particular employee may not be the ultimate customer of the organization. For example, the marketing research staff typically delivers its results to the organization's product teams, not to buyers of the organization's products. However, thinking of the users of the research as customers can help the marketing researchers focus on the importance of delivering useful information at a reasonable cost. High-quality research, in turn, helps marketers develop the kinds of products that will please the organization's customers. Thus, when all employees strive for high quality, ultimate�ly the organization's customers should be pleased with the results. TQM is a system for integrating quality technologies into various functional depart�ments (engineering, production, sales, and service) to achieve customer satisfaction.

Because marketers serve as an important link with the organization's customers� identifying them, learning their wants and needs, communicating how the organiza�tion's products can help meet those needs�marketers have an especially important role to play in TQM. For example, they can have an enormous impact on customer satisfaction by seeing that customers' experiences with salespeople are positive and that the specifications developed for the organization's goods and services meet cus�tomer demands. When the organization provides services, marketers can see to it that the service providers are well trained in marketing and communications skills that will help them satisfy customers.

TQM AND PERFORMANCE Total quality management has the potential to improve the performance of the marketing group and the organization as a whole. A study by the U.S. General Accounting Office found that at organizations using TQM, sales per employee increased 8.6 percent, and customer satisfaction rose.

However, other evidence shows that many organizations are disappointed with their attempts at TQM. Florida Power & Light developed an extensive�and costly� quality program, but its customers saw only minor improvements in the quality of its services. To avoid disappointment, organizations that try using TQM need to remember two important points.

First, achieving measurable results from TQM (such as improved sales or profits) takes time. Because TQM is based on continuous improvement, it is an ongoing process, not a quick fix. Organizations that reap benefits from TQM usually do so by advancing gradually, adjusting their strategy as they improve. For a marketer, this might include the time it takes to develop a new product or respond to a customer request for information.

The second important point about TQM is that marketing and management efforts must focus on the customer, not on the organization itself.