Mar 6, 2010
Building Trust Takes Time
When we were starting out we didn’t get one sale. Not one. We had all the buyers come and have a look at our collection but nobody bought anything. They were all waiting to see whether we would be around in six-months. Then, six-months later we had our sales exhibition and almost no one came. We were thinking that we would need to re-work the company because we were obviously not doing things right. Then the next day one buyer came and bought three of our brands. Then a major department store chain came in did a small buy. At that point we promised that we would really work it in the press and make sure that the pieces that they bought would sell out. We did what we promised and they came back and then bought up big……so there definitely is value in building up trust. After four years we still have to earn it, and we work really hard, but we have had an incredible year this year especially considering it’s a recession.
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This post is part of a series of excerpts from interviews with foreign executives in Japan, focusing on creativity. Excerpts have been edited for confidentiality.
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