Hard Way MBA

Noting that you are working at a large corporation while running at least one, sometimes several side projects, like CarlosGilTV, I'm wondering if you see synergies between these engagements?

It's all interconnected. We all have a personal brand. He's owning his personal brand.

Motivating and inspiring others. He's passionate about helping other people get where they'd like to go.

His story can inspire - 17 year old high school drop out as a speaker, as a leader.

Gets excited about what's going on in digital media.

How do you determine what side projects you'll invest your time in?

It's about what taps into his passion.

Using tools at your disposal on social media lets you increase your reach.

Books: My Unemployed Life - myunemployedlife.com

You're not shy about bringing your personal life into a business conversation - especially on social media. Let's talk about your choice to blur those business / personal lines a little.

Once it starts, you can't stop it. The web lives forever.

You need to embrace the losses because they build character.

Advantage: Everyone loves rooting for the underdog.

Drawbacks: Can be awkward in corporate setting as people recognize you for work outside of work.

How do other professionals, especially those that might be a little more rigid and traditional, react?

Has gotten some push back on the level of transparency he displays.

Any time you're in social representing a brand you are a risk to the brand, which means everything you do can be associated to the brand.

We are all human. There's a human story.

This podcast is all about learning from the hustlers of the world. What piece of business advice would you give to the up and comers, the driven professionals? Something they can put to work today.

You must be patient. What is for you will be. When you start a business, you won't likely make much money early on.

Be willing to learn the hard way.

Passion and persistence always wins.

Contact Carlos:

Please take a moment to let Carlos know what you've found valuable in this interview. What will you put into practice today that will upgrade your hustle?

Twitter: @CarlosGil83 or @CarlosGilTV

Feed Your Vitality makes healthy food taste naughty.

The story behind your business is inspiring. Share with us what drove you to start business?

– Sent home with hospice at one point in her life.

– 97 lbs overweight.

– Daughter was 2 at the time, now 18 years old

– Was passionate about food, tastes, etc.

– Was a personal shift to begin with. At the same time, she was cheffing for people in their homes. After 30 days on the paleo diet she felt amazing. Shifted everyone they were cheffing for over to this diet. one year later 96% of the clients were still doing it.

– Demand grew from there.

– Moved into St. Patrick’s center commissary

The Food

– Shop the perimeter of grocery store

– Avoid processed food

– Inflammation is the cornerstone of all disease so you avoid anything that causes it.

– Started eating this way

– Foods to remove:

– Grains: Cause a chronic low level allergic state from gluten, soy, corn, etc.

– Inflammation: Do you have the ‘-itis’ swelling of or inflammation of.

The business

– This food takes more time to prepare

– In our grab and go culture that’s hard for people to do

– They made a line of food that fulfilled both

– Then made it freezable

– Expansion into training / teaching people how to do it on their own

I think most people who start businesses based on their passion give up based on reality. What’s kept you going? What hurdles have made you consider giving up? What would you do differently a second time around?

– Easy to get attached to a hobby and try to make it a business. That’s a mistake. She had an entrepreneurial mind running in the background from day one.

– Nando Parrado said ‘Had I gotten to the top of the hill and seen how much was in front of me I probably never would have kept going.’ That’s the thing with them.

– Key to being successful for them has been putting some thought out business planning but have also gone where the doors are open and follow your gut.

– Listened to their customer say ‘Make it happen.’

– Finding partners, cross-fit gyms, etc.

– Being candid with customers that there’s an experiment going in the business.

– Value and enjoy the business

– Success is about knowing what your good at and getting people around you who are good at it.

– Know where you need help and accept it.

Hurdles that you almost quit?

– This summer was hard – almost Packed it in.

– Needed to move from St. Patrick’s Center. Had to determine how they’re going to move / shut down.

– Pricing out what they could afford and after they’d signed a lease they found that move-in would cost 4X the original bid.

– Busted their entire plan for 2014 and there was no way to gracefully back out.

What about a second time around?

– Listen to your gut.

– Value the difficult times because you learn from them. They will teach you.

