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How to Stop Working on the Wrong Problem — Transcript

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0:00My name is Christina. I'm from Austin
0:01and uh I sell high-end ranch events and
0:04excursions to Fortune 500 companies. And
0:07so almost like a dude ranch without
0:08lodging. Um we do anywhere from 3.8 to
0:114.5 annually. Um and I'd like to be
0:15around eight.
0:17>> Um and we're on track to do that. Uh but
0:20what's stopping me is a people problem.
0:23>> Okay.
0:23>> What? Give me give me more. Is it you
0:25don't have enough people? What is it?
0:27Well, as Austin's grown, it's been
0:29harder to find cowboys and cowg girls
0:31because it's all metro now.
0:32>> Yeah.
0:33>> But we're solving that by growing our
0:35own now and training our own. Um, but a
0:38bigger problem is um that I've got some
0:41answers from this, but I would love to
0:43know as I've grown the company and I'm
0:46not able to be in all the different
0:47areas and as we've hired more manpower,
0:51I feel like I work on one part of the
0:53business. I get
0:55it all ready to go on another part and
0:57then that one gets unwound
1:00and it's just a reoccurring problem in
1:03all my companies.
1:05>> So two issues
1:07um well it's the same core issue. It
1:09could be two different reasons for it
1:10and they could be both at the same time.
1:13Um the leaders you have have skill
1:15deficiencies and so either it means that
1:17you're hiring with too low of a bar.
1:19You're not hiring smart enough people
1:20that have enough batteries and GPS
1:21included. Option one.
1:23>> Okay.
1:23>> Option two is that you're not good
1:25enough at training people.
1:26>> Okay.
1:26>> Either way, the end result is that they
1:28do not have the skills in order to
1:29continue to do the activities that you
1:31do. I'm going to bet that when you turn
1:33it go into departments, you probably
1:34turn them around pretty quick.
1:36>> When what?
1:36>> You probably turn when you show up
1:38things work and then when you disappear
1:40it stops working, right?
1:41>> Pretty much. Yes.
1:43>> And so what that means is that
1:44>> or it doesn't work as well and it's a
1:47slow. What h what mean what that means
1:49is that you are the you trying not to
1:52get too behaviorally here but like you
1:53are the discriminating stimulus for
1:55reinforcement meaning you are the totem
1:57that people look to to say good job and
1:59what means is that you have to install
2:01that um into the leaders who you leave
2:04behind. So either so what happens is
2:08first you define what you know success
2:09looks like you say this is what good is
2:11then you demonstrate it because you're
2:12the leader right and then you get them
2:14to try to do it right and then they do
2:17it in front of you and then uh you watch
2:19what they do and then you say great job
2:22or that sucked and here's what you need
2:24to do to fix it and then you keep
2:26repeating that until eventually it
2:28sticks and it becomes a cultural norm
2:30which then goes from you giving people
2:32kudos and if you do that enough times
2:34they start giving each other kudos. And
2:36then if that happens long enough, they
2:38start correcting each other in private.
2:39>> That's the process. And so what's
2:41happening likely is that you're getting
2:42to step five of that. You're doing good
2:44job, bad job, do it this way next time.
2:47But in the next step, which is repeat it
2:48until it sticks. That's the part you're
2:50missing.
2:52>> Totally.
2:52>> Yeah. I think the problem
2:55is what when I'm time blocking what when
2:58you start adding that on the plate of
3:00all the other things that we're doing it
3:02that takes a lot of time to go back and
3:04do that
3:05>> and so the the step that happens in
3:07order to transfer
3:09reinforcement from a person to the rest
3:11of the organization which is what you
3:12want to have happen functionally that is
3:14what culture is right you build a
3:16culture it means that you're
3:16establishing rules of reinforcement in
3:18an organization
3:19>> and so the people who are there do not
3:22reinforce each other and so that means
3:24that you need to give other people kudos
3:26for giving kudos. Okay,
3:28>> that's the leave behind is that if you
3:29can get them basically your signal of
3:32like I have done my work here is when
3:34they start giving each other kudos for
3:35doing the job right and when someone new
3:37comes in they're like oh why do you guys
3:39do it like this is how we've always done
3:41it that's how and be that's when it
3:42becomes a norm when they don't actually
3:43have to witness you doing the
3:45reinforcement it's just how everyone
3:46behaves here because it's socially safer
3:48to model the behavior of the group when
3:50you're new in any environment and so
3:52that's what happens when companies have
3:54strong cultures but it starts at the
3:56leader They reinforce the leaders for
3:58doing good stuff. Those leaders then
4:00have to pass it on. That's the that's
4:01the that's the behavioral piss piece
4:03that's missing in your leadership style
4:05right now which will allow you to scale.
4:06>> And so when you've been in business 15
4:08years and that I I don't have any
4:10culture cancer right now, a lot of great
4:12people that may be missing those skills,
4:15>> do you start by bringing somebody in
4:17that already knows how to help you
4:19create that or do you start grassroots
4:21the people you already have? If you like
4:23the people you have, it means that they
4:24just lack leadership skills, which if
4:27we're following through that same
4:28framework that I just walked through,
4:30it's like, are they defining or
4:32restating what you said is good? Is your
4:34are your standards with their standards?
4:36We have to make sure they're aligned. If
4:38we know that their standards are your
4:39standards, are they living those
4:40standards? Which is one of the biggest
4:42misses that happens with small managers.
4:44Like, well, you know, uh, you know, boss
4:47said XYZ, but you know, boss is a little
4:49aggressive. You know, they're not here
4:50right now. we can take it easy. They're
4:52not leading by example. And so this is
4:54where like your eyes and this is like to
4:56be fair this probably affects everybody
4:57who who has employees like these are the
5:00tactical things. If they are not doing
5:02those behaviors if you want everyone to
5:03show up early and they're not showing up
5:05early you start with the leader.
5:06>> Why are you not showing up early? Well,
5:08I mean it's right. You have to be
5:10whatever the line is more.
5:12>> Okay. And it starts the most extreme
5:14with you and then we know the first
5:16level is going to be a little bit less
5:17extreme and they're gonna it's always
5:18going to get diluted down which is why
5:20founders tend to be these ext eccentric
5:22crazy people. But part of that is
5:23because you have to be because you know
5:25that you're you have to be the most
5:26concentrated version of what your values
5:28are which is just you know boiled down
5:31words that are just behaviors. It's all
5:33it is.
5:33>> Okay. So helpful.
5:35>> Okay. Good.
5:36>> Thank you very much. But it's that's
5:38that's how we're oper because you have
5:39an ops issue is what it sounds like and
5:41so I'm giving you ops feedback. But
5:43that's what it those are the things you
5:44have to do is that the beha the the
5:46leaders you have have to lead by
5:48example. They have to make sure that
5:49their definitions of what you think good
5:50is are the same as what they have. They
5:52have to have the same reinforcement
5:54cycles of great job, bad job, right? And
5:56they have to keep repeating it until the
5:58behavior sticks. Period. And if they're
6:00not doing that, that's a you cycle with
6:02them to to teach them that leadership
6:04set of skills so that they can do it.
6:07>> Awesome. Thank you.
6:09>> Cool. Thank you. I appreciate that.
6:10>> Okay. My name is Pamela Brewington. I
6:12sell residential cleaning business to
6:15high-end clients.
6:17>> Uh we do 1.5 million in revenue and I
6:20want to be at 15 million revenue by open
6:2310 locations in a year.
6:25>> Okay. Uh what is stopping me right now
6:27is I realized that my lead generation
6:30system that out was outsourced was very
6:34very low quality. So I'm building it
6:36inside in house and that's a lot of work
6:39and I'm learning from everything from
6:42zero. So I'm doing it from a scratch
6:44completely and that's it's very slow but
6:47I think it's worth the investment to do
6:49it right so I can serve all the
6:51locations that I want to do. You want to
6:53open 10 or you have?
6:55>> I want to.
6:55>> Okay, cool. Just make this is going to
6:57be really stressful if you just open 10
6:59in a year. Um, okay. This makes me feel
7:01a little bit better.
7:02>> Okay, so what's the question?
7:05>> Um,
7:05>> what's holding you back?
7:07>> No, I don't have any question.
7:09[laughter]
7:10>> If you want
7:10>> I mean that's what is stopping me. It's
7:12like I
7:13>> Yeah,
7:13>> I guess that is like uh how to build
7:16that from
7:17>> you know from scratch. So, I'll say
7:19this. Um,
7:22I'm first off, I'm a fan of having
7:24vendors. I'm okay with having vendors. I
7:26want to make sure that no vendor owns
7:28how my business works.
7:31And so, I see attract, convert, deliver
7:33as kind of the three elements of
7:34business that you do not outsource. How
7:36do I get as in like the core elements?
