He didn't want to depend only on the capabilities of his engineers. He wanted to see where the strengths of his engineers could match the needs and wants of customers.

He started with some focus groups, hoping to learn what customers were happy with in his kind of product, what they were unhappy with, what trade-offs they made, what they wanted in the future, what they wanted in a vendor, how they felt about different vendors (including Charlie's outfit), which vendors they liked and why, which they hated and why, how they wanted to get information and what kind of information they wanted.

Then he followed up with some statistical research based on what he learned in the focus group. Finally, his engineers went to work. Their design was wonderful-even better than what customers said they'd spend money for.

Then Charlie had some great ads prepared. He made sure the folks who prepared the ads knew what he wanted to convey and understood the product.

He knew his people had designed the right product, so he wanted the ads to feature facts, not bombast.

He didn't want that all-too-common advertisement that was obviously created by a "very creative" individual who didn't have the faintest notion about the nature of the product. He had seen too many ads about products that were "wonderful, true solutions to your problems, cost-effective, and widely recognized for their superiority," without disclosing what the product was or did.

Charlie's ads were really good. Right away, the ad showed what the product did and how you could use it to advantage. The ad didn't boast; it just told you how the product might be useful to you.

And the ad included a toll-free number that people could call to get more information or to place an order.

Fred saw the ad. The product was just what he needed, just what he'd been looking for. And the price was right. In the past, he had seen ads for products that might have been right, but he could never be quite sure because, on critical points, the ads were vague or silent. And he was too busy to spend time checking out every product that might just possibly be what he needed. This one seemed just right.

He called the toll-free number and got the usual message: "Your call is very important to us. We are currently helping other customers. So please hang on. We will be with you very quickly."

So Fred waited. And waited.

And waited.