Who says what quality is?
What does the word QUALITY really mean? Most companies out there would like to think that their product is the best quality, especially in reference to the price categories they operate in. The funny thing is that the word is used so often by companies in their marketing that to the customer it is becoming what I would call marketing dribble. It is turned into a generic word that to the customer simply means “functional” and really is no incentive to buy one product over another.
The problem is that people need to know that something is quality but they can’t hear it from the company that makes the product. They need to hear it either from a trusted friend who has used the product and swears by it or by a third party organization that is an expert in determining if a product is quality or not. In both scenarios, the user or the organization has to have no connection to the company that produces the product or their statement is no better than if would have come from the company directly.
As a builder, we are constantly talking to our homeowners and getting as much feedback as we can. We find that our quality is not validated by what we say but what our homeowners and outside organizations such as builder’s associations say about our homes. Based on that, we feel validated in saying that we are the best quality home. Our homeowners say it through the fact that most of our prospective homeowners have one or two degrees of separation from a current homeowner. And this year the Central Oregon Builder’s Association recognized us with 17 Quality & Value awards at the 2010 Tour of Homes.
Whether you are going to buy a new Pahlisch Home or any home for that matter, don’t let the builder tell you they are the best quality. Let the people currently living in a home built by that builder tell you. Let the organizations that you trust their assessment ability tell you. This is a big investment and you want to make sure that what you buy is the best you can get for what you are wanting to spend.