7:38Now, I can have assistance from vendors
7:40who do specific tasks within that, but
7:42if they leave, I should know how to do
7:43it. because if I don't know how to do
7:44it, then I fundamentally missing one of
7:46the three legs of the stool that allows
7:47a business to be a business or at least
7:49the founder to be the person who can
7:50actually grow the thing. And so, right
7:52now, you have a lead genen issue, right?
7:55Um, and what's your plan on getting
7:56leads? PPC or is it are you doing um
7:59>> Oh, I'm trying everything. I mean,
8:01referrals like
8:03>> Well, then let me give you this
8:04recommendation.
8:06>> Pay it out.
8:07>> If you're Well, you are local. So
8:09>> Mhm.
8:10>> I would say that
8:13how developed is your sales process?
8:17>> How what
8:18>> developed is your sales process?
8:22>> Okay.
8:22>> Do you like when customers come in right
8:24now? How are they coming in
8:25>> right now for Google on referrals?
8:28>> Google and referrals.
8:29>> Google. Are you spending money on Google
8:31or is are you sure it's from the money
8:33you're spending or is it people
8:34searching for you that were already
8:35searching for you because of
8:37>> local ads? It is PPC. Yeah.
8:39>> Okay. Got it. What percentage of the
8:41businesses come from PPC?
8:43>> Right now I will say 80%.
8:45>> 80. Okay. Got it. Interesting. Um and so
8:49right now what is the issue? If 80% of
8:51the business come from PPC, what is
8:52preventing you from doing more PPC?
8:54>> Uh the thing is low quality. I mean
8:56they're they're very expensive like over
8:59100.
8:59>> I'm telling you're missing a sales
9:00motion.
9:01>> Uhhuh.
9:01>> PPC. Just so you know, PPC leads are the
9:04best leads on the on the hierarchy of
9:06shittiness. Uh PPC are second second to
9:10least shitty. Uh the best are obviously
9:12referrals which you love. Everybody
9:13loves a referral.
9:14>> Uh but the next best um well there's
9:17content and then and then you have uh
9:19PPC leads.
9:21>> So you're getting the best one. The true
9:23worst is like get Google display network
9:25like leads and see what happens. Um but
9:28the problem is that you just don't have
9:29the right friction. Are you working with
9:30us after this?
9:33I mean you don't have you can do
9:34whatever you want. Uh, no, cuz I mean
9:36developing sales motion is like kind of
9:38what we do. Um, and so, uh, you just you
9:40need the right amount of friction. Like
9:41if we think about for anything like
9:43zooming out, um,
9:46it's kind of like the midwip meme of
9:48like I feel like I've had enough
9:49marketing and sales in my life that I've
9:50like gone from, you know, just just eat
9:52protein and add more weight and all at
9:54the end it's eat protein, add more
9:55weight in the middle it's like sets,
9:56reps, and rest periods and all this
9:58middle stuff. Um,
10:00marketing just comes down to adding the
10:03sweet spot on friction. It's all it is
10:05because we know that at the at one
10:07extreme if just say like uh here's my
10:09price, call this number or here's this
10:10price and then just click and buy
10:12doesn't work for most people. On the
10:15other extreme, um having someone fill
10:18out a 100 forms is probably not going to
10:19work either because there's too much
10:20friction. And so it's like we just need
10:22to find the sweet spot on friction. And
10:23so right now if you're getting leads but
10:25the quality is not good, as long as they
10:27are people who have houses that want
10:28cleaning, we just need to add the right
10:30amount of selling in between to get them
10:32to buy. That's it. Okay. But I want to
10:34be in a niche. So
10:36>> you need a what?
10:37>> In a niche. I don't want like everybody
10:39that want.
10:40>> So
10:42>> I mean you Yeah.
10:43>> You want to go highend. That means you
10:44add more high end. Yeah.
10:46>> Yeah. We just have to have more
10:47friction.
10:48>> Mhm.
10:48>> That's all it is. Again, so one thing
10:50this will happen this actually apply to
10:51just about everybody. So who here
10:55I'm going to guess 25% of the room. um
10:59has more than one avatar that you serve,
11:01one that makes you a lot of money, and
11:03one there's way more of that makes you
11:04less money, but you still need them to
11:05pay your bills.
11:08Way more than 25%. Nailed it. So, the
11:11transition of picking the avatar is a
11:13really tough one because you I get it.
11:14You have to pay your bills. One of the
11:17big shifts that has to happen is that
11:18you have to change your product offering
11:21and pricing. So, we might also have a
11:23pricing issue that we have to look at.
11:24But what ends up happening is that when
11:26you have two sets of customers, call it
11:278020, 20% that are the good ones, 80%
11:29that are shitty ones, we end up pricing
11:30somewhere in the middle because it's
11:32like a stretch for the 80 and the 20%
11:35are like, "Well, yeah, I can do that."
11:36And you're like, "Oh man, I love those
11:37people." But you might actually be
11:38underpriced on these people by like 2x
11:41of the correct avatar. So that if you
11:43were priced appropriately, none of these
11:44people would even get close to saying
11:46yes because you have this massive turn
11:47issue because these poor people, lack of
11:49better term, um can't afford the right
11:51prices, but you're still selling them.
11:52And so what has to happen is one, we
11:54have to change the price and the sales
11:55motion. But the second one is an
11:57expectation change, which is that your
11:59CAC, you'll have to expect it and your
12:02cost per lead might go up 2 or 3x. But
12:05if we double our price, for example, our
12:07gross margin might go up by like 5x
12:10>> and we're more than good. But most
12:12business owners will not make that jump,
12:13which is why most people stay poor.
12:15>> Okay,
12:15>> that makes sense.
12:16>> Cool.
12:16>> Thank you.
12:17>> All right, rock and roll.
12:19>> Helpful.
12:20>> My name is Joe. I'm in the financial
12:21publishing uh space. We sell uh premium
12:24newsletters.
12:25>> Our avatar is uh seven figure do it
12:27yourself investors 65 plus. Pretty
12:29traditional.
12:29>> Little gora gora gora maxing.
12:31>> Yeah.
12:31>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Same thing but
12:33you know smaller. But uh we I I think
12:36right now I I came here thinking that it
12:38was uh lead gen was my problem, but now
12:40I think it's month overmonth turn rate.
12:41It's at 11%. So I'm kind of looking for
12:43tactical things on how to have a better
12:44onboarding process to uh get that month
12:47overmonth churn down.
12:48>> What's the price point? We have a 97
12:50front end, backends 1,200, 2,300, and
12:53then a big old Markman bundle, the bomb
12:55per 5,000 at the uh at the end.
12:57>> Okay, you got the got the model price
12:59points. [laughter]
13:00Um, okay. So,
13:04gosh, this is a deeper dive. So, um,
13:07high level, what's the onboarding
13:08process right now?
13:09>> Uh, very minimal, just emails. We have,
13:11you know, a 30 60 90, but it's just
13:12sending free content that I mean, it's
13:14valuable, but they haven't seen it
13:15before.
13:16>> But it's not individualized based on
13:17where they came from at all. And is
13:20almost everyone annual?
13:21>> Uh, mostly. Yeah, it's like I think it's
13:24like 6570 annual. We do have some
13:26monthly.
13:27>> Okay.
13:27>> And yes, we are going to do four four a
13:29week instead of monthly. So,
13:30>> Got it. Yeah, big fan. Um,
13:34>> so right now of the people who stick,
13:36cuz you do have some people that
13:38probably love you and been there
13:38forever, right?
13:39>> Of the people who stick, what was the
13:42thing that happened to them that didn't
13:44happen to the other people in the first
13:4530 days?
13:46>> This is where I could be naive to it.
13:48I'm I'm newer to the industry. I took
13:49over the company from my father and so
13:51some people have been following him for
13:52like 20 25 years. Like some I had a
13:54woman send me newspaper clippings from
13:55when he wrote for the LA Times.
13:57>> So like there's that but I
14:00>> part of it seems to be market cycle but
14:03I don't want to externalize the problem.
14:04>> I agree.
14:05>> Um cuz we our our subscribers generally
14:08do make money all the time. So, we've
14:10noticed though in the last like 12
14:11months, the recent cohort is not
14:13>> nearly as sticky as all like sticky at
14:15all as as the as the like cohorts that
14:17we've had for 20 years.
14:18>> Did you change the advertising platform
14:20you're advertising on?
14:21>> We never advertised until about a year
14:23and a half ago. So,
14:24>> this turn started happening.
14:26>> Yeah. Yeah. Which
14:28>> Yeah.
14:28>> Right. [laughter]
14:29>> Yeah. Warm traffic, cold traffic. I
14:31mean, that makes sense. Yeah. So, um
14:34>> so I'll give you I'll give you work to
14:36do. um which is you want to probably get
14:40on the phone with 20 customers that have
14:42been with you from the cohort of the
14:43last 18 months that stuck.
