This morning when I woke up, got to the office and checked my email, my good buddy Doug sent me something really interesting. He said that Subaru (the car company) had broken all of their sales records for the year.

In a year filled with horror stories of car companies going out of business, here’s something that you never hear about – a car company finishing the year with a record breaker.

Now I’m not surprised one bit.

My first car was a Subaru. My second car was a Subaru. Guess what I drive right now?

A Subaru.

But that’s not really the point. The point is that here’s a car company who is doing the BEST they’ve ever done, and standing tall while other huge names are falling (or being bailed out) around them.

It’s incredibly instructive for us as business owners.

The question becomes, what did they do to have their best year ever?

The secret is simpler than you might guess.

Did they ask for a ton of government handouts? No.
Did they give away the store with a bunch of discounts to customers? No.
Did they hand out huge incentives to their sales people? No.

Here’s all they did.

They asked their customers how they could improve. They asked their customers what they wanted. And then, get this – they gave it to them!

Often times, especially when we get busy, we find ourselves searching for a really incredible answer. But when you step back, the fog clears and the answers are incredibly simple.

Think if GM had followed this rule for the last 30 years. They’d probably be in a lot better shape, and we might even be able to drive a 2010 Pontiac around…

The great news is that you and I can begin to follow the simple rule of listening and then providing our customers what they want right now.

So to that end, I would love to hear from you. Just a quick note telling me what you’d like to learn more about in 2010 – and how I can help you succeed faster online.

Leave a message on the blog or shoot me an email.

Enjoy the solstice, and be sure to take a little quiet that you deserve.

Let’s all listen a little closer to our clients, and make 2010 a record breaker for us, together.

Onward and upward,
-Wally

P.S. – Stay tuned for some really cool changes on the Wally the Web Guy front in 2010. I’ve been working on a lot of really cool stuff that I haven’t told you about yet, that will give you access to more customers, increase your sales with less work, and much more…guaranteed.

P.P.S. – Be sure to shoot me a quick one liner about how I can serve you better next year. The Japanese secret of continuous improvement begins with a single keystroke.