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Sales Made Easy 6 – My Four-Word Rules For Success.

We’ve spent the last few weeks discussing my four-word rules for sales success. My goal remains simple: I want to give you easy-to-implement tools, tactics, and techniques to improve your business.

Each rule is only four words long because, often, that’s all it takes to make a huge difference when you build your brand.

If you missed any of the other rules, you can easily find them by going to my website’s blog page HERE and clicking on the rules you’re interested in.

Sales Made Easy 6

But first, a story:

Throughout his career, Frank Lloyd Wright designed over 1,000 buildings. He was a pioneer of what came to be called the Prairie School. His belief that structures should be built in harmony with humanity and the environment defined what he called “Organic Architecture.” An example is Wright’s Fallingwater home, described as the best all-time work of American Architecture. If this wasn’t enough, Wright was also the subject of a song by Simon & Garfunkel.

In addition to residences, Wright also took commercial commissions, including the corporate headquarters for S.C. Johnson and a school campus—Florida Southern College. This Lakeland, Florida, campus holds the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright structures in one place anywhere in the world.

Wright created the college’s site plan, dictated all land usage, and designed each building. His work was so comprehensive that there was only one thing he left out…

Sidewalks.

When Wright presented his site plan to the school, there were no sidewalks. Instead, he told his patrons, “I’ll come back in a year and build the sidewalks AFTER I see where the kids walk.”

Wright knew that despite his best efforts to plan the traffic patterns for the campus, it was the users who would ultimately decide the best ways to get around.

Sales Made Easy 6

Years ago, my parents’ Orange Bowl restaurants sold a frozen dessert called the OJoy (OJ stands for Orange Juice. Get it?). After a few years, they introduced a new dessert that swirled the orange OJoy with soft-serve vanilla ice cream. It tasted just like a delicious Creamsicle, and everyone was sure it would be a big success. The marketing geniuses called this new treat “Son of OJoy.”

Sadly, it didn’t sell.

It turns out that consumers were embarrassed to order a “Son of OJoy.” Instead, they’d ask for “one of those orange and vanilla things,” or “an OJoy with vanilla ice cream,” or some other clumsy name they’d make up. It wasn’t until we changed the name to the fun-to-say “SnoJoy” that sales picked up and we had a hit on our hands.

Avon created Skin So Soft as a hand and body moisturizer. Users, however, soon decided that the lotion was more effective as a mosquito repellent.

Viagra was created to treat high blood pressure and chest pain. Users discovered the drug was more effective a little further down the body.

Sales Made Easy 6

So what is my four-word rule for success 6?

Listen to Your Customer.

The most innovative companies understand that no new business plan survives five minutes in the marketplace. Instead, they put together a team that’s ready to zig and zag—to improvise and innovate—until they figure out precisely where their products and customers’ desires intersect.

Or, as Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”

Instead of going through that, simply listen to your customer.