Abstract:

The age old complaint of suppliers is that "clients won't pay for quality"; of clients, that "suppliers never define what they mean by quality, so you might just as well buy on price". What can both clients and suppliers do to remedy this Push-Me-Pull-You situation? Obviously strict quality control needs time and hence costs more money, but recent experience as a consultant, has convinced me that quality is still a neglected isssue, particularly as regards client service which, for many clients, is as important as the quality of the work itself. We shall start this paper with some examples of poor client service from suppliers. We then look at some of the ways in which clients make it difficult for suppliers to conduct top quality research and, finally, at ways in which both sides can work together to improve things. Quality and client service depend on good communications and attention to detail. These are needed on both client and supplier side, but surely, the onus is on the providers of the services to do their utmost to ensure customer satisfaction.