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We create a world around us that matches how we define ourselves Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. People are the people we surround ourselves with the most. And here's what I mean, okay? I don't wanna scare you with that photo. We, as people, the way we're wired, we're kind of like that projector right there. Whatever we put on the inside of that projector shows up on the screen. We define ourselves a certain way, okay? We define ourselves a certain way, and based on that definition, we create a world around us that matches how we define ourselves, okay? And how you do anything is how you do everything. So once I can understand a little bit about your style, I can predict a lot about your life. If I can predict a lot about your life, I can find a lot of things in common. If I can find a lot of things in common, I know how I can communicate with you, build rapport and ultimately how to have impact in your life, okay? Does that thesis sound reasonable? Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Someone else believed in me Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. We've coached about 150,000 people now. And we ask everybody, how did you ever get started in your business, if they're a business owner? Or how did you choose this career path if you work for an organization? The number one answer that we get as the reason why somebody chose a career path is someone else believed in me. Someone else said, hey, you know, you're really good at this, or you have a, I went into accounting and finance. This is how the meeting went, senior year in high school. My guidance counselor said to me, Carl, your math scores are really high. You should become an accountant. And I was like, well, that sounds cool. I should do that. So I went to school for accounting and finance, and I had no clue what it was. But I did it because my career counselor said to me, well, you have a proficiency in that area. Your scores are really high. You should go into that field. So I did. I had no clue what accounting and finance meant until I got to college, right? But it's the most common answer we have is somebody believed in me. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
People Follow Certainty Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Your language means this is where knowledge, credentials comes into play. You need to be the smartest person in whatever room you walk in. Or if you're on a project and you're doing a build-out or you're doing a budget, you want to be among, if not the smartest person in that room because you can then direct the room because people follow certainty. They follow leaders, okay? So you want to be the lead dog. So most people say, oh great, I don't have to worry about that 7%, I'll just focus on the body language. Uh-uh. We need it because it's the lead dog. The body language will do most of the work, but we do need the words for the, as the lead dog. Everybody okay with that? Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Communicate Trust & Respect through body language Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Communicate trust and respect through your body language. And this is a universal communication strategy, and we will practice that. So there are three elements that influence another person to your point of view. One of them is words. One of them is your voice qualities, and the other is your physiology, meaning how you stand and how you move. So words of the three, all three make up 100%, words, would you guess, make up what percentage of what influences another person to your point of view? 30? Seven? Any other guesses? 15? 16? I like it. He goes to auctions. I'm going 60. You go 15, I'm going 16. All right, add them all up, okay? And it's 7%. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Trust & Respect Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. When it comes to trust and respect, trust is a back-to-back exercise. In other words, we have common goals and interests, we establish that, okay? Then, when I turn my back and go into another room, do I trust you'll keep your commitments? Do I trust you're going to do what you said when we're standing face-to-face, you made a commitment? Now I turn my back and I go, you turn your back, you go, are you going to follow through? Can I trust that you're going to do that? Respect is when we're face-to-face, do I think you are even a substantive enough person? Do you carry the credential? Can you do the job? Do I even want to bother talking to you, right? So if somebody can't look at you and respect you, and somebody can't be in the same room with you and trust you, it's going to be hard for you to influence them. Does that make sense? Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Do you hold the credentials for the job you perform? Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Questions that we ask is, we ask this of our clients and we'll say, does everybody in the company hold the credential for the job that they perform? You know what the majority of the answer is for most people in most companies? No. So if you are the bookkeeper, you use QuickBooks Online or some other NetSuite or some other financial software. Have you taken all the certifications that that software offers? The answer is, probably not. If you're a project manager, have you taken all the project management courses that align with your level in the company? Probably not. So just something to think about. Think about your position, what you do, whatever credential, whatever continuing education credits, whatever training or certification that goes along, not just goes along with your job description, but makes you best in class, you may want to consider taking it. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Can you handle the task at hand? Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Not as important, but it is very important, especially in a commercial setting, respect. Can you handle the task at hand, right? So whatever your title is, can you handle the job that you say you can do? Here's why that's important. Because if I don't respect you, I won't bother telling you the truth. I won't bother bringing things to you because you can't handle it. Why would I bring a problem to you if you can't handle it, okay? Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Remove the Barriers Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. And you can't find something in common, it's painful. You meet somebody. Hey, how are you? Nice to meet you. Oh, yeah, I'm Carl. How are you doing? Oh, good to meet you. Oh, yeah, it's your first time at this? Yeah, great, cool. So you into sports? Nah, not much of a sports person. Oh, oh, OK. So what are some of your hobbies? You know, I don't have a lot of hobbies, so I'm just more of a stay-at-home kind of person. Now, that's just two sentences. How hard was that to watch? And we've all been there, OK? So we have to remove the barriers, have the common goals, master the word yes. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Unlocking Opportunities with Yes Pt. 2 Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. If somebody asks you, do you golf? Do they actually care if you golf? No. What is it they want to talk about? Golf! And what do you think they were about to tell you after you say yes? Some story that you don't want to hear about their golf weekend. Right?: Okay. I get it. You don't want to listen to it. But if you say no, they cannot find something in with you. So your answer is yes. Every time. As long as you have a reference for it. I'm not suggesting you lie to somebody. You ever been to Hawaii? Oh, I tricked you. I tricked you. Let's try it again. Let's review the training. It's coming on three. You ever been to Hawaii? Right? In my dreams I have been. On the internet I have been. Seen a lot of great photos of Hawaii. I wish to get there someday. It's yes or some version of yes. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Unlocking Opportunities with Yes Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. You have to use this word first. And here's the word. The word is yes. So what's the word? OK, everyone this time, what's the word? OK, so we're going to try it out. Hey, do you golf? Some of you are like, well, I don't I don't know if it's called golf. Like, I went to the miniature. All right, we're going to try it again. Ready? We'll review the training. I'm going to ask you a question. You have only one answer. OK, here it comes. Do you golf? Some of you still, it's still, we're not there yet. OK, now you're saying, well, I don't golf. I don't want to say I'm golfing. I'm not going to lie to somebody. Have any of you ever seen a golf ball? Have you ever gone miniature golfing? Have you ever watched golf on TV? You know who Tiger Woods is? So you have a reference for golf. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Whose goals or interests matter Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. We need two things going at the same time at a high level, and they are trust and respect. So trust we define as having common goals or interests. So there you are, you're talking to another person, whose goals or interests matter? Yours or theirs? Who thinks it's yours? Like, it's really important that everyone knows what I like to do so they can talk about it when I want to talk about it. Or theirs? Not a trick question guys, go ahead. This is the audience participation part of the presentation. I'm going to ask a question and you'll raise your hand for one or the other. There's not a third option, okay? So if it wasn't yours, then it's definitely theirs. All right, so let's try again, okay? So whose goals and interests matter? Yours or theirs? Theirs, right on, it wins, okay. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Different Minds, Different Wires Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Now that we have rapport, we can now influence somebody to our point of view, right? Remember, there's three styles, right? So think about it. When you walk around every day in your work and you say, you know, that department, I don't know how they hired those people. They don't deserve to have jobs. How do they make it through the day? Ever have one of those moments, right? Because those people aren't wired like whom? Like you. They're fine. They weren't put on this earth simply to annoy you. They have a purpose. And guess what? They're thinking the same thing of you. Like, I don't know how he or she makes it through the day. I have to help them find their keys. I have to let them in. They forget their security pass all the time. Like how are we relying our future on that person, right? And yet they get a lot done, right? There are just different styles.We just have to find the style. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
The Safety Net of Strong Rapport Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. You meet somebody for the first time, what is it you look for? Things in common, right? Because once we have something in common, we can then like each other. Now, not like each other in the way you're thinking, meaning we are like each other on some level. That is the basis on which we will allow somebody else to be in a relationship with us, or we influence them, or they influence us, okay? And it is how we're wired. Like if you didn't wake up today and say, ah, I did rapport yesterday, I'm not gonna do it today. That was exhausting. You have to have it every day because it's how we feel safe, right? So now this is good news for some of you because you're just like, oh, I don't know if I'm the most likable person. I'll leave it to you to decide. If you create commonality, the other person cannot help but like you. This might be the best thing you learned in this whole conference. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
The Power of Rapport: Why It Matters in Business Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Why do we care that we have rapport? Why do we care that we have influence? Well, first off, we need rapport because we need to build a relationship. I'm going to ask you a couple of questions in a moment, but we need to build a relationship with other people. And there are only three styles out there. You're one of them. There are two others. And for our purposes, you are basically wired like one-third of the population when it comes to your communication style. You don't have to do any work. You connect with them very easily. They, wow, that person is really cool. I get on very easily with them. It's the other two thirds that we have to work on. So you have to know your style so you can understand others' styles so you can adapt. And that's what today's about. It's about situational communication, situational leadership. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould, and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Meet Them Where They Are Pt 2 Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Most of the time. So we have to make sure to bring our energy and be like, I've only got 20 minutes for, you know, 20 minutes. I just want to look around a little bit. I've got to get back to work and we might be too low. We just want to meet them where they are. So if they're higher than us, we want to come up to them. If we're higher than them, we need to bring it down a little bit just in the beginning. And once we feel like we're kind of in sync, then we can speed up. Sound good? I noticed a lot of where you're from. Oh, I'm from Winnipeg. Really? That's awesome. I don't know anywhere else in your life that when someone tells you they're from down the road, you say that's awesome. It can be awesome. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Meet Them Where They Are Pt 1 Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. When the prospect gives you an answer, you adopt the tone and the volume and the pace that they do. Okay, so here's something that's common that a salesperson will do, right? So they'll come through the door, and you'll say, hi, how are you? I'm Carl, I'm from Ad Hubs. And they'll say, hi, I'm Bob, and I'm from, I don't know where I'm from, but I'm not from here. And then you say, great, that's awesome. You're from nowhere, great. So where you from? And they'll say, down the road. Down the road, that's amazing, right? And so, as a salesperson, you will come in much, you'll come in hot, right? You're super excited, you have a prospect, can't believe it, you wanna tackle them, drag them over, and make sure that they leave with jewelry. