Business Coach | Repeatable Systems, Process, and File Organization
Audio Transcription
Find out form business coach Clay Clark and Dr. Robert Zoellner why it is so important for you to put repeatable systems into your business so you can one day let go of the wheel and finally have financial and time freedom!
Podcast Transcript
Clay: All right, Tulsa. Welcome back to the thrive time show. This is your favourite two hours of power every day. We are so thankful, so blessed, so excited, so encouraged to be with you here on this magical Monday. We’re going to be teaching you how to build these repeatable business systems. Specifically, today we’re going to be getting into repeatable systems, processes and file organisation.
Sam here might be going ba ba ba ba ba, but the thing is- I’m going to tell you this, this right here is– this is the difference between making thousands versus making millions. This right here, if you can’t build repeatable systems, this is a no go, as an example for lunch– Many of you are going to go over there to Oklahoma Joe’s. Now, you’re going to go to Oklahoma Joe’s for lunch and you’re going to grab the world’s best baked beans.
Let me tell what, if he was the one making all of the beans and he was the one cooking all of the burnt ends, then he would have to charge, I don’t know, $50 for a meal in order to be on a hit on his financial goals, maybe $500 a meal. Now, he just charges $850 for a great lunch. This is a game-changing move, if you know how to build a repeatable systems.
Robert: It’s a game-changing move. It doesn’t sound as fun and as exciting. On Friday we had a great show. We talked about the four season moves in sales and we talked about the seven power steps of what you’ve got to do to make a sense– [crosstalk]
Clay: The Power moves.
Robert: The power moves to pump up your sales. [unintelligible 00:01:33] that’s fine– sales and marketing that’s fun. This is that inner working behind the closet that you never go into, but you know the stuff in there is really important for the comfort, the welfare of your home is that closet.
Clay: This feels a lot like buying life insurance. This is what the show feels like.
Robert: No offense to all the life insurance salesmen out there.
Clay: Yes. This was one of those necessary. I’ll tell you this, it’s not like on a Saturday when you’re getting your oil changed on your car. You appreciate if your [unintelligible 00:02:03] making a popcorn for you and having a sprite available, but no one– there’s a general people, aren’t super excited and saying, “I can’t wait.”
Robert: [laughs] I can’t wait. But you know what? This is the perfect topic probably for a Monday.
Clay: Yes. It’s a great Monday.
Robert: I know you had a great weekend, I know it’s a super bowl week this week, I know you’re super excited about super bowl week, a lot of supers in that little lead up right now, but it’s Monday and I know you had a great weekend Clay, any highlights from the weekend? I know you probably had some chicken, you did some-
Clay: Well, one is, we just finished publishing the book ‘Dear job’ a look under the hoodie of Bill Belichick. It’s a book-
Robert: Oh. It’s a clever name.
Clay: It’s a management mastery book but it’s kind of a– Bill Belichick always says, “Do your job.” Do you hear what I’m saying? Do your job and so-
Robert: That’s a crazy talk.
Clay: Carina is it possible? Can we get the cover down here real quick? Can I put that– this is the look at the cover. This book will be on Amazon here before the super bowl. Very exciting time and-
Robert: But that’s not Carina, that’s Sam.
Clay: That’s it— What in the world, kind of a hairy hand to be Carina. That’s a massive hand.
Robert: [laughs] [unintelligible 00:03:06] A lumberjack toading hand down.
Clay: I want to pass this over to you. There it is. Do your job. You’re loving it? Look at the Facebook live!
Robert: Oh. Yes, a look under the hoodie. You know what, are you going to send him a copy?
Clay: I think I’m going to. Yes.
Robert: Why not?
Clay: It’s a thing. The thing is, you always say, what would Z do? A lot of his principals– you’ll find that you and Bill Belichick are like the same person. I’ve never seen you two at the same time, so, I’m convinced that you’re throwing on a hoodie and getting out there and coaching football on many Sundays. That’s what I feel like.
Robert: Falcons are a great team and we’re going to have to bring our best to get them-
Clay: Basically, it summarizes Bill Belichick’s feedback about any team ever.
[laughter]
Robert: I know, it’s so awesome. it gives nothing away, there’s no photos, there’s no billboard stuff for the locker rooms they are posing for, team. It’s always has that same cadence, that same voice [crosstalk] cut up hoodies, “Dude, really?”
Clay: Everyone on the team could be injured or might not be injured. [unintelligible 00:04:07] probable or to refuses to co-operate. It’s a lot of fun. I’m excited about it, I would tell, I’m excited headed in here to the weekend for the super bowl. Do you have a prediction? Do you feel like that if there’s one team in your mind, you’re going, “This team is a–” Do you want to bet on the air? Do you want to bet on the air that there’s going to be a team that’s going to win this thing?
Robert: Well, I know there is. I told you, if the Cowboys and the Patriots are playing it, I would go to the super bowl. One of my predictions is that, I definitely know that the Cowboys are not playing in the super bowl.
Clay: You continue to be negative and you’re picking the wound, my friend. Picking the wound.
Robert: Dude, I tell you what? I know my boys there, they look great this year, they just didn’t get– wait, this is isn’t sports radio but do you have prediction though? I do have a prediction.
Clay: Yes. Okay.
Robert: That, I think the Falcons have actually put the depth this year.
Clay: Are you going to say they’re going to win?
Robert: I’ll take the Falcons and you get the Patriots and we’ll play for a lunch at Oklahoma Joe’s.
Clay: Oklahoma Joe’s? Okay.
Robert: Oklahoma Joe’s, I want burnt ends, I want a beverage of my choice and I want baked beans. What do you get if the Patriots win?
Clay: If the Patriots win what I would like to do is, I would like to have some Oklahoma Joe’s and I would like to have a sucker from Regent bank. I would like to know that you personally– and you can’t delegate it. You can’t use one of your repeatable systems. You have to drive over there and personally get the Oklahoma Joe’s baked.
None of your menians, none of your teammates, none of your hundred of employees can do it. You have to personally bring over the Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans and the burnt ends and a sucker from Regent bank, Tulsa’s number one bank for business.
Robert: It is. It’s my bank, I love banking there and there’s such great staff, [unintelligible 00:05:44] a lot of people’s milk route right there at the corner of the semi [unintelligible 00:05:48] so much banking online that you don’t have to go to the bank all the time. But which flavour of sucker would– do you have a preference or just [crosstalk]
Clay: It’s definitely going to be grape. It’s going to be grape, I tell you that.
Robert: Oh, I didn’t even know. I didn’t know there’s your go to.
Clay: I’ll tell you one little move here before we get into these repeatable systems here. A little fun fact. Did you know that Regent bank is one of the fastest growing banks in the country and in fact they’re growing seven times the rate of the national average bank right there? Seven times faster my friend. This is just it.
Robert: Award-winning at that. I tell you what? Sean Kouplen, he is a great CEO over there. Great guy. You know he’s one of our mentors actually on thrive15.com. You may ask yourself, a mentor on thrive15.com? What does that mean?
Clay: What? Yes. Now, what does that mean?
Robert: Well, we started the world’s best business school. The world’s best.
Clay: True. Yes.
Robert: I will stand behind that. If you want to Indian [unintelligible 00:06:36] over that? We’ll get Sam to do it. Our lumberjack, he is pretty good in [unintelligible 00:06:41] leg wrestler, so I hear. The world’s best business school online for only– is it $100,000, Clay?
Clay: No. We’ve actually worked with some people, we’ve reduced the cost a little bit. We’ve been able to pull the cost down from– $100,000 is a typical business college. We thought, “See if we can lower it just a little bit.”
Robert: Okay. We then get to 50, I’m trying to remember, did we get to 50,000? Half?
Clay: We try to get to 50, we’re talking to people, and I know a guy. I went over there and talked to the guy and said, “Hey, listen. Do you want me to bring a lead pipe into this conversation? Are you going to give the thrivers a better deal than that?” He says, “I will see what I can do.” Now we’re now on under 50. But I think we’ve recently– I was just looking at– apparently, on the website right now we’re down to $19.
Robert: What?
Clay: $19 to subscribe to the world’s best business school.
Announcer: Broadcasting live from the center of the universe, you’re listening to the thrive time show.
Robert: How can we– is that sustainable? Can we do it for $19 a month? Is that even-?
Clay: Well, step one, you want to put about $2 million into travelling all around the world and filming the world’s best business leaders. If you want to film them. Step two, you want to have a 20,000 square foot facility for the thrivers who want to come to in-person workshops. Step three, you got to have a full-time team of people that can help thrivers execute, because once you know what to do-
Robert: Analyse your websites and fix things and- Yes.
Clay: Graphic design and all the print pieces, it’s the entire– what we’d call the vertical integration we were talking about the other day. If I’m a poor local pool company let’s say, and I go, “I know what I need to do.” But you still don’t have a full-time web guy, a full-time video guy and a search engine guy, and a PR person, we do it all for you. That’s really how we did it. It’s very sustainable, very successful, it’s thrive15.com, it’s in-person, it’s online, it’s on the podcast, they also offer one on one business coaching, it’s a game changer.
Robert: Well, are we crazy to offer that at $19 a month? Most people spend more than that like in star bucks. I mean, lote lote moka moka choka, lote or whatever.
Clay: You taught me this, but we threw our [unintelligible 00:08:41] clinic. You wanted to make it work for 99 bucks, people can come in for a one eye exam and for a pair of glasses. You said values [unintelligible 00:08:51]. You always want to offer people a value, help people out, make it affordable for everybody and that’s what we decided to do. We’ve built repeatable systems, which is what we’re talking about today. We’re talking about creating repeatable systems and I have a song that I want to dedicate to you and to the thrivers all out-
Robert: Me?
Clay: To you and to the thrivers all over the world. I want to que it up here. Here is the deal, once you build a repeatable system the members of your team will soon discover, they are not the only one.
Robert: They’re not the only one.
Clay: You’re going to discover– “Hey listen, there’s other people who can do the thing. There’s other people who can make the sales calls, other people who can do the marketing, other people who can execute the systems, other people who can help the patients find the frames, the stylish glasses, other people who can make the chicken, other people who can serve the meal, they’re going to discover that they are not the only one my friend. [music]
Robert: You say I’m crazy?
Clay: Yes. Your teammates may be saying, “Hey, listen I’m not the only one. You mean there’s somebody else? There’s somebody else?” Yes. there is somebody else. There’s somebody else who can do the system.
