Little things mean a lot - quality control and attention to detail in business - column

Nation's Business, Oct, 1987 by Sharon Nelton

Little Things Mean A Lot

I was sitting in a staff meeting not long ago, wearing a new red dress that brightened my business wardrobe and my spirits when suddenly its belt fell apart, the ends drooping from the belt loops.

The belt was a pretty thing, made of black patent leather and dress fabric. Trouble is, the patent leather had pulled away from the fabric, and there was no easy way to glue it together again and be reliably belted.

Just a minor detail? Well, lack of attention to detail makes me mad. As a writer, I know that the best story idea in the world won't work if it is not well executed, with detail upon detail to bring the material to life. And you probably know from your own experience that if you're being quoted, you want to be quoted accurately. If your name is Smyth, you can get pretty teed off when it appears in print as Smith. Those are details, too.

As a consumer, I find that lack of attention to detail on the part of businesses of all kinds costs me time and money and frazzles my nerves. In the end, I feel ill will toward a company that does me wrong.

The little red dress was on sale. I'd paid about $70 for it, and I'd have gladly paid a few dollars more if that meant having a belt I could count on. Now I had several choices, all inconvenient and time-consuming. I could return the dress to the store, I could complain to the manufacturer, or, since none of the belts I owned matched the dress, I could buy a new belt.

I still liked the dress, so I decided to keep it. Since the label bore no address for the manufacturer, I gave up the idea of writing a complaint letter or making a phone call.

Instead, I bought a new belt at a cost of $15, meaning my once on-sale dress was no longer much of a bargain.

Why is it that people in business so often show inadequate respect for detail when it can make or break what they do?

I could write about clothing manufacturers all day. Another belt gripe I have is belts with slip-through buckles--that is, buckles that look like buckles but that lack the eyelet that holds the prong that keeps the belt fastened.

Countless dress companies seem to think women don't laugh or sneeze. The minute you take a deep breath in one of these belts, it pops open. Pretty embarrassing if you're making a presentation to a potential customer. (It's not in a class, however, with the split zipper that American tennis player Tim Wilkison endured in front of the whole world at Wimbledon last summer. Wonder what he thought of the shorts manufacturer.)

Cosmetics are another sore point. I'd give my left eyelashes for containers that didn't wear out long before what they contain is gone. Often a pressed-powder compact or eye shadow container will break even when it is still nearly full.

What about instructions? And the operation of equipment? Recently I paid my local supermarket $16.99 to rent a large steam-cleaning machine for carpets and, for an additional $20, perchased the detergents the machine's manufacturer said I would need. The leaflet that told how to operate the equipment not only omitted important information (such as how to get water out of an irremovable tank), it made light of the difficulty of certain steps. It did say I might have to try several times to couple the hose to the machine. It neither warned that this was in fact a difficult procedure nor showed how to do it, and I got water all over myself and the floor before I finally succeeded.

Even worse, the directions were printed in minuscule letters in pale orange ink--nearly impossible to read. I decided that next time, I'll hire professionals and hope they will be detail-oriented enough to do the job as I want it done.

Sometimes lack of attention to detail and the attitude that goes with it can lose a pricey sale. I wanted to buy a new car last year and I knew exactly the model and the options that I wanted. But I kept running into salesmen who sold cars the old-fashioned way, turning it into a game of win-lose negotiation. Instead of quoting me a price to start the bargaining, they asked me what price I wanted to pay and then scoffed when I responded.

But they never would come up with a firm price of their own. Nor could they tell me when a car might be available or if it would be available in a color I could live with. After I made a return visit to one dealer, the salesman told me he couldn't continue to waste his time on me, implying I wasn't a serious buyer. But he still wouldn't quote a firm price of his own.

He had forgotten one detail: respect for the customer. I went down the street and bought a different make from a straightforward, polite salesman and took it home the same day.

When I part with my hardearned cash, I want the people on the other side of the transaction to treat me with respect. And I don't want to have to tighten the buttons on blouses before I wear them or resew a loose hem.

I have the same responsibility to respect my customers--my readers--by producing articles that are as interesting, informative, clearly written and accurate as I can make them.