In the Lead, Off the Record

Recently we've rebranded as Stock Systems (aka Stock). What did it come down to? Taking our own advice.

Do you even read your email? There's been explosive growth on social messaging platforms over the last number years. We discuss what we use to drive results at Stock instead of email.

It's been amazing listening to companies throughout the supply chain - particularly in wholesale and manufacturing - think through what they need to do to increase their customer experience. In many cases, they're ahead of retail. Listen in to hear more.

Title says it all. Running distributed systems in the cloud isn't cheap, isn't for the faint of heart, and as a non-technology as a first concern company - definitely isn't the way to stay cutting edge.

To quote Warren Buffett, "we delegate to the point of abdication". This is incredibly important to remember as you hire - the idea should always be to make the business less dependent on you.

Way too many business owners are only thinking about what works in the here and now, and at best, what might get through tomorrow. Giving the current sea change, this strategy is guaranteed to fail - which is why you have to think about what's going to get you through the long term.

Piggybacking on our last episode, we dive deeper into what a customer who finds you online requires vs a traditional on site customer.

Today we discuss how and why E-commerce tends to draw a different type of buyer, which means it's a different type of sale. Because of this, it's important to think through your pricing strategy.

Oftentimes, traditional retailers run from Amazon. In reality there's a massive opportunity to *use* Amazon to your advantage if you're in specialty retail. Hit play to learn the how and why!

In an ever changing world, leadership is your first line of defense. All too often we see a lack of leadership which results in zero desire to drive the change necessary to keep up and stay alive.

But seriously. Do you even want more LEADS? E-commerce is eating the world. In furniture and home furnishings, traditional retail does $691MM in online sales compared to the $28,000,000,000 (that's twenty eight BILLION) in online sales done by non-store retail. This is a MASSIVE opportunity for traditional retailers to absolutely kill it AND drive more traffic into their facilities.

Many times we talk to business owners who think that by simply putting in a piece of software, a problem will be magically solved. In almost every case, that's not true - technology requires processes to go with it. In the case of anything related to a sale: lead gen, marketing, CRM, post-sale installation or delivery, a sales process is mandatory. Without it, there's no way to guarantee it's easy for customers to buy from you. People are trying to give you money - don't make it hard! Kyle and Chase discuss why you're on the road to nowhere without one.

Well, would you? People have a strange habit of having entirely different (lower) expectations of *themselves* when they're selling in their place of business than what they expect when they buy.

It's post 4th of July week, and you just ran your big sale. What's the best way to capitalize on this to make the most of it?

Recently we were asked by an industry media outlet we'll be working with, "what's the most important message we can convey to our audience?" Listen for our answer and other insight into the disruption in retail.

There's a lot of garbage that gets peddled about using social for your business - whether it's an agency telling you to buy their syndicated content (which they post for every other client) or just posting every once in awhile. Resident marketer extraordinaire Steve Peele II joins Kyle and Chase to discuss what platforms to use, how to use them effectively, and what to avoid with social in your business.

The massive disruption in retail is only getting started, yet the masses remain mostly asleep. "It can't happen to me" is the most dangerous mentality you could possibly have in retail. Too many business owners are hung up on how they've "always done things". They're focused on themselves, NOT how their customers want - and now require- them to do business. Special guest, VP Success Wes Dillingham joins Kyle and Chase to discuss. It's time to move, people!

Running off a Windows server in the background? This episode is for you. Chase and Kyle discuss why in 2017 there's simply no excuse for not being on the cloud, with the flexibility to integrate. This is something we run into frequently - and entirely too many businesses are allowing themselves to be held hostage to outdated software that's negatively affecting their customer experience.

Omnichannel is one of the most effective ways businesses can draw more customers in. The easiest way to do this to employ e-commerce, and with a variety of excellent vendors to help you get up there's no reason not to. We discuss the massive benefits of this strategy for your business.

It's true. Succession planning is one of those things most businesses and families never wish to address. With extensive experience in family businesses of their own, Chase and Kyle discuss the importance of succession planning and actions you can take to set the next generation up for success.

Today Kyle and Chase discuss how to guide your customer to and through a sale to maintain transparency as well as control of the sale itself.

In this edition of off the record, Chase and Kyle go over some proven methods for handling price objections with customers.

Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theleadtool On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theleadtool On Twitter https://www.twitter.com/theleadtool We spend a lot of time talking about it, so what exactly is customer experience? For more checkout the other Off the Record episodes on our channel!

Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theleadtool On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theleadtool On Twitter https://www.twitter.com/theleadtool There are 8600+ retail stores expected to close in 2017, and 2016 was brutal. The industry is changing. Brick and mortar has an advantage, it comes down to whether or not they choose to use it! For more checkout the other Off the Record episodes on our channel!

Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theleadtool On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theleadtool On Twitter https://www.twitter.com/theleadtool Just like millennials now have the greatest spending power, they're becoming a larger part of the workforce and expect more technology than many businesses have in place. For more checkout the other Off the Record episodes on our channel!

Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theleadtool On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theleadtool On Twitter https://www.twitter.com/theleadtool Everyone wants more leads, but not everyone is ready for more leads. We cover how leadgen and CRM can work together to boost your business. For more checkout the other Off the Record episodes on our channel!

Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theleadtool On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theleadtool On Twitter https://www.twitter.com/theleadtool Many businesses place heavy focus on vendors - what can they do for me, what more can they give me - rather than focusing on their customers and what they can do for their customers. For more checkout the other Off the Record episodes on our channel!

Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theleadtool On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theleadtool On Twitter https://www.twitter.com/theleadtool Many businesses place heavy focus on vendors - what can they do for me, what more can they give me - rather than focusing on their customers and what they can do for their customers. For more checkout the other Off the Record episodes on our channel!