Episode 4: The Materials: Why Different Businesses Need Different Bricks (Trust Walls pt 3)

Over the past few episodes, we've been exploring this idea that trust in business is built like a structure, brick by brick, layer by layer.

We talked about the foundation in the last episode, what you build on, the core values and identity that everything else sits on top of.

Now, I know I said we'd talk about building in public this week, and we will, but I realized there's something we need to cover first.

Because before we can talk about whether to build in public or private, we need to talk about what you're building with, the materials themselves.

Here's what I've been thinking about.

Not all bricks are the same, and the choices you make about which bricks to use, premium, standard, or economy,

those choices compound in ways most businesses don't realize until it's too late.

And whether you should build in public actually depends on what materials you're using, which is why we need to cover this first.

So imagine you're standing in a brickyard, looking at your options.

There are three pallets in front of you.

The first set.

Premium bricks.

Hand-fired clay, uniform color, perfectly dimensionally sized.

They're expensive.

Really expensive.

But they're beautiful.

And they'll last.

And they'll last.

And they'll last.

A hundred years or more.

The second set are standard bricks.

They're solid, functional, nothing fancy.

They'll do the job.

They'll last decades if you maintain them.

They're what most people use.

And the third set, economy bricks.

Cheap, made quickly.

They're lighter, they're inconsistent, and if you look closely, some of them are already cracking.

But you can buy them at a price.

And you can buy three times as many for the same price.

So here's the question.

Which one should you buy?

And the answer is, it depends entirely on what you're building.

If you're building a garden shed that needs to last five, maybe ten years, on a shallow foundation,

premium bricks are wasteful.

However, if you're building a house you want to pass down to your kids,

cheap bricks are a disaster waiting to happen.

The materials have to match the mission.

In business, we make this choice every single day.

And most of us don't even realize we're making it.

Every promise you keep or break,

every customer interaction,

every piece of content,

every decision about quality versus speed,

you're choosing your bricks.

And those choices compound in ways that either build something solid

or something that looks good until you put weight on it.

I'm Jason Hager, and this is Grayleaf Media.

Today, what you build with matters as much as what you build on.

Let's dive in.

Let's start with something that seems obvious but gets missed constantly.

Not all bricks are created equal.

And more importantly, not all businesses need the same kind of bricks.

If you're a consultant or running an agency,

your bricks are fundamentally different.

Your bricks are fundamentally different than if you're selling a physical product.

The trust you're building is based on different things.

A consulting business is built on relationship bricks.

Personal connection,

demonstrated experience and expertise,

your ability to understand their specific problem

and solve it in a way that feels custom to them.

Your bricks are conversations, insights,

follow-through on small commitments that prove you'll follow through on big ones.

These are soft bricks,

in the sense that they're intangible,

but they're not weak.

They're just harder to see and harder to replicate.

Compare that to a product-based business.

If you're selling physical goods,

your bricks are the product quality itself,

the packaging experience,

how fast it ships,

how easy it is to return if something's wrong,

and the experience that the product itself delivers.

Most of these are hard bricks.

Tangible, measurable, and visible.

A customer can hold your product in their hands

and immediately assess whether you delivered on your promise.

There's less room for interpretation,

which means there's less room for error.

Your quality has to be consistent

because inconsistency is obvious.

Then you've got platform businesses or SaaS companies.

That's software as a service, for those who don't know.

And their bricks are system bricks.

Uptime, performance,

security,

whether the thing works when someone needs it to work.

A consulting business can have an off day

and recover with a good conversation.

A SaaS platform that goes down at the wrong time?

Well, that brick just fell off the structure

and everyone saw it happen.

The trust equation is different

because the dependency is different.

And for mission-driven businesses,

which is likely most of you listening,

your bricks are integrity bricks.

You're not just selling a service or a product.

You're selling alignment with values.

Your audience is asking,

"Do you actually believe what you say you believe?"

"Do your actions match your mission?"

"Where does the money go?"

"How do you make decisions when it's hard?"

These bricks are the hardest to fake

because your audience is specifically looking for authenticity.

They're not just inspecting quality.

They're inspecting character.

They're inspecting what matters.

If you're trying to build a consulting business

with product-quality bricks,

you're going to struggle.

You'll obsess over making everything perfect and polished

when what people actually need is to feel understood.

And if you're trying to build a product business

with relationship bricks,

you'll spend all your time talking to customers

and never ship anything consistent.

The materials have to match the structure you're building.

So let's talk about quality.

Because this is where most businesses get into trouble.

There are essentially three levels of bricks you can choose from,

and the trick is knowing when each one is appropriate.

As we said, premium bricks are expensive.

Not just in money, but in time, energy, and attention.

They take longer to make.

They require more skill, and they demand more care.

In business, premium bricks look like white-glove customer service.

Handcrafted products.

Deeply customized solutions.

Over-delivering on every promise.

These bricks signal that you care more about quality than efficiency.

And for the right customer, that's everything.

But here's the catch.

Premium bricks are slow to lay and expensive to maintain,

which means you can't build as fast.

And you can't serve as many people.

If your business model requires volume, premium bricks,

will bankrupt you.