Robert: That’s what we teach you on the Thrive time show on thrive15.com and in our in-person workshops and one-on-one business coaching. We teach you– listen, you can’t just eat everything you kill. We’re not talking, “No, this is not an outdoor wilderness show,” it’s not that.
It’s a metaphor for the saying that, “If I only saw or made money on patients that I answer the phone on, that I helped myself, that I greeted, that I pre-tested, that I loaded in the room, that I gave an eye exam to, that I didn’t taught them how to put contacts in and out, then I went over helped pick out glasses then I went back in the lab and made them. I wouldn’t see that many people in a day.
Clay: In a [unintelligible 00:10:40] auction where you guys are selling a thousand cars or 700 cars on a Friday, if you were the one who was detailing every car, doing the title work on every car, selling every car– you can probably get it done if you had worked a 48-hour day.
Robert: [laughs] I didn’t even know I could get it done by working 48 hours in a day, I’d have to move from the planet Claytron and work 132 hours in a day.
Clay: Here’s the deal, is whether you’re an optometrist or you’re in the automotive business or you’re in the haircut business, everything can be turned into a repeatable system. Somebody might be listening right now and you might be saying, “I don’t know, is everything repeatable in business, could everything truly be built–?” Here’s a good example, do you remember Walt Disney, have you ever heard that name, Walt? Am I saying it wrong, are you not getting it?
Robert: No, it just like something is stuck in your throat, is it?
Clay: Walt Disney.
Robert: Walt?
Clay: Yes. Walt.
Robert: Yes, I have heard of Mr. Disney.
Clay: Check it out, he was a good artist. He drew mickey mouse, but think about this, to make animated movies back in the day, you had to draw the same thing 60 times slightly different just to make a circuit of movie. Could you imagine what it would feel like, “I’m at drawing number two, here we go it’s sort of changed to the mouse’s ear, drawing number three.” If you ever made a mistake– God forbid, the whole thing would just [unintelligible 00:12:02] .
Eventually he had to teach the guy next to him who had–by the way, was he super rich? No. He had to find another guy and say, “Hey guy, here’s the deal, this is how we draw a mickey mouse. ” And the guy is like, “Okay, but I’ve never drawn before, get over here [unintelligible 00:12:15]. Then he had to teach another guy, and do you understand that when he made the movie Bambi, they made– I’m not even exaggerating, the movie took several years.
He had a team of people working for several years drawing hundreds of thousands of the same pictures. Now, let’s just say that, you’re artist number one, I’m artist number two, what if my Bambi was slightly different, would it be kind of a schizophrenic movie? Bambi just keeps getting bigger and smaller and bigger and smaller, different colors. They had a standardized drawing, think about that, they had to standardize the process of drawing.
I can’t think of anything harder to do, but he did it and then he realized, “I could build a theme park and I could standardize a great experience. I can standardize anything.” Now, the key to Walt Disney’s success was not being a great animator, but it was teaching other people how to become great animators and how to get a team to work together, to make great quality family entertainment.
Robert: Well, apparently he succeeded, because I for one, they’ve got some of my money in Walt Disney company.
Clay: I’ll tell you what, every time you go there you have to almost get a home equity line just to afford those big pretzels, the big soft pretzels, what are they, four or five grand now? I don’t know. Just stay tuned, thrivetimeshow.com.
[pause]
Clay: All right, green country, Oklahoma, Tennessee, what’s going on? Welcome back to the Thrive time show, this is your radio programmer, we teach you how to start and grow a successful business. My name is Clay Clark, I’m the former SPA entrepreneur of the year sent here by Scripts radio to teach you how to make your wallet expand. I’m telling you what, if you’re talking about wallet expansion, you’re talking about a guy– Back in the day when Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire were competing in that homerun Derby, they had America fixated, we were going, “Who’s going to break the record, who’s going to do it?”
There was a summer of love where you saw this huge men hitting absurd numbers of homeruns, we all secretly thought, “They’re probably on steroids.” We all thought that, and we’d say, “Come on, they’re truly not on steroids.” Well, that’s how I feel about Dr. Robert Zoellner, he goes into the optometry game and he blows it up, he blows that thing, it’s just boom like that handing bag, it just blows up like that massive blimp back in the day just and then he goes-
Robert: I’m all pumped up on steroids.
Clay: You’re going to the auto auction business and you do it again and then you go over there to the ranch business and you do it again. I’m going, “There is no way, ” then he goes into the durable medical business, then he goes in, he just keeps moving into businesses and blowing it up. The thing is you have to ask yourself, one, is he on steroids? is this guy on some serious roids or does he know a proven system that allows him to create repeatable business processes.
Z, I’ve [unintelligible 00:15:07]. For people who are on Facebook Live right now, they know you’re beautiful, you’re strong and in Spanish it’s Z est muy fuerte. The question is– we know you’re not on steroids, what are you doing? how are you making these repeatable systems my man, how are you doing it?
Robert: How do you not know I’m not on steroids by the way? Have you blood tested me?
Clay: You’re wiry, you’re the kind of guy who you don’t want to mess with, you’re going to pull out a shive or lead pipe, you’re going to win, it’s just the deal. What I’m saying is, you’re not on steroids, your face isn’t enlarged. you don’t have a bunch of pimples and acne and various things there– you don’t have a hostile temper, so we know you’re not on roids. How are you building this repeatable systems? what are you doing? what’s your deal?
Robert: Well, you’re the beautiful thing about business Clay and the same thing you know and that’s why you’ve written the books you’ve written, we’ve done the things that we’ve done, you’re probably the world’s best business coach, in fact you are the world’s best business coach, that just in. You’ll find out, you boil it down to this. beedness is beedness is beadness.
Clay: It’s all business to me.
Robert: The whole thing is just business, there’s no steroids, it’s just business. What you find out is what you’re selling pizzas or cutting peoples hair in a high-end salon or whether you are making a widget or you’re selling vacation homes. Whatever you’re doing it all boils down to the same simple step. The thing about it is what we coach people up here every day, all day and what’s in our heart, is to tell you about those, because there’s a little thing out there called Forbes.
They’re a big deal in the business world and they’ve done a study and the study came back and it said 57% of you listening out there– we bantered this number around most [inaudible 00:16:52] are saying to themselves right now, you’re driving in your car to lunch, you’re sitting at your desk in your office, you’re doing something, maybe at your house folding laundry.
I don’t know what you’re doing right now but you’re listening to the show and you’re saying to yourself , “They’re talking to me, I want to start my own business and 2017 is going to be the year,” You’re going to get her done but we not only want you to start it. because there’s a horrible horrible horrible horrible number out there Clay. The number is-
Clay: Eight out of ten small business owners are going to fail and that does not feel good.
Robert: Stop, that just seems mean.
Clay: It’s not a good thing.
Robert: It’s not a good thing, we hate that, I hate that. I have to get all the energy up. You saved your money, you went out and borrowed money, you’ve done the things, you’re listening to the show how to make sure you get your startup money because that was a great show by the way. They’re all the podcast on thrivetimeshow.com by the way, thrivetimeshow,com.
You can go back and listen to any shows as many times as you want but the thing about it is that. not only do we want you to start your business we want you to grow your business so that you can make money and have time, freedom and financial freedom but then we also want you to keep your business open.
We want to be so successful, you work your way out of a job Clay.
Clay: Now here’s the deal thrivers, if you have thought about your business– let’s say you have a business right now or think about the business you want to have in the future. I want you to think about your biggest limiting factor, think about it for a second. What is the thing that you spend a massive amount of time doing and you’re going, “Gosh if I could just do more of that, I would make more money.”
I’m going to brag on one of our clients right now, this is a very exciting time for Property Management inc. It’s a company in Tulsa, they manage properties and this is the situation. Sean has realized that when he talks to somebody who owns a series of properties– there’s somebody who bought a series of rental houses, he realizes that when he talks to them that almost every time after they see his references and they get a chance to look at the case studies, they look at it, they go, “Hey. I want to use you.”
Every time he meets with somebody, they say, “I want to hire Property Management inc to manage my rental houses.” I’m sitting there talking to them and I’m going–every time it’s amazing how much success he’s had this year, he’s a thriver it’s so exciting. I said, “Hey, how many hours are you in appointment?” He’s like, “Oh I am going from one appointment to the next, when I’m done with that I go to the next. “
He’s thinking about driving routes and how he does it, and I said, “The next move is you have to teach somebody else now how to do the appointment.” And he’s going, “Oh yes, it’s true.” But the thing is he is so good at what he does that it’s starting to take off. If you’re listening right now and you’re saying, “I am stuck, I don’t know how to make a repeatable system.”
I want to look at your optometry clinic and I want to think about greeting people at the front desk, and from there, from the front desk until when the patient actually sees a doctor, walk me through, walk us the listeners through, walk us through some of the repeatable system you have. I walk through the door, I’m a new patient. I walk in and I say, “Hey, I’m here to schedule an exam, or to get an exam.” Walk me through. What are the systems or some of the systems that you have there?
Robert: They’re greeted by smiling, happy face eye contact. That’s a big thing in business– getting that eye-contact, because people get their head down, they act like they want to ignore you, and even if they’re busy, giving them that eye contact and even letting them know from the phone, or if you’re doing, you’re dealing with somebody else, just giving them a little eye contact, and holding up your finger, and saying, “I’ll be right with you,” silently. That just settles them down, because nobody likes to be ignored.
First off all, you’ve got to– and I love the businesses, and there’re several of them around town, that when you walk in, it’s their job, at the counter, it’s to welcome you to the business. I just went in Louie’s the other day, that little restaurant over here, by the river walk, and as soon as you walk in, everybody’s like, “Hey, welcome to Louie’s. Have a seat anywhere you want.” It’s the same, repeatable thing every time.
We greet them at the door, Clay, and then we ask them what they’re doing and why are they there that day, because obviously, if they’re there to pick up glasses, it’s a different thing than if they’re there to get an eye exam, or if they’re there to fill in the blank. Then they listen to that, and then, if they’re there to get an eye exam, and they give them their chart, they give them a piece of paper, say, “We need some information, it’s your first time here–“
Clay: It’s all written down?
Robert: Yes, it’s all written down.
Clay: This whole system is written down.
Robert: It’s written down.
Clay: If I got hired tomorrow and I have a sound mind, and that’s it if, but if I get hired to do that, my job is to greet people. How many hours would it take to train somebody who wants to learn? How long would it take somebody to learn that system?
Robert If you’re not a complete idiot?
Clay: Yes, this is the first part of greeting people.
