How do you judge it? qUALITY of a product, organization or business? I recently heard a story about someone in the hospitality industry. He would enter a hotel lobby and head for the public bathrooms. If they were clean and in good condition, the hotel would receive its seal of approval. What is the reason behind the toilet test? Many hotels will make an effort with their lobby and rooms, but shared restrooms are a relatively hidden part of the building that many guests will never see.

The theory goes that if the hotel staff is making an effort to keep even its public bathrooms clean, you can safely assume that the hotel is in good condition overall. In the words of Henry Ford, “Quality is doing it right when no one is watching.” Quality matters to all of us. We think about it in the decisions we make every day, especially if we're thinking about buying a product. And the higher the price, the more important quality becomes – you have to justify that premium. As business owners, we must build trust with our customers on the quality of our products so they will make the decision to choose our offers.

So how do you ensure that the quality of your products meets the highest standards? It starts with building a culture of quality in your organization. If you focus on quality in every aspect of your organization, from people to processes to the work environment and beyond, you'll be determined to create a high-quality product and an overall superior experience for your customers.

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Defining quality in your organization

It's important to spend some time thinking about how your company defines quality in order to hold yourself accountable to that high standard. There are some areas where this is easier than others. For example, all developers know to avoid “spaghetti code”—disorganized coding that is difficult for other developers to read, understand, and fix if necessary. You should write your code in a clear, clean and organized way, in accordance with your internal R&D standards, so that anyone can quickly understand and modify it in the future.

With areas like CONTENT, where quality is much more subjective, you need to create and establish clear company guidelines. For example, you can create a design system and brand book to maintain a consistent quality of your design assets and text in your product and marketing materials.

You will also need to define quality for specific areas that are important to your company. From the beginning of building our business, we had to create a standard for the songs in our catalog. We identified three areas to focus on: technical (mixing and mastering), production and a comparison with similar music from abroad. Each of these areas was further defined to ensure that our entire music team would be able to evaluate music in a similar way and maintain the standard.

Creating an environment that supports quality

Quality is in the details, and that goes for you too work environment. The right lighting, temperature and furniture can make a big difference in the comfort, concentration and productivity of your employees. And there are many other areas where you can focus on getting the details right. For example, the general cleanliness of the office, the produce in your kitchens, your company events and even branded merchandise. When quality is felt in every aspect of your organization, you create a culture.

It is also essential to create a supportive atmosphere continuous improvement. By providing your teams with actionable data and an environment that encourages people to act on these insights, you'll empower them to increase the quality of their results and your organization as a whole. By supporting measured risk-taking, you will energize people to try new things and learn from their successes and mistakes. They will then apply what they have learned to their work, raising the quality and giving them a sense of personal development and fulfilment. And that matters.

In general, people like to think they are doing a good job. So if you create a culture of quality, it makes people feel like they're doing quality work, which in turn makes them proud of their work. This makes them perform better, which makes your product and brand better. And the effect flows everywhere.

A quality product makes customer support better, too — their job is easier since they're able to stand behind the product with confidence and get fewer tickets.

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Building quality teams and processes at the center

If a team has a standout star performer, it creates a barrier. You need to build teams with a level of quality that is evenly distributed, so that if people are sick or on vacation, you don't miss them or feel the need to stop working. This is about your definition of quality, which should also apply to your employees. You need to make sure that you employ people that fit your definition of having fantastic teams, not star solo performers.

Quality is also measured in places your customers won't see, such as your processes. Rigorous quality assurance (QA) should be built into every aspect of your workflow. Encouraging peer QA within teams has the added benefit of helping people grow and develop based on feedback from their peers.

If we apply the hotel bathroom example to a SaaS company, I think the equivalent is their customer service. I look at what channels are available to contact them, how long it takes them to respond, and how they communicate their responses. These interactions give you an indication of the quality of the company. Keep in mind that for every person who complains, there are probably hundreds, if not thousands, who have the same frustrations but don't have the energy to reach out.

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In conclusion, quality drives impact. Providing your users with content, tools and experience, you will build a lasting brand with quality at the center. It is important that early on in your business development you define what it means in the context of your organization and align the whole team. It's something you'll need to track and measure, and you'll probably need to update your definition as you grow.

By focusing on quality, you will have better people working with better processes and creating a better product. You will be able to be more agile and adapt to new challenges and opportunities. And best of all, you will have happier customers who will trust your brand and become your biggest advocates.