– Re-framing how we look at experiences and pay attention to the ‘Listen Moments’ when you feel like

This podcast is all about learning from the hustlers of the world. What piece of business advice would you give to the up and comers, the driven professionals? Something they can put to work today.

– Get yourself connected to successful people. They’re the ones who want to talk business at a cocktail party and if you’re willing to be honest with yourself, they’ll be your best support.

Get in touch:

– 314-910-3324

– on Twitter: @feedurvitality

– http://www.feedyourvitality.com/

What can we do from a marketing perspective to improve profitability?

Continually looking for ways to:

Increase unit volume (sell more)

Increase selling price for given piece / service

Enrich the mix of products / services you sell

Marketing strategy: Re-imagining Reality

Sweet spot triad:

who you serve

what are the ‘value bundles’ you provide

deliver and monetize the value bundle

Special Note: dig into this topic of ‘value bundles’. It’s a great way to think about your organization’s offerings.

Tactical

Who you serve: differing preference for price v. quality. Over time, you need to invest time with the people your company serves best and are likely not viewing price as a top component

Figure out something special to bring to the marketplace. Examples: Warrior Dash, Red Frog Events

Identifying the gap: ‘all markets are under served’

Market research – professional and amateur

Controlled experiments

How important is segmentation, or identifying your target clients? Can you walk us through a thumbnail sketch of how we can identify our proper targets?

If the decision is big enough, there will be a ‘buying group’ involved in the decision. Technical, practical, legal, functional, etc…

Demographic: Company size, etc.

What would change the buying behavior across those 20 companies? What would help them ally with us.

This podcast is for the hustlers (in a positive sense), the people who grind out great work everyday. Some of them are up and comers, others have great careers and continue to grow. What piece of advice do you have for these folks?

Clyde Lowstuter, Develop endorsement, that others in the organization look to you and say ‘good person to know / work with’. Good decisions = Good endorsement; good info = good decisions; go get more information through tests, research and experiments. His books include: In Search of the Perfect Job: 8 Steps to the $250,000+ Executive Job That’s Right for You, Network Your Way to Your Next Job…Fast (both are affiliate links)

George Gilder, Economist and Author, forwards this concept that all knowledge is a surprise in a great book: Knowledge and Power: The Information Theory of Capitalism and How it is Revolutionizing our World (affiliate link)

Please reach out to Bob; let him know what you are taking away from this conversation and putting into practice today.

You wrote New Sales. Simplified. and it is on my shelf (or often in my bag) as one of the best sales books ever written and you followed it up with Sales Management. Simplified. Having talked to you before about the writing process and all of the effort that goes into a book, I was a little surprised you followed it up with another book. Why write and promote another book?

* Didn't want to write it.

* Mike admits he was wrong when he got into consulting. Bottoms up doesn't really work to change the sales world.

* Leadership and managment needs a mirror held up to their own issues.

Which of the other Blunt Truths from the front lines do you see as most damaging / pervasive?

* Spending your time in silly ways...

* Avoid high value leadership activities

* Companies are sometimes cluelss. Too many expectations for non-sales related activity.

In Sales Management. Simplified. You outline 16 significant problems you often see in sales management today. I think my favorite is Ch. 11, An Anti-sales Culture Disengages the Heart of the Sales Team. Can you explain what you mean by Anti-sales culture?

It's more important to understand what a great sales culture looks like. The Anti-sales culture is simply the antithesis of these traits:

* Pro sales. High accountability.

* Comp plans aligned with goals

* Meetings that are brutal but fun.

* The boss knows you.

* Practice hard in sales team meetings. Role play on steroids.

Peter Drucker said 'Culture eats strategy for breakfast' so before we move on from this idea of culture let's talk about your simple framework where you address sales management and culture first. As a front line sales manager, what are my first steps (after reading Sales Management. Simplified.) for creating a positive sales culture?

* Come to grips with the reality that your new job is nothing like your old job.

* Individual contributors should be selfish. As a manager, focus on your priorities is for the sales person.

* Sales managers make heroes, don't become them. You must be open, available, remove obsticals, make them successful.