Standard bricks are what most businesses should be using most of the time.

They're solid, they're reliable, and they're consistent.

They won't wow anyone, but they won't disappoint anyone either.

Standard bricks are keeping your promises.

Delivering what you said you'd deliver.

Showing up when you said you'd show up.

Being responsive without being instantly available.

These are the bricks that build trust steadily over time because they're repeatable.

You can lay a lot of these bricks and they'll hold up under normal conditions.

For most businesses, standard bricks are the foundation of everything.

They're the backbone.

They're not the actual foundation, however.

You remember we said that was your principles and your values.

This is the trust that you are building.

Then you've got cheap bricks and I want to be careful here because cheap isn't always

bad.

It's contextual.

Cheap bricks are fast.

They're flexible.

They let you build quickly and test things before committing to higher quality.

In the early stages of a business, cheap bricks might be exactly what you need because you're

still figuring out what you're building.

A rough draft website.

A minimum viable product.

A good enough process that you'll refine later.

These are cheap bricks and they serve a purpose.

The problem is when you try to build something permanent with them or when you use cheap

bricks and market them as premium.

Cheap bricks crumble underweight.

And if you're asking people to trust something built with cheap materials, you're setting

yourself up for collapse.

Now the question isn't which level of brick is right.

The question is this.

What are you building?

And what level of quality does it require?

A lifestyle business might thrive on standard bricks with occasional premium touches.

A high-end consulting firm needs premium bricks consistently because that's what their clients

are paying for.

A startup testing product market fit might need cheap bricks just to get something in

front of people.

The mistake is using the wrong bricks for the structure or mixing quality levels randomly

and hoping people won't notice.

But here's what people miss.

The bricks are only half of it.

The mortar is what holds everything together.

And if your mortar is weak, it doesn't matter how good your bricks are.

In construction, mortar is the binding agent.

It fills the gaps.

It holds the structure.

It allows the bricks to function as a unit instead of just a pile.

In business, mortar is consistency, communication, follow-through, and time.

These are the unpolished things that nobody celebrates but that make the difference between

a structure that stands and one that crumbles.

Consistency is the first layer of mortar.

You're great but inconsistent.

Sometimes premium.

Sometimes cheap.

Sometimes you deliver.

Sometimes you don't.

The mortar never sets.

Customers don't know what to expect, which means they don't know if they can trust you.

Consistency doesn't mean perfection.

It means predictability.

It means they know what they're getting.

And they work with you.

And that reliability becomes its own form of trust.

Communication is the second layer.

Mortar fills gaps.

Communication fills gaps between bricks.

And communication fills gaps between expectations and reality.

When something goes wrong, and something always goes wrong, communication is what keeps the

structure from falling apart.

You missed a deadline?

Well, communicate early.

A product didn't meet expectations?

Communicate clearly.

The business is changing direction?

Well then you should communicate transparently.

The absence of communication creates gaps.

And gaps turn into cracks.

And cracks turn into collapse.

Follow-through is the third layer.

And this one's simple.

Mortar that doesn't cure properly fails.

Promises you don't keep are mortar that never hardened.

Every time you say you'll do something and then don't, you're weakening the structure.

Every time you do what you said you'd do, you're strengthening it.

Follow-through is how small promises become big promises.

Big trust.

And then there's time.

Mortar needs time to set.

You can't rush it.

Trust is the same way.

You can lay the bricks quickly.

But the mortar between them needs time to harden before you can put weight on the structure.

This is why new businesses struggle with trust.

They haven't given the mortar time to cure.

And this is why established businesses with strong reputations can weather storms.

Their mortar has been setting for years.

The bricks get the attention.

But the mortar is what actually holds your business together.

So how do you decide which bricks to use?

Because you can't just pick randomly.

You have to be strategic about it.

First question: What kind of business are you building?

For example, if you're building a service business that depends on relationships, your

premium bricks need to be in customer interaction.

Responsiveness and personalized attention.

You might be able to use standard bricks for your website or your back-end systems.

But the client-facing experience has to be premium.

If you're building a product business, your premium bricks need to be in product quality

and consistency.

You might be able to use standard bricks for customer service because people aren't buying

you.

They're buying the thing.

Alright, second question: What stage are you at?

Early-stage businesses can get away with more cheap bricks because you're testing,

iterating, figuring out what works.

You don't need a perfect website.

You need something that communicates your value proposition clearly enough that people

will take a meeting.

You don't need a polished product.

You need something that solves the problem well enough that people will pay for it and

give you feedback.

But as you mature, you need to upgrade your bricks.

What worked at stage one?

Stage one doesn't work at stage ten.

Customers who are willing to overlook rough edges early on expect professionalism later.

And third question: What can you actually afford?

And I don't just mean money.

I mean time, energy, attention, team capacity.

Premium bricks are expensive in every dimension.

And if you can't maintain them consistently, you're better off using standard bricks everywhere

than using premium bricks sporadically.

Inconsistency destroys trust faster than lower-quality, delivered consistently.

Fourth question: What's your competitive advantage?

Where do you need to be premium?

And where can you be standard?

If you're a design agency, your visual branding needs to be premium.