14:45>> Mhm.
14:46>> And 20 that didn't.
14:47>> Okay.
14:48>> And the more important like both will be
14:50important.
14:50>> Yeah.
14:50>> Of the ones that did, you want to ask
14:52number one, why did you buy? Number two,
14:54what were the biggest things that you
14:55were afraid of that you weren't sure of?
14:57That's going to be all helping on the
14:58marketing side. But the thing that's
14:59going to matter most for you is what was
15:00the moment that you realized this was
15:01going to be great?
15:03>> Okay. Now, the people, if you want to
15:05really get dialed in this and get into
15:07the subcort, you should look for the
15:08people who are on monthly
15:09>> because annuals aren't going to help you
15:11because they they didn't turn because
15:12they couldn't, right? [laughter] Yeah.
15:13>> Uh find the people who are monthly
15:15who've stuck month over month over
15:16month. That'll be a much smaller cohort
15:18to go after, but they actually did it
15:20for a reason.
15:21>> Um and we just need to find out what
15:23action they took and then that means all
15:26of the cannons of onboarding go towards
15:28this action.
15:29>> Just that one action. Okay.
15:30>> Yeah. So like for school for example,
15:31it's like we know that if people join
15:33multiple communities and they get at
15:35least three members in one community,
15:36their lifetime value goes like 11x. It's
15:38huge. And so all of our onboarding is
15:40like your first three members, get your
15:42like text it right now. Here's the text.
15:43You can send it with one click to your
15:45contacts so you can get your first three
15:47members in there and like all of it is
15:48repeated throughout. And so it might be
15:51uh you have to make your first trade.
15:52>> Yeah.
15:53>> Right. It might be that
15:54>> that's how it's all skewed right now is
15:55to hey get in get into it.
15:57>> Yeah. But in a bad market where you know
15:59>> I'm not going to blame that again. But
16:01you know it's like
16:02>> but hey your people make money in every
16:03market right
16:04>> so we go
16:05>> well fair enough. [laughter]
16:07>> All right that makes sense.
16:08>> Yeah but that it's uh this is the dirty
16:10work. It's like this is like that's
16:11actually how it is. Super granular.
16:12>> Yeah. You have to go find the people who
16:14haven't churned look at what they did
16:16>> then map the activation point to those
16:18and you might find two or three things
16:19and you're going to have to figure out
16:20which one of them when you point it to
16:21and that's just the work of business.
16:23>> Perfect. Okay. Appreciate you. Thank
16:24you.
16:25>> Hi Lindsay. I'm from Phoenix. I'm a
16:27psychiatric nurse practitioner and I
16:29have a small private practice that I'm
16:31not trying to scale. I also have a
16:33coaching education business for other
16:36psychiatric nurse practitioners where I
16:38do about 400,000 a year organic social
16:42media. It's a $3,000 price point for the
16:44program.
16:45>> Um and
16:47so
16:47>> you sell like one a month inbound.
16:49>> Um no like probably 10.
16:52>> It's 30k. You said you're doing 400k. So
16:54that's one that's 30k a monthish.
16:57>> Yeah.
16:59>> Three or 30.
17:01>> Oh, she said three.
17:02>> Yeah.
17:03>> Then that makes sense. Yes. Please
17:05continue.
17:06>> So
17:06>> exactly one10enth. Yes. Great.
17:07>> I'd like to be doing closer to I want to
17:09scale the education program. I'd like to
17:11be doing closer to 2 million. But I
17:13don't know if I this is the wrong offer
17:15if I should.
17:16>> What are you selling for three?
17:17>> It's it's the program outcome is
17:19clinical confidence. And a lot of people
17:20are coming to me for help with private
17:22practice or building a personal brand.
17:24You
17:24>> know,
17:24>> is it business coaching functionally?
17:26>> Yeah, they want that, I think. But the
17:28clinical confidence is kind of what it's
17:30been.
17:31>> Be good at psychiatric NP stuff.
17:34>> Yeah, because that's a huge problem that
17:35exists. Just these programs turnurning
17:38out people that are not prepared
17:39clinically.
17:40>> Got it.
17:41>> I'm kind of also bored with that a
17:42little bit. I think
17:43>> you're bored with helping them
17:44>> a little bit.
17:44>> But you were bored with your practice,
17:45too, though.
17:46>> I know.
17:46>> Okay.
17:47>> Chronic problem.
17:48>> Yeah. Yeah. It sounds like you're trying
17:50to use the business to solve a personal
17:51problem, but Yeah.
17:52>> Yeah.
17:54So, would you double down on my core
17:58flagship offer or would you
18:01>> fixing the business is not that
18:03complicated.
18:04>> Um,
18:06I want to maximize likely that you do
18:08it. Um,
18:11>> what do you You said you're already
18:13bored of that. What do you like
18:16What do you want to have happen?
18:18I want to have like impact on [snorts]
18:21[laughter]
18:24>> Here we go.
18:26>> You make content. You're impacting
18:27everybody. Don't worry about it. You're
18:28good.
18:29>> Yeah, you're already doing that.
18:31>> Yeah.
18:32>> Okay. Mission accomplished.
18:34>> Yeah.
18:34>> Now what?
18:35>> Um I mean I do want to scale this
18:38coaching education program because it
18:39really is solving a need that there's a
18:41huge and I am passionate about that.
18:43>> Okay. So you want to make more money
18:44there?
18:45>> Yeah.
18:45>> Okay, great. [laughter] Um, so the
18:48coaching business is at 400. You would
18:50like it to be at 2 million,
18:51>> but you said you were bored of it,
18:52though. So, we we done with the boredom
18:53thing or do we need to talk about it?
18:54>> I'm I'm done with it.
18:55>> Okay, great. If we're making 2 million,
18:57would you be bored of it?
18:58>> No.
18:58>> Yeah. Right. It's exciting.
18:59>> Yeah.
18:59>> Um, [laughter]
19:02the only thing uh the only thing more uh
19:04more exciting than making money is
19:06having none and having bills. Uh,
19:07incredibly exciting. [laughter]
19:09Not boring at all. Um, anyways, um,
19:13okay. So you're one is you're massively
19:15mispriced. You have a pricing issue. Uh
19:18number two, you have a messaging issue
19:19which is that clinical confidence
19:20doesn't mean anything. Um we have to
19:23describe that in terms of patient
19:24outcomes which is like you want client
19:27confidence or patient confidence because
19:29you have this problem and the problem is
19:31that your your patients are turning out
19:33or your patients aren't getting good
19:34outcomes. And we can translate that
19:35quantitatively to like your customers
19:37should be staying with you for 18 months
19:39and not six.
19:41>> And you should be making three times as
19:42much money because if you got them to
19:44say three times as long and get better
19:45because they didn't turn out, your
19:47business would be three times as big and
19:48you make three times the impact.
19:50>> Um [laughter]
19:54>> I'm not big on unquantifiable goals.
19:56Anyways, um so uh the the price point is
20:00are you sell how are you selling the 3K?
20:02>> Um just organic I think through my
20:04page,
20:04>> referrals, affiliate, like
20:06>> check out page.
20:07>> This is landing page on Stan and then it
20:09zaps into school, my community.
20:11>> You know, you can do it on school and
20:12just process the payment.
20:14>> I know.
20:14>> It's one click. You don't have to manage
20:15it. I don't It doesn't affect me at all.
20:17Um, [laughter]
20:20you
20:20>> invest in both.
20:20>> I was like, you're already Yeah, it's
20:21like you're already Yeah, I am invested,
20:23but you're you're I don't care.
20:24[laughter] Um, but it'll be it would be
20:26easier for you if you did it that way.
20:27Um, okay. So, uh, you're staying with
20:32us, right? I'd like to.
20:33>> Okay. What we need to do is you need to
20:35build out the ascension motion from
20:36first sale to second sale. All right.
20:38And so you can have people who are
20:39buying the 3K thing. That's fine. With
20:41that, they should get their onboarding
20:42call. Onboarding call happens first. You
20:44make sure they're all set up. You give
20:46them seven days of homework. Uh so they
20:48get a quick win,
20:49>> right? Just like we have the fast cash
20:50play, I'm sure Ed talked about
20:51yesterday. We have a a fast one that we
20:53put in. We schedule the next call. And
20:55then from there, we go through the
20:56second script, which is going to be all
20:57about selling the year at like 30K.
20:59>> Okay? and you'll probably get 20 to 30%
21:01who will do that. And like if you just
21:04do that, that triples your business and
21:06it's probably worth it.
21:07>> Yeah. Okay. That's kind of what my gut
21:09was telling me. So
21:10>> once we have that, you're going to start
21:11getting supply constraint because it's
21:13going to be you and your time. So we got
21:14to look at the model and then we're
21:15going to have to turn on more demand.
21:17>> Okay, sounds good.
