Standing On Service Podcast

Troy welcomes Tai Goodwin, CEO of That Marketing Team, to discuss all things marketing including how we can use quizzes to generate more leads, and creating the right strategy to find your audience. Tai talks about how having your audience identify personally with your brand goes so much further than just trying to be everywhere, and she explains what she means when she says she's “chasing excellence.” If you're looking for some great marketing tips that you can implement today, tune in.   Key Takeaways: What happens when you promise too much and don't deliver on your promises? How Tai and her team at That Marketing Team help people determine what they should pour their investments towards in order to get a good return. The importance of creating the strategy to find the right audience. Tai talks about what she calls being “Facebook rich and profit poor” and how she turned that around. How to get people to write testimonials. People are paying for your skills that you've already mastered over the years. Tai shares how you can work with her even further and continue your marketing growth.

 In this episode of the podcast, Jeremy Streten joins Troy from Australia to discuss the importance of being proactive rather than reactive to legal problems. His bestselling book, The Business Legal Cycle, is a guide to understanding, planning for, and implementing legal protection for your business. Jeremy also discusses the key elements he sees with successful businesses, which legal aspects business owners need to educate themselves on, and how to consult with the right professional.   Key Takeaways: Jeremy explains how he's seen time and time again how costly it is for businesses that are reactive when it comes to legal problems. His book, The Business Legal Lifecycle, is a guide to the system that Jeremey created for businesses to be proactive when it comes to legal risk. There are 13 universal phases that all businesses go through in Western countries; recognizing each phase begins with education. With every business being unique, it's important to find the right insurance specific to your industry. Business owners should know and understand the laws and legal system. Not all lawyers are created equal; find someone who is up to date on their education and understands your industry. Sites like LegalZoom fulfill a need, but they should not replace having proactive legal protection. If you're listening and thinking, “I don't have legal problems and don't need this”; you never know! It's better to be prepared and not need it than need it and not be prepared.   External Links: Maintenance-one.com The Business Legal Lifecycle The Business Legal Lifecycle Book Jeremy Streten Jeremy Streten on LinkedIn

In this episode of the podcast, Megan joins Troy to talk about the importance of great onboarding, and how you build trust even before the initial contact with your client. Megan runs One Stone Creative, a podcast production company, which helps businesses launch a podcast and establish themselves as an industry leader while sharing their brand story. Megan also talks about what a podcast production company does, and how it can help with an overall digital marketing plan.   Key Takeaways: Megan shares what a podcast production agency does and why a business would want to work with one. Her company, One Stone Creative, focuses on B2B podcasts and can help provide a one-stop-shop for people looking to start, launch, and maintain their podcasts. As business owners, we want to make sure our clients aren't constantly wondering what's next, so having a solid onboarding process is extremely important. It's less important that you follow a specific formula than that you communicate what the formula is. You can test out your onboarding process for free by asking a trusted friend or family member to go through the process and send you their honest feedback. Businesses can stand out by instilling trust in their customer through timely and personal communication. You can also hire customer service workers for a few hours on the weekend to make sure it doesn't take longer than 24 hours. Podcasts can help you get more customers and establish yourself as a leader in the market. If you are thinking of launching a podcast, a great way to start is by going on other people's shows.   External Links: Maintenance-one.com KnowYourNumbersWorkshop.com/standingonservice One Stone Creative Digital Content for Business Growth Pod.link