Robert Not long at all. First hour, and I’m sure-
Clay: Okay, but I know some businesses they say, “Basically, what you have to do if you’re going to be somebody who answers my phone. You see, I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and what you would have to do is you’d have to be here for 25 years to answer all the profound questions that customers typically ask, which is why my system is not scaleable, doctor Zoellner, okay? I have a very complicated business, and when we come back, I want to know, how would you solve my business, because my business is so complicated. It takes me like almost typically two or three years to train somebody.”
Robert [laughs]
Clay: You hear this all the time, don’t you?
Robert You do, and that’s what we’re going to change, coming right back, Thrive Time Show.
[pause]
Clay: All right, Thrive Nation. One, two, three. You are back at the radio, listening to myself. My name is Clay Clark, I’m a former SBA entrepreneur of the year, in your ear, sent here to teach you how to start and grow a successful business, and I’m joined with the optometrist turned tycoon, and the man. People, they simply, not just you, the listener, not just me, but they. They’re now calling him, “He’s the godfather of Tulsa business.
He’s the guy who knows more about business than any other Tulsan. He is doctor Robert Zoellner. I swear, I swear he’s very good.” [unintelligible 00:23:14] really. I tell you what, but today, on a Monday, we’re going to make you an offer. You can’t refuse, and if you refuse it, you could be in trouble, or something like that. Talk to Z, I will tell you, your low neck sounds great, that you’ve been drinking all that tea, you sound great.
You don’t sound [unintelligible 00:23:33], so today, please teach the Thrivers. Teach us about repeatable systems. We’re talking about your business, your optometry clinic. People are coming in the front door. You have a system now for how the customers are supposed to be greeted. What’s the next part of the system? How do I build these repeatable systems?
Robert Once they fill out the patient information form, they come back up, but now they’re taken back in what we call the pre-test area, and then, it the pre-test area, they do certain test on this little– You guys have all heard of, or some of you’ve had it after less. Little puff of air that nobody likes, but everybody has to endure. Yes. Nobody likes it. I think some people secretly like it. Can you do that again?
Clay: I found a lot of people who’re having a bad day, they will go in there and go, “Hey, what, can I get a puff of air in my eye or what?”
Robert There we go. Is your name Vinnie? Is your name? Yes, yes. How did you know my name is Vinnie?
Clay: I swear if I love a puff in the eye, a puff of the air in the morning.
Robert [laughs]
Clay: It helps you dilate my pupil?
Robert [laughs]
Clay: I see the world better.
Robert That my coffee.
Clay: [laughs]
Robert After that, they take them in the exam room, and we do what we call the chair skills, and that is actually part of the exam. All this is part of the exam.
Clay: Chair what?
Robert Chair skills.
Clay: Chair skills.
Robert Chair skills.
Clay: Is this like a person who has an unbeliavable understanding of a chair and what makes a chair, a chair and the legs, and the backrest, and–
Robert No, no. They get the chair out and they do the hand– Like circus Ole, they do the handstand on the chairs, and they stack the chairs, they climb upon them, and they go, “Hoppa.”
Clay: That’s circus music, almost.
Robert Yes.
Clay: Nice.
Robert No, no. It’s like when you go to doctor, they measure your height and weight, the doctor doesn’t do that.
Clay: Why?
Robert Because it’s efficient to have a other person do that, even though it’s the information that the doctor helps use to formulate your diagnosis. They do that, and then when they’re finished, they leave the room, and we have a little flag system, and they mark who’s going to be next, and what doctor, and all this stuff, and now, we’ve gone kind of paperless. Now, it’s all on the computers, once they fill out– We probably should go even paperless on that.
Maybe give them some iPads or something, they come in and fill out. I’m thinking about my system right now, going, “How can we make it better? Here we have a paperless system. When you walk in the door, we give you piece of paper.”
Clay: For those of you who have come to an in-person Thrive Time Workshop, if you turn to page 105 of your Boom Book–
Robert Okay, wait a second I get my book.
Clay: Just from the Boom Pook that you get at the Thrive Time in-person wookshops-
Robert Back here on the Boom Book.
Clay: The Boom Book. It is our 13 proving play. It’s like a playbook for business.
Robert 105?
Clay: Page 105, yes. There’s a cartoon we drew in there and I love this, because–
Robert Oh my gosh, this is funny.
Clay: It says, “Come work for the great Zam Boozle.” He’s kind of a character–
Robert That’s Z. This is a Z.
Clay: There’s a Zam Boozle. [unintelligible 00:26:11] marketing. He says, “Look, folks, it’s easy. You put on the blindfold, you juggle these knives, you become ambidextrous, and hit golf balls, and get a hole in one every time.” He’s trying to teach somebody else how to do it, and the whole point is that, so often, I see business owners who make stuff super complicated. I’m going to tell you some stupid stuff that I used to do, Z, and I hope you don’t mock me too much. Okay, are you ready for this?
Robert Oh. I love it when I get to mocking.
Clay: This is what I did at DJ connection back in the day. I would– and this is my idea of delegating, okay?
Robert Okay.
Clay: Every time I would answer the phone, I would– I got to a point where over about three or four years– It took me about three years to figure it out, but after about three years, if I talked to somebody and I wanted to book the event, I would book it, just every time. What I did is I got this thing called the money phone. It’s a green phone.
Robert A money phone.
Clay: It’s called the money phone. It’s a green phone. Like the old Batman had a red phone, commissioner Gordon? Mine is a green phone.
Robert Man,[unintelligible 00:27:03] . It’s important.
Clay: The Green Horn, I used to call it. The Green Horn, and if the phone would ever ring, I would yell, “Phone.” I’m not kidding, I would yell, “Phone.” As soon as it would ring, no matter where’s the, “Phone,” and then anybody who’s nearby had to answer the phone, they go, “Thank you for calling DJ Connection, this is the amazing DJ Garrett, how can I help you?” And as soon as the customer would say something, like, “How much do you cost,” or, “What do you charge.”
He would go, “That’s an awesome question, let me get your name real quick, and I’m going to grab one of our sales team members.” Then they would immediately pass the phone to me, and I didn’t care who I was talking to, or what I was talking about, I would hang up, and I would answer the money phone, and I’d booked that wedding, and I would type all the notes right there, and I’d pass to a guy to do the paperwork. I delegate the paperwork, I delegate to answer the phone, but this way, I would book everything.
Part of it was sort of a genius, because now I work with a lot of medical clinics, and do you guys– if you’re listening right now, do you know what’s Consumer Reports has said about people leaving voicemails? Consumers today do not leave voicemails, and if they don’t get somebody to answer on the first four or five rings, they’re not going to call. They’ll call another provider.
Announcer: Broadcasting live from the center of the universe. You’re listening to the Thrive Time Show.
Clay: Seriously, going to major corporations where no one answers the phone, ever, and I built the business at DJ Connection where we would always answer the phone on like, the first ring. That was the move, okay? That was a good thing, but then, there was no script, it was just me. It would be up until six o’clock at night. I’d go, “Phone,” and they passed me the phone, I book it. Eventually–
Robert Yes, that’s a great move.
Clay: Eventually, I wrote a script, and here’s what my script said.
Robert Okay, here is the script.
Clay: Imagine that you came to work here, this is what I would do, I’d say to Z, “It’s four parts sale system, very easy. Step one, you need to build rapport.”
Robert Rapport.
Clay: Step number two, and usually the person is like a rapport? What does that mean? Seriously.
Robert [unintelligible 00:28:54]
Clay: The step two, you got to find their needs. Step three, tell them the benefits of what DJ Connection does, and step four, you got to close it, okay?
Robert Yes, and that is like, “Okay.” I’m sitting, so I’m, “Okay, you give me that system, right, okay.” Phone’s ringing, I pick up and I go, “Hey, you, use a may go and hang out, and have a call in, okay, and what can I do you for, and by today–“
Clay: As soon as you get off the phone, I would then look at you and I’d say, “Hey, here’s the deal. You need to focus more on being positive and motivational, because brides buy confidence and positivity,” I would talk for like an hour and a half to you about motivation, and positivity, and generalities, and hyperbole, and then it would just happen over and over, and then, this magic thing happens, Z. Do you know what happens, Z?
Robert Did I get to walk on hot coals?
Clay: No, this is what happened. I read this book, back in the day, called Soft Selling in a Hard World-
Robert Hard World.
Clay: -this is what the book did for me. It taught me that if you write a specific detailed script, you can actually teach almost anybody how to do your sales for you. And the irony was, I had previously worked at direct TV-
Robert: Yes.
Clay: -in a call center, where everything was scripted and it never occurred to me to script my own systems. Why Z? Why did that happen to me and a lot of people out there? Why is it that we’re not scripting things?
Robert: Well, because someone didn’t remind you to do it. And that’s what we’re going to do in this show, because lots of the stuff you’re going to hear us tell you to do, you’ll be like, “You know, I heard that before.” Or, “I think I’ve read that in a book once.” Or, “I saw that online.”
Clay: It’s almost like a ‘Captain Obvious’– I know that I need to write a script, but have you done it?
Robert: Yes, have you done it? How simple was it? Write it out and and have someone read it, make sure it makes sense. Sometimes also detects that I’ll look back and go, “Oh my Gosh, I did that and it didn’t even make sense.” I hit the auto correct, the this, the that, the things happened and you’re like– you know what you’re thinking in your head, but what came out of your thumbs is totally different.
Clay: Totally different. Here’s the thing thrivers– if you’re listening right now and you’re going, “Okay, I get the idea, I need to build repeatable systems.” Once you start to do it, there’s these certain predictable mess-ups that are going to happen. You want to stay tuned because you don’t want to make this predictable mess-ups. Z and I have seen it over and over again and we want to teach you how to avoid those mess-ups.
Robert: I’m still trying to figure out what this rapport thing is, I’m supposed to do step one, rapport. What, I rap to him-
Clay: If you’re confusing rapport and rappore, stay tuned on Thrive Time Show.
[pause]
Clay: All right thrive nation, what is going on? Welcome back into the conversation. We’re teaching you how to build a repeatable business system, so that you can increase your compensation on a really kind of a deeper level here. Let’s just say, you’re listening today and you want to start a business– according to Forbes, 57% of you want to start or grow a successful company.
Let’s say that for years, you’ve been making some awesome pizza and word has got out, I mean word-of-mouth has begun to spread, and now, more and more people are coming back to your pizzeria. It is growing, and then eventually you hit this thing called, “The law of the lid.” Where it is, you can’t do anymore as the business owner, you’re going, “I personally I’m making as many pizzas as I can make.” So you have two options, either one, you let your quality slip, you know, where you begin doing 80% of everything because you can’t keep up. You [unintelligible 00:32:28] to fall apart.
