Find a process, Find Quality
ByQuality in marketing may be considered too subjective and therefore difficult to define. However, there is a lot about quality and marketing that can be made objective. But to first understand quality in marketing, I think it is important to understand two terms: Process and Metrics.
Quality is not an event – it is a process, and a mindset. A consistently high quality product cannot be produced by a faulty process. There needs to be a repetitive cycle of measuring quality, updating processes, measuring, updating processes, etc. In Six Sigma we use a process called DMAIC which means Define, Measurement, Analyze, Implement and Control. In Lean they discuss the PDCA cycle of Plan, Do, Check and Act. You cannot have a quality system without a defined process. So we must start here and using an established process is simply the best avenue that most of us can take.
To make the quality process work, collecting metrics is vital. If you are not going to capture metrics, it will be hard to improve processes through a quality management initiative. So, what kind of metrics do you capture? First, we must break down the term of “quality” into a number of areas that define the characteristics of quality. Then, look at each of the individual characteristics and determine one or more metrics that can be collected to mirror the characteristic. For instance, one of the features of a quality e-mail program may be increasing percentage of open rates. This is an easily achieved metric that can be measured after the solution goes live.
Releated Subjects: 10-Step Project Management , Lean Six Sigma
