Price or quality: not only software
Whether to choose price or quality is a dilemma that we have all had to face at least once in our lives, but in order to obtain a certain level of quality it is almost always necessary to pay a minimum price, whatever sector is involved.
This apparently straightforward and logical concept seems to be a difficult one for many people. In particular, the typical Italian approach of ‘Could you give me a small discount?’ is proof that very few people are capable of attributing a realistic value to the items they wish to purchase.
The three vertices of quality
The quality of goods or services can be thought of as the centre of a triangle, formed by three vertices, representing price, speed and purpose. In an ideal scenario, the triangle is equilateral, in other words the three corners should be equal, thereby providing the correct balance between quality and price.
Under real conditions, such a situation is difficult to achieve and the triangle is very likely to be either isosceles or scalene. This can happen when, for example, due to tight deadlines or limited budgets, the level of quality does not live up to expectations.
A client who expects high quality work, carried out in the shortest time at a low price is not attributing sufficient value to the efforts of whoever created that product. For this reason, he should not in any way expect the end result to fulfil his wishes.
Market competitivity: the dilemma between price and quality
Everyone knows how markets work: supply is determined by demand. Competitivity is based on the oscillation between prices and the quality of goods and services supplied. You can almost always find someone who is prepared to carry out a certain job at a lower price than someone else, but the end result will definitely have some substantial differences.
When someone wants to pay less for something, they are in fact choosing to make compromises, by opting, for example, for lower quality materials, a longer timescale or less precise attention to detail.
Quality must be paid for and it is only right that it should be adequately recompensed, as it has a real value, calculable not only in terms of timescales or the cost of materials, but also in terms of intellectual property.
The ideas and methods behind the creation of a product are important additional values (often difficult to understand from the buyer’s point of view), which a person who prefers to offer a cheaper product may not possess (which will inevitably have an impact on the quality of the end result).
Price, quality and speed: can all of them be achieved?
Attaining the ideal scenario of the equilateral triangle, as described above, is possible only occasionally possible and depends mainly on the organisation abilities of the supplier. A company with well-organised departments and teams who work together harmoniously for example, might be able to provide good quality goods and services at a competitive price within a reasonable timescale.
Even in such a context however, it is important to bear in mind that the price must in any case reflect the value and quality of the items supplied. Paying a certain amount for something which looks good, functions well and is well-made is quite normal and, once the client has understood that each product or service has an intrinsic cost, their final choice will be much easier.
A good example to illustrate this point (from whom we could all learn something) are collectors: people who appreciate the true value of particularly rare or high quality pieces and are prepared to pay the required amount in order to possess them.
Translated by Joanne Beckwith
