billw watkinsToday's advice comes from our interview with Bill Watkins, CEO of Bridgelux:

“As a new company, you have to put an overemphasis on quality of your brand. As a startup, you cannot afford to do things the way big companies do. You cannot afford to come up with a product, build it, and expect people to come and buy it. Sell it first, then design it and build it.”

Customers want to be able to trust the company that makes the products they buy, which is why you can have a phenomenal product and never make a sale if customers don’t know they can trust your brand.

Watkins says need to sell your product, and your brand, first. Sell your idea to the customer, and once you have their business, build the phenomenal product. It’s a guaranteed way to earn their trust.

“Sell the concept to the customer first, then build it. And it’s a hard concept to get around, but it allowed us to go in with a lot more protection, and a lot more inventory control and management.”