Everyone wants a piece of you. You must get grounded and identify the high value activity.

1. 1:1 meetings - accountability & coaching

2. sales team meetings

3. Field work - get into the meetings with your salesperson

You have two books out there now. New Sales and Sales Management. As an individual contributor, working on the New Sales, what can I do to best position myself to step into a sales management role?

* Be very sure you want that job. Top sales produces may not want it and may not do well with it.

* Study leadership and get around good leaders

* Leadership Challenge

Your favorite books:

In Search of Excellence, Tom Peters

Open Book Management, Jack Stack

Lets Get Real or Lets Not Play, Mahan Kahlsa

You transitioned from corporate career path to academia and coaching. I'm sure you've seen many other clients make dramatic (or what seems so) transitions. What are some of the keys to a transition of this nature?

Seek that which you love and you'll never work a day in your life

Enjoyed mentoring downward in corporate world

Showed up - discipline - walk into opportunities because you're there

Knew what he liked to do.

Marketing: Look at it primarily from the customer's POV

You and I met in early 2009 while I was between jobs. You were then and are now a prolific networker. Share with us how you use this tool and how you hope others will use it.

Thinks of 'Engagement' instead of networking

Give more than you take: Engagement

Giving: can be simple, doesn't take much time / money. 'Send me a pithy one liner'

Do not keep score. A goal for engagement is to identify positive givers

Great advise to actually engage with people not just network

Make the conversation rich and relevant for the speaker

Listen for and void 'I' talkers, they are takers. You / We / Team talkers are givers. Spend time with them.

Engage Strategically and Selectively

Find events that sound interesting or will attract the kind of people you want / need to meet

Plan in advance the events you'll attend

Stay in touch with the people you want to stay in touch with. Givers

Do this 1 / 2 times per month. You'll meet 49 - 96 people

This podcast is for hustlers. Many of them are up and comers. What is the most important advice would you offer to the next generation of business leaders?

Have an open mind

Spend time with older successful people

Best contact info for Frans VanOudenAllen

Phone: 314-378-3816

Email: [email protected]

Linkedin

Please reach out to let Frans know what one or two pieces of insight you will put into practice today.

Also, as always, shoot me a note at [email protected] or invite me to connect on LinkedIn to let me know what you like (and don't like) about the interviews. What can we do to make them more actionable for you.

Troy and I were brought together, in a round about way, by Mike Weinberg and his phenomenal book, New Sales. Simplified.: The Essential Handbook for Prospecting and New Business Development (affiliate link) We both highly recommend it and start the podcast talking about it.

How do coach new business development reps to get in the game? What kind of expectations should they have?

Understand sales story: Why do customers do business with you.

Sales / call reluctance is based on fear of their knowledge (or lack of).

They must get in front of the customer.

Continuously refine the sales story. In a new position you must improve your mastery and delivery of the story.

As a sales leader, it's important to make sales calls with them so you know where they need the help.

You don't need to focus on activity in general. However, when you're new it's hard to look at just results. He looks at 'meaningful conversations' and 'new opportunities open'.

Understand their sales process. Set realistic expectations about pace.

Sales these days has more to do with aligning with your clients needs / goals than ever before. How do you put your business in a position to understand their goals and deliver solutions to them?

Ask the right questions. You're not there to sell something at a first meeting. You're there to understand their situation, their business issues. Once we understand what's driving a request, then you can start selling.

Sales people don't know their own products well enough. Don't understand their own story well enough.

Biggest compliment is when your client starts asking you about their own products or business.

What advise do you have when making a transition from individual contributor to sales leader?

Surround yourself with talented sales mentors as an individual contributor.

Success at selling doesn't necessarily make you the best sales leader.

You cannot expect your sales people to work the way you did. That's not how people operate. you need to give them their enough room to find their way.

Personality tests are good in so far as they help you understand how to work with your people.

Key to set clear expectations and lay out a plan to meet those goals. Seems very simple but if you're not doing it...

Please reach out to Scott and let him know what you've learned from this podcast that you'll put into action immediately... My guests love getting that feedback from you.

