Due to the pandemic, many businesses shut their doors and put manufacturing and services on hold. What some people believed to be only a blip turned into a long-term struggle. Customers can’t buy suppliers can’t sell. No doubt this will be over soon. However, once businesses start to reopen, we may struggle to get the quality we got accustomed to. Here is why.

Two schools of thought

Customer’s perspective:

Would you accept a worse quality product or choose no product at all?

Business’ perspective:

Would you deliver a worse quality product or choose not to deliver at all?

High demand for products and services (inflated due to the lockdown) combined with limited supply may result in lower than usual quality acceptance levels.

Are you willing to lower your quality standards?

Quality of products can get affected by:

1. Speedy deliveries with no adequate quality control mechanisms
2. Manufacturing processes ramped up with limited control of the output
3. Skill levels of staff worsened by the long break from work
4. Producers cutting corners on quality just to invoice the batch and get it out of the door

Quality of services can get affected by:

1. Reduced time per customer
2. Limited communication due to social restrictions
3. Longer than usual waiting times
4. The psychological aspect of different priorities for customers and providers

Are you willing to compromise on quality, or would you rather wait and demand the quality you deserve?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below.