Welcome to Dhandhe Ki Baat.
This is Alok Kejriwal.
Today we are going to talk about 'Q' for Quality.
This term 'Quality' I think, is really over-understood.
I am inventing a new term- it's not misunderstood and neither is it under-understood.
It is over understood. People spend too much time about quality.
I'll give you an example of quality.
The first time when I went to my father's socks factory, I saw that he was making nylon socks.
I was disgusted. I was wondering who is going to buy these horrible nylon socks.
It is such a horrible thing!
It would feel so hot to put them on and the toe part of the socks had rough seams too.
So, my father laughed at me. He said, "You know, Alok, the quality expectations
that you have are not what our consumers want."
My father made a fortune making those nylon socks for a long time.
When I started export of socks, I manufactured black, navy and white
cotton socks for the Europe market. I was very happy with my socks.
When two-three international buyers came and had a look at those socks,
they criticized it saying that I was making horrible stuff. This is no quality.
That day I laughed and I said, "Boss, this is making me a fortune."
So, quality is subjective and, in my opinion, as long as it creates an outcome
- may be profitability or acceptability. You know, quality is input not always an output.
Just think about this. Quality also has different layers.
Let's take Uber for example in India.
If you travel by Uber, very often I used to see different prices for UberGo, Premium
and XL. I enjoy spending but my wife is a miser. She doesn't like to spend.
So, when she used to order for Go, she used to order for UberGo or Uber Regular.
The car used be in a bad condition and horrible driver too. I was hating it.
So, next time, I proudly ordered for the Premier or XL.
I was shocked. The car was the same.
But, the driver was much better. So, the angle they had used was for me,
that the person could understand where I was going. The quality of the driving or the driver was the real seller.
Quality has its own kind of layers. Now, in my mind, just to explain - Quality is something that
can actually be a profit item. It should be used like ROI. Let's give another example.
What happens when there is over-investment? It's a very funny thing.
I think all of you have got a Sony TV. From the time I have been born, I have seen a Sony TV at home.
Sony TV is made so well that it doesn't get spoilt. It always is on and its fine.
Look at the history of Sony, it did very well after walkman but it is beginning to fade away.
Quality is not the only thing that has got them far. Now, look at the iPhone.
A phenomenal product, phenomenal quality. But, what about the battery?
What happens to the iPhone battery? It begins to fade and not perform over a period of time.
And, now we know that the problem with iPhone is that they make the battery in such a way
that it begins to start failing after a couple of years. Is it bad quality?
Well, the packaging is of great quality. One part of it is compromised.
So, quality also has its different layers and parts.
Last but not the least, what is the test of quality?
How do you know that you are going to get trapped by compromising?
Competition is the best test. When I started my games business on mobiles,
two-three people came to me saying that they want to do gaming on DTH.
I was shocked. I said, "DTH is cable, how can I play games on it?"
They said, "No, Alok, it's the best thing. You will earn revenue.
You know, DTH operators will give you a lump sum."
One guy came to me and said, "Alok, Your entire company's revenue will be coming from one DTH operator."
The quality of that game bothered me. It didn't make sense.
How is it possible to play a game with the DTH remote?
And the day android and iTunes became popular that format vanished.
So, competition is the greatest test of quality.
In the end, all I'll say is - Be prudent about quality.
Don't over-invest in quality and spoil your business and ROI. Do only as much as is required and
improve gradually but never shy away from making a great product.
I hope you liked quality as a concept. Subscribe to this channel if you haven't.
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Thank you!
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