Contact Troy Scott

@tscott588

Look him up on www.Linkedin.com

As always, let me know what you've learned from this cast. Let me know what what you'd like to hear about next. Shoot me a note at [email protected] or @jasonrthomas.

You started with Warehouse of Fixtures right out of college. Did you buy into the business right out of college?

Started out of college. Continuation of what his grandfather did.

Re-manufactured manikins, got into office furniture.

Started selling furniture out of the old warehouse in the summer between graduating from college and headed to law school.

How'd you know you wanted to make that kind of commitment so young?

Customers were asking him.

There were some good players in the new/ used market but he saw that he was doing it better than most.

What's it been like 'growing up' in business as the President/Owner?

Made a ton of mistakes, still does.

Budgets for mistakes.

Read one biz book per month

This podcast is all about learning from the hustlers of the world. What piece of business advise would you give to the up and comers, the driven professionals? Something they can put to work today.

Learn. Read books.

Seek out entrepreneurs

Find a mentor who will hold you accountable, outside the business.

Ask for help.

Look into E/O. it's for business owners only who do $1M+ in rev. Have a program called accelerator that teaches the basics.

Reading right now:

The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM) (affiliate link) How to start your day and live your life.

Re-reading The Ultimate Sales Machine (affiliate link)

Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business (affiliate link) by Gino Wickman

will help with understanding finances of your company.

Please reach out to David and tell him what you've learned and will put into practice today. Of course, if you need office furniture, David is your man.

email: [email protected] and phone: 314-922-4255

We talk to a man who has worn a name tag for 4993 days. (He's over 5000 days now, by the time I publish this). Aside from that, he's an inspiration.

Scott is a prolific writer and actually has outlined what he calls The Prolific Framework

Is reverse engineering creativity in his life.

Combines left and right brain thinking

Volume & consistency

Giving away his work everyday is based on generosity

That's his nature and discovered it pays off.

Delayed gratification.

Hustle while you wait.

Hard to be passionate about somebody else's business.

Book you should read: BrainStorm by Eric Maziel is about having productive obsessions

Moments of Conception: Topher Grace cut all Star Wars Prequils into one movie.

Business advise:

Quality is not as important as you think. What is more important? Speed, context, etc.

Create parallel life. Have an identity that does not include your work, another container of meaning to support your person-hood, especially when the business sucks.

Do as much as you possible can before you get married.

Tell Scott what you learned from this conversation that you'll put into practice tomorrow. [email protected]

Changing Industries

- Self reflection is required. Be sure you're not jumping ship but moving towards a better opportunity.

- Know why you were successful in the first place.

- Be true to the process you have that creates value for your clients.

Keys to Ramp Up Quickly

30 days

- Learn the business, your new company, the people, the process etc.

- Your competitors, the market, etc.

- Shadow a peer on customer calls.

- Understand the marketing collateral you have at your disposal.

60 day

- get on the phone.

- Create new contacts.

90 Days

- Understand the sales process of the company.

- What are the right metrics for me to watch.

- What is our sales cycle?

Intersection of Tech and Business

- Tech is often seen as only a cost center but that's a huge oversight.

- Risk is often overlooked by less mature businesses. What happens to your business if the tech doesn't work correctly?

- Opportunity costs are another area many business leaders overlook. What are you not able to do because you're spending too much time on low-value activities like data entry, etc.

Brandon Dempsey carries titles like Founder, Partner & Chief Marketing Strategist at goBRANDgo! but mostly he's an entrepreneur. He joins the Hard Way MBA for a great discussion about...

Being the most energetic dude I know. How does Brandon keep a super high energy level that allows him to run a company, an Iron Man and travel the world?

Transparent business practices that would scare most business owners are the norm for Brandon. He shares with us how being extremely open and candid are fundamental to his business success.

The power of defining your company around the results you produce rather than what you do to produce it.

Please let Brandon know what you've taken away from this conversation that you'll put in to action today.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @brandondempsey

Brandon, thanks again for sharing so much with me personally and now all the listeners at Hard Way MBA!