Robert: And that’s one of the things that just drives you crazy. Though some people say, “Well, you know, we can’t do quantity because we’re all about the qualities. Quality is what we care about, so I can only make 12 pies a day, you know, that’s all I can make. So, it’s all about the quality here at Bob’s pizzeria. And you know, if I’m not handcrafting your crust, it’s not a Bob’s pizza.”
Clay: I see this all the time. I see it all the time and I’ll tell you what, as you begin to build these reputable systems, you’re going to run into these three predictable problems. What’s going to happen is you begin to build systems because once you build the systems such as, it is just an example, let’s say Z that your pizza recipe is awesome.Okay.
Robert: Of course it’s a bob’s pizzeria.
Clay: And I’m not even exaggerating on this one, this is 100% true.I used to work at a place called, the scope, the pizza factory in downtown cokato, Minnesota.
Haven’t talked about this forever. And then there is my mom, my first jobs downtown cokato, Minnesota. Shortly after I’d been fired from the Norsemen for working at that restaurant.
On the recipe, the way it was written everything was in jargon Z, so it would say —
Robert: That drives me crazy.
Clay: — everything was in abbreviation, so as I’m reading it, by the way if you are sixteen-year-old kid and you’re working at a pizzeria place called the pizza factory, and you have a hard — you’re paid, you’re making minimum wage. Okay, there’s no bonuses, there’s no chance to improve, and do you know how much curiosity does the average kid have to go? I wonder what that means.
This is what I would do, if I didn’t know I would just guess.
Robert: Well, and why wouldn’t you?
Clay: Yes, and they specialized on having the freshest homemade dough, and the freshest homemade, you know, was it marinara? And I remember sometimes I would serve it, and people would you watch their faces and they would go, “Oh my God, what is this?” It was just close enough man, because I couldn’t understand that I didn’t know the recipe.
Robert: Give me an example of the jargon they had the pizza factory —
Clay: Well now we’re going back to close to about 20 years ago. I just remembered that, like you know they would say flour and you knew that it was flour because of a big F-L-R, and there are not too many ingredients around here like flour.Well, then there’s baking powder and baking soda.
Robert: Yes. B-P and B-S.
Clay: But there’s is really the difference between the baking powder and baking soda, isn’t that the thing?
Robert: I think so.
Clay: And there was something we were baking there that said like baking s or something and baking — some abbreviation and there is a time i was putting it in, and I screwed up a massive quantity of stuff, and the owner was like, “what are you doing? This stands for this and that stands for that,” and I’m going Okay.
Robert: Why didn’t you just insert it out?
Clay: And so, this is how his office — this week we have audio — Somehow back in the day was 16 years old, i was able to bring a tape recorder, make myself up, kind of an undercover not boss, and this is the audio from that event.You ready to hear it?
[Audio tape playing]
Clay: Here we go, let me see. Here we go with, one minute Z. Oh it’s not going to work here poor Z. I might have to resurrect some different audio.That audio might not have been the right audio, Z.
Robert: Well, you probably were looking at a–
Clay: But it’s from the movie Airplane. There’s a scene. It’s famous, but the pilots are beginning to taxi out– I’ll get it keyed up in a minute. But these guys were taxiing out and they’re going over their flight checklist, and one guy says, “Roger”, he says, “such and such Roger.”
Well, the guy next to him his name is Roger, and so the guy goes, “Roger,” and he goes “Over,” and I guess the guy working at the air traffic control his name is Over, so he goes “Over, over”, then he answers “Roger, Roger”, “Over, Over.” And no one knows what is going on. And they gets quickly frustrating. All I’m saying is, that is something that we would do all the time and no one would ever be referring to the same thing. Z, you see this all the time in businesses, too.. You’ve seen this where no one knows what’s going on.
Robert: Yes, you do, and I will tell you what, a system is defined as a procedure, process, method or course of action designed to achieve a specific result.
And that’s the thing we are talking about. If you use all this jargon when you’re teaching somebody, a lot times they may be a little embarrassed, they may not know — “I don’t I know.” It’s obvious to you because you’ve been using this jargon in the business for your entire time you’ve had your business, and that the new kid or the new person that you’re training is like, “I’m too embarrassed to ask i don’t know what that is.”
Clay: And I just found the audio, it’s tough to find the tape. I found the tape and I got it right here. We got to hurry up.
Robert: Okay, Put it just in.
[listening to tape]
Robert: [laughs] No one knows what’s going on and it’s a thing where — I’m not kidding, I see this all the time and it’s just a huge time waster when no one knows what’s going on.So step number one free action item, do not use jargon.I’m telling you. if you have to abbreviate something, the extra syllable will save you or you hours of time explaining it later [Radio speaking]
Robert: It will cost you hard dollars when the new kid messes up an entire batch of pizza dough [laughs] [unintelligible 00:37:45] thirty dollars for the pizza dough because I could write out soda and write S.
Clay: The next thing that happens a lot in businesses people begin to get casual. Okay. So, what happens is that you know what to do. You’ve already built the system, but for whatever reason you don’t hold your team accountable to the system because you want to keep it casual.
I’m going to give you a notable quotable, that is very uncomfortable for many people but it’s very very true.This is it, “casualness causes casualties.”I’ll give an example, back in the day with the DJ business our meetings were supposed to start at eight.And before I understood this, I would go, Okay.
The meeting starts today, cool. So, Z I would let the meeting start at like — just give me a guess — You got ten 25 year old dudes for an 8AM Monday meeting, what time do you think our 8AM meeting started. It was 8AM meeting, what time would it typically start?
Robert: 8:30 probably?
Clay: Yes, like 8:45 or 8:35 before we get started.And people just kind of gradually would drift in throughout the meeting.
Robert: Yes.
Clay: So then you have to keep going, Okay, for anybody who just joined us this is what we’re talking about.And then about two minutes later Joshua walks-in, and am like Josh I know you just missed it, so if you’re on time you’re like, Oh my God, this is like the same two minutes of the meeting over and over and over.It’s a complete waste of time.
And then what I did for the printing paper, I told the guys, “Hey, I want you to put the printing paper here.” One day one of the guys comes in from office depot I’m sure, he goes, I’ll just sit over there not over here.I’m not going to put it here am going to put it over there.And then another guy says, you know I realized that this is my computer but today I’ll use this one instead.
Then pretty soon, it’s like no one can find the paper, no one knows where to sit, no one knows where anything is saved.And pretty soon you’re when you’re screwing with people’s money,– now this is the unpardonable sin and happened early on and I’m so sorry to hear who it happened to.But a customer called in and said, “Hey, I want to go ahead and pay off my wedding, there six hundred dollars left on it.
Robert: Yes
Clay: And you’re like, okay what’s your name? She is like you know, “Amanda.”Okay. Cool. So Amanda wants to pay in full. Which Amanda is it? I’m sure it’s the lady, that voice kind of sounds —
Robert: You can have more than one Amanda, that sounds like a common name.
Clay: I remember this actual conversation, he goes, “Which demand is it? Did she have to cut to the higher voice, is it the one from Muskogee?” Yes, I think it’s the one from Muskogee. So, you just charged somebody’s card for $600 who is the wrong Amanda.
Now, people don’t often times check their credit card statements every month, they should, they don’t and then you get a call four months later from somebody going, “Hey, you jokers charged my credit card, I haven’t even used you guys in two years, what are you doing?” And you’re like, “Aaaa.” And then you call the other person and now they’re happily married and you’re like, “Hey, we thought it was already paid, we don’t have the money for it right now.” And you’re like, “Oh my gosh.”
By the way there’s a place called Dallas Arkansas and a Dallas Texas do you know that?
Robert I did not know that because I was born in Dallas Texas. I was born in one of the Dallas’.
Clay: I believe it’s Dallas Arkansas.
Robert I was really young. I don’t remember it very well.
Clay: You don’t remember that?
Robert I don’t remember. I was young when I was born.
Clay: [laughs] Why don’t you remember– you have such a failed memory. I remember everything. I was very dark-
Robert I’m 52, you lose things as you get older. You know this.
Clay: It was very dark, it was scary, I remember my birth. I remember my birth and just gasping for air and just trying to get out of there.
Robert I cried a lot.
Clay: [laughs] Here’s the deal. There’s Dallas Arkansas and who knew, I’ll tell you how I found out, I sent a guy to Dallas Texas for a Dallas Arkansas wedding. If you’re casual, it causes casualties, it just does and it’s not a good thing, it not funny, I mean, it’s funny now, it’s far enough back–
Robert There’s some bride that lives in Dallas Arkansas that’s going to listen to the show and go, “Oh my gosh, I’m so upset with those guys.”
Clay: There is a lady who used to work at Barnes and Noble in Tulsa here, right across from the mall-
Robert I love Barnes and Noble by the way.
Clay: -right across from the mall. Your optometrist clinic is located there.
Robert I’m old school, I love books, I love the old kind of [makes sound]. You open them up–
Clay: I used to take my daughter there to buy these books and there’s a lady who still hates me from screwing up her wedding like seven years later. I’m serious, I used to go in there and go, “Oh no, I hope it’s not her.” Because you only have a couple of people checking you out usually there and she would just look me in the eye and stare at me and say listen– she would say this inner dialogue but she would go, “Your systems weren’t repeatable, they screwed up my wedding.” So Thrivers, if you want to learn how to build repeatable systems that won’t screw up weddings stay tuned.
[silence]
Clay: All right Thrive nation, welcome back to The Thrive Time Show presented by Oklahoma Joes and Regent bank. We’re so excited to be here with you here today teaching about a subject that is so powerful, this subject here, I’m just telling you, this has the ability to help you scale your income. What I’m I talking about?
I’m talking about helping you exponentially helping you increase your income and specifically back in the day when I first started my business, DJ Connection, it took me a long, long time to learn how to sell it in a compelling way but once I nailed the system, my problem was it took me forever to scale it. It took me a couple of years to make it repeatable and so what happened is I would hire a sales person and Z I would give them almost no training at all. I would say, “Hey why don’t you shadow me for a day, take notes and then don’t worry about the words I say, do your best presentation. Get out there. It’s got to come from your heart. I don’t want you to sound like your reading a script, I want it to be from the heart.”
Robert We don’t want robotic.