21:18>> And are you doing any kind of many chat
21:19stuff?
21:20>> Yes, I am doing cool. There's a bunch
21:22there, but I'll leave it at that. Cool.
21:23>> Okay, thanks. Tella hi.
21:25>> I will. Hey, Alex, I'm Colby. Um, thanks
21:27for your time coming up here. Um, so I'm
21:30in gas station brokerage. Um, I just
21:34went out on my own about 2 years ago.
21:36Uh, I'll do about 2 million in revenue
21:38this year.
21:39>> Amazing.
21:39>> Um,
21:40>> commission.
21:40>> Uh, all commission.
21:41>> Sick.
21:42>> Yep.
21:42>> Do you have a big team or just you?
21:44>> Just me.
21:44>> Badass.
21:45>> So, thanks. Um, so, uh, I'd love to get
21:48to eight. Uh, I think my constraint is
21:51hiring more brokerages to come on
21:52underneath me. I did give that a shot.
21:55It did not go well. It was just a very
21:57long time to like get them educated up
21:59to speed. Felt like it took a lot of my
22:01time away. It took my time away from my
22:03clients. Felt like during that period I
22:05saw a dip. So I've just been I guess a
22:07little trigger shine like bringing on
22:08more guys cuz it was a bad experience
22:10the first time I did it. So
22:11>> So um so it sounds like you are supply
22:14constraint,
22:15>> right?
22:16>> Sir. Yes.
22:17>> Okay. So you need to get more brokers or
22:18agents, whatever underneath of you who
22:19are going to go sell or find buyers and
22:21sellers cuz you're connecting both.
22:22>> If we're going to do more Yeah. But I'm
22:24more on the buy side, but I do buy and
22:26sell side. I do a little bit of both,
22:27but and I really try to when I first
22:29went out on my own, I was like, I'll
22:30take anything I can get. It's just a
22:32single store and now I'm doing bigger
22:33portfolio, so eight, nine figure sales.
22:35So,
22:37>> um, okay. So,
22:44I'm going to take this to the
22:45hypothetical extreme. If you keep going
22:47on your current path, you will continue
22:49to make more money. It probably won't
22:50happen at the rate that you want it to
22:52because what'll happen is because the
22:54beauty of your, you know, your role is
22:56that ticket size will go up, right? Cuz
22:58your network will develop and you'll get
22:59bigger and bigger. You'll say no to big
23:00smaller and smaller deals and you'll
23:02just do bigger. All nine figure deals
23:03will be the next, you know, you'll just
23:04have this line that you draw and you'll
23:06continue to I had a conversation uh with
23:07a friend of mine who's investment
23:09banker. He has a fourperson team does 10
23:11million a year and chills, right? And
23:13that's his whole thing. Um and he's just
23:15continually grown by, you know, 20 to
23:1630% a year just by average ticket size
23:18going up. He does about the same number
23:19of deals every year. Yep. So that is a
23:23path. It probably takes realistically 10
23:25years for you to go from call it two to
23:27like 10 to maybe 15 in that time period.
23:30There's nothing wrong. It's a lot of
23:31money and it's all takehome. So like
23:32there's some juice there.
23:34>> If you want to scale faster,
23:37you'll have to give up profit,
23:39>> right? And so the the the eternal
23:41question is profitability and growth
23:43because you take profit to grow. Now,
23:45when you're the sole, you know, doer,
23:48any time in the short term that you're
23:50not selling [ __ ] you're not making
23:52money.
23:52>> That's right.
23:53>> And so, think about this as a cost of
23:56doing business in the business that
23:57you're in is that like you're going to
23:58have to take your foot off the pedal by
23:5920 or 30%. And the big unlock for the
24:02business is that you'll have to learn
24:03the recruiting, hiring, and training
24:05process for brokers to onboard them so
24:07that they are active. I would probably
24:09look at like what's the commission
24:11structure you're going to is it all
24:12commission that you're going to be
24:12bringing them on for or what? Yeah, I
24:14mean I would if it was the right person,
24:16I wouldn't mind paying them like some
24:17type of a base salary, but like
24:18typically it's just eat what you kill
24:20commission. So
24:21>> I would um in the deals that are too
24:23small for you, what are you doing for
24:24those?
24:25>> Nothing. Maybe referring it to someone.
24:27>> Yeah. So I would use that as the bait.
24:29>> Okay.
24:29>> Which is like I'll give you all the
24:31business that I don't want to do. Yeah.
24:32>> And we'll go 50/50 on it. And I think if
24:35you do that, you're going to be able to
24:36get a lot more interest like inbound
24:38too, which is like I'm not just telling
24:39you to come here and take, you know,
24:41stop your current pipeline at your
24:42current because I'm sure they have, you
24:43know, how six months of pipeline I'm
24:45about to close this deal and everybody's
24:46optimistic. It's like, dude, we'll just
24:48start doing deals. I'll cut you in if
24:49they're good. And I think as soon as
24:51they get the taste of blood, they'll
24:52they'll be more willing to come over to
24:54your side. You can make up for some of
24:55that in that if you have some of these
24:56earlier guys, you get those 50% spiffs,
24:58it can make up for some of the volume
25:00that you're going to be decreasing that
25:01period of time. But the biggest thing of
25:02all is just like it's an expectation
25:04change. You want to make more every year
25:06and you can do that if you don't bring
25:08anyone else on, but it's not going to
25:09happen as fast as you want. So you might
25:11have to take a step back,
25:12>> get like the core skill set that you
25:14lack right now is recruiting, hiring,
25:16onboarding, and training and maintaining
25:19high level sales skill. That's it. So as
25:21long as you frame as like this is the
25:22skill set I need to learn, which means I
25:23might [ __ ] up the next one and the next
25:24one and the next one, but as long as you
25:26don't give up on it, you will figure it
25:27out. And that's like that's the the the
25:30short and nasty.
25:31>> Do you feel that's a path though? Like
25:32should I like learn that figure out?
25:34>> If that if I mean I'm a big believer in
25:37don't change the goal.
25:38>> Yeah.
25:39>> Like change the path, but like I don't
25:41want to negotiate on the goals.
25:42>> Yeah. Okay. All right. Thank you.
25:45>> Appreciate you. Yeah. Congrats again.
25:46>> What's going on, Alex? What's up?
25:48>> Um my name is Christian. We run a family
25:51office. So we do life insurance, tax
25:54strategy, investments, all that stuff.
25:56We also do estate planning. Okay. which
25:57we've branded as legacy planning. That's
26:00really the focus of what we're trying to
26:02scale. Um
26:04>> first 8 months we did [gasps] 420K.
26:08Cool.
26:08>> This this year we've done 210 already.
26:10So pacing for a little over a million.
26:11>> Amazing.
26:12>> We would like to get to that mark which
26:14is like 1.2. Mhm.
26:16>> Um, but we're wanting to use the legacy
26:18side of things as like the the the push
26:21for the life insurance sales because
26:23they're,
26:24>> you know, 60-day close cycle, bigger,
26:26but not sustainable,
26:28>> not as recurring.
26:29>> Yeah. So, um, we have a lead problem.
26:32>> So, with the legacy planning, we're
26:34doing about three a month, started in
26:35January.
26:36>> Um,
26:36>> what's your sales motion and lead genen
26:38motion?
26:39>> So, how we've been getting business has
26:42been through our personal spears, right?
26:45So just reaching reaching out to people
26:46we already know.
26:47>> Um and then sometimes get referrals from
26:50those people. So kind of feel like a
26:52constraint. We're about to run out of
26:53that. All right. Because you only have
26:55so many contacts in your phone.
26:56>> Um so we're just wanting to get to like
26:5821 trusts a month.
27:00>> Yeah.
27:01>> Yeah.
27:01>> So I'll give you three paths and you can
27:03pick which one you want.
27:04>> Okay. Path one is that you run ads to a
27:09webinar where you bring lots and lots of
27:12leads in and then you pitch them to a
27:14call where you close them. So you don't
27:16have to close them on the call on the
27:17webinar. Obviously it's info.
27:19>> That's number one. Number two, you do it
27:21as an inerson. So if you're focused
27:23primarily on local, the conversion will
27:24be higher. Cost per lead will be higher.