In this episode of the podcast, Tim Francis joins Troy to talk about the true progress metrics for any business. Tim Francis is an expert in finance who helps businesses create and collect the cash they need to deliver great service by focusing on the four true progress metrics: free cash, market value equity, internal fulfillment, and external contribution. Tim explains why vanity metrics like revenue and number of customers cannot predict if a business will stay in business, and how to use the true progress metrics to gauge how your business is doing. Tune in to find out more.   Key Takeaways: Creating a great client experience is important, but every business needs to have the cash and funds to do that. As an entrepreneur, Tim made some business decisions that led him to have a negative net worth. His business seemed like it was thriving from the outside, but in reality, he was broke. Entrepreneur culture celebrates all the vanity metrics like revenue, clients, locations, etc. but that's not true progress. In fact, those are some of the worst ways possible to determine true success and true progress. To master entrepreneurship, you need to realize that it's a journey, not a destination. There are four true progress metrics: free cash, market value equity, internal fulfillment, and external contribution. Tim explains these four metrics and how he uses them to gauge progress in a business. Internal fulfillment doesn't mean that every day is going to be happy. External contribution is about investing in your staff, in your team, in your customers, and even in your community. Revenue is an important metric to get started, but it's not true progress. No business went out of business because of a lack of revenue. What actually allows a business to stay alive is cash, not revenue. Tim shares an example of how a business could have money but not actually have cash. It's possible to have the right intentions but poor execution. What is Tim's advice for people who think they need to have more customers to make more money and generate more free cash? There is a false belief that sales cures all but that is not true. You can't play hard with cash. It's important to take into consideration free cash before making any big decision. A cash flow forecast can help with that. Connect with Tim and learn from him through his three-day workshop Know Your Numbers.   External Links: Maintenance-one.com Tim Francis, Profit Factory KnowYourNumbersWorkshop.com/standingonservice

 In this episode of the podcast, Yigal Adato joins Troy to talk about how business owners can unlock the leader within them. Many business owners work hard, but not smart and they don't tap into their leadership potential. Yigal outlines the three steps business owners need to take to become better leaders as well as the four profit pillars that will help them create a thriving and successful business. He also shares more about how to create an epic experience for customers that will keep them happy and coming back for more in years to come.   Key Takeaways: Yigal Adato shares his background working with his brother to start a chain of pawnshops, and how he made the transition to becoming a coach and consultant helping other business owners grow their businesses. Many business owners work very hard without unlocking their leadership. They may be making money, but they aren't working intelligently or smart. There's no room for growth in an organization if the leader is not committed to learning and doesn't have focus. Part of that comes from being truthful with yourself and seeing what needs to be fixed or improved. Step 1 is waking up to the truth. There are four elements to consider: connection, condition, currency, and conviction. Most business owners don't look at their numbers and don't know where they stand in terms of profit and loss. Sometimes, it's because they don't know how and they're afraid to admit that. Step 2 is doing the work and improving on the four elements. The most important part when taking action is being consistent, because consistency creates security. Step 3 is lead up — creating leaders in your team and bringing them up with you. As a leader, you have the responsibility to inspire passion in your team. Being a leader isn't about being nice, but people want to feel like you care about them. Yigal talks about the four profit pillars: leadership, marketing, strategy, and the epic experience. The epic experience element is especially important because of the pandemic. Everything has moved online and people are talking about their epic customer experiences online, whether they're amazing or horrible. Creating an epic experience doesn't take much, and it isn't about spending money. It's playing the long game, not the short game. The worst thing is when companies go “dark” and stop communicating or connecting with their customers. An epic experience starts way before the customer walks in the shop, and continues past the sale. Ask your customers and your team for feedback and to grade you on your customer service, and as a leader. There will always be bad apples in an organization but with consistency, you can make sure your team has clarity on what they need to do and how they need to show up. Learn more from Yigal by downloading his free PDF and connecting with him on social media.   External Links: Maintenance-one.com Yigal Adato Yigal Adato on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook Unlock the Leader