Clay: “Yes, you have got to come from the heart and I want you to bring a lot of passion.” And then I would spend about an hour and a half talking about motivation and passion, how you’ve got to just love your product and then my sales guy would get in front of the customer and say something– I have audio from our early sales guys here.
Robert Good I’d love to hear it.
Clay: Here it is. This is audio from our early sales guys. It was DJ Connection, it was wedding entertainment and commercial brakes for cars. This is one of our first sales guys.
Advert: What my associate is trying to say is that our new brake pads are really cool. You’re not even going to believe it. Let’s say you’re driving along with your family and you’re driving along [singing] then all of a sudden there’s a truck tire in the middle of the road and you hit the brakes [brake sound]. Wow that was close. Now let’s see what happens when you’re driving with the other guy’s brake pads. You’re driving along and then all of a sudden the kids are yelling from the back seat, “I’ve got to go to the bathroom daddy. Not now damn it.”
Drop tire [brakes sound] I can’t stop [accident]. There’s a cliff and you’re family’s screaming, “Oh my God, we’re burning alive, no I can’t feel my legs.” Comes the meat wagon [sounds] [crosstalk]
Clay: This is obviously from the movie Tommy boy, it’s a funny scene but the point is Tommy boy’s father passes away from a sudden heart attack and all of a sudden Tommy boy, played by Chris Farley has to go out there and sell and he’s never sold anything and there’s no system and so he ends up having these crazy sales presentations. I remember I walked into one of our meetings and one of our guys was going, “DJ Connections is kind of like American Pie. Everybody loves it, they’re into it, do you like pie?” And I’m like, “What is going on?” How is that a move.
I remember I walked into one meeting, I’m not kidding and one of my guys, true story, and if you’re listening right now and you live in California and you know who you are. If you’re listening to the podcast on thriveshow.com, you live in California, you’re a former DJ sales guy. You know who you are because you’ve commented recently, you’ve said, “I love this show.” So, you know this is coming for you here. If you’re the one who met the bride in the dark-
Robert What?
Clay: -at her office, I’m not kidding, I didn’t have a check list for anything, you know, like a preflight check list. So, I walk in one day and he’s meeting a bride in our sales rooms and it’s freaking dark in there and I’m like, “What?” And he’s just making stuff up and talking—I’m just going, “What am I doing?” So, then Z I said, you can’t teach people to sell.
Robert You can’t.
Clay: It’s impossible.
Robert They’re either a born salesman or they’re not.
Clay: It’s all about natural genes through genetic code.
Robert Natural genes and the way they were raised and part of the country that they were [clears throat] —
Clay: I started doing it myself again and you buy into that lie where you go, “Well I swear, if you want to get something done yourself, what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to do it yourself. If you want to get something done, you’ve got to do it by yourself. If you want to not get something done right, if you get it wrong you can just give it to someone else. That’s why we’ve chosen to stay small over here at Uncle Vinnies Pizzeria. I personally make all the pizzas, I personally do all the negotiations and I negotiate very well. I do all the things so I have chosen to keep it local, I work 70 hours a week, we’re also open 70 hours a week. You might say, whoah, I say boom. Come here to my pizzeria.”
Robert Yes, that was Bobs Pizzeria. You’ve taken even my pizzeria.
Clay: That the move.
Robert What I did is I wrote down how to make the dough because, when I do that, you know what, I make more dough.
Clay: You make more doe when you write down the dough.
Robert I make the pizza dough and I make more money do re mi fa so la. Make me some dough.
Clay: You are bringing making some serious bravado over there.
Robert At Vinnies, you’ve got a one horse deal over there. Okay, I get it, but at Bob’s pizzeria, we’re going to have Bob’s Pizzerias all over the country. What we’re going to do is write it down. We’re going to teach the kids how to do the thing. That is a scary thing when your heart and you soul and all your energy and your money and all your time’s put in starting up your business and then the business starts rolling, you make some sales, you’re making some do re mi, which is money, and you’re going, “This is awesome.” Then you bring someone over into the business.
Now all of a sudden you have to let them do that thing, you’re like, “If they screw it up, I can’t let them– I better do it.” Because here’s the thing about it, Clay, what happens is that they screw it up, they are going to screw it up.
Clay: They are going to screw it up.
Robert It’s just a fact. I don’t want to prophesy negativity over anybody’s business but you’re going to have an employee make a mistake and mess up and then you hit yourself on the head and go, “I knew it. I knew it.” It’s hard to find good help, I can’t find anybody to do this and that’s other shows by the way, how to hire great people. Clay, it’d be fine if we just had an endless time. We could just go through all of it, everyday, all day, but you actually have to tune in and get little snippets of how to start to grow your business every day and that doesn’t seem fair, does it?
Clay: Z, I would love to spend the entire day to do it but instead we have to pack in this knowledge that you’re not getting at business college. Here’s an edible quotable that goes with what you just said, this is from Reed Hoffman. Reed Hoffman by the is one of the founders of PayPal, he built LinkedIn and he says this, “If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product.” Somebody needs to hear that again, someone needs to write that down.
Robert Hold on, let me get my pen.
Clay: If you’re not embarrassed–
Robert Is embarrassed two r’s.
Clay: Yes. If you’re not embarrassed with the first version of your product, you’ve launched two late.
Robert Wow
Broadcasting from the center of the universe, you’re listening to Thrive Time Radio.
Clay: I have a story that will blow your mind Thrivers.
Robert [unintelligible 00:49:52] my head wrapped around that. I’ve got to be embarrassed?
Clay: Here’s the deal. We have a very, very nice lady in Tulsa. Her name is Lori Montag. When I was 12 my parents announced to me that we’re moving from Broken Arrow to Minnesota. I’ll never forget just feeling like — you’re 12 and you have all these buddies and now you move all the way to Minnesota.
Robert: To Minnesota.
Clay: I’m going, “I don’t know if I’m going to like. This is not good.” You were crying as the car’s pulling away, very dramatic deal. Anyway, I called my friend Chris Montag. Chris, if you’re listening right now, you’re a great dude. I call Chris, I say, “Chris, hey man. I would love to come down and see the guys this summer.” He says, “I’m going to talk to my mom and see if you can live with us for the summer.” I’m like, you’re 12 and I’m like, “This is cool. Let’s go.”
Robert: Yes. It’ll be awesome.
Clay: I talked to my mom and she says, “Well, if you can save up the money you can do it.” I go to work for my uncle Jerry, I saved up the money. Next thing you know, I’m flying. I fly down to Tulsa and I stayed with Lori Montag for the summers. Lori is the lady who invented the Slap Watch and the Zany Bandz. They sold $60 million of that stuff, okay?
Robert: Wow.
Clay: She’s the founder of Montag photography, neat lady. She says, “Well, you guys want to make some money this summer?” I’m going, “Well, yes and I love learning entrepreneurship.” This was at 12 year old. I love doing it. Here is was her move. She said, “There are some picket fences that –,” the big privacy fences. In Oklahoma you have had a lot of wood privacy fences.
Robert: Yes. Get with them neighbors, see what you’re doing in the backyard.
Clay: We went somewhere, Z, and she saw bird feeders that were made out of that like a hobby lobby or something.
Robert: All right. I’m with you.
Clay: She says, “You guys are going to make those. I’m going to buy a booth at the State Fair. After we pay back what it cost me, you guys can split the profits.” I’m like, “I’ve never –” This is the non-entrepreneur we’re talking. I’m a 12-year-old and I’m like, “We’ve never made them before. We don’t know how, how do we it.” Next thing you know, I’m not kidding, Chris is over there, he’s 12, 13, he’s running all of these privacy fences through one of those table saws. He’s passing them down to me and I’m hammering them. I’m nailing them together into the shape of a bird feeder. His sister, she’s like nine, she’s painting them all. Another one of his sister’s is doing — so we go to the State Fair.
Robert: Did you — I’m sorry, but did you break any child labor laws there? I’m not sure nine, I don’t —
Clay: We definitely did not absorb any of the labor laws.
Robert: I’m not sure nine is licensed to paint. No question there.
Clay: Lori was nice enough to feed us once every two days. Anyway, we’re out there working. When is the State Fair in Tulsa?
Robert: October. It’s always October, babe.
Clay: Okay. Anyway, so we’re making these things. Were making these — but there’s like, in the summer — What this, a summer festival or an expo? It was very hot. It was in the summer. I don’t know what it was. What’s the big thing they have at the State Fair or the State Fair grounds? There’s some sort of — Is there some sort of summer event?
Robert: We’ll just call it Summerfest for right now. How’s that?
Clay: I don’t remember what it was. Anyway, it’s really like these trade shows where people go and they’re like, “I might want to buy a boat. I might want to get this or that. I might want to get this and then I might some blue blockers or I might want to get a $400 blender.” I don’t know. The next thing I know, we’re at this thing and we’re having people come up saying, she’s teaching us how to sell but she says, “Get out there and ask them if they’d like to buy a bird feeder.”
I’m like, “Hey, would you like to buy a bird feeder?” Chris is going — and I’m like 12. “Would you like to buy a bird feeder?” People are going, “No, no.” She’s going, “Keep asking. Keep asking.” After about every — 20 people, some will go, “I’m interested.” Then she said —
Robert: I like birds.
Clay: She said, “We’ll, invite them into the booth.” I said, “Well, come into the booth, let me to show you.” Then we would sell one and I’m going, “We just got $15.” Then we got $15 more. Pretty soon it was like we have a $1,000 at one time that we have. This is money that we now have. I started realizing but then people keep saying, “But what about this? What about that?” The next night, you know what we did?
Robert: Tell me.
Clay: We went back to her house in East Broken Arrow and we improved the bird feeders.
Robert: I didn’t think it was possible.
Clay: We looked across. We saw other people’s — we looked across the way, across the — we walked around and realize other people are making them a little bit better. That night, we worked, worked and worked away and we made them better and then we went back. We kept doing this and by the end of this, it was a three or four-day event, we had awesome bird feeders. We were selling the heck out of it. It was a move, I’m not kidding, this was a game changer and it taught me this principle that everything is repeatable, everything is duplicatable but you got to get better over time.
You can’t get frustrated that your script doesn’t work on the first time. So many entrepreneurs want to throw in the towel the first time someone screws up when they’re trying to use their master system.
Robert: Wait a second. Allegedly, you didn’t know how to make a bird feeder.
Clay: I did not know how to make a bird feeder, I swear.
Robert: I tell you what, that is so true in life. You hear that all the time from people they go, “I like to start my own business.” Then the big word “but.”