27:26Um meta works great for that right now
27:28because old folks are on meta and so
27:30[laughter]
27:31>> it's real. Uh and so you can run meta 2
27:34free dinner uh free information session
27:36three-h hour 4-h hour workshop uh you
27:38can serve them and then basically pitch
27:41uh a paid call or paid meeting if you
27:42want 100 bucks 50 bucks whatever it is
27:44just to just take riff raff out
27:47>> um and then obviously in you you follow
27:50the normal sales process option two
27:52>> um option three is you go for the COI
27:55approach centers of influence uh which
27:57is okay um attorneys are an excellent
28:01one if you can find a good attorney like
28:02basically you you build your entire
28:04motion around
28:05>> attracting and converting attorneys as
28:07ongoing uh referral partners
28:09>> and so it's like how do I integrate in
28:11your you know practice so that we can
28:13handle all of these components you know
28:15that you don't necessarily specialize in
28:16and we'll also cross refer back you know
28:18to these other whatever other stuff that
28:20they do right option one you can also
28:21think about it as accountants um those
28:24are I would say the three most reputable
28:26paths that I've seen for people who are
28:28family offices that sell exactly what
28:30you
28:31Um, I would say the easiest for you to
28:33do would be the second option, which was
28:35the
28:36>> like a local ads to an inerson thing is
28:39not that like technically complex.
28:41Running national ads to a webinar.
28:43There's more skill involved in both
28:44those things, both on the media buying,
28:46the creative side and a webinar itself
28:48has like more tech and just more sales
28:50skills are required. And so the inerson
28:52can overcome the fact that you might not
28:53have a brand right now.
28:54>> Um, because when you're local, you get
28:56so much more trust off the fact that
28:57you're like, I'm here.
28:58>> Yeah. And so I would if I had to pick if
29:00I had to pick to like gun to my head um
29:04I would say it's either two or three.
29:06>> Yeah.
29:06>> The people who scale fastest do two.
29:09>> Yeah. We are um we've got some seminars
29:12planned that we've we've outsourced that
29:14and that's we haven't done yet. Doing
29:16second week of April.
29:17>> Yeah.
29:17>> Um and we're also running one ad a week.
29:20the ad. I feel like there's a lot of
29:22potential there already because we're
29:23only spending like a hundred bucks a
29:24week,
29:25>> but we're getting like 20,000 views, 600
29:27clicks, but no conversion whatsoever.
29:30>> There's there's a whole bunch there. Um
29:32uh where do I begin? Um uh I don't I
29:36don't know what the creative is. I don't
29:37know what the callout is in the ad. I
29:38don't know what the landing page process
29:40is. I don't know what the offer is.
29:41There's there's a bunch there. I don't
29:43know what the campaign's optimized for.
29:44Are you running local? are you running?
29:46>> So the target market I've kind of put
29:49like you know when you can make the
29:50selection is the markets we've already
29:52served in. So which has been like
29:53Nashville Tennessee, Chandic Tennessee,
29:54Detroit, Dallas, all those spaces.
29:57>> Um and then kind of like the
29:59>> call to action has been center around
30:00legacy.
30:01>> So like my kind of pitch has been my
30:04story and what I've experienced, why it
30:05matters so much to me.
30:07>> But the the offer in the ad is what
30:10>> the offer in the ad is to build actual
30:12like lasting legacy. But
30:13>> that's not the offer.
30:15What's the offer? Why do I click?
30:17>> Why do you I think people click
30:19initially because of what they see.
30:20>> Let me say it differently. You offer an
30:22assessment. You offer a free call.
30:24>> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
30:25So, we've offered like some of the free
30:26documents we've put together.
30:28>> What are those free documents?
30:29>> So, the biggest one has been a family
30:30constitution template that we
30:32>> constitution.
30:33>> Yeah.
30:33>> Okay.
30:33>> Yeah. Yeah. So, if you
30:34>> And so, that's the lead magnet.
30:36>> Yeah.
30:36>> And so, in the ad, that's what you're
30:37pitching.
30:38>> Yeah. Most of them. I have tried other
30:40things. Okay.
30:40>> Um that I've seen to get the same like
30:42metrics,
30:42>> but still nothing. Yeah. So, um I think
30:45that can be the like I would I would
30:48make the wealth event
30:50>> the thing
30:51>> give that thing as a bonus just for
30:53registering for it no matter what. Print
30:55it out in person so they can get it when
30:56they come there so it gives them a
30:59reason to show up.
31:00>> Um and then nurture the living [ __ ] out
31:01of them because getting people to show
31:02up in person. Expect
31:05>> um of the people who say that they will
31:08come somewhere in the neighborhood of
31:0925% to show.
31:11>> Yeah. Uh, so it's like you get 100
31:12confirms, you're going to get 25 to
31:14show. Of the 25 to show, you should be
31:16able to get half to book um for the next
31:18consult, half of those to close. And
31:20that's usually the metrics of that
31:21funnel.
31:22>> Cool. Sweet. Thank you. Rock and roll.
31:25My name is Zach. I run a solar sales
31:27company. Do about $2.5 million. Uh, I
31:31guess I'd like to be at $10 million in
31:33revenue. I feel like this whole last day
31:35and a half has kind of opened me up and
31:37I don't know what I want anymore, I
31:39guess. Uh, [laughter]
31:40great.
31:41>> Yeah, but glad we can help.
31:43>> What's stopping me, I guess I would
31:44really say, is recruiting and hiring new
31:48people. Um,
31:50>> we have 80 people. We're in New York
31:51State. We have three different main
31:53offices, about 15 20 sales people a
31:54piece.
31:55>> Uh, and then some appointment setters
31:57for each one. And I kind of feel like
31:58one, the market's kind of getting a
32:00little tapped out. two, uh, I just don't
32:03know how to go from 80 people to 150 or
32:06200 people in a door to door sales
32:09space.
32:11>> Uh, you probably lack a leadership
32:13development program and process.
32:16That's my guess.
32:17>> We have really great leaders. I have
32:19three main managers.
32:20>> Issue limiting you then because if you
32:22have good leaders then
32:22>> I think recruiting, bringing in new
32:24people. It took us eight years to get to
32:26about 80 people.
32:27>> Eight years to get to 80 people.
32:29>> Okay.
32:29>> Yeah. then yeah then you probably have a
32:32manpower constraint. So what's your
32:35recruiting process look like right now?
32:36>> It's been all organic.
32:38>> So
32:40>> I kind of knew the answer is what you
32:42were going to say was more people.
32:44>> Um and so
32:45>> well you're in the business of people
32:46selling [ __ ] to people. And so more
32:48people who sell [ __ ] to people, the more
32:49money you make. That makes sense.
32:51>> Um I'll say this, the biggest um the
32:53biggest solar sales businesses are not
32:55solar sales businesses. They are
32:56recruiting businesses.
32:57>> Correct. I mean, I figured that out
32:58literally here when we first got here.
33:00Within the first five minutes, I turn to
33:01the guy next to me. I'm like, I could
33:03leave now. [laughter]
33:04I'm like, this blew my mind, you know?
33:06So,
33:07>> that's the business you're really in.
33:07>> I figure that out.
33:08>> That's the business you're really in.
33:10And so, um, what you need to have is
33:12basically, um,
33:14>> CAT to LTGP,
33:16>> right?
33:16>> Cost of acquiring talent.
33:18>> Okay.
33:18>> To lifetime gross profit per employee.
33:20>> Got it.
33:21>> So, per sales rep, which also just like
33:23a customer. Like, so if you think of
33:24because functionally like they are your
33:26customer. Yeah, more like they are the
33:28recurring customer that you have and so
33:29they become a revenue generating node
33:31for you, right? Every sales guy becomes
33:32activated. You know, you have their big
33:34drop off in week one or two, then you
33:36have day 30, then day, you know, if you
33:37get them past there, you'll have a
33:38little bit more luck and then day 90 is
33:40kind of like the rest. And it's like if
33:41you get them past day 90, they're like
33:42they're in like they're going to be
33:43lifers. It's going to be awesome. And so
33:46>> all of the work that you'll have to do
33:48is number one, you probably need way
33:49more people on the front end.
33:50>> Yes.
33:51>> You need to kiss more toads. Y
33:52>> right. Um, and then the actual
33:54onboarding and training process, you
33:55have to focus purely on behaviors. And
33:57what sales guys tend to suck at is
33:59actually training sales because they use
34:01like sales guys more than any other
34:03profession use so much mysticism and
34:05make believe. Uh, they're like, "Bro,
34:07you got to like give them the curiosity
34:09look and you're like, what does that
34:11mean?" Right? Thing is that they say it
34:13so convicted cuz they're sales guys that
34:14they believe it and the other guy
34:15believes it and they just run. They have
34:17no idea what they're doing,
34:18>> right? So it's like we just have to boil
34:20it down to like what do you do with your
34:21arms? What do you do with your mouth?
34:23Like what do you do with your head? Like
34:24you actually it's like and so when
34:26you're doing the role plays it's like
34:27I'm sure you guys have doors that they
34:28knock on that do this. And so we have to
34:31simulate the environment as much as
34:32possible but you probably need to
34:33onboard way more people at a time. Like
34:34I don't know how many how many new uh
34:36reps you onboarding a week. [snorts]
34:40>> Five.
34:41>> Yeah. So it's probably got to be like 25
34:43to get to where you want to go.