 In this episode of the podcast, Victoria Lee joins Troy to talk about her business, 100 Pound Social. Victoria Lee co-founded 100 Pound Social in 2017 to offer B2B companies low-cost social media marketing and lead generation services, as well as blogging services that complement their marketing and SEO strategy. Victoria shares more about using LinkedIn as a lead generation tool, why small business owners would benefit from using her services, and how she has managed to create a successful business by focusing on a very small suite of services.   Key Takeaways: Victoria named her business based on her main offer — social media content plans that start from just £100 a month. At 100 Pound Social, Victoria and her team offer B2B companies low-cost social media marketing and lead generation services, as well as blogging services that complement their marketing and SEO strategy. Victoria explains how her company has pre-packaged services they offer small B2B business owners, and how this allows them to keep costs low. Instead of offering services across all platforms, Victoria has chosen to focus exclusively on certain platforms and services. Adopting a more focused approach has allowed her team to hone their skills in this area, and become excellent at their work. B2B companies get the highest return on investment when they invest in marketing through LinkedIn, especially when it's done through their personal profile. Victoria explains more about the LinkedIn marketing and lead generation strategy she offers clients and how that helps them grow their business. It can be tricky to target the right person with the decision-making abilities in the company via LinkedIn. Victoria explains how she ensures that her clients always connect with the right people for their business needs. Victoria talks about paid ads. Why do they work for some people and not others? What does it take for paid ads to start seeing a return on investment? It can require a high investment and a lot of time for paid ads to have a return, and most small business owners cannot afford that. Victoria addresses some of the common misconceptions about using LinkedIn for lead generation. What she offers clients is not rocket science, but it does require time and effort to do it, which most small business owners do not have. With paid ads and ranking on Google, it can take time to see results. Victoria's clients often see results within two weeks of starting their plan. Victoria offers all new clients a 20-day money-back guarantee. Having worked with over 200 customers, Victoria is confident in what she offers clients and stands behind her service.   External Links: Maintenance-one.com Victoria Lee, 100 Pound Social Book a 30-minute Demonstration

In this episode of the podcast, Phil Fraser joins Troy to talk about what business owners need to do to prepare their businesses. As an expert who helps business owners grow their companies, Phil shares some of the things business owners need to prepare as a matter of good business practice, even if they don't plan to sell their businesses. He explains the PITA Patter system to solve problems and the two-week vacation test to see if the business is sellable.   Key Takeaways: Phil shares his journey from launching a start-up to selling his company. He tapped into his business background from his employed career in selling advertising to start his business and eventually sold it 18 years later. A lot of business owners get attached to their businesses and their clients. When big companies buy out smaller businesses, these business owners have to deal with how to tell their dearest clients and deal with the aftermath. That's part of being a business owner. Business owners need to ask themselves why they are running their business. One of the benefits is hopefully getting a big payday. Business owners need to have their businesses ready to sell or hand off to someone else, even if they don't plan to sell anytime soon. Phil explains the vacation test that business owners can use to gauge if their business is sellable. Another aspect business owners need to consider is if they have all their paperwork for the business in order. This includes client contracts, supplier contracts, and staff contracts, as well as rental agreements and financial plans. The third thing business owners need to do to prepare their business is to have their systems and processes documented, and this is also a good business practice in general. When it's time to sell a business, it needs to be valued first. The value of the business depends on various factors, such as the sector and industry. As a business owner selling your business, you won't be able to determine if the offer you have from a purchaser is a good one or not unless you're watching the market. Every business owner should aim to get their business to the point where it runs correctly. Phil explains the PITA patter system of solving problems that can help business owners get their business in shape. The key to good management is always delegation. People do what's important to them. Getting people in your company to do what you need them to involves explaining to them why the task is important.   External Links: Maintenance-one.com Phil Fraser Phil Fraser on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter The E-Myth Library, by Michael Gerber The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey Zig Ziglar

