Good morning!

I left corporate sales when I was 25 years old to become a forms and print broker/distributor. Five years later, I started another venture, something that would eventually turn into Aspire for in 2009.

Last October, when the idea for The Sales Vault found me, I began furiously preparing it for public consumption. While on the phone with my brilliant daughter, Madeline, I was explaining the concept and she said to me, “Dad, you need to read a book called The Lean Startup by Eric Reis.  That’s really what you have here in this Vault idea. It’s essentially a startup.”

She was absolutely right. It had been a long time since I had been in this position and needed to relearn the lessons that are unique to building something from the ground up.

I am about 40% of the way through the book but wanted to share with you my two biggest takeaways:

First, listen to your customers. Seems like obvious advice, doesn’t it? The author talks about how his first startup was a failure in large part because they saw customer input as just another source of information and not what it really is, the single most important source of information.

So, I began phoning anyone who plunked down there $35 a month to become a Insider. I’d asked them where they were at and why they joined what they were looking for, etc. As you might imagine, I learned a great deal.

Then, I would back to the book for the next lesson…

Second, keep listening to your customers. The author recommended that you not just call them once, but you stay in constant contact is if you are running alongside them while they used your product, or in this case, website. That was a surprise, but…

I got back on the phone and was stunned by the new information I received. It has been incredibly invaluable and helped us to pave the road as we walk along.

Are you staying in touch with your customers? Are you in the habit of speaking with them— especially your top customers— not just about the orders they place, but where they are headed as a company? If you were in my time management course, I would give you this task to do while driving from point A to point B.

I have been in sales for almost 40 years now and I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I learn this lesson over and over and over again: The answers to almost all of my questions and sales challenges can be found by talking to my clients. How am I doing? The client will tell me. Where should I go next? The client knows.

Talk to your customers. Listen to your customers. Ask your customers. Then, listen to your customers again. And again. And again.