34:44>> Yeah. Now, my I guess my second question
34:46to this is why I feel like I was asking
34:48Ed before and he kind of cracked me
34:49open. Nice.
34:50>> And uh told me what I need to know, what
34:52I need to know. Guess the whole thing
34:54before I even said anything to him. I
34:56don't feel like this opportunity anymore
34:58is going to get me to where I want to.
34:59You know,
35:00>> you're hitting the whole cycle, dude.
35:02You're going, you know, like and your
35:03market might not be that big, right?
35:04You're like,
35:05>> so I don't like my my real goal if I did
35:08$10 million in revenue, I don't know if
35:10it would be like the thing for me
35:12anyway.
35:12>> You will feel nothing either way. It
35:13doesn't matter. Um,
35:14>> it's fair.
35:15>> I'm just telling you it's nothing's
35:16going to happen.
35:16>> It's fair.
35:17>> Well, it's not you're not you're going
35:18to you're still eat chicken rice and
35:19still eat chicken rice, right? Like it
35:21is what it is.
35:22>> Um Okay. So So So what else would you
35:25do?
35:28[laughter]
35:30>> He kind of called it. I haven't, you
35:32know, I I
35:33>> Let me give full context. [snorts]
35:35>> I've been doing it for eight years. I
35:36said that by the time I hit 30, I'm 27.
35:38If I have x amount of dollars in my bank
35:40account, you'll be happy. I'm gonna get
35:41No, I'm just gonna give up the business
35:42and move on. and I'm already happy. I'm
35:44going to give up the business and move
35:45on and go do something else. But this
35:46was like kind of my stepping stone, you
35:48know, and uh so eventually I'd like to
35:51open up some kind of a wellness/farm
35:53fitness facility in another state and
35:56that's kind of my goal. So I guess my my
35:58real question is do I wait till I'm 30
35:59and I have x amount of dollars in my
36:01bank account? Do I just do it now?
36:02>> How much do you need to do? Do you have
36:03the money to do the thing now?
36:04>> Probably not.
36:05>> Okay. How much do you need to do the
36:06thing?
36:08>> I guess I don't know the exact number. I
36:10guess 10 million.
36:11>> You need 10 to do it?
36:12>> Yeah. Okay. I mean, can you do that in
36:14the next three years?
36:15>> Most likely.
36:16>> Sounds like a good plan.
36:17>> That is the goal. That was the plan. So,
36:19I guess thanks for telling me that's the
36:21plan. [laughter]
36:22>> Thanks.
36:23>> How's it going, Alex? Um, my name is
36:25Eddie. Um, before I get into the
36:27question, I just want to say I've been
36:28watching for like 5 years, dude.
36:29>> Oh, cool, man.
36:30>> Like, I was once a 19-year-old kid,
36:31dropped out of college, low life,
36:33everything. So, sweet.
36:34>> Um, thank you for So,
36:36>> thank you.
36:37>> Um, I sell landscaping services to
36:40residential and commercial clients. We
36:42do we last year we did $1.3 million in
36:44revenue.
36:45>> Um love to be at 10 mil next year
36:48obviously. Um
36:49>> I think
36:50>> I have a plethora of problems as far as
36:52what's stopping me. Um honest so the
36:54first thing is I feel like we're running
36:56four separate businesses right now.
36:58>> Okay.
36:58>> Which is we sell maintenance to
37:01residential commercial. We sell design
37:03and build to residential and commercial
37:05and like sales process is different.
37:07Fulfillment all different. Um, and I
37:10think I guess my question is like I feel
37:12like [clears throat] I have a focus
37:13problem.
37:14>> Which one makes the most money?
37:15>> Which one makes the most money?
37:16Honestly, you're going to hate me. None
37:18of them. [snorts]
37:19>> Okay.
37:20>> So, we do snow removal in the winter.
37:23[laughter]
37:23>> Funny. So, okay. So, to give you some
37:25context, in in the 8 months that I live
37:28in Chicago, so in the 8 months that we
37:31did um landscaping, we actually lost
37:34$30,000 at the end of the 8 months. Um,
37:37I think we did maybe 700,000.
37:40>> We ended the year with snow removal at
37:421.3 and ended up being 30% net positive,
37:46which was
37:47>> um
37:48>> Okay. [clears throat]
37:48>> So, snow removal work, but Okay.
37:51>> Sorry.
37:51>> So, snow removal makes you money.
37:53>> Yeah, snow removal is cool. Yeah.
37:54[laughter]
37:55>> Okay. Got it.
37:57>> Um I mean,
37:58>> so you just need something to keep your
37:59guys busy so that you can do snow
38:01removal. What's So what's tricky is is
38:04when Snowmobile drops off, like there's
38:06nothing to do if it doesn't. I mean,
38:08there is, but we have to offload all of
38:10our full-time guys.
38:11>> Yeah.
38:12>> And unload like
38:14five times the amount of guys when it
38:16snows
38:17>> and then drop them off after it doesn't
38:19snow and then, you know, just keep doing
38:20that and then get all new guys once the
38:22spring comes on.
38:23>> This is a feature, not a bug of this
38:24business.
38:25>> Okay.
38:27Ju just like I have this conversation
38:31every other week with somebody who's in
38:34this space.
38:34>> Yeah.
38:35>> Um
38:37>> talk like that's some guys do lighting,
38:39some guys do so plow, some guy like
38:41>> Mike Andies. Yeah.
38:42>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot of guys,
38:44right? Um so there's there's different
38:47plays that you can do. You're going to
38:48have to have onseason offseason. Sure.
38:50Um, I'd say the first thing you do is
38:52don't call it on season offseason.
38:54[laughter]
38:55They will they will treat it like the
38:56offseason. Um,
38:58>> but I think it's it's just saying that
38:59like we do two things here. You will do
39:02this in the summer. You will do this
39:03when it's cold and that way you can
39:05maintain employment here. You know that
39:07you're going to have a bunch of people
39:08like and I'm sure those guys you can put
39:10really strong incentives for them to
39:11bring friends and buddies who want to
39:12make a little bit more cash during the
39:14during the heavy season. Um, but I guess
39:17to answer the larger question,
39:20if I can give you peace of mind that
39:24there's nothing wrong with the fact that
39:25you deal with this problem, then I feel
39:28like that is a good thing
39:30cuz like you'll stop trying to solve
39:32like again feature not bug, right? This
39:34is just it's core to the business,
39:36right?
39:36>> And so it's like I'm I'm in cleaning and
39:38it's really hard for me to find English
39:39speaking cleaners who, you know, do a
39:41good job and, you know, don't steal
39:43anything, whatever, [snorts] right? It's
39:44like, well, should I get out of this
39:46business? It's like, that's the
39:47business, right? Like for my business,
39:49you know how hard it is to find these
39:50people?
39:51>> Incredibly hard. Really hard,
39:52>> right? Really [ __ ] hard.
39:54>> Um, and so like every business has stuff
39:56that's hard, but that's why you get
39:57paid.
39:58>> Wow.
40:00>> Right.
40:01>> And so, um,
40:04I think that it probably makes sense to
40:06revisit your pricing model uh for the
40:09other part of the year. Like, you're
40:11losing money. That sucks.
40:12>> So, we should not lose money.
40:14uh which I don't know where the core
40:16issue is. It's it might be a combination
40:18of sales motion and pricing. It
40:19typically those do get paired often
40:21which is like we can't charge more. Why
40:24not? Because we have a shitty sales
40:25motion fix sales motion raise price. We
40:28now sell more people at higher prices.
40:30And if your gross margins are super
40:32thin, which it sounds like they are.
40:33It's like getting away with like a 20%
40:3530% price raise you'll probably be fine.
40:38And most people in your business are
40:39supply constrained, not demand
40:41constrained. as in like getting new
40:43customers is not the hard part. It's
40:44getting guys to work is the hard part.
40:45>> Sure.
40:46>> Right. Which means that if you're supply
40:47constraint then pricing is the easiest
40:48variable that you can move and
40:50everyone's afraid to do it which is why
40:51we fix sales motion in order to do it
40:53first. So you probably have I would say
40:55thing number one is the expectation
40:57shift that there's nothing wrong with
40:58the business that you have to go from
41:00plows to mowers.
41:03>> There's my zero to my CTR. Um so you go
41:06from plows to mowers number one. Number
41:08two is we have to fix sales motion for
41:09the mowers. I'll bet you there's
41:10opportunity on the snow side, too, but
41:12you're making money there. So, I'm like,
41:14let's fix the hole here, but we probably
41:15be able to duplicate the sales motion on
41:17either side. And then there's a pricing
41:18change. And where this gets more
41:20interesting is that if we can price well
41:23and sell well, you may be may be able to
41:26afford better, more guys who go
41:28full-time, which will stabilize the
41:30business.
