THREE ASPECTS OF A BUSINESS TRANSACTION
There are three aspects to a business transaction. One can only expect two of the three in any transaction. There may be times when we can get three, but those are rare occasions and are usually sales. Otherwise, a business cannot afford to offer all three and continue to stay in business. The three aspects are: Quality, Service, and Price.
QUALITY
Quality is, as one would expect, the best product available to the consumer. One does not settle for a Volkswagen if they are shopping for a Cadillac. This is not to say anything bad about Volkswagen, but it was not meant to compete with Cadillac. One does not go shopping for a snow blower and come home with a shovel thinking they have made quite a bargain.
SERVICE
Service is, again, self-explanatory in that we want what we want, when we want it. In addition, Service also means the company stands behind its products and will repair or replace according to their warranty terms. In the Quality, Service, Price aspects, Service is mostly getting the product you want in a timely manner.
PRICE
Everyone is looking for the best price they can find. However, a shopper cannot expect to find the best product on the market, ready for delivery, at the cheapest price. Given the Cadillac, Volkswagen example, a shopper would not expect to pay the same for a Cadillac as they would for a Volkswagen bug. Nor, would they expect to pay the same for the snowblower as they paid for the shovel.
CONCLUSION
A consumer can expect to find Quality with Service such as a product available on the shelf, or the product on the shelf at the best Price. We don’t expect to find the Quality product at the cheapest price sitting on the shelf. Quality will always be more expensive when all things are equal. But, the wise shopper recognizes this fact and really doesn’t expect any different.