Incstone Design

Not too long ago, I had the chance to discuss some business opportunities with another company.  We went through the usual elevator speeches, went over each others’ businesses and how we could help one another, and the like.  However, when it came to exchanging business cards, I noticed something different about theirs: their domain ended in .bz (for those of you not in the know, .bz stands for Belize, a small Central American country).  When I got back to the office, I went to look at their website online, only to find it didn't exist.  It took a couple more minutes to determine that their website didn’t end in .bz, but rather .biz (a relatively newer domain for businesses).  Having doublechecked the card and confirming the cards had the smaller domain on them, I was surprised that they had actually allowed the mistake to occur, especially on something as important as business cards.  Additionally, on closer inspection I noticed that the card was cut off-center, indicating poor quality for their printer. 

Admittedly, these things happen, so I set the card aside and didn’t give it a second thought.

About a year later, I had a chance to talk to the same company, this time with the company’s founder himself.   He and I went through the same issues and potential opportunities as before.  But at the end, the card he handed me was of the same quality (or lack thereof) as the previous one.  That single instance told me that this was not a company that I wanted to work with – they were completely unprofessional.

Now at this point some of you may be wondering where I came up with that idea.  After all, everything else about the company was spit-polished and shined: their website was state of the art and fit their clientele needs perfectly.  The employee and the founder were both dressed in professional attire, befitting that of a company filled with confidence.  And they had come recommended from a colleague that had done business with them previously.  No matter; they weren’t professional.

Why, you ask?  Simple: they had allowed substandard work (i.e., the business cards) to stand  Worse, not only had the company founder accepted this shoddy blemish to stand, he allowed it to exist on his very own cards…almost a year later!  Mistakes happen, as I've said; they're a part of life.  But there's a difference between a mistake and negligence, and handing those cards out - accepting them in the first place - shows the latter.  It shows a lack of respect for your clients and a lack of respect for your own business; if you’re going to allow one of the biggest ways of putting your best foot forward – your business card – to be less than stellar, what else are you letting slip in your company?

Quality.  Needless to say, it's one of the most important things to be found in your business.  You need to have it, because if you don't, your business isn’t worth much.  Professors, experts and economists have all said the same thing time and time again: quality assurance is important and attention to detail is utmost.  After all, how many customers are going to take the time to figure out that you’re not at business.bz but rather at business.biz?  No, most of them are going to go looking for your competitors, instead – they at least took the time to make sure someone could get to their site.

And before you think that it’s just small businesses that make these mistakes, it’s not.  Two words come to mind: British Petroleum.  Critics have claimed that had BP not forgotten quality, there would be no Gulf oil spill.  Another, less volatile example?   Seattle’s Best Coffee.  After years of the same logo, they recently changed theirs to something a “little more modern”, “sleek” and “in tune with the times.”

The problem is, those descriptions are not what I think of when I think of coffee.  Not surprisingly, most people don’t see it that way either.  Industry website BNET reports that people have confused the new logo with a blood bank, or what happens when “you combine Target with the Red Cross.”  Moreso, the new logo can be confused with Lukoil (a Russian oil company) and Vodafone (a British cellphone carrier).

BNET also reports a majority of SBC’s customers don’t like the change.  And you know what?  They’re right.  A distinctive logo that spoke of tradition and style got tossed out because some marketing guru thought Java meant Web 2.0 and not a type of bean.  The marketing folks at SBC, like the bean-counters (no pun intended) at BP and even whoever makes the decision on the stationery at the “.bz” company all, for one reason or another, forgot about quality.  And their business will take hits until they get it right...and getting back to that state of quality can (and may actually be) painful.

Now, how does that play with us?  Simple.  When we go over a design with you, we make sure that everything is quality checked.  If we think something’s going to go wrong with the design (do you really want your coffee shop to be mistaken as a blood bank?), we’ll tell you…that’s what you hired us to do.  We vet our printers and other people we deal with: we’ve dropped printers in the past because they didn’t do the job we expect of them, the very quality concern that you expect from us and your business.  We will do what it takes to make sure every i is dotted and every t is crossed.  Because if your business cards should say .biz, when we do it we’ll make sure they do say .biz (unless you really want that .bz domain….)