41:31>> Sure. Sure. I I guess my main question
41:33like I I get it, landscaping, snow, it
41:35is what it is. Like that's just we live
41:36in Chicago. Um, my thing is like I want
41:40to do either strictly maintenance or
41:42strictly design and builds. And we're
41:43kind of at a crossroads. It's like
41:44maintenance is nice, easy, low,
41:46>> and snow makes you all your money.
41:47>> Sure. Yeah.
41:48>> Okay. So, whatever one you want to do
41:50the other side of the year, I'm with
41:51you.
41:51>> Okay.
41:52>> It doesn't matter. So, I'll I'll let me
41:54paint something like 5 years in the
41:56future for you.
41:56>> Yeah.
41:58>> Whether it's design or maintenance, your
42:00life is going to look the same. So, if
42:03we take the position that you're going
42:04to win, then what's going to happen is
42:07you'll be talking to somebody who heads
42:08up the sales team, talking to somebody
42:10who heads up the the guys and trucks,
42:11you'll talk to somebody who hands
42:13handles billing and customer service and
42:14all that stuff. And that's what the
42:16life's going to be. Whether you're in
42:18design or you're in maintenance, it'll
42:19be the same. You're going to be talking
42:20to people who do those things. That's
42:22what your day-to-day is going to be. And
42:24so, like, if you think about it like
42:25that, then like neither path really
42:27matters. So, I would just look at LTV to
42:28CAC on both of them. Which one is it
42:30easier for me to acquire customers that
42:31have higher higher stickiness? I would
42:33probably pick that.
42:34>> Yeah.
42:35>> If I just had to do it. And if you don't
42:37succeed, it won't matter either. So
42:39either way is fine.
42:41>> I got you. And and last question, the
42:42the the main thing that we've had with
42:44design build,
42:45>> especially like super I mean even
42:47maintenance like super commoditized
42:48product like
42:49>> guys go down the street at Juan's
42:51landscaping
42:51>> speed risk ease. You got to win on one
42:54or multiple of them.
42:55>> Yeah. My question was a sales motion
42:57like what the sales motion on design and
42:59build is like what does that
43:00>> look like in the best possible form.
43:02[snorts]
43:02>> It's probably beyond the scope of right
43:04now. [laughter]
43:04>> I got you.
43:06>> But um part of it is going to be the
43:08leads. So we have to qualify the leads.
43:10We have to make sure the offer is
43:11matching and attracting the correct
43:12avatar, right? Because you might be
43:13talking like one of the biggest mistakes
43:15that we make in business is that we get
43:16on the phone with poor people and then
43:17try to sell them expensive stuff and
43:19when they don't want to buy it, we think
43:20there's something wrong with our
43:21business rather than the customer. Yeah,
43:24>> mic drop.
43:25>> Yeah.
43:26>> So, it's like there's probably an offer
43:28avatar piece from a lead lead magnet
43:30perspective that can attract a higher
43:32SCES customer.
43:33>> Yeah.
43:34>> Then that sales motion that flows from
43:36that customer. We're going to have to
43:37probably I mean it'll be a VSSL of some
43:39kind. We'll put proof in there. Um speed
43:41delet is going to be important. It's a
43:42lot. It's 100 gold BBs.
43:43>> I got you. I got you.
43:44>> But that's that's going to be the
43:45process.
43:47>> Thank you. You bet, man.
43:48Congratulations. Thank go for it.
43:50>> Uh so my name is Glenn and uh we have a
43:55software product.
43:58Uh it is a ERP and platform for a very
44:01very specific niche industry. It has
44:04zero revenue.
44:06>> Sick
44:06>> startup selfunded.
44:08>> Yeah.
44:09>> Just about to go.
44:10>> Yeah.
44:11>> Um and I think we have like the the
44:14thing that I want to get sorted out
44:16right now is just model. Okay.
44:19>> And so our
44:22um so we need 938 customers at $735 ARPO
44:28in order to hit 8.3
44:30annual re revenue.
44:31>> Is that a magic number for a reason?
44:34>> Um it's just a goal.
44:36>> Okay.
44:37>> It's just a goal.
44:38>> It's a very specific goal.
44:40>> Yeah. Well well
44:41>> the most specific arbitrary
44:42>> KPI to get to KPIs to get there. Um and
44:47uh so price for this model is that that
44:52we have sorted out is $99 is a is a base
44:54for the platform.
44:56>> Okay.
44:56>> And then
44:56>> per month.
44:57>> Per month.
44:58>> Okay.
44:58>> Uh that gets the company into the
45:01platform. And
45:02>> what size company is it?
45:04>> Uh sorry,
45:05>> what size like what size revenue are the
45:06it's B2B, right? So what size revenue
45:09are the customers you're bringing in and
45:10what is this niche that's very specific?
45:12So it is uh so there's a lot of windows
45:15in highrises.
45:17>> Uh those windows need to get cleaned.
45:19>> Okay.
45:19>> So there's companies that there are rope
45:22access companies. So they have guys that
45:24go down on ropes, they clean the
45:26windows.
45:26>> Yeah.
45:27>> That's our target market. There's maybe
45:2920 of them per city.
45:31>> Okay.
45:32>> Um
45:34they are uh so 99 bucks for for entry.
45:39>> Mhm. Mh.
45:40>> That includes all your admin staff and
45:41then $34.95 per employee after
45:46>> Yeah.
45:46>> Yeah.
45:47>> Okay.
45:48>> Um and so the the system um the ERP is
45:54it combines all of their software.
45:56>> Did you own a business that did this?
45:59>> Uh did I? No.
46:00>> How did you get exposure to the squeegee
46:01world?
46:02>> Uh my business partner.
46:04>> Okay. So I was one of you did. I was
46:05like that is an odd like you're like I'm
46:07there, right? [laughter]
46:08>> Yeah. Yeah. So if you were going to pick
46:10a a niche market like this, like I would
46:13never think of this.
46:14>> So the issue is you want to figure out
46:15the model, right?
46:16>> I want to figure out the model because
46:19>> um and I I I think I know what you're
46:20going to say on this, but I'm I'm
46:22guessing
46:24uh so value of software is uh it's being
46:28commodified
46:30to some degree. And so we we have like
46:34we have ERP combines all of the
46:39uh
46:40like disparit software that they're
46:43piecing together.
46:44>> Yeah.
46:45>> That is like Frankenstein software. You
46:47got uh inventory management. You got
46:49CRM. You've got
46:51>> How much money does it save these guys?
46:52How much money do they make? You said
46:53there's 20 of them in a state. What like
46:55average revenue for these guys is like a
46:56million, 5 million, 20 million.
46:57>> Uh it well around 5 million.
46:59>> Okay. Got it. So they're doing 5
47:00million. What does it save them?
47:02>> Um so saves uh so
47:09direct in terms of software
47:12um like subscriptions that that they're
47:15spending money on. Uh so if they're
47:17spending
47:18>> I wouldn't even care about that. I mean
47:19that's a month they're going to drop
47:22it's going to be
47:23>> but it should be the benefit of the
47:24software which is going to be the
47:25primary value prop not the savings.
47:27>> Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So, uh, so that's
47:29kind of a hidden cost though to them,
47:32right? So, you like it's like you have
47:34to
47:35>> Hey guys,
47:37>> you have to explain the value of it.
47:40>> Yeah, you're good.
47:40>> What's going on?
47:41>> Oh, no, you're good. I'm add as [ __ ] so
47:43keep going.
47:44>> Yeah. So, so you have to explain the
47:45value of of what they're saving by using
47:48all of this software in in one.
47:50>> Okay. So, you want to nail the model,
47:51but you don't have customers, so what's
47:52the problem?
47:53>> So, yeah. So, do I sell on value? So, I
47:56just sell on the value of the product.
47:58Mhm.
47:58>> Um and have a slower uh uptake
48:02>> or do I sell because we have a uh we
48:04have a backend system that we can sell
48:06through.
48:07>> Okay. What does that mean?
48:08>> What that means is that there's uh so
48:11inventory management is a part of the
48:13ERP.
48:14>> Uh-huh. You'll eat up one part and then
48:16sell the rest.
48:17>> Sorry.
48:17>> So you want to eat up the inventory
48:18thing and then sell the rest of the ERP?
48:20>> Yeah. So we can like if we onboard
48:22people quickly, we can sell retail to
48:24them directly into their inventory. So
48:27they don't have to they don't have to do
48:28anything with their inventory. They just
48:30push order.
48:31>> Yeah.
48:31>> Products come into their system, they
48:33get used.
48:33>> Got it. Yeah.
48:34>> Yeah. So the the question really is is
48:39selling on value. Hey, it's $99 and 34
48:42$34.95 a month.
48:43>> Well, that definitely wouldn't be value,
48:44but keep going. Yeah.
48:45>> Right. Yeah. So, or is it like, hey, we
48:48drop that price and then we we uh we
48:52make up in the back end selling retail
48:54to them.
