Low quality service becomes custom in harsh economy

As we continue to figure out whether the Kenyan economy is in recovery, inflationary, emerging or bouncing back, one thing for sure is that every business is under pressure to watch their bottom line and ensure that investors are getting profit.

This pressure, whether it is as a result of real or imagined circumstances, has resulted in some companies taking a more than creative approach to manage their cost of doing business.

It is not surprising that most of us get a sense that the brands we consume today do not necessarily stand the test of quality that they embraced a decade ago.

To some degree, this state of affairs is described by some self acclaimed business guru as the “lowest cost formula” approach in which cost-reduction activities such as changes in product formulas become the Achilles heel of opportunistic businesses.

This short-term focus usually misdirects an organisation’s strategic plans into territory that is difficult to navigate.

It all startups with managers comparing this year’s product quality with last year’s measures.

The presumption is that reducing the product quality slightly this year, will still be at parity to last year’s quality.

This is all well and done when the product quality change is done tactically over a short period of time to reduce costs.

However, most organisations are characterised by change and over a period of years, different managers using the same approach will eventually find through comparative testing that the current product formulation is far inferior to what constitutes the original product, albeit charged to consumers at a premium.

It is for this reason that the leather shoes you wore ten years ago lasted for four good years while the shoes you bought last year as a Christmas treat are beginning to show the early signs of the effects of what we used to once call “tarmacking” – doing great mileage while looking for that ever elusive job.

The servings in your favourite restaurant are not the same portion today as they were a couple of years ago.

As a matter of fact, the size of the choice steak has been reduced and been replaced by some edible décor referred to as asparagus!

Over time, this state raises concerns on consumer acceptance and inevitably, consumer preference for these once superior quality products begins to wane.

It is in this context that counterfeit products in the local market have found relatively easy inroads into some product categories.

In the past, it was not too difficult to distinguish between a counterfeit and a genuine item.

However, in our current environment, it is almost impossible for the untrained and critical eye to distinguish between original and counterfeit products.

Some may argue that it is easier to copy packaging of superior brands for application to inferior ones.

However, it is unlikely that the counterfeiters will be able to replicate the quality of the original products bearing in mind that they simply do not have the resources to invest in.

If this were the case, they would be better off coming up with a better competing brand.

Everyone is likely to be a victim of counterfeit products despite their socio economic status, preferences and status symbols.

It is for this reason that if you have a Rolex watch that you treasure and show off in meetings to your admirers, you had better be careful that the second hand on the chronometer display does not make a “ticking” sound.

The fact is that the second hand of a Rolex simply sweeps round the clock face.

If you put your Rolex watch to your ear and hear anything, you have been had.

Rolex watches retail for anything north of $7,000 so if you paid Sh7,000 for yours, chances are that the loud ticking sounds and your heartbeat are synchronous.

You may be much safer hanging around the more discernable digital watch world.