Quality is a prerequisite for effective marketing

No amount of clever marketing can compensate for a poor product or service. In fact, great marketing can actually accelerate the failure of a subpar offering by bringing its flaws to light more quickly.

Before you embark on any marketing campaign, you must first ensure that you are offering a quality product or service. This means:

• Meeting or exceeding customer expectations: Your offering should do what you say it will do, and do it well.
• Being reliable and consistent: Customers should be able to count on the quality of your product or service every time they interact with your business.
• Providing excellent customer service: The quality of your offering extends to the entire customer experience, from the initial point of contact to after-sales support.

Once you are confident in the quality of your offering, you can then use marketing to amplify its strengths and attract new customers. But without a solid foundation of quality, your marketing efforts will be built on sand.