 In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Kelly Henry joins Troy to talk about creating exceptional customer service. Customer service needs to be a priority in any organization in order for it to improve. In reaching ever-changing customer expectations, a critical piece is the employees of the organization. Dr. Kelly shared some of his strategies and tips on how to create that culture of excellent service in your organization through your employees.   Key Takeaways: Dr. Kelly Henry shares how he made the switch from being a chiropractor to consulting. It may seem like a major shift, but customer service is something that he has been working on for decades. When first starting, your customer service may not be the best, but it definitely needs to be a priority in the business. That's where the learning can begin, and that's how the company's customer service can improve. Employees were the biggest roadblock to Dr. Kelly improving his service level. He shares more about how his own attitude influenced that, and how changing his perception of his employees and how he treated them helped create the basis for stellar customer service. Dr. Kelly doesn't think of his team as a family. He explains why. Some business owners don't hand out bonuses or praise their employees for the work that they do. Dr. Kelly doesn't agree with this approach because praise and recognition are often more to employees than monetary benefits. A great way to create a positive impact on new employees is to have someone from upper management levels touch base with them and welcome them to the organization. It's the small things that add up when we think about companies with poor customer service. When companies have poor service, it's often because they believe their service level is okay. However, this may not be accurate from the customer's point of view. When one company ups the bar for the level of service, other companies have to follow suit. Over time, companies have to provide higher and higher levels of service to meet customer expectations. Creating a culture of excellent customer service starts with a systemic approach. Simple actions, simple ideas, the simple principles, done consistently create major results. Ultimately a customer just wants to feel important and valued and special when they do business with you. Customer expectations are ever-changing. Businesses need to adapt and evolve to keep up. It's okay to fire customers!   External Links: Maintenance-one.com Dr. Kelly Henry Define and Deliver Exceptional Customer Service: Proven Strategies to Maximize Your Profits, by Dr. Kelly Henry

In this episode of the podcast, Olga Nesterova joins Troy to talk about company culture. Having the right company culture is key to how customers relate to and perceive your brand. As a leader, your role is to determine what that culture will look like and how to get there. Olga also has tips on how to scale a company and the role that social media can play in getting new customers.   Key Takeaways: Olga shares about her background. She describes how she started as a professional athlete, then moved to New York to work for the UN as a political advisor, and eventually became a marketing advisor for start-ups and small businesses. Smaller companies can change more quickly than larger companies and don't have as complex a process for decision-making. If you have a small company that's just starting and you want to create the right kind of culture right from the very start, it is important to know what you want. For a medium-sized company that wants to shift to a better culture of relating with customers, you have to start with communicating the need for change in the company. In a situation that calls for change, it can feel almost impossible to get rid of all the detractors at once. However, sometimes taking a step back in order to take two steps forward is a wise decision. As a business owner, you have to trust your intuition. People don't like change, but in some situations, that is what's best for the company. It is critical that as a business owner and as a leader, you remind your employees about the main intention of the company. This is especially important now that everyone is working from home. Troy and Olga discuss the first steps start-ups and mid-sized companies can take to scale and grow the company. There are pros and cons to using social media to get new customers. The most stable approach is to use social media as a gateway to get new customers to check out your website.   External Links: Maintenance-one.com Olga Nesterova, Onest Business Onest Conversations Podcast Onest Conversations Show

In this episode of the podcast, Scott from Mitchell's joins Troy to shine a light on the people who are serving the customer. Rather than talk about customer service, they flip retail on its end to talk about taking care of the people who sell the customer experience. Normally we are pointing the spotlight on the customer, but sometimes you need to look at the person that is serving the customer — to get the view of the people that are serving the customer.   Key Takeaways: Scott shares his background growing up in a large family and theater — his education background is in philosophy but he discovered a passion for clothing early on. No matter what customer service industry you go into, it's important to understand the fundamentals. There are great books and resources on sales techniques that will impact whichever industry you are in. In all customer service industries, you can't judge the customer, and it's also important to remember that you can't feel judged by the customer either. There may be instances that arise where there is a difference of perspective of the same situation between the customer and service provider; taking the time to get on the same page can drastically change the working relationship for both the client and the service provider. People frequent businesses not only for the product but also for how businesses and companies treat their employees. Customers want communication. If there is a problem, their response is going to directly correlate to how the problem is communicated. Being a part of the right organization, surrounded by the right people, and feeling passionate about the product you sell can greatly enhance the work experience in the retail space. You can teach people the customer service industry, but you have to hire great people: people who are service-oriented, pleasant, and energetic can make an impact on your business as you are looking to hire the right people for your business. Troy and Scott talk about some of the systems companies use to get to know clients and engage with them. When these systems are combined with the right people, it comes together for a valuable customer experience.   External Links:   Maintenance-one.com