Clay: But.
Robert: But. Just like that.
Clay: I like a big butt.
Robert: [laughs] DJ’s coming out.
Clay: Sorry.
Robert: What would happens is that people are like sometimes you’re looking for the reasons why not to do –
Clay: Come on.
Robert: – the thing that’s really in your heart to do. Sometimes you just got to fight through those “buts.” Just like you did as a 12-years-old going, “Well, that but I don’t know. I don’t know how to make a bird feeder.”
Clay: I’m listening right now and I’m going, “Hey, you know –“
Robert: I’ve never hammered anything before.
Clay: Z, I’m listening right now. Z, I need you to preach it to us here-
Robert: Come on now.
Clay: – because I’m saying, “I want to do something but –“
Robert: I tell you what.
Clay: What?
Robert: The world is not full of “buts.”
Clay: I thought there were some word buts.
Robert: Okay, maybe there are a few of them but I tell you what. Take that out of your vocabulary. The next time, I want you to set up a little jar and every time you say “but,” you put a dollar in there. Then we got enough money. Then we go start your business. You got me? You feel me?
Clay: I feel you like a petting zoo. Go ahead. Unbelievable.
Robert: [laughs] No, really. We’re here, you’re listening to Thrive Time Show, this isn’t politics. It’s not home and garden. Although, you did talk about bird feeders at the fair.
Clay: Why did you build a wall in the studio? What was that? Is that a political statement? You build it.
Robert: I made a promise to the thrivers out there that if elected I would — wait a second. No, this isn’t politics, is it?
Clay: You did build this wall.
Robert: I did.
Clay: All right.
Robert: We built this wall.
Clay: You built this wall to keep me out.
Robert: To keep you in.
Clay: All right. Just stay tuned to thrivetimeshow.com. We come back, repeatable systems.
[silence]
Clay: All right, thrive nation. Welcome back into the conversation. We’re talking about how to build repeatable business systems. Dr. Z, why is it’s absolutely vital to build repeatable business systems if you want to scale that income?
Robert: I was in Oklahoma Joe’s last week. Joe Davidson happen to be in the restaurant.
Clay: Are you serious?
Robert: Yes. He was out and he was a glad-handing and saying, “Hi,” and see and greet the people. Then, we’ve finally made eye contact. He’s like, “Z.” I come, running over there and I said, “Joe man, this food is just crazy good. This burnt ends like meat candy and these baked beans.” I just love their baked beans and so I said, “Well done, buddy. You did a great job in these beans today.” He goes, “Z, I didn’t make the beans today.”
Clay: But it says on the sign, “Oklahoma Joe’s.” It says it in the possessive which actually means that he’s the one who made the beans.
Robert: I said, “Wait a second. Joe. Timeout, timeout, timeout, timeout, timeout.” I almost wanted a refund right there. I said, “These beans weren’t made by you and yet they’re so good. I thought you were the best baked bean maker in the world.” [laughs] He was like, “Well, I’ve taught people how to do that.” See, business systems, repeatable ones, are like the recipe for your business.
Clay: Come on now.
Robert: When you write down the recipe it’s not, “My grandmother taught this to her mother and taught it to her mother and I’m teaching it to my kids, but I forgot whether it’s baking soda or baking powder. I knew it was one of them so kids just try one and I’m sure you’ll get it right sooner or later.” No, you write down. It’s called a recipe book. A recipe. Why do we write down recipes? I mean I’ve been making this cake all my life. I’ll teach my daughter or teach my son how to make this cake.
We write it down so that therefore then we can hand it down, we can pass it down to other people. That’s what business systems are. Sexiest ideas to sit there and write down all your little steps in minute details, you may have to break them down. If you just make these big statements like, you do with your DJ’s on the day, build rapport. They’re like, “What do you mean by that?”
Clay: I see it all the time. I see it on a daily basis. I’m just telling you, forget about those repeatable systems. There are three predictable limiting factors. There’s three predictable things. It’s almost like a mine field and I’ve seen people run through it before and I know where it’s going to blow up.
Robert: You’re going to blow up the leg.
Clay: The first is the jargon. You just got to quit using abbreviations and jargon in your office. You have to give your new people a glossary.
Robert: Right and things that are obvious to you because like in my optometry clinic. I’ve been open 25 years now. It’s amazing how often I catch myself going, “Oh my gosh. That’s not completely obvious to someone who’s never been in an optometry clinic before.” You’ve got to watch the jargon and you’ve got to watch about leaving out steps that you think are just completely obvious. I’m being honest with you. Even the minute details people will be like, “Well, that wasn’t in the system. Oh, you mean to crack the egg open and put the egg in there? Oh, okay. I thought you just put eggs in there.”
Clay: As an example, Elon Musk, lot of people know him from Tesla and SpaceX and these sorts of things. One of the things that he talked about that was a huge impediment to the growth of SpaceX. He built Tesla, PayPal. This guy, he’s a guru. He says and this is what an email he sent out to his team. The subject line was, “Acronyms seriously suck.” He goes on and he says, “Individually –” I’m reading Elon Musk right here, okay?
Robert: Yes, yes.
Clay: “Individually a few acronyms here and there may not seem so bad. But if a thousand people are making these up, over time the result will be a huge glossary that we have to issue to new employees. No one can actually remember all these acronyms.” I’m reading Elon Musk. “People don’t want to seem dumb in a meeting so they just sit there at ignorance. This is particularly tough on new employees.”
He says, “This needs to stop immediately or I will take drastic action. I have given enough warnings over the years. Unless an acronym is approved by me, it should not enter into the SpaceX glossary. If there is an existing acronym that cannot be reasonably justified, it should be eliminated as I requested in the past.” He famously fired people for using acronyms. You cannot use them, so jargon is a bad thing, Z. That’s a bad move.
Robert: I had the privilege, Sean Copelan asked me years ago to be an investor in Regent Bank. So I said, “Well, yes, let’s do that.” It’s one of the few businesses that I’m involved in that I don’t own a controlling share, that I didn’t start. But I know these highly regulated and I have got to use a bank.
If you’re in business you’ve got to have a bank and I would humbly suggest Regent Bank. We have a lot of investors. It’s my personal bank. They’re growing seven times faster than all the banks out there and they’re all these awards. Go to bankregent.com and check it out. Anyway, I’m saying that because I was at first a board director. I was on the board of directors.
Clay: Is that why there are so many oil paintings of you? I walked in there, I’ve noticed there’s paintings of you everywhere. Oil paintings [unintelligible 01:01:39].
Robert: I would walk in the room and everybody would be aghast.
Announcer: Broadcasting live from the center of the universe. You’re listening to The ThriveTime Show.
Robert: I’d walk here with my jeans and my soccer jersey on. Everybody is in suits and-
Clay: What’s he wearing?
Robert: – fine ties.
Clay: Is he wearing boots with the fur?
Robert:[laughs]
Clay: What’s he doing?
Robert: The whole board of directors were looking at him. So anyway, I’d go in there. The meeting was almost entirely jargon and their acronyms and abbreviations.
Clay: Carl, where the TPS reports? I don’t know?
Robert: I sat there the first couple meetings. I just nodded like I knew what all those letters meant. Like, “Oh yes, we could check the –“
Clay: [sings] its business time.
Robert: “We have to check out the boom, boom, boom, about the bump, pump, pump and then you have to make sure that the boom, boom, boom number is not bigger than that pump, pump number.” Then you’re just like, “Yes,” I’m just sitting there to nod.
Clay: [sings] Boom, boom, boom [unintelligible 01:02:27].
Robert: Finally, one meeting, earlier on — I has been through a couple of them and I said, “Excuse me guys but I didn’t grow up in banking.”
Clay: Why?
Robert: [laughs] I’m not a banker. “What the crud do all these letters mean you guys keep bantering around every meeting? Can we not say what it is?”
Clay: It’s so dumb. This was a stupid thing I see all the time. I see people — This has happened at a meeting I was at the other day. I have a client who’s asking me to coach their business. They come into the meeting. I’d say, “I don’t get to coach a lot of them anymore because we have the great workshops and we have obviously the radio show and the podcast and the online school.”
One of our coaches, Marshall was coaching with the client. The client is going, “Yes Q1, we expect to have a yadda, yadda and then Q2.” “Just say quarter one. What are we doing?” You’re saving like a syllable and there was a new person they’ve just hired. He’s kind of an intern, an underlying guy, and you knew he had no clue what was being said for the whole meeting. It’s predictable. Stop doing it.
The second was disorganization. You can’t just have a casualness about how you put things and where things go. The third, is just a casual aura though. You can’t be just this casual like, “It’s all right bro. Bro, wherever you want to put. You just read the part of the script that you want to read. The script is more of a guideline. It’s more of a general flow. Z, I don’t want you to feel oppressed when you’re making that food dude. The recipe, let it just flow.”
Robert: Bro, all great chefs are inventive and creative,bro. Hey man, if you don’t feel I put that in there today, bro, you just go with what your gut is, bro.
Clay: If you want to go skimpy on the scampi, you just do it, bro. A lot of people are eating too much shrimp.
Robert: Bro, as long as you got your man bun and as long as you got the right attitude, bro, it’s going to be fine. They’re going to love you.
Clay: Hey, Skylar, real quick. On this next batch of the shrimp’s scampi, why don’t we just not put any shrimp n it all, bro? We can change —
[laughter]
Bro, but we’ll still call it shrimp scampi. They won’t even know, bro. Bro, it’ll be awesome. Bro, you know what we’ll do? What we will do with the money we’re saving on the shrimp, we’ll get tattoos that say ambiguous statements like, “Only God can judge me,” bro.
Robert: Yes. I tell you what, they might catch on to that. So instead of shrimp, bro, let’s put some chicken in there, bro. So, say shrimp scampi premium.
Clay: It will be like, shrimp chicken premium scampi, bro, with a question mark. Let’s not use any systems at all. Thrivers, seriously, when we come back we’ll get into the next aspect of executing repeatable systems. It’s called discipline.
Robert: Oh, no.
[silence]
Clay: Welcome back to the ThriveTime Show on your radio. My name is Clay and this is the way we grow. Grow? This is how we grow a successful business. Z, this is business time.
Robert: This is a show about how to grow.
Clay: How to grow your business.
Robert: I thought this was home and gardening?
Clay: Yes, I was going to talk a lot about Pinion wood. I have some Pinion wood on my desk.
Robert: Fertilization.
