Business Consulting | How to Grow a Successful Consulting Business | “I Didn’t Know Anything About Running My Own Business. I Needed to Learn the Sales & Marketing That Terrified Me. Clay Clark Taught Me It Was Just a Formula.”

Audio Transcription

Transcribed with Cockatoo

My name is Clay Stairs. I am the founder of claystairs . com and the Leadership Initiative. Growing up, as I went through middle school and as I went through high school, I was pretty much a big fish in a small pond. And so I felt, I had an over -inflated sense of self. So once I graduated from college, I might have been, like a lot of folks, graduated from college terrified.

So I ran to ministry, ran to the church really quick. From there, I jumped into being a school teacher. But all the while, I knew there was something more. inside of me. I took over Shepherd’s Fold Ranch, which was a summer camp and retreat center. But then once again, now here I am at about 47 years old, and I’m feeling like it’s time. There’s this shift beginning to go on.

Like, okay, at this place, I’ve done what I’ve needed to do. It’s time for me to expand. It’s time for me to grow. But I didn’t know anything about how to run my own business. As I made that shift from being the executive director of a non -profit organization into running my own company, I found out really quickly where my weaknesses were. I’ve got to know something about sales and marketing and all those things that terrified me.

And so it was about at that time when we were doing some fundraising for Shepherd’s Fold Ranch that I met a young man named Clay Clark. Clay would tell me, it’s just a formula. Do these things and out comes production, out comes money. I just didn’t believe him. It was probably just there in the first month, maybe six weeks with Clay, that I got my first speaking engagement. But when we started talking about money, I totally locked up and just said, I’ll just come down and do it for free.

But after that first few months, it was like I stepped off a cliff and all of a sudden everything stopped. And so Clay started talking to me about making phone calls and beginning to do that, making 100 phone calls a day. I was like, are you kidding me? No one has ever done that in the history of man. Thrive has provided this confidence that I didn’t have before. And as a result, I’ve been able to turn a $2 ,500 or a $3 ,500 deal into $10 ,000 or $12 ,000.

Through working with Clay and working with Thrive, I’ve been able to look through the lens not of my capacity, but I’ve been able to look through the lens of my destiny. My life has been completely transformed over the last 13 years. And I take every opportunity to thank Clay. It’s incredible. It’s such a change that it’s not just me that I get to experience the change and my wife, but my children and my children’s children will impact it. And everybody that I get to talk with now and work with, with all of my business clients that I get to work with, it’s the seed.

Now, laziness doesn’t look like what you think it looks like. Lazy people aren’t always lying on the couch watching television. Some of the laziest people I know are busy all day long. They’re busy being busy, but they’re not busy doing the things that matter. They’re busy avoiding the things that matter. Laziness shows up as procrastination.

I’ll start my diet on Monday. I’ll call that prospect next week. I’ll read that book when I have more time. Laziness shows up as excuses. I don’t have enough money to start. I don’t have enough education.

I don’t have the right connections. Laziness shows up as comfort zone addiction. This job isn’t great, but it’s secure. This relationship isn’t perfect, but it’s comfortable. This life isn’t exciting, but it’s predictable. Here’s what laziness costs you.

It costs you your dreams. Every day you don’t take action toward your goals, your dreams get a little dimmer, a little more distant, a little less real. It costs you your potential. You were born with gifts, with talents, with possibilities that are unique to you, but if you don’t use them, you lose them. It costs you your self -respect. Deep down, you know, you’re not when you’re not giving your best.

You know when you’re settling, you know when you’re living below your potential, and that knowledge eats away at you. But here’s the most tragic cost of laziness, regret. At the end of your life, you won’t regret the things you tried and failed at, you’ll regret the things you never tried at all. You’ll regret the chances you didn’t take, the dreams you didn’t pursue, the person you never became. But Clay Clark, man, he is one character. It’s a good word for character.

Yeah, that is it. Good, driven, smart. And I’ve never met a guy who was so hyper all the time. He’s doing so much good. And then I met his mother and she just says she just lets him be Clay Clark. I mean, so he’s endorsed by his mother.

And he’s doing magnificent work. So it was great meeting you out there and all the people that he surrounds himself with. His Clay Clark starts his days at five o ‘clock in the morning. Oh, it’s incredible. Yeah, he’s he’s like he’s he’s a machine. He’s a machine.