48:58[sighs]
49:01>> So, you're selling to business owners
49:03and so they're going to probably just
49:05care about two things, which is like how
49:07much money is this going to save me
49:09>> and how hard is it going to be for me to
49:11onboard?
49:12>> Yeah. And so all my effort would be we
49:14can get you on board in 24 hours off of
49:16all your old systems.
49:17>> All right, we save 48.
49:18>> Okay. So like we need super fast
49:20onboarding. Um and if we don't save you
49:23twice what you pay us, well I don't
49:27know, we will. [laughter]
49:28Um but like I the the price point I
49:32think is a tough one here because
49:35you need to get like
49:38a zillion customers and like you said
49:40700 and whatever, right? 938
49:43>> 938. So there's 20 per market.
49:45>> So you need like all of them.
49:46>> Yeah. But but it's uh so a customer is
49:49defined as the company and then there
49:50it's there the number of seats that are
49:52sold within that is what blows.
49:54>> But there's still like
49:56>> I mean this is this is like enterprise
49:59SAS stuff.
49:59>> It it is.
50:00>> Yeah. So it will be like painful. Um as
50:02long as you're like prepared for that.
50:04>> Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm 52. I've been
50:06in business for my whole life. I'm used
50:08to suffering. Yeah. I'm not happy unless
50:11I'm suffering.
50:12>> Yeah, there you go. Um,
50:14so [laughter]
50:16okay. So, I'm going to give you an
50:18answer that you probably don't like. Um,
50:20which is that you'll find out more from
50:23the first 10 conversations than you will
50:25from me per se.
50:27>> This seems like a bit of a Excel sheet
50:29problem.
50:30>> If everyone s bulk to me the $99 a month
50:33sounds like [ __ ] nothing. It's like
50:34who cares, right? Yeah.
50:35>> Like it just it's like a throwaway
50:36price. If you know that all the money
50:38that you're going to make is on like I
50:40would probably say like it's five grand
50:41to get you on and then after that we
50:44just it's 35 bucks a seat or something.
50:47You don't even do the 99 so have to
50:48worry about it. It's like we just get
50:49you on and then
50:50>> it's however many squeegees you got
50:53>> and that's the game. You know what I
50:54mean? Like I the 99 feels like a
50:55throwaway number that doesn't really
50:56matter since all of the juice is in the
50:58>> in the squeegees. Yeah.
50:59>> I just want to like I want to sell them
51:01what they're going to use which is like
51:02I'm going to onboard you. there's a
51:03clear price and we're going to have
51:05price per squeegee. That's probably how
51:08to do it. And if you can get away with
51:10if you can get away with them, you
51:13should be able to get away with them
51:15getting savings through your software,
51:17which I think is very compelling because
51:19you're going to be able to order enough
51:20volume because you're going to have all
51:21of it aggregated that you'll still be
51:22able to find alpha. That to me is a very
51:24compelling offer.
51:25>> Right. Right.
51:26>> So, I wouldn't sell it to them at
51:27retail. I would say, "What are you
51:29paying right now? I'll beat it and I'll
51:31make your life better. That's an easy
51:33pitch,
51:34>> right?
51:34>> That's how I'd sell it. And it be like,
51:36it's one time, 5K, you're on. And then
51:38after that, it's just per team and on
51:39the back you're saving money, which if
51:41you we save you enough money here, the
51:42team stuff is negligible.
51:44>> Yeah. It's it's And it's super simple to
51:46show how we save money and how much you
51:48save per employee.
51:48>> That's how I pitch it.
51:49>> Yeah,
51:50>> that's how I pitch it.
51:51>> Okay.
51:52>> Feel good?
51:53>> Great.
51:53>> My name is Pierre. Um, I sell disability
51:56support services to people with
51:57disabilities. We do about 1.5. I'd like
52:00to be at 35.
52:02>> Okay.
52:03>> I think what's stopping me is actually
52:05being really comfortable slowing down. I
52:07had some great advice from Ed. Like
52:09leads keep coming in. We haven't
52:11advertised for 18 months. Referral
52:12network coming in.
52:14>> We keep saying yes, we're being very
52:15reactive putting the ops processes in
52:17place to deliver them. Um and just think
52:19for so long it's been the next lead, the
52:21next milestone, the next revenue target.
52:25>> It's more it's very much a margins game.
52:27We can't lift prices. They're cap by
52:28government. So it's optimizing the
52:30internal operations, AI agents, building
52:32the process, automating, matching
52:34clients to
52:35>> um workers, all that kind of stuff which
52:37mostly with me at the moment. So
52:40>> saying no, slowing down should slow down
52:42right now.
52:43>> Um
52:44>> what are margins right now?
52:45>> Margins right now gross margin um is 25
52:48to 45% based on staff delivering the
52:51work. Um eBay is about 15%.
52:53>> Okay, 15. Okay. You're like two 200ish
52:56on
52:57>> on5.
52:58>> Yeah. And I've been trying to hire a lot
53:00to get out of the swamp, which didn't
53:01fun.
53:02>> Yeah. Yeah. It will suck until three. Um
53:05Okay. So, this is an interesting one
53:08because when you have uh rate caps,
53:10which happens in government stuff or
53:12regulated stuff, um you have to eat up
53:14margin from the bottom obviously, which
53:16you've already figured out. Um, so
53:20I think what you'll have to do is be
53:23comfortable turning down business.
53:24>> Yeah.
53:25>> For a season cuz demand's not the
53:26problem.
53:27>> Yeah.
53:28>> It's like you you you don't want to
53:30enter into a vicious cycle, right? Of
53:32like there's Why bother? Like the It's
53:34like if someone's going to come on and
53:35they're going to pay you, what's the
53:37average customer pay?
53:38>> The average customer, let's say $1,000 a
53:40week.
53:41>> $1,000 a week. Okay. So So 50K a year is
53:43what they're paying. You're making 15%
53:45on that. So it's like 7,500 bucks. Yeah.
53:49>> It's like I have to be willing to know
53:52that if I can say no to these $7,500
53:57customers, I can take my margin from 15
53:59to 30 if I can get AI completely
54:02installed in the whole business.
54:03>> It's like great. So there's 200 and
54:04something there, but then this now can
54:06scale to where I want it to. And then
54:07you'll never have to say no again.
54:09>> Yeah.
54:09>> So this is a go slow to go fast. But the
54:11thing is is like
54:13>> you're not going slower. It's just your
54:15revenue number is not going to change.
54:16>> Yeah. Yeah.
54:18>> So just reframe it. So it's like you're
54:19not going slower. You're just doing like
54:22it's like you fill up your car before
54:23you drive. You're not going slower. Like
54:24you're filling up the car.
54:26>> That's great. Seems like a ego and
54:28empathy kind of battle. Each customer
54:29you say no you can't help now but you
54:31can help more later if you actually
54:33>> if you want. You could say we're really
54:34busy right now. [clears throat]
54:35>> Um and I could put you on the wait list
54:37to start in 3 months. And then just like
54:39push everything out. Give yourself a
54:4190-day sprint so you can still say yes.
54:42Feel okay about it. And then if you lose
54:44some of them, whatever. Um, are they So
54:47there's rent, there's caps for the
54:48service, right?
54:49>> Yeah. Yeah.
54:50>> Are you allowed to charge for anything
54:52else?
54:53>> You Yeah, there is some other things you
54:55can charge for sometimes privately, but
54:57a lot of it are using a government
54:58bucket of money.
54:59>> Yeah.
55:00>> So I would just say like we obviously
55:01have a lot of demand. Um, you can pay to
55:04be on the weight list a onetime fee.
55:06>> Um, that's just to show that you're
55:07serious. And
55:08>> as you probably know, there's a lot of
55:10people who provide the service. Most of
55:11them suck. And so if you want to be
55:13first in, that way you still have cash
55:15flow and then you feel good and then
55:17that's you don't have to worry about the
55:19government stuff and it's all margin.
55:20>> Awesome. I love it. Thank you, Alex.
55:22Appreciate it. Rock and
55:22>> roll. Yeah. Thank you, man. [applause]
55:25>> So, you just saw a compressed version of
55:26me going back and forth with the
55:27business owner to help them find the
55:28constraint and then ideally give one to
55:29two steps on what to do next to help
55:31deconstrain it. That being said, if you
55:33would like to have the exact same
55:35process applied to your business, but
55:36based on 10,000 businesses with a
55:38perfect memory, um, then we made this
55:41free tool that actually aggregates all
55:43of that data, four different businesses
55:44and industries that we've actually had
55:45walk through the door. And it's yours.
55:47It's new, it's free, and it's fast. So,
55:49go grab it. And on the thank you page,
55:51if you want to be in the room, you can
55:52book a call. But either way, the tool is
55:53free and so are the solutions. Enjoy.

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