Clay: If you’re on Facebook live right now, you’ll notice —
Robert: [crosstalk] bugs.
Clay: – one there’s a hat on the head of a bust
Robert: Nitrogen.
Clay: Well, we have a make America great again hat here. But then we have this pinion wood which I’m going to spend the next hour and a half talking about. Smells so good, I could talk about for an hour. I love burning Pinion wood.
Robert: It is a beautiful scent.
Clay: Here, smell this.
Robert: I know, it’s America.
Clay: Smell it.
Robert: Right now, if you’re on Facebook Live, you’re watching me.
Clay: Isn’t that great?
Robert: I just love the smell of Pinion wood. What I love most about the smell, mosquitoes hate it. They hate it. They are the creature out there that I probably dislike the most.
Clay: I’m going to let you keep that Pinion wood on your desk so you can smell like Pinion wood too.
Robert: I’ll be mosquito free at this zone of the box. Put it right here.
Clay: Zzz, mosquitoes are gone. Thrivers, we’re talking about how to build repeatable business systems.
Robert: Why again do we care about that, Clay? Why are we teaching them this move on a Monday? I’ve had a great weekend. I’m now starting my work week. We’re listening to the ThriveTime Show.
Clay: I’m running into this right now. This is a very specific example of my life right now. I’m running into it right now.
Robert: Okay. Then do tell.
Clay: At Elephant in the room, we have this deal where if we haven’t seen you in 90 days, a lot of people, what happens is they come into Elephant in the Room. About six out of 10 people come into the Elephant in the Room, Men’s Grooming Lounge for their first haircut, they sign up for a membership, but the first haircut is a dollar.
Robert: That seems like a funny name, Elephant in the Room. I don’t get that.
Clay: There’s two elephants in the room out there. One is a culture. There’s a lot of kids that don’t have a father in their family, so we like to give back to the Tulsa boys home.
Robert: That’s a great organization by the way.
Clay: That’s something we’re passionate about. That’s an elephant in the room. The second elephant in the room is that most men have never had a styled haircut. I’m going to give an example, if you’re on Facebook Live right now, you can check this out. I took a shower and I put my hat on today so it’s a little bit crazy. But I went there and I mystery shop this week, one second here.
Robert: Oh, my Lord.
Clay: I asked for a two on the side and then I said leave some extra on top. I said it’s a fauxhawk. You want to not use a razor at all. Two-two on the sides, then you want to use — She literally, that’s why I mystery shops because I want to see how good or bad our competition is. She goes, “You want two on the sides and then you want like –” I said, “Yeah, I want some lettuce on top that I can style, you know I’m saying?”
Robert: Oh, yes.
Clay: I want you to use like the, what do you call it? The trimmers.
Robert: The trimmers.
Clay: The scissors.
Robert: You’re doing this with your hand and going trimmers.
Clay: I definitely explained this to her. She goes, “Okay, and she just, burr.” She’s just doing the, burr, on the two and then she goes, burr, and then I hear the, “Uh-oh.”
Robert: Oh, no.
Clay: No, I’m not kidding. This happened, “Uh-oh.” This is what happens when you go to certain places, “Uh-oh.” I’m like, “Uh-oh?” You’re getting your hair cut and you hear the, “Uh-oh.” You go-
Robert: Oh, no.
Clay: – “That’s a hat month.”
Robert: That’s a month. Baby, get my hats out of the closet, daddy’s wearing a hat.
Clay: Look at it, there’s no hair up here.
Robert: There’s a little lettuce. There’s not enough to make a salad up there, that’s what you’re talking about.
Clay: I want to just keep this on the entire time as a testament to repeatable systems. Anyway, Elephant in the Room, what happens is — at Elephant the Room, we have repeatable systems to offer quality cuts. A lot of guys come in they go, ” Man, it was a dollar and my hair doesn’t look like Clay’s. His hair looks like it’s a freaking disaster. What happened to your lettuce, bro? Did somebody screw up your dome? What happened to your wig? Did someone chopped your mop? What happened?”
Robert: Isn’t that a challenge though because you’re a walking billboard for your business? I’m like, “That’s my buddy, Clay. He owns a hair cutting gear.” They look at your hair they are like, “Oh, no.”
Clay: Let’s mangle his mob, bro.
Robert: Oh, no. Wait, I’m sorry folks. I don’t get a haircut at the place that I own. I’d like to sneak around other places and just see how bad they are.
Clay: Typically, I get good haircuts in many places but Elephant in the Room is I would say the best in town. It’s a premium thing. I go in there, long story short is the lady, while she’s cutting my hair, she keeps getting up and going, excuse me I need to get the phone. Excuse me. She’s cutting my hair and she’s, “burr, uh-oh. Let me get the phone, burr, uh-oh, let me get the phone.” Eventually, I would like to have some focus here. You’ve mangled my mob at least bevel it out or something [unintelligible 01:09:57]. Unbelievable.
Robert: Chisel.
Clay: Elephant in the Room though, we have a call center where the phones ring into. They ring here into the thrive15.com world headquarters. They’d ring and they’re answered. The thing is this week we have a system we’re implementing and the system is this. Is that our call center, everyone of the reps needs to do outbound calls and they need to schedule at least 20 appointments with people we haven’t seen in 90 days.
Announcer: Broadcasting live from the center of the universe. You’re listening to the Thrive Time Show.
Clay: I set up this thing called a quota, Z. Have you ever heard of a quota?
Robert: Does that mean I’ve got to get something done?
Clay: So here’s the deal. Our membership system, when you come in or a one-dollar haircut, on average, over half of Tulsa will sign up for a membership when they come in the first time. So two guys come in, a little more than out of two people will sign up for a membership. Then if you were in the call center, you need to be able to get a hold of 20 people a day and reschedule them for a haircut if we haven’t seen them in 90 days. Check it out, do you know what the average was for the entire call center for an entire week? It’s supposed to be 20 per day.
Robert: Yes, 20 per day.
Clay: Do we know for the entire week what the number was before I got crazy?
Robert: Five?
Clay: Eighteen.
Robert: Oh, that’s —
Clay: For the whole week, we’re supposed to get 20 per day.
Robert: Oh, yes, so that would be five a day would be almost that. So that’s why I was doing per day. I’m thinking — It was actually per [crosstalk].
Clay: Have you ever had to get mad in your business?
Robert: Never.
Clay: No, I’m serious. A lot of people listening right now and they’re like, “How do I –?”
Robert: No, no. What we do is we go outback, I’ve got a fire-pit and we build a fire with pinion wood, fine pinion wood and then we get our materials. Oops, excuse me. I have to ge my pinion wood, little bump there. Then what we do is we get the ingredients for the s’mores.
Clay: S’mores.
Robert: We sit around and we talk about grievances and we talk about ways, our favorite colors and then we get down to the nitty-gritty of it and that is the song Kumbaya.
Clay: Kumbaya my friend Kumbaya.
Robert: Then we hold hands, if that’s acceptable with your neighbor. We’ve got to get written permission. You just don’t want to hold someone’s hand without [crosstalk]
Clay: Have you ever had to get [crosstalk]?
Robert: Yes, of course, I’ve had to get it. That’s what I’ve said day and day again and that is that being a successful business owner requires two hats. I know you have more than — you got the make America great again on your desk and you’ve got your boom hat on your head.
Clay: Mail me a hat thrivers, my hair is just mangled.
Robert: Oh, mangled, I tell you what, it’s not good. You’ve got to have two hats that you put on and you’ve got to know when to put them on. One is the good cop and that’s the, “Hey, how are you doing? Good to see you. You’re doing great. Good to see you. Hey, come here come here. Give me a — oh yes, little– okay. High five. High five.” The other one is the bad cop hat.
Clay: This is what I had to say. I had to say, “Listen, if you do not hit these numbers, you will not have a job here,” and I said some other words that I maybe — I don’t regret the intensity. I probably could’ve used different adjectives. I definitely could’ve used different adjectives but the thing is, the message was heard and remarkably we hit the number now, 20 a day.
I’ll tell you what. My brother-in-law is obsessed with haircut quality and I’m so glad he is because he wants every man to be happy when they come in there for a haircut. He’s obsessed with the quality. He’s obsessed. I’m just telling you in your business, Z, nobody’s going to care about your business more than you. You’ve got to have a culture of discipline.
Robert: A couple days ago, this is a true story. A couple days ago on Thursday, we always have our big, the big office meeting. I rarely attend. Because the sales on Friday, as soon as the ra-ra going over their line up, going over all the things, if there’s any things that are different. A couple weeks ago, we had some jackassery happen at the auto auction. That is one of the guys that has access to keys, he cleans after work. He’s a good dude.
He opens up and up and left his keys in that lock for just a couple of minutes. He ran off to help someone set up the table to do something and then he came back and his key’s were gone. This keys, there’s nobody there during the week except my employees. At the meeting on last Thursday, I had to light them up and say, “If those keys don’t show back up here by the end of the day, I’m going to get a private investigator and I’m going to do a lie detector test and I’m going to slow rotisserie somebody when I find out you did it.”
Clay: With Trump being in office, you actually decided to waterboard these people?
Robert: That’s a thing.
Clay: All right, thrive nation. We’ve been talking today about how to build repeatable systems so you can create time freedom and financial freedom. But now, it’s time to get into the seven super plays found in the boom book which is right here if you come out to the two-day interactive thrive 15 workshops. Z, by the way, it’s at our 20,000 square foot facility. If you come out to the workshops, this is the playbook that we will teach you. It’s our 13 proven steps to business success in the boom book. This is the place, right here. This is the place.
Robert: You know, I knew there’s a picture of you in your — We know your from another planet, number one.
Clay: Yes, Claytron.
Robert: This is before they got the skin to completely cover your titanium body mold. It’s a great book and I tell you what, it’s just right — You know what? If you just had this and you said, “I’m going to do it,” this just walks you through it. It’s so cool. Our 13 steps folks, there’s 13 of them, proven business steps and now they’re in the boom book.
Clay: It’s not that complicated. It’s right there. There it is.
Robert: Or, if you’re a dyslexic it’s the moob. It’s the moob. It’s the moob book.
Clay: [laughs] It’s the moob.
Robert: The moob.
Clay: I don’t know if that’s appropriate for radio. This is a show that we have families listening to.
Robert: Family. Sorry.
Clay: You’re talking about the moob.
Robert: Well, I was saying it for dyslexic, kids.
Clay: Watch your — I’m going to get you a mirror so you can watch your mouth.