But his you know, I could I have problems with my company starting at nine o ‘clock. Yes. Hundreds of people showing up at five a . m. in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Man, he’s a leader of a leader.

He’s a fantastic young man. No, he is. He is. He also has this wealth of knowledge. He’s worked with so many different companies and different businesses. He could take a concept that he’s used before in the past with somebody in a totally different industry and see how it would work perfectly for you in whatever niche market you’re in or whatever type of service you’re providing.

And so his brain is just a wealth of knowledge. And just to have that type of perspective as a part of your team and your own company is huge and super valuable. So I would definitely encourage people to use him. But one thing is you’ve got to be coachable. You’ve got to be wanting to get feedback. You’ve got to be wanting to really grow your company.

You’ve got to want to put that extra 10 hours a week to working on your business and not just in your business. And so, yes, I would recommend it to anybody who’s wanting to grow their company and provide great systems, checklists, workflows, great encouragement, and have accountability. Hi, I’m Aaron Antis with Shaw Homes. I first heard about Clay through a mortgage lender here in town who had told me what a great job he had been doing for them. And I actually noticed he was driving a Lamborghini all of a sudden, so I was willing to listen. In my career, I’ve sold a little over $800 million in real estate.

So honestly, I thought I kind of knew everything about marketing and homes. And then I met Clay, and my perception of what I knew and what I could do definitely changed. After doing $800 million in sales over a 15 -year career, I really thought I knew what I was doing. I’ve been managing a large team of salespeople for the last 10 years here with Shaw Homes. And I mean we’ve been a company that’s been in business for 35 years. We’ve become one of the largest builders in the Tulsa area.

And that was without clay. So when I came to know I really thought, man, there’s not much more I need to know, but I’m willing to listen. The interesting thing is our internet leads from our website has actually, in a four month period of time, has gone from somewhere around 10 to 15 leads in a month to 180 internet leads in a month. Just from the few things that he’s shown us how to implement that I honestly probably never would have come up with on my own. So I got a lot of good things to say about the system that Clay put in place with us.

And it’s just been an incredible experience. I am very glad that we met and had the opportunity to work with Clay. So the interaction with the team and with Clay on a weekly basis is honestly very enlightening. One of the things that I love about Clay’s perspective on things is that he doesn’t come from my industry. He’s not somebody who’s in the home building industry. I’ve listened to all the experts in my field.

Our company has paid for me to go to seminars, international builder shows, all kinds of places where I’ve had the opportunity to learn from the experts in my industry. But the thing that I found working with Clay is that he comes from such a broad spectrum of working with so many different types of businesses that he has a perspective that’s difficult for me to gain because I get so entrenched in what I do, I’m not paying attention to what other leading industry experts are doing. And Clay really brings that perspective for me. It is very valuable time every week when I get that hour with him. From my perspective, the reason that any business owner who’s thinking about hooking up with thrive needs to definitely consider it is because. the results that we’ve gotten in a very short period of time are honestly monumental.

It has really exceeded my wildest expectation of what he might be able to do. I came in skeptical because I’m very pragmatic, and as I’ve gone through the process over just a few months, I’ve realized it’s probably one of the best moves we’ve ever made. I think a lot of people probably feel like they don’t need a business or marketing consultant because they maybe are a little bit prideful and like to think they know everything. I know that’s how I felt coming in. I mean, we’re a big company that’s definitely one of the largest in town. And so we kind of felt like we knew what we were doing.

And I think for a lot of people, they let their ego get in the way of listening to somebody that might have a better or different perspective than theirs. you if you’re thinking about working with clay. I mean, the thing is, it’s month to month. Go give it a try and see what happens. I think in the 35 -year history of Shaw Homes, this is probably the best thing that’s happened to us. And I know if you give them a shot, I think you’ll feel the same way.

I know for me the thing I would have missed out on if I didn’t work with Clay is I would have missed out on literally an 1800 % increase in our internet leads going from 10 a month to 180 a month. That would have been a huge financial decision to just decide not to give it a shot. I would absolutely recommend Clay Clark to anybody who’s thinking about working with somebody in marketing. I would skip over anybody else you were thinking about and I would go straight to Clay and his team. I guarantee you’re not going to regret it. because we sure haven’t.

