An important part of the business strategy is market research. Usually that is very expensive but if you do it at a swap meet - you can make sales while you learn. 

A financial planner called and asked Art if he would be interested in talking to the inventor of a new concept to store music compact discs. After listening to the idea he was intrigued, so he called and spoke with the inventor who lived in New York City. The idea and the patent addressed the problem of keeping a collection of CDs organized. Every storage unit on the market held a fixed quantity; 25, 50, etc. When the music collector bought another one, he or she had to take out all the CDs (reshuffle them) to place the new one where it belonged. This idea utilized a single tray with an interlocking feature. There was no business strategy or marketing plan. 

He and the inventor made a deal which gave an LLC he formed the exclusive marketing rights to the product as well as use of all the tooling, information and materials on hand.    

He then spent a month “shopping” the competition in the high-volume discount stores (Target, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, etc) to see where he could position the product and what might work as a suitable name. He also visited five swap meets from Phoenix to Riverside California over the course of five weekends.  The LLC needed a marketing plan and a business strategy. 

To test prices and selling unit different size packages with different prices at each:                        

      25 trays for $20 and 10 for $9.95            

     50 trays for $25 and 10 for $12.95, etc.  

Having come to no conclusions, he decided to take a spot at the Phoenix meet for another try.  

During a lull, a fellow who was watching the shuffle of the trays came over and said, “You have no idea what you have here.”  

Smiling, he asked, “Tell me please.”  

The conversation that followed set both the business strategy and marketing strategy in place. The fellow said the customers were collectors with 500, 1000 CDs. When they bought more they had a significant organization problem.  

So Consoli copied Gillett’s razor, razor blade marketing strategy. He priced a 100-unit package at 10% over cost and marketed a 10 pack at 100% mark up.  

Customers are the best sales trainers. 

Through spot radio and TV ads, sales slowly started. With his confidence building he called the Home Shopping Network and found out how to begin the “selling to HSN" process. It took several months but finally a purchase order arrived.  

After the shipment was sent he was required to exhibit at HSN’s “new products” day. At this event all the vendors were required to set up in a walkway and do show and tell. Each on-air salesperson and the producer of their segment walked the exhibit and decided which products they wanted to “sell.” This was his first realization that these folks were really Hollywood show people wannabes.  

In just a few weeks, the on-air spots were set. Art was excited, he couldn’t wait to watch. 

About a week before the show day (three spots late in the evening on the same night) HSN called and asked him to fly to Tampa to be part of the on-air spots. Now he was really excited.  

In the studio, the producer explained how the monitor facing Art and the “actor” would show what they were doing and keep a count of how many incoming calls were in the queue. The beginning inventory and sales (reductions of inventory) would also be live on the monitor so he and the actor would know how they were doing.  

The first spot began. The actor spent the three or five minutes chatting away and fumbling with the trays. Virtually no calls were received. The producer was very disappointed. Discussions about canceling the next two spots were intense. 

Art joined in.   “You guys did it all wrong. Next time let the camera stay focused on my hands all the time. I’ll just keep making stacks, adding CDs, taking one out, adding a tray and putting the stacks together. I’ll make them as tall as I can and I’ll carry the short ones around to show how they are easily moved.”    

 “Good idea.” Said the producer. “Any ideas about the script?” 

 Looking at the never-to-be an actor he said. “You just ask me one question - what’s different about this product? Let me ad lib from there. You come in once in a while and mention the price and the 800 number.”  

 “Do it.” Said the producer.”  

They did and HSN sold out their entire purchase.  

Sometimes experts don’t have all the answers - especially if their attention is fixed on their next goal.