Craftsmanship entails a reverence for embodied perfection in the Internet era

A watchmaker works on a Swiss timepiece. [Photo/IC]

When craftsmanship is mentioned, what immediately comes to mind is the Swiss watchmaker, French handbag designer and German car makers. In the last two years, the concept of "the spirit of the craftsman" has been often heard from the lips of businessmen. Among them is Luo Yonghao, the famous founder of Smartisan, a Chinese technology company, who sees himself as a good craftsman. His tale of crafting Android-based phones has been widely disseminated in the media thanks to clever marketing.

Craftsmanship, as far as I see, is a natural, enduring human impulse, the deep inner satisfaction that comes from work perfected for it own sweet sake, an attitude to craft high-quality products based on customers' benefits.

In the Internet era, the spirit of the craftsman could be demonstrated in the production process and manufacturing principle.

Hou Xianhui

To start with, a craftsman always specializese in a certain field and strives for perfection. Consumers prefer an exquisite and exclusive product available to them rather than being limited to the homogenous design and low-quality items manufactured by a faceless and perpetual assembly-line. Some handicrafts are so exquisite that they bring one to tears. A piece of craftsmanship may take the artisan a decade or even his whole life to hone his craft.

Secondly, for a craftsman, the pursuit of the perfect customer experience never ends. A wonderful user service makes sure that customers and the target market think of you and your brand first when they are on the Internet looking to purchase what you are offering. Taking a metaphor from the mobile phone industry, when people want to buy a smartphone for less than 2,000 yuan, Xiaomi will undoubtedly immediately come to their mind. To have greater brand recognition comes from striving for perfection.

Last but not the least, a craftsman builds a reputation by word of mouth. As China's social media and promotion methods boom, customer word of mouth has become the first reference when customers are ready to buy. When people have had an excellent meal, played addictive online games or bought gorgeous-looking home supplies, they will share the information with their friends and gradually a good reputation is established. The formation of a good reputation is always attributed to the patience, concentration and perfection of the craftsman who may make a significant contribution to process and product.

All in all, in the Internet era, craftsmanship is a spirit that was born in nature, is obsessed with perfection and care. Craftsmen enjoy crafting their products and are not ambitious about making a fortune, yet are ambitious to see their products being widely-used for generations to come.

The author is a senior Internet worker and founder of sanjieke.com.