The Shift From Volume

to Quality

By Bob Abrames

If it ain’t one thing it’s another,” as the old saying goes. Business people have an incredible ability to focus on the negative side of issues. For the last few years now, we’ve been concerned with not having enough business. Now that the volume of business seems to be on track (for a “more than decent” recovery), we’ve decided that the quality of that business isn’t good enough.

In putting this article together, I had a number of discussions with both retailers and suppliers of travel services. Some were large companies and others were more traditional mom-and-pop type operations. Some made money — some didn’t. Most of them, regardless of the size of their businesses, were suffering from the BUT syndrome. “We’re working twice as hard, BUT for half the money!” “Business has picked up, BUT margins are down.” Lots of customers, BUT the quality isn’t there.” They are concerned now with how much they are making from what they’re getting, and rightfully so.

The shift has changed from volume to quality. Here are some ideas I picked up in my interviews from people “making a profit” that you may find interesting.

GIVE — BUT ASK, TOO. It doesn’t matter what you bring in — it’s what you keep that counts! You need to charge enough for what you sell to cover your costs, the service you provide and the margin you want.

ONE OUT OF TWO. If your margins are not there — you are either not charging enough for what you sell — or providing too much for what you’re getting paid! Fix one of them and you solve the problem.

GET FOCUSED. Businesses that are trying to be “all things to all people” are the ones in the most trouble. The “average” type of business faces a bleak future. Get focused on a path and stick to it.

CHOOSE. You have a choice. Sell more products for less margin — OR — sell less product with more margin. You can’t dance at two weddings! You either increase transactions, and lower your costs per transaction — or do fewer transactions and increase your margin. If one of these doesn’t work, I’d say that your “idea” doesn’t work. It’s got nothing to do with the business.

LESS FOR LESS. If you decide that you are going to be cheapest, then don’t pretend to be anything but the least expensive. Don’t promise anything else, don’t allude to anything else and don’t fool yourself or the consumers.

Be who you are. Tell people exactly what they will get and WON’T get. The “won’t” part is very important. Customers are never upset about not getting something, if they know they aren’t getting it to begin with. There is a famous store in Toronto called Honest Ed’s. Now Ed sells cheap! But he promotes it and backs it up. There’s a sign in the store that says something like, “We don’t promise you service, so please don’t ask for it. Our staff is too busy making sure you get the cheapest prices possible so they don’t have time to help you.” A little extreme maybe, but very effective. If you go after cheap, you certainly can make money, but not if you spend your margins on the services.

MORE FOR MORE. If you’re going after “margin” you need to deliver more of something. To expect people to pay more but get the same, or less, is ridiculous. You need to promise more, deliver more and charge for it. This is where the concept of quality must become a reality. Some — not all — people will pay for what they want. You don’t want all! You can’t handle all! The idea is to make more than you’re spending — not to get more, to pay more to people you buy from.

In short, a business that’s in business and not making money is an oxymoron. Look at what you sell, who you’re selling it to and how much you’re selling it for. If there’s a problem with profits, there’s a problem with one of these. But on the bright side — they are all fixable. We just have to get off our BUTS!

Bob Abrames is a salesologist, author and educator in the “business” of travel. You can E-mail him at bob@abrames.com or call (416) 518-1138. His Web site address is www.abrames.com.