In today's episode, Troy and his guest talk about an example of some sub-standard service Troy witnessed, specifically around different delivery services. We've all experienced a bad exchange at a company, but the effects can stay with us long after our experience.   Key Takeaways:   Sometimes poor customer service can affect not only the direct consumer but also other parties not directly involved. As consumers, our perspectives on local or global brands are really only as good as the experience we had with that brand. They talk about some of the quality checks these companies have in place, as well as some of the customer experiences they've had personally with delivery services. No matter what line of work you're in, when you're on the clock or at the job, you are a reflection of that brand. This is especially true for jobs that are on location. When employees don't follow the systems and procedures in place at their jobs, the consumer will suffer.   External Links:   Maintenance-one.com

 In this episode, Troy speaks with John about his own experience working at McDonald's and how systems and quality control helped shape his own future. They talk about the importance of inspections for quality control, and how processes and systems work together to ensure both quality and customer satisfaction.   Key Takeaways:   Many businesses start from people who worked at McDonald's as a kid because they really understand the importance of systems in ensuring excellent customer service. Troy shares a story of a surprise inspection and what he learned about customer service through that experience. The importance of following the process, even if it seems counterintuitive for a certain situation, is to maintain the quality that customers have come to expect from certain businesses. People, in general, view inspecting as bad, but routine inspections help employees tune into why it's important to be following processes laid out in any business. Quality control is about a bunch of small processes that make one big system to make sure everything gets done and is running smoothly. There are many processes that customers don't see either, but these systems and processes make it easier to make expectations for quality.   External Links:   Maintenance-one.com

Joel Weldon, professional speaker, joins this episode of the podcast to talk about how speaking can help all of us with customer service. He shares his own story of how he got into speaking professionally, and how he has been able to use this to create customer service. For business leaders, they talk about how you can create standards across several businesses, and how you can help foster excellent speaking and customer service in your own companies.   Key Takeaways: Joel's exposure to the business world was as a customer. Speaking wasn't something that was natural for him, but after his first sales presentation, he got life-changing feedback that shaped the course of his professional speaking career of over 46 years. No matter what business you're in, you are a speaker. There are three keys that tie speaking to customer service: 1. Speaking is a learned skill 2. Being an excellent communicator is being yourself 3. It's always about what's going to be best for the customer; they are the lifeblood of your business. Joel and Troy talk about how to standardize communication across different branches or locations. The words that you teach the people on your team are important for creating consistent customer service, not only to foster positive experiences but also to mitigate situations where customers may be upset. If you don't have the right people, you aren't going to get the right results. An employee's attitude is going to determine the results you get out of them. When you find the right fit, amazing customer service can happen. One of the best customer service models is Walt Disney — his philosophy is shaped around doing what you do so well that people will want you to do it again, and will bring other people with them to experience it. As a leader or owner of a business, it is your ability and responsibility to spot potential in your employees. Creating good customer service is about finding good people and making them great, by teaching them the right words and procedures, and rewarding them for their effort.   External Links:   Maintenance-one.com   Joel's Website Email Joel at joelweldonspeaker@gmail.com

In this episode of the podcast, Ari Meisel is on to talk about making work more efficient. He helps companies work faster, cheaper, and easier by optimizing, automating, and outsourcing. Ari talks about the benefits of automation and how it can help enhance the human connection, as well as the importance of managing expectations to ensure a quality customer experience.   Key Takeaways: In trying to identify his own overwhelm, Ari learned to help himself by focusing on making processes work better. In trying to fix his own problems, he found that the resources available to him weren't enough. He had to learn how to fit a normal day's work into only an hour, and this is where his strategy OAO was born: optimize, automate, outsource. This has been the genesis of his career: helping get businesses to a place where they can run and grow without too much intervention. There is often not enough attention given to the space between a customer wanting something, and that being fulfilled. Exceptional customer service is about the quality of that space; the customer journey can still be fulfilling even that space is large, and vice versa. Automation can and should be used to enhance the human connection. Automation can save you money, help you expand and scale, and help to reduce errors. This gives companies more time to focus on a direct connection with their customers. Automation needs to be the second step after optimization — looking at the how and why we do processes the way that we do will help identify inefficiencies that need to be improved before they are automated. One of the big keys to customer service is managing expectations proactively, if possible. Be realistic with your customers and your employees about timelines, product, etc. Getting consistency across multiple branches of a company can be challenging. Creating core values, especially those around the customer experience, is a great way to start this. A company's mission needs to be realistic and something that makes sense to customers and employees. With a consistent mission, new employees can learn and be trained from day one on how to be an ambassador of that mission. Ari teaches four mindsets of employees: inventor, engineer, engine, and cog. An individual employee can be any one of those. When it comes down to it, customer service is about making your customers feel understood where they are, in whatever situation they are.   External Links:   Maintenance-one.com   Ari's Website