That's your proof of competence.

Your invoicing system can be standard.

If you're a logistics company, you're on-demand.

On-time delivery needs to be premium.

That's your proof of competence.

Your website can be standard.

Double down on the bricks that matter for your specific value proposition.

And don't waste resources trying to be premium everywhere.

And the final question: Where are you cutting corners, and is it going to come back to haunt

you?

Because sometimes cheap bricks are strategic, and sometimes they're a ticking time bomb.

Using a templated website in year one: strategic, cheap brick.

Using sloppy contracts that create legal problems later: time bomb.

Launching with manual processes you'll automate later: strategic.

Ignoring customer service because you're focused on growth: time bomb.

You have to know the difference.

Here's the thing that kills businesses: mixing brick quality randomly.

And hoping nobody notices.

You can build with cheap bricks if you're honest about it.

Plenty of businesses succeed by being the affordable option.

The fast option.

The good enough option.

Their customers know what they're getting.

And they're fine with it because the price and expectations match.

You can build with premium bricks if you're committed to it.

Plenty of businesses succeed by being the best, and most thorough, the most efficient.

You can build with cheap bricks if you're honest about it.

Plenty of businesses succeed by being the affordable option.

The fast option.

The good enough option.

Their customers know what they're getting.

And they're fine with it because the price and expectations match.

You can build with premium bricks if you're committed to it.

Plenty of businesses succeed by being the best, and most thorough, the most efficient.

Their customers know what they're getting.

And they're fine with it because the price and expectations match.

You can build with premium bricks if you're committed to it.

Plenty of businesses succeed by being the best, and most thorough, the most efficient.

Their customers know what they're getting.

And they're fine with it because the price and expectations match.

You can build with premium bricks if you're committed to it.

Plenty of businesses succeed by being the best, and most thorough, the most efficient.

Their customers know what they're getting.

And they're fine with it because the price and expectations match.

You can build with premium bricks if you're committed to it.

Plenty of businesses succeed by being the best, and most thorough, the most efficient.

Their customers know what they're getting.

And they're fine with it because the price and expectations match.

You can build with premium bricks if you're committed to it.

Their customers know what they're getting.

And they're fine with it because the price and expectations match.

You can build with premium bricks if you're committed to it.

Plenty of businesses succeed by being the best, and most thorough, the most efficient.

Their customers know what they're getting.

And they're fine with it because the price and expectations match.

You can build with premium bricks if you're committed to it.

Plenty of businesses succeed by being the best, and most thorough, the most efficient.

Their customers know what they're getting.

And they're fine with it because the price and expectations match.

What you can't do is use premium bricks in your marketing, and cheap bricks in your

delivery.

What you can't do is use premium bricks in your marketing, and cheap bricks in your

delivery.

You can't promise white-glove service and then be unresponsive.

You can't promise white-glove service and then be unresponsive.

You can't claim craftsmanship and ship inconsistent products.

You can't talk about integrity and then cut corners when it's convenient.

Inconsistency destroys trust faster than low quality ever will because inconsistency signals

that you don't actually know what you're building.

If your bricks are all over the place, like premium here, cheap there, standard somewhere

else, your customers can't figure out what to expect from you.

And when they can't figure out what to expect, they stop trusting.

This is where I see a lot of businesses get into the most trouble.

Because they often start with premium intentions, and then reality forces compromises.

You want to over-deliver on everything, but you can't afford to, so you start cutting

corners.

And instead of being strategic about it, we're premium here, standard there, you just do

whatever you have the capacity for in the moment.

Inconsistency makes people question whether your ambition is real or just marketing.

The businesses that last are the ones that pick their quality level intentionally and

stick with it.

They know which bricks need to be premium, which can be standard, and where cheap bricks

are acceptable.

And they're consistent about it, which means their customers know what they're getting,

which means trust builds steadily instead of fluctuating wildly.

So, here's what I want you to think about this week.

What kind of business are you actually building?

And what kind of bricks does that require?

Are you using the right materials for the structure?

Or are you trying to build a service business with product bricks?

Or a product business with relationship bricks?

Where do you need to be premium?

Where can you be standard?

And where are cheap bricks acceptable?

And more importantly, are you being honest with yourself about which is which?

Or are you pretending that cheap bricks are premium because you don't want to admit you're

cutting corners?

What's your mortar situation?

Are you consistent, or are your bricks all over the place?

Are you communicating well, or are you leaving gaps?

Are you following through, or are your promises just decoration?

And are you giving things time to set, or are you trying to rush trust?

Because here's the truth: you can build something great with

standard bricks if you're consistent about it.

And you can build something that collapses with premium bricks if your mortar is weak.

The materials matter, but the way you use them matters more.

I'm Jason Hager, and this is Grayleaf Media, the podcast for leaders who believe profit

and purpose don't have to be at odds.

If this resonates with you, connect with me on LinkedIn.

That's Jason Hager, or Grayleaf Media.

That's G-R-E-Y, Leaf Media.

Next time, building in public.

Now that you know what we're building with, we'll talk about when to show people and when

not to, because transparency isn't always the answer, and privacy isn't always hiding.

Until then, keep building.

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