The secret to quality is in the finest of all details.
A fantastic design is completely vetted, with no imperfections allowed. A winning sales report contains great assumptions, perfect math and has easy to understand metrics and narrative. None of these attributes come easily. Often, designs or products or documents must go through several versions until they achieve world class quality. The process can be tiring, and in most cases, we settle for ‘good enough’.
Not me. I’m relentless here. I send back something every week with very specific edit comments. As a result, I run a little behind schedule, but achieve the kind of quality that I’m looking for. You should do the same, because top quality is the ultimate marketing vehicle. Top quality sells itself and builds brands (personal to business).
Send something back this week because “it is not good enough”. Push yourself to go the extra mile, even if it means ruffling some egos along the way. Stress what quality attribute you are driving at (image quality, accuracy, feel, etc.) and remind everyone involved as to the importance of the project.
In my favorite book on the Quality Movement, the authors talk about a ship builder in the 1800’s that had the following slogan painted on a sign that hung above its factory: “We build good ships here. At a profit when we can, t a loss if we must, but always, we build good ships.”