Robert: Shut your mouth when your talking to me, number one. Okay, well we — come on, we’ve got to wrap this thing up-
Clay: All right, here we go.
Robert: – because we’ve got seven super plays we’ve got to get to.
Clay: Seven super plays. Super play number one. I’m going to read out the super play, you break it down.
Robert: Okay, break it like fractions?
Clay: Yes, these are action steps thivers.
Robert: Ready, I’m ready.
Clay: Write out all of the repetitive tasks that you and your team have to do over and over again to deliver what the customer’s have paid you for.
Robert: Write it out. No, you just think it out. You don’t have to write. Writing’s so over.
Clay: What you think about, you bring about.
Robert: So I can’t type it. No, you can type it. You can write it. The point is is that you’re not always or you know the steps but guess what, now you’re going to teach somebody who’s going to teach somebody, who’s going to teach somebody, who’s going to teach somebody. If you don’t have it written down, you’ve got to write down all the little steps. I mean even the baby steps.
Clay: I’ve got carpal tunnel, bro.
Robert: It’s like a recipe, bro. It’s not that challenging. Super play one, write it.
Clay: [laughs] Super play number two. Write out all of the repetitive marketing tasks that you and your team have to do to generate sales. Why would you have to do that?
Robert: One, sales are a good thing.
Clay: Sales are a good thing?
Robert: I know profit and I know capitalism. Sometimes some people frown upon it.
Clay: If Bernie Sanders hears about this, this show will be off the air.
Robert: Yes. No. [laughs] Oh, no.
Clay: Z, I swear, you’re always talking about profits. Listen, my name is Bernie Sanders and I have run for president. I almost won because there’s enough dumb people out there that have no clue of how the economy works and if you keep talking about profits and making money, next thing you know we will be trending away from Spain and trending towards a successful economy.
Robert: No. The other thing about it too is that once you get them in the door, the marketing doesn’t end there. I know that sounds — I know that sounds crazy. Well, I’m not talking about bait and switch. I’m talking about —
Clay: Switch and bait.
[laughter]
Robert: I’m talking about POP. Oh, wait, you can’t use acronyms.
Clay: No, don’t use.
Robert: Point of Purchase marketing. I did that on purpose.
Clay: You know what POP?
Robert: [laughs] Point of Purchase marketing, in other words, when they come in, guess what? They are ideal and likely buyer of maybe boom. So we know this. We know it’s a fact. When someone come’s in and gets contact lenses, that the majority of them within two weeks, within two weeks will buy a pair of plano. That means no prescription sunglasses.So, why not offer them a deal. Why not try to encourage them when they’re getting their contact lenses to buy a pair of plano sunglasses, so there’s a marketing script?
There’s a marketing script, there’s a marketing thing we say. You get a year supply of self disposable contact lenses. You’re going to get 50 dollars off any pair of plano sunglasses out there. Oakley, Nike, Rayband. Those are all awesome things.
Clay: Z, I got a question for you. Are you down with POP?
Robert: [laughs] Oh, no.
Clay: Are you down with POP?
Robert: This is what I get for using acronyms.
Clay: He’s down with POP?
Robert: This is why you don’t use acronyms.
Clay: Oh, yes, Yes, you know me. He’s down with POP. Everybody, he’s down with — Okay, sorry. Sorry. Let me play that song two more times. Okay. Now, the next move, move number three is write out all of the repetitive customer service related tasks that you and your team have to respond to on a daily basis. The same questions you’re getting over and over. Customer service, write it down.
Robert: Yes, here’s the deal too. I’ve been in business twenty five years and I can pretty much tell you when the phone rings and someone’s upset, it’s going to be because of this, because of this, because of this. I mean pretty much, there’s nothing new under the sun. We’ve pretty much dealt with all of it. Now, there could be something that comes out of left field. “I haven’t dealt with that one yet.”
Clay: I got some glasses for my dog. I put her on it and he just ran right off and I want to know if you’re going to reimburse me.
Robert: [laughs]
Clay: I mean overall.
Robert: Do you want to — for your dog or the glasses? I didn’t see — now, that’s one thing I don’t have written down on how to handle the dude that bought glasses for his dog.
Clay: All I’m left with is his fur. All I’m left with is the fur. I have a lock of its fur that I’ve got earlier.
Robert: As I was trying to snatch it as it ran out the door.
Clay: It’s all I got.
Robert: It’s all I — his leash. I got the leash.
Clay: So you’re going to refund me or what?
Robert: Yes, sir. We’ll refund you because we — [laughter]
Clay: But you don’t have a system for that. Okay, now the next move. This is super play number four. Write down all of the repetitive accounting related tasks that you and your team have to do on a daily basis to keep up with your numbers, aka make some guardrails?
Robert: Yes, absolutely and if you don’t have multiple people touching that money before it gets to the bank, then you’ve got a problem. You should have at least three people touching — Oh, no.
Clay: We all get to touch the money. We all get to touch the money.
Robert: Oh, no. He’s in DJ mode. It’s Monday. He’s had a busy weekend chasing chickens and children. But you should be happy you’re back to work because he’s kind of a workaholic, so that’s good.
Clay: Yes. Z, I’ll tell you what though, seriously, I have this — There we go.
It has the ambiance of the Clark house in the weekend right there. But seriously —
Robert: No wait, there’s smell of Pinion wood burning.
Clay: The smell of Pinion wood.
Robert: And chickens clucking
Clay: Yes, that’s the Clark experience.
Robert: At a compound.
Clay: At a compound. We had 18 new pine trees installed.
Robert: It’s a beautiful thing.
Clay: Unbelievable.
Robert: Anyway, so the accounting. We want to have three people touch it. You want to make it to where you as the business owner can’t steal money out of your own business. What does that mean? That’s a whole anoter show we need to do about integrity and about that kind of thing but you don’t — If you can’t, none of your employees can. Three people touch the money. You’ve got to have your guardrails for your marketing, your [unintelligible 01:20:33] done in a certain way, done at a certain time frame. I could just go on and on. We got more super [crosstalk].
Clay: Next super play. Write out all of the repetitive human resources tasks that you and your team have to do on a daily basis to bring in the talent that you rely on to operate in your business, like a group interview script, like an employee handbook, like all the paperwork. Z, why do you have to make all those things systematized, man?
Robert: So you don’t get sued.
Clay: Sued? Sue you, sue me, sue everybody. We move on.
Robert: Suedy odey, sue sue.
Clay: By the way, I’ll get more into sueing on tomorrow’s show. We’ll talk more about that tomorrow.
Robert: Oh, good. I can’t hardly wait. That’s such a wonderful topic.
Clay: It is. It’s such a soul-sucking topic around this time of the year. It’s so exciting. Now, the next one, it’s like potpourri for your soul. It’s getting sued.
Robert: Yes. Exactly, that’s what it is. [crosstalk].
Clay: Here’s the next super play. Write out all of your biggest limiting factors. What’s limiting you, Z? Why do you have to write all those things out?
Robert: But I don’t have enough money. I don’t even have enough capital.
Clay: I don’t have enough capital. That’s just what it is.
Robert: I can’t find a good employee.
Clay: I can’t find good people. You don’t know my industry. It’s a hard– right now, it is impossible to find good contracters in America.
Robert: It’s impossible. That’s why we’ve got to go to Canada.
Clay: You cannot find good optometrist in America.
Robert: That’s right, I tell you what.
Clay: You’ve got to go to non-America.
Robert: I can’t buy an augur in America to do my ice fishing.
Clay: There’s a lot of optometrist. I was saying right now, you cant find good people but you find them and you have a system for it.
Robert: Yes, absolutely.
Clay: Now, the final one is write down all of your smallest limiting factors. These are these little things where you are going, “Why does this little nagging, repetitive problem Z?” You see it all the time. A nagging, repetitive problem and you are going, “We’ve got to wipe that out.”
Robert: Yes, I know. I don’t little problems. One of them is trash. I hate trash around the building. I hate trash on the floors. I like a clean environment. Sure enough, I’ll be walking the floor. I’ll be walking outside and I’ll stop. I’ll pick up the trash. I’ll call and say, “Get that back on your checklist and I need you to do a trash run a couple of three times a day because I don’t like the trash.” It’s a small thing. It’s like literally blows. It comes on the property. I get it. It’s not like people doing it on purpose but I get. It’s not like people are going dumping their trash going, “I’m going to get Z today. Oh dear, there’s a lot of pizza boxes. I just went down to Bob’s Pizzeria and I got all these pizza crust. I didn’t them. I just them right here [crosstalk].”
Clay: Do you know one thing that I’m not going to talk about on today’s show? I’m not going to mention it at all?
Robert: What’s that?
Stinger: Crimes against humanity.
Clay: We won’t get into bathroom cleanliness but what is going on in the men’s restrooms all across America? Guys, just — We’re going to talk about aim on tomorrow’s show. We might get into that in tomorrow’s show. Just aiming.
Robert: Oh my goodness.
Clay: Laser sights. What are we going to do? Just figure it out.
Robert: I tell you what, in order to be a successful business person, you have to channel — listen to this, in order to have a successful business, in order to build your business, you’ve got to be able to channel a little bit — you got to get in that part of your brain that deals with the OCD.
Clay: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Robert: I know. I love using acronyms because he’s going to get on to mirror now.
Clay: OCD, OCD.
Robert: OCD. But you have to have a little bit — you have to be able to channel a little bit of that, okay? Yes, you could have your houses cluttered and it’s messy as you want or whatever. But your business needs to be neat and orderly, things in their place. We said it earlier today. Guess what, you could get at Thrive15.com. What is that Clay? What is Thrive15?
Clay: Thrive15.com is the world’s best business school. Now, we have four ways that we serve you. Way number one, we have the online business school for just $19 a month. What? You can set your own price if you can’t afford it. Two, we have the thrivetimeshow.com, the world’s best business school and the world’s best business podcast. Thrivetimeshow.com. Hear this show over and over. share it with friends.
Three, in-person workshops. Learn more at thrivetimeshow.com. It’s two days, 15 hours of power. The world’s best business workshops. Move number four, we have one-on-one business coaching, my friend, one-on-one business coaching.
Robert: With a company in-person workshops, they’re going to get their own personalized boom book.
Clay: The boom book.
Robert: That’s right. The boom.
Clay: Or, as you mispronounced earlier, moob.
Robert: Well, if it’s upside down it could be the woob.
Clay: The woob. Thrivers, as always, three, two, one, boom.
[01:24:55] [END OF AUDIO]