 In this episode of the podcast, Mike Astorino joins the show to talk about how they have built a culture of “Fab Service” at Fabricare. As we look at customer service, it becomes less about a set of rules and more about a culture at the company. Mike talks about addressing customer service issues through systems, as well as the importance of developing and defining core values to help all employees succeed in customer service.   Key Takeaways: Mike actually started his career in advertising, and he ended up taking over the Fabricare business after his father-in-law retired. In a low-tech, low-profile business, he saw an opportunity to really maximize customer service. Over the years, they have made changes to their machinery to ensure they can limit the number of cracks to buttons or other dry cleaning hazards. Their business model and goal is to return the garment as new; the attention to detail when they need to fix them is one of the things that sets them apart. One of the most valuable lessons he's learned since taking over Fabricare is to measure customer service by recording the issues and getting to the root of what's behind the problem — oftentimes, it is a system issue that needs to be addressed rather than a personnel issue. “It starts with recording those things and then turning them into systems, or improving on a system that's already out there.” At Fabricare, customer service is more about building the culture than a set of rules. This gives their employees some autonomy in how they handle customer requests. Part of this culture is Code Red/Code Green, where they learn from bad interactions and are rewarded for good customer feedback. This has increased employee satisfaction as well. Fabricare has incorporated new technology to help its service become stronger by expanding its reach into storing and cleaning patio furniture. One of the biggest things that drive their systems and culture is core values. Having a distinct set of core values helps to set the same standard of service across all employees, and gives companies something to fall back on when they have to have tough conversations.   External Links:   Maintenance-one.com   Fabricare Cleaners

In this episode, Joe Cox and Jack Mitchell from Mitchell Stores join the show to talk about their business model: hugging your customers. They use this metaphor to describe the feeling of family they have with their customers and clients. Jack talks about the values that have shaped the business since it began and shares some wonderful success stories of their employees' dedication to the highest level of service for their customers.   Key Takeaways: “Hugging” your customers started with their parents back in 1958. The idea grew out of their desire to treat their customers like their friends; it is about not only the service but the atmosphere of being welcomed into their home as well. The values they've built their philosophy on are: customers, relationships, data, and excellence. The customers should be the center of the universe; their business is built on personalizing the relationship with every customer that comes into their stores. Jack shares some of the ways they are raising service standards, including keeping track of personal events they may need clothing for, keeping a record of items they've purchased previously, and being honest about how something looks, rather than just taking the sale. Part of their unparalleled service is having a standard of customer care across all of their stores. Joe Cox provides seminars to sales representatives, and Jack is always looking for ways to highlight these personal success stories. One of their values is to actually have fun, and helping someone out in these service situations is fun for the employees. To get in touch with Jack for speaking or to get copies of his books, you can email him jackm@mitchells.com or give him a call: (203) 984-7894. The hug culture is a genuine approach because they love their customers. If all businesses could do this, the world might be a better place to shop. If we could do this with everything we do, the world would be a better place to live.   External Links:   Maintenance-one.com Mitchell Stores Hug Your Customers Hug Your People Selling the Hug Your Customer Way

Listen to business owners, leaders, professionals, and people on the front line of service talk about their experiences, and strategies to give excellent service. A show that enables listeners to learn and grow their business with insight and knowledge.