Why Quality over Quantity is Better For Your Business
There is a growing need to adopt a new set of Sustainable Development Goals that aim to “Transform the World”. Change comes with collective effort, mutual understanding and knowledge toward specific goals.
Despite the UN and other international organisations making crucial decisions, the result is far from expected. It made me wonder what it is that we are falling short on? Is it the lack of interest or lack of awareness?
That’s when I had a eureka moment, and it suddenly started to make all sense. Many people don’t know the complicated terms and references that are used when we talk about sustainability. The idea inspired me to create a new series called “The ABCs of Sustainability Development”. I hope that this series of blogs is well received and serves its purpose. This week I want to talk about the ozone layer, its depletion and how industries specifically have had a dangerous impact on this protective upper atmospheric layer.
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One of the first questions businesses want an answer to is to learn how to get quick growth. A well-established name, a strong customer base and appealing profit margins. But in the longer run, as a business leader, would you rather choose to be known for disposable goods and services at a dirt rate or place yourself as a hallmark producer of well-known, sturdy and high-quality items?
Quality over quantity is a debate small businesses and sustainability entrepreneurs in the early stages struggle with. No one essentially wants to sell or be known for low-grade quality items, but if every product and service was the most long-lasting, business growth could suffer. This is where the challenge comes in: How to grow, increasing quantity simultaneously, without being at the expense of quality loss? And further, why should one invest in quality at all.
1. Customer and client satisfaction
There is nothing better than the positive feeling of satisfied consumers and their feedback. It’s the silver of the soft side of business that keeps us going. But your clientele and their reviews, feedback and satisfaction is also your greatest driver. Providing the finest service and quality material will only gather loyalty from your patrons while increasing your market rapport.
In the long run when it is knowledge that customers and clients prefer quality-centered brands and businesses, a profit and revenue generating cycle established itself in place. Be it word of mouth or other referrals, the service speaks for itself in positive numbers.
2. Market imprint and sustainability branding
Ask any business owners that have been in the industry for the long haul and they will tell you your number of followers isn’t the key to success. Customers that look for sustainable brands and businesses are the drivers and the target product for that market is quality goods. Moreover, it only takes a small step to establish a personal brand with accountability and ethics to gain a strong standing and permeate markets beyond your target groups.
3. Productivity growth
If you are in any industry that doesn’t implement any operational strategies, the business is likely going to fail. Tactics of operational marketing, right from in depth knowledge of business insights to market research and converting it into a solid strategy is what will help you climb the ladder of success.
In the case where quantity is the driver than quality, executive dysfunction is a likely occurrence. Not only would you diminish product quality, but work quality, and for sustainable business, the growth is not just seen from the outcome but the corporate functioning. Your focus should not be on the amount of traffic you are going to generate, but the quality of the traffic. Small managerial differences will eventually enhance the business productivity and the amount of viability in the market.
Setting on The Path: Qualitative and quantitative market research
Two ways to determine your focus towards quality over quantity is to pick your method of market research, no matter which industry. There are two ways of data collection: quantitative research and qualitative research.
Quantitative research is rooted in hard data or numbers. Here you’ll be drawing charts and graphs on the basis of mathematical analysis to shed light on important statistics about your business and audience. Methods used would be multiple-choice questionnaires and other surveys to answer questions like:
– What is the market for you products and services?
– How much is your product or service in demand?
– What is the value of your product or service?
– How frequently will your clientele return?
– What is the UI/UX experience expected by your audience?
Since quantitative research depends on statistics and is based in mathematical findings, the hard data is very quantifiable and shows direct progress of content to work with.
Qualitative research, on the other hand, isn’t so much about numbers as it is about people. Corporate responsibility can be seen through opinions of workers and of clients involved with your business.
The process involves a similar survey method as quantitative research with the goal of learning definite problems and their potential solutions and customers’ opinions, values and beliefs about the product. This research generally involves smaller sample sizes than gathering complete data, used to give an anecdotal overview to the business. In this case, here are some things one would ask:
– What edge does this business’ product has in the competitive market? Is it better than items or the services already being offered?
– How would you rather have the brand alter its offerings and services to suit your needs?
– What do you think of the visual branding (logo)?
– How user friendly is the brand’s website? What would you change about it?
– What about the brand’s marketing campaign appeals to you?
Benefits of quantitative and qualitative are different but both pack a punch. As a leader, which approach you pick is dependant on your business goals and foresight.
For instance, qualitative is easier to analyse as data is collected through audio and videos usually and it is also easy to divulge into multiple topics at once. The method is more cost effective too. Quantitative, on the contrary, is very effective for small businesses as it gives leaders and analysts the opportunity to work with large volumes of data. For example, likes, needs and wants of a particular demographic — something that can be processed quickly. Usually with crisp charts, graphs and numbers, leaders may get a very clear idea and confidence to make decisions as per statistics, further, all surveys are valuable as anonymity of the data collection gives clients and customers the space to give honest feedback.