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Summary: In this episode of #70secondCEO, Carl Gould explains how acquisition growth—specifically roll-ups—can give you a strategic edge in competitive markets. By owning multiple businesses that submit separate bids for the same project, you significantly increase your chances of winning the contract. In a down market where access to decision-makers is the biggest challenge, not price or product, controlling more of the competition can be your biggest advantage. Read full transcript: Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. One, you're doing what's called a roll-up, I'm buying that business I'm rolling it up in my mind I'm taking their name off the side of the truck or the side of the wall, off the side of the building and it's now my name. You have just, you have two offices or you buy it you leave the name on it. So every time that you're submitting a proposal for a project they're submitting one also. What do people do? They like to get three competing bids or in some cases five competing bids, well how would you like to have two dogs in that fight instead of one. Instead of one out of three how would you like to be the two companies out of three or the two companies out of five,mreally stacks the deck in your favor. Organic growth, strategic alliance growth, acquisition growth the reason why we focus on this today is we're in a down market, access is your hardest challenge it's not price, it's not process, it's not product, it's not supply chain, it's access to decision makers. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Summary: In this #70secondCEO episode, Carl Gould introduces the power of S-A-P growth—Strategic Alliance Partnerships. He explains how actively cross-promoting complementary, non-competing services to shared ideal clients can accelerate growth. By referring trusted partners like a carpet cleaner promoting a gutter cleaner (and vice versa), both businesses gain credibility and access to pre-qualified customers. It's a smart, low-cost growth strategy based on mutual benefit and client trust. Read full transcript: Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Next area to look at S-A-P growth, Strategic Alliance Partnership growth. This is a slightly different strategy, what you're going do is active cross promoting of complementary services to similar ideal client avatars. What does all that mean? Active cross promoting means I find another company that services a similar client (hey Rob) we have the same ideal client, homeowner, dentist, doctors office you name it but we have non-competing products. Maybe I'm a gutter cleaner and you're a carpet cleaner. So if I'm a gutter cleaner, I'm gonna write a letter to all of my clients and say “hey I know Bob's gutter cleaning they're fantastic”. I clean the carpets, he cleans the gutters. If you're in the market for somebody for somebody that does that I vetted them they're really good and they're gonna give you a special price just because you're a client of mine, thank you for being my customer. They're gonna do the same thing “hey you should see Carl's service” they're non competitive and because the referral comes from a trusted resource they are likely to trust the referred. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Summary: In this episode of #70secondCEO, Carl Gould challenges the common urge to discount services when launching or growing your business. Using Oprah Winfrey and Richard Branson as examples, Carl emphasizes that true experts don't lower their prices to gain traction—they lead with value and confidence. If you're an expert, price like one, and always include a high-end option in every proposal you present. Read Transcription Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. If Richard Branson or Oprah Winfrey were going to launch a mentoring program and Oprah said “hey! Listen you know I wanna, I've never done this before, I'm starting a mentoring practice where I will be mentoring people personally”. Would Oprah Winfrey have to discount her services to get market share? Think about that, she left the higher staff just to vet the opportunities, you do the same, you are an expert in your field! Charge like you're an expert in your field. Richard Branson would not, if he started in mentoring program, he's not gonna say “hey listen I just wanna get a few people in, so I would normally do this for a hundred but I'm gonna do it for twenty-five,” not doing that. So you don't have to discount your services, give the higher price option with every service or contract you put forward. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Summary: In this episode of #70secondCEO, Carl Gould explains why your business must have a top-tier, premium-level offering—regardless of whether anyone ever buys it. This “McDaddy” or white-glove service elevates your brand, creates perceived value, and acts as a powerful marketing tool. Carl walks you through how to price it (hint: double it... twice) and how it influences customer perception just like a luxury car displayed under spotlights in a showroom. Read full transcript: Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here your #70secondCEO, just over a minute of investment per day for a lifetime of results. So, here's what you need in your business. Whether somebody buys it or not you NEED to offer a VIP, or exclusive or premium service, or white glove treatment, concierge or McDaddy, or the whole enchilada. Whatever you want to term it. But you need that platinum, titanium offering where it's the highest level engagement with your company. How do you know what to charge? Take your current fee, cross a line through it, take that number, cross a line through that, double that number! So, you double it, and then you double it again and you bundle products, services and bonuses and perks that to your clientele would make that price seem reasonable. That's when you know you have a high enough price offering. Think about it, you walk into the showroom of an automobile dealership. What car do they have in the middle of the showroom , behind velvet ropes with the spotlights on it? Right, their most expensive car, which nobody ever buys. Why do they put it in the middle of the showroom? Because they know it will attract you into the showroom, you will be convinced the brand is worthwhile and then you'll go buy something else off the menu. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Summary: In this episode of #70secondCEO, Carl Gould challenges business owners to shift their focus from product obsession to customer connection. Success isn't just about what you sell—it's about how your brand makes people feel. Learn the first lesson of crafting an "obnoxious offer" and why understanding your customer's values, experiences, and perceptions is more important than the utility of your product. Whether it's a luxury watch or a smartphone, people buy for more than function—they buy for meaning. Read full transcript: Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here your #70secondCEO, just over a minute of investment per day for a lifetime of results. Because people place value on the intangibles and they place value on some of the other benefits and features that these brands offer. And they are luxury brands for a reason because they are brilliant at (they are brilliant at) connecting with their customer and having a great customer experience. And that's a lot of why they are so successful at doing that. So I need to warn you, here's the first lesson in the obnoxious offer, ok? Many of you are too in love with your product or service. You're too emotionally connected to it, and you feel that's the main reason why people are doing it for the utility of the product. Well that's not always the case, remember? A watch is more than a time-piece, it's jewelry, it's a status symbol. The phone is no longer a phone, try calling your kids you'll find out a phone is not a phone! Because they don't answer and they don't call you back. Right? So, hey Dad I'm busy on my device, no I called you on your phone, no that's not a phone, it's a device. I got it, ok. So, what I want you to do is think a little bit differently. Fall in love with your customer, fall in love with your customer again, meaning - what's important to them? Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Summary: In this episode of #70secondCEO, Carl Gould shares a simple framework for building a consistent social media presence by balancing timeless (evergreen) and timely (real-time, relevant) content. Discover how to save time and energy by outsourcing your timeless posts while focusing your creative efforts on timely content. Plus, learn Carl's 5x5x5 strategy: 5 posts a day, 5 days a week, on 5 platforms—a scalable formula for social media success. Read full transcript: Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. What we do is, we look at social media in the standpoint of timeless and timely. Timeless social media is evergreen content. Right? Talking about Easter, talking about Christmas, talking about Passover, talking about New Year's day, talking about Fourth of July, right? Timeless. Right. Now what we have found is, you know, social media is–it's a relentless effort. You've got to stay on it. If there's a lot of content, it's hard to do. Right. So what we have found is that you can farm out your timeless social media very easily. There's a lot of resources out there for it. And it's the timely social media that takes a lot of your time, energy, effort and creativity and last, right? So we like to look at it both ways. We'd like to have a really good timeless social media chromic. Timeless social media. And ours, what we do is we post five times a day, five days a week on five platforms. Five times five times five. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Summary: In this episode of #70secondCEO, Carl Gould breaks down a simple but powerful time management formula to help leaders get others to perform at a high level. Using the 20-20-60 Rule, Carl shows how to divide your time: 20% coaching, mentoring, and empowering your team 20% strategic thinking and planning 60% doing your core responsibilities You'll learn how to become the center of a coaching ecosystem—managing up, coaching across, and empowering down. This framework helps leaders scale results and build stronger teams. Read full transcript: Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here your #70secondCEO, just over a minute of investment per day for a lifetime of results. You need to get others to perform at a high level. That means you have to empower them, that means you have to coach them, guide them, and mentor them. So let me give you a couple of statistics here to play around with a couple of formulas how you spend your time. Alright, you are gonna take on in Stage 3 here, is “How well do you get others to perform at a high level?” So I'm gonna give you a little time management formula called 20-20-60: 20% of your time, 20% of your time, 60 % of your time. So in Stage 3, 20% of your time should be spent coaching, guiding, enabling, mentoring others to make them better. You ever hear the expression “you have to manage up and coach up?” That's right. You coach, you're a manager on how to interact with you better. You coach your stakeholders, your colleagues, the people that you deal with on a regular basis that are one degree of separation from you. And if there's anyone that does report to you, you coach and empower down as well. So you become the center of a coaching and empowerment network or ecosystem. And that's how you're gonna make them better. 20% of your time on coaching, mentoring, guiding, and enabling. 20% of your time on strategic thinking: How do I make things better? How do I plan? How do I set goals? And how do I achieve those goals? And then 60% of your time on your job description. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more, my name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Summary: In this episode of #70secondCEO, Carl Gould shares insights from a decades-long study showing a major shift in what drives business value. Back in 1974, 95% of value came from tangible assets. Today, it's the opposite—72% of value now comes from intangibles like brand equity, intellectual property, and mission. Carl highlights how companies like TOMS thrive not just on product quality but on brand promise and purpose. The takeaway? Don't just polish your product—build a brand people believe in. That's what makes your business truly valuable. Read the full transcript: Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here your #70secondCEO, just over a minute of investment per day for a lifetime of results. There was a study done in 1974 by the Sloan school of business and they said, “What drives value in a business? And 95% of what drove value 40 and 50 years ago, was the TANGIBLES of the business, its physical assets. Well let's fast forward to today. A follow up on those 10,000 companies and the second part of the study showed that 72% of what drives value in business is its INTANGIBLES. Its intellectual property, its brand equity, its brand promise. Toms shoes- is it the shoes? Or is it the fact that that company goes out and for every pair of shoe you buy, they buy a second pair and they give it to an underprivileged child somewhere else in the world. Which one do you think it is? So stop falling in love with your product or service. Yes, you want your product to be impeccable. You want your service delivery to be outstanding. No question about it. Logistically, we want those things to run well. Understand though, people will pay more, they will pay more for the other aspects of working with you. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more, my name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Summary: In this episode of #70secondCEO, Carl Gould breaks down the often overlooked “NO systems”—the internal operations that keep your business running behind the scenes. These include everything from email and payroll to HR and accounting—critical functions that don't directly generate revenue but support the systems that do. Carl also emphasizes the importance of building and developing the right team: people who align with your company, fit their roles, and are trained for future growth. A well-aligned team supercharges both your YES and NO systems. If they're not performing, it may be a leadership issue—your systems, your responsibility. Read full transcript: Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here your #70secondCEO, just over a minute of investment per day for a lifetime of results. Then we have the NO systems. The NO systems are “No, this is not what we get paid for.” These are all the support systems that helps the technical aspects of your business run. So, your email systems, security, benefits, you know, paying all the bills, accounting, payroll, those sorts of things, HR functions, anything that supports the Yes systems is a NO system. And think of it this way. It's all the work you would have to do today if there were no customers. What would still have to be done? That is a NO system. Third part of this quadrant is your TEAM. They have to be right for the company, right for the job, and trained and prepared for the future needs of the business. An aligned team will help you be more efficient with your Yes systems and your No systems. So think about your team for a second. If they're not right for the company or right for the job or trained and prepared for the future of the business, in the beginning, it's not their fault. It's YOURS. You haven't given them the resources or the time or the nurturing or the technical training that they need to do their job well. Take your internal clients, your customers, or sorry, your employees and work on your systems. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more, my name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Summary: In this episode of #70secondCEO, Carl Gould introduces the third core function of your business—Systems—with a focus on what he calls “YES systems.” These are the processes that fulfill your promises to clients: the services you deliver, the products you sell, the experience you create. Whether you run a hotel, retail store, or law firm, YES systems are what you get paid to do. Carl explains why this part of your business must run with clockwork precision and why consistency, predictability, and tactical execution are the keys to success. Read full transcript: Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here your #70secondCEO, just over a minute of investment per day for a lifetime of results. Third function of the business is your SYSTEMS. Remember, we have YES systems and we have NO systems. The YES systems are: YES, we have clients and we have to fulfill the orders; and YES, this is what we get paid to do So if you're a physical therapy practice, this is when you do physical therapy. If you're a hotel, this is when you have somebody check in and they lodge and they patronize your facility. If you're a retail store, this is when you're actually selling them something. If you're an attorney, you're arguing the case. You get the picture. This is what you get paid for and this is when you do client fulfillment. That's a certain type of person, a highly tactical, compliant, process driven person that runs this part of the organization and is very systematic. Very predictable, and very, very consistent. You should be able to throw away all of your clocks in the building because if I walk in and I look at your YES systems, based on what they're doing, I should be able to tell time of day, day of the week, day of the month, quarter of the year. I should be able to tell by their actions. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more, my name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
In this #70secondCEO episode, Carl Gould breaks down the second business quadrant: Income—where sales, marketing, and relationships drive growth. He explains why marketing (lead generation) and sales (lead conversion) are two distinct functions and why separating them is critical for performance. Learn how to set goals, structure your teams, and create clear accountability to optimize your revenue engine. Full Transcription Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here your #70secondCEO, just over a minute of investment per day for a lifetime of results. No. 2, Second Quadrant. Right here, INCOME. This is Sales and Marketing and all of your relationships- joint ventures, strategic alliances- these are the relationships that you bring into the business, the exposure you get for the business and at the end of the day, the leads that you generate for your business. Very, very important that you separate Sales and Marketing. They're two different functions. They're in the same quadrant but they're two different functions. Once you set the goals for the business, you turn your lead generation team loose and tell them, “You are gonna go and generate these leads.” Don't let them talk to the Sales team - How's it going? How are you closing? We don't need that conversation. Tell the Marketing team to go out, generate the leads. SALES is the tactical implementation of your marketing function. So Sales team, you take them and set them aside or whoever does your sales- your Affiliate Marketing, however you do it- and you say, “You're gonna receive this many leads throughout the course of the year. We've got to close them. We've got to turn them into a sales, and close business, LOIs, contracts, whatever you call it, agreements.” But they are the tactical implementation of your marketing function and should be treated as such. Separate Sales, separate Marketing. They're two different functions. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more, my name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
In this episode of #70secondCEO, Carl Gould challenges you to break out of your comfort zone by seeking out people who think differently than you. Whether you're a visionary, a relationship-builder, or a systems expert, growth comes from surrounding yourself with those who complement—not mirror—your strengths. Learn how stepping into unfamiliar territory sharpens your perspective, reveals new opportunities, and accelerates your development as a leader. Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here your #70secondCEO, just over a minute of investment per day for a lifetime of results. So if you're a big picture driver type person and you're results focused, you need to get around people who enjoy process. So get around professional organizers, go take that class, you know, go take that lean manufacturing, or Six Sigma class online. Get around process people, learn how they think. If you're a sales and marketing relationship type person, you really don't like the numbers and detail bugs you down, go take that accounting course. Yes, I said it. Go take the accounting course. Or coding or something that's gonna require you to do really intricate detail, model building, something that makes you focused on the tiniest little aspect. Those folks think differently and they will open your eyes to new perspectives. If you're a systems and process person, go around, go play undercover boss, alright? Go spend a week in the business of one of your colleagues, sit in on their board meetings. Think about how they, look at how they think differently and they think big or go to a growth conference and get around entrepreneurs who have wild ideas or go to an innovation center or an incubator and get around some young entrepreneurs and how their idealistic tendencies and they're thinking you'll launch its new products. It'll give you some real perspective. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more, my name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #7osecondCEO a one minute investment for a lifetime of results. In a recent video, I asked you to write down who you admire and what that person or historical figure's admirable traits, rules, and principles are. And you just introduced yourself to what you believe is your best version of yourself. That's right, you just use another person or figure or package in order to talk about what you believe are your most amazing features and where the next area of growth is for you. Ok, so you wrote down all the attributes of the person that you admire, now what I'd like you to do is: Rank yourself on a scale of 1 to 10. One low, ten high for every one of those attributes. How well are you playing that game? And then create a plan for how to get to a 10 in every one of those areas. So, comment below, and tell me what was: The top trait you are going to work on? What was your score? And, what is the first action that you are going to take going forward? This is Carl Gould, and this is your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. You are now documenting, you are now process mapping, you are codifying, you are figuring out and creating the blueprint for what they call your throughput, right from the time you get a lead to the time you get paid and everything in between, how you fulfill the order, how you satisfy your clients. That's called your throughput, you determine and systematize your throughput. I'm a huge fan of scripts and so you want to script out as much as possible. Virtually every business there are very few exceptions. There are very few businesses that are not capable of becoming an assembly line and you want. Essentially in your business, you want to build an assembly line with the most amount of certainties possible, and you want to standardize and create the most consistent results possible in your business. Okay, that's stage four. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi Everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO just over a one minute investment each day for a lifetime of results. Here we go, let's talk about your operations. To what degree are your operations running like a finely tuned machine? Give yourself a score, one being, ‘it's a train wreck!' And 10 being, a ‘finely tuned machine.' I want to hear about that. Now, you are only as good as the worst part of your process so you can only move as fast as the toughest constraint in your business. So, take a moment, write down: What is the constraint in your operations? Where is the link in the chain broken? Where is it slowing you down because you got some friction in the system there? Write it down below, like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. What is it going to mean to you when you succeed? Who are you going to become in the process? How will you grow? How will you evolve as a person and as a company? And who else will benefit from your success when you have reached the level of success you have designed? And why is it important to you that that person be positively impacted by that? So as you've heard, we've done a variety of planning here and as you've created all of these different plans, focusing on designing your future, you find that you're more clearly defining where it is you're going, and even more specifically, where are you right now? Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. So we want to make sure that we're focusing on milestones, because milestones and favoring achievement over activity will help you eliminate the competition. Let the other quote, unquote busy companies compete against each other, be among the achievement minded businesses, focus on your milestones on your achievements in advance, and you'll be among the top percentage companies. And lastly, and certainly not least, is your purpose statement. The questions we ask here to develop our purpose statement are why is this business a top priority? Why is having our service important to us? What's going to keep us up late at night and get us out of bed early? Why is it important and urgent for us to be a success in this business? Why are you doing it? What's in it for you? Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. We talked about our outcome, what is our outcome for stage one? Our outcome is to design our future and we're going to do this using our 7 stage power tools, designing our mission, vision and values. Our purpose statement is that we're going to do our business plans, our marketing plans, our sales plans, our milestones, and planning in order to give ourselves the best chance of success. So how do we do, how do we design a mission statement? Well, our mission statement, essentially we ask, why does this business exist? What are we here to do? Who are we here to serve? What is our product, our service or our unique ideas? answer those questions. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Every job starts to develop its own personality. That's how you know you're in stage four, where things happen without you, the pace of your business will actually slow a little bit, you'll come into the office and it'll seem calm, things are running smoothly, you may not be used to this, this is not the fast pace, go, go, go, go go of stage one and two, it has slowed down a little bit. Things have calmed a bit. It doesn't mean you're moving slower as a business. It means internally, you're running much more efficiently. So early in stage four, you're going to have a very internal focus, because you're building and you're creating these systems. And it's much like when you teach your kids to walk or you learn how to ride a bike, you have your hand by the seat of their pants, and by the seat of the bicycle, just in case they falter a little bit. So early on, there's a very much of an internal focus. Your sales might actually dip just a bit there, because you're going to spend time on your internal client which is your employees. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Hear what I'm saying now, because we're saying that there are no systems yet we do not want systems, it's too early. But we want a structure. And we need to be flexible. And we need to place trust in others, even when we watch and they are making mistakes. This is hard for an entrepreneur to do, especially when they're so technically savvy in their business. So self management becomes very, very important in this area. So we go on to stage four. If you make it through stage three, you go to stage four, stage four is the system's stage, a true business is born, you're going to create and manage systems with the people in the sandbox, you know you're in stage four, when you lay out the job descriptions and the tasks and the processes and the people that are already in your structure. Do them on their own. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Potential is a wonderful place to be. I got to tell you in potential, you are a legend. It's amazing–I can't believe how good I am. You know, in potential, I can make no mistakes every idea I have is freaking brilliant, right? And my god, I gotta tell you, not only am I charming and handsome, but boy I'm smart in potential, but performance is very messy. Performance is risky. You can get it wrong, or worse, you can get it right and be expected to repeat that over and over again, right? Performance is very, very messy, right? It is very risky, but it's where you are most alive. You will find out what you're all about in performance. You cannot find out what you're all about in potential. You just cannot, right? And the longer you stay in potential, the more full of shit you are. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. You may process things logically, you might be an analyst, you might be a numbers person and you do that for emotional reasons. You've heard the saying many times we buy on emotion and we rationalize, intellectually or with logic, and that's true. And it all starts out with emotion. Humans have six basic categories of motivators, those categories you will place in a hierarchy in that hierarchy. When you are deciding as to how you are going to buy or do or not buy or not do something, you will go through that checklist to make sure that each one is satisfied before you'll make that decision or not. So, if you're not making a decision, it did not feed your highest values, or it fed your lowest values which would do more to repel you from something, then draw you towards something. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. When you create your organizational chart, you will be matching people with their styles. And that's step number one, most people are going to gravitate towards the jobs that they're good at already and we're gonna, when we talk about attributes, we'll talk about the skills and what they mechanically bring to the table already people gravitate towards certain roles, because people like what they're good at. So, when you ask somebody, when you're hiring them, what you like about your job, they're going to tell you what they're good at. We tend to like what we're good at, and we tend to be good at what we like. So when building a structure, simply ask the person that you hire them. Look at the tasks here, which one do you want? Which one looks good to you? Which one do you think you would like? They will choose what they think they're good at in the beginning anyway. So in the beginning, when you're building a structure, and here's the key before you make your first hire, this is why you have to have your plan, because we do something that we call share your vision with others. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. In order to get that maximum lift, in order for you to maximize the launch of your business, you want to become what we call an MVP organization. How do you do that? You complete the stage 1 planning that we've laid out for you, and you want to complete the stage 1 planning that we referred to in the coming chapters. Become an aligned, resolved organization based on your dreams, your vision, your mission, your values, and your purpose. The more aligned you are, the more lift you will get. So, business truly is rocket science, very, very simple. You reduce the number of internal strife and internal fighting and internal misalignment or lack of alignment, and you have more thrust and greater lift to the launch of your business.s Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. So, what is mass? Mass is the amount of internal strife or misalignment or lack of alignment in the business, meaning the more internal strife, the more in fighting, the less alignment it will create more weight or more mass and won't allow for as much energy to go outward because if you have a lot of mass that means there's a lot of internal energy and you want to minimize the internal energy so you can give the most energy outward towards your customers. The more thrust, the less mass equals more lift and lift equals results, one of the results you're committed to, one of the results you're getting and fortunately or unfortunately depending on your perspective, there are places in our lives and in our business that we wish size didn't matter. Here size matters, if you have a little bit of alignment you get a little bit of lift. If you have a lot of alignment or big alignment you get a lot of lift or big lift. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. And that analogy is that business is rocket science. I was speaking once to a group of entrepreneurs and I did not realize we had a rocket scientist in the audience and I said “come on folks, this is not rocket science, building a business is very simple and systematic” to which the person raise their hands and said I have a correction for you, I am a rocket scientist and let me tell you that business very much is rocket science and building a business, launching a business –is rocket science. So, he laid it out for me and I'll offer you this analogy as well. So his working definition of rocket science or how to launch a rocket or a business and you can refer to the formula we have on the page is that thrust over mass equals lift. Thrust divided by mass equals lift. So, what is thrust? Thrust is the energy you give to your marketplace, thrust is the amount of power and passion that you give to your clients and the amount of energy that you give outward to please your customer base. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. So as I just discussed, you have to build your business in a certain manner if you will. You need to focus in certain areas at certain times and that areas should have major focus and a minor focus and when we talk about the 7 stages you'll find that every stage has a personality. Ultimately though the business must develop its personality at every stage and then when it gets to stage 5 for example, this is where the business has fully developed its own personality and it has cut the umbilical cord from the owner, that process actually begins in stage 4 but its really stage 5 that the business begins to walk on its own. In stage 4 you're still helping your baby walk, there still training wheels on the bicycle and all though there on “their own” you're still right behind them with your hand on the bicycle seat just in case they fall. It's stage 5 that they walk, run on their own. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. To those of you who are reading this–that had ever–ever got a gift that says “some assembly required” and what have you done? This is how you've tried to put it together in the past, you've got this model airplane or bicycle, here's what you did. You did the I part, you got it and you said “wow! This is really great” that you so much for getting me this, it's exactly what I want it and then you try to implement a systems, I'll pull everything out of the box, I'll lay all my tools around and I'll put myself in the shop and then step by step I'll put this thing together. And then you'll start to realize you've got more parts laying around as you get closer and closer than you should have and you'll realize this isn't going so well. So, I've got to tighten the screws up a little bit more and I've got to maybe get a better screwdriver, you'll try all of a sudden race the quality of what your doing and then when you realize that the things should be built in 20 minutes, you've been doing it for 2 hours, you're not half way through, everyone else is wondering where is this great creation. It's only then that you say “maybe I should read the instructions”. And that's the way most people try to build the business. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Now there are a lot of patterns and we work with thousands of companies around the world at any given time and we notice patterns of success and patterns of failure. And patterns of success and businesses that aren't successful they build in the order of D, I, C and then S. Most owners and most entrepreneurs try it totally different way, god bless you entrepreneurs you have your own way, you're gonna do it your own way anyway. Here's the way most people try, most people start in the I, they try to create sales then the feedback they get for most people is you need systems. So what do they do? They run and they try to implement a system. After that it's not going so all say–say “oh we better get some controls in place because our sales aren't so good, we're losing money and we don't have any systems, we better get some controls in here. And then and only then after those three don't work out then we say “you know what, we should go back to basics and start planning. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. Looking at this particular diagram, we need to build our businesses in the following order: we need to start with the D, the direction. Think big picture first then sell your business, you'll create it later, you need to sell your business first create it later then go diametrically opposed to the controls, that's the third stop on the wheel. Build quality, build your controls, once you have very high D, very high I, very high C then and only then do you start putting in systems. Have a big vision, start selling your vision, create the quality product then put the systems in. Systems as you may notice in the 7 stages comes out in stage four, that's what makes its appearance, stage four. You need to get through stage 1, 2 and 3 first before implementing strong and rigid systems. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. That's a category of improvement there is no end,right? So you can set mini goals around that but there is no such thing as the goal of being a better father, that is a category of life improvement that you're gonna work on throughout your life inside of that you would set smaller goals that would be symptomatic of you being a better father, right? More time around homer you know read it–read bed stories to the kids, those are goals but a category of improvement is not a goal so people set a goal and there like alright I wanna be a better student, I wanna do this and they set a category of improvement, target and then they don't see results right away and then they see this goal suck, I'm not doing resolution F this, this is forget it you know but they–they're using the wrong tool and they set themselves up wrong. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. When they set goals number one is the–there's a difference between a goal and a project,right? You know or task in a project, I think once–what some people do is they'll be two vague or they'll make the goal too far out in the future and it is hard to connect with. So I wanna lose a hundred pounds, you're not gonna lose a hundred pounds and you know you might lose a hundred pounds in a year in two years, what's your 90 day goal?, right? And what is it that you can do,right? So take a goal, chunk it down put it in 90 day steps, it's been a long held coaching principle that you set goals in 90 day increments and a number of management systems that have taken that on bezels, rockefeller habits, eos, you know our rocks are priorities, you know that's a long held coaching concept, 90 day goals. So take it, chunk it down and go after smaller bits but then understand what a goal actually is? A goal is actually a destination, it is–it is a project or some sort of endeavor that has an end point, that which is different than a category of improvement, so somebody says I wanna be a better father. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
Hi everyone, Carl Gould here with your #70secondCEO. Just a little over a one minute investment every day for a lifetime of results. It's the companies that are not aligned with their clientele or don't really understand their clientele you know and the experience has gotten stale those are the ones that are suffering. You know right now they talk about retail like why's retail suffering? Well they say amazon and online shopping, am like oh oh well wait a minute there's plenty of retail outlets that are doing really well because the client experience is very good. What online shopping did was they made part of the shopping experience a commodity and retail has to up their game to the next generation of client experience and if they do that they'll be busy and if they don't do that they're gonna get slaughtered. Like and follow this podcast so you can learn more. My name is Carl Gould and this has been your #70secondCEO.
In this episode of The Deal Scout, host Susan Reilly sits down with Carl Gould, founder of 7 Stage Advisors, whose entrepreneurial journey started at just 18 years old with a landscaping business—and a broken leg. From humble beginnings to mentoring over 5,000 businesses worldwide, Carl's story is packed with unexpected lessons, strategic pivots, and game-changing insights.Carl shares the early moments that shaped his success, including a pivotal realization that simply showing up gave him a competitive edge. He dives into the importance of business planning, how most companies—even million-dollar enterprises—operate without one, and why differentiation is essential for long-term growth. With his signature guarantee model, Carl turned industry standards on their head and charged a 35% premium, out-hustling competitors with clean proposals, fast turnarounds, and relentless consistency.Susan and Carl discuss the origin of his entrepreneurial drive, rooted in a family legacy of self-starters, including his mother's pioneering efforts in network marketing. Carl also opens up about relationship missteps in business, the cyclical nature of professional networks, and how he ultimately built a consultancy designed not just to advise, but to execute side-by-side with clients.Discover why most businesses grow in 18-month cycles, how 7 Stage Advisors embeds with clients to drive results, and what makes a company truly investable. Plus, Carl shares personal passions—from his love of live events and outdoor adventures to a family tradition of annual polar plunges.If you're a dealmaker looking to invest in or grow a business—or simply want to learn from someone who has helped thousands do just that—this episode is a masterclass in strategic thinking, operational execution, and entrepreneurial grit.Tune in to learn how showing up, asking the right questions, and having a clear plan can take your business to the next level.Reach out to connect with Bryan or to be a guest on the show to SusanNext Steps Share your thoughts with a review - https://www.thedealscout.com/reviews/ Let's connect on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-reilly-64150722a/ Subscribe and Watch on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBQN_Y3nhDGClfMxCSBDjOg Disclaimer: The content shared on this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as financial, legal, or tax advice. The views and opinions expressed are those of the host, Susan Reilly, and any guests, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency or organization. Susan Reilly is a licensed real estate broker, but this podcast is not a substitute for professional advice. We strongly recommend that you consult with a qualified financial advisor, legal counsel, and tax professional before making any financial decisions or taking any actions based on the information provided in this podcast.