I have a friend who makes furniture. He makes each piece by hand in a barn behind his house. He is not a sophisticated businessman. He has no college degree, much less an MBA. His business has not suffered in the recent downturn. I talked with him about credibility.
At first, he looked at me like he didn’t understand the question. I explained what I meant. He smiled.
“Credibility? You mean doing what you say you’re going to do?” he asked.
“Yes, that’s part of it,” I said.
“No,” he said. “That’s all of it.”
It was my turn to smile.
“I think big companies get caught up in their own underwear and lose sight of who will be using their products,” he said. “When I build a chair, I want to see who will be sitting in it most of the time. Are a big, skinny, a sloucher? Is it a chair for personal use or just for when visitors come over?”
“You are building a pretty customized product compared to most companies,” I said.
“Your product is your product,” he said. “Customized or not. They make it. You make it. I’m not talking about who makes it. I’m talking about who buys it. It’s about the customer. That’s the only credibility there is.”
“Have you ever advertising your product?” I asked.
“Oh yeah. Every day,” he said enthusiastically. “Everything I do is an ad for my product. That chair over there is an ad. That table is an ad. My word to my suppliers and customers is advertising. Every dowel, nail, screw and cut I do are ads for my company. Every varnish stroke, every delivery, every single thing.”
In his simple explanation, there was more truth about credibility than most MBA’s learn in years.