My name is Danielle Sprick and I am the founder of the Sprick Realty Group here in Tulsa Oklahoma. After being a stay at home mom for 12 years and my three kids started school and they were in school full time I was at a crossroads and trying to decide what What do I want to do? My degree and my background is in education, but after being a mom and staying home and all of that, I just didn’t have a passion for it like I once did. My husband suggested real estate. He’s a home builder, so real estate and home building go hand in hand, and we just rolled with it. I love people.

I love working with people. I love the building relationships. But one thing that was really difficult for me was the business side of things. the processes and the advertising and marketing, I knew that I did not have what I needed to make that what it should be. So I reached out to Clay at that time, and he and his team have been extremely instrumental in helping us build our brand, help market our business, our agents, the homes that we represent, everything that we do. is a direct line from Clay and his team and all that they’ve done for us.

We launched our brokerage, our real estate brokerage, eight months ago. And in that time, we’ve gone from myself and one other agent to just this week, we signed on our 16th agent. We have been blessed with the fact that we, right now, have just over 10 million in pending transactions. Three years ago, I never would have even imagined that I would be in this role that I’m in today, building a business, having 16 agents. But I have to give credit where credit’s due.

And Clay and his team and the business coaching that they’ve offered us has been huge. It’s been instrumental in what we’re doing. Don’t ever limit your vision. When you dream big, big things happen. I started a business because I couldn’t work for anyone else. I do things my way.

I do what I think is in the best interest of the patient. I don’t answer to insurance companies. I don’t answer to large corporate organizations. I answer to my patient and that’s it. My thought when I opened my clinic was I can do this all myself. I don’t need additional outside help in many ways.

I mean, I went to medical school. I can figure this out. But it was a very, very steep learning curve. Within the first six months of opening my clinic, I had a $63 ,000 embezzlement. I lost multiple employees. Clay helped us weather the storm of some of the things that are just a lot of people experience, especially in the medical world.

He was instrumental in helping with the specific written business plan. He’s been instrumental in hiring good quality employees, using the processes that he outlines for getting in good talent, which is extremely difficult. He helped me in securing the business loans. He helped me with web development and search engine optimization. We’ve been able to really keep a steady stream of clients coming in. because they found us on the web.

With everything that I encountered, everything that I experienced, I quickly learned it is worth every penny to have someone in your team that can walk you through and even avoid some of the pitfalls that are almost invariable in starting your own business. I’m Dr. Chad Edwards, and I own Revit. Health and Wellness Clinic. Clay, my honor, my honor to be on your show. And thank you for all you do. I hear the ripple effects from you are good ripple effects.

You know what I mean? People rave about what they learn from you. So congratulations. From expecting maybe $250 ,000 this year to we’re at $400 ,000. Hi, I’m Kelsey with K &D’s Woodruff Finishing. I’m a business owner at 23.

So, I’ve been working this K &E’s company for about five years now and we started working with Thrive. Not too expecting maybe $250 ,000 this year to, we’re at $400 ,000. So we’re gonna hit our seed. So we’re pretty excited about that. Just listening to what they have to say, their hiring process has just really been incredible as far as finding good quality help. Just the accountability of meeting up with them weekly and such good insight, the resources they have for specific business questions.

It’s all been really incredible. It’s been a great experience. So I’d recommend it to anybody. What I’ve seen from Clay and his group at Thrive is they’ll give you a simple system and it’s the simple systems are the ones that people can wrap their brain around. They’re the ones that people can work with on a day to day basis. Hi there.

My name is Stephanie Pipkin. I am 24 years old and I own Blackbird Falls Cleaning Services. We opened in April of 2019 and it is now mid June of 2020. So I wanted to talk today about, um, the success and growth I have achieved by implementing the proven path, uh, with Clay Clark’s team and my business coach, Luke, um, from Thrive Time. Uh, it has been insane to say the least. I started working with them in mid -February of this year, so we’re about four months in of working together and it has completely transformed my business in pretty much every facet.

So I’m going to check my notes here. So in four months, my leads have tripled. I was getting probably like two leads a week. Now I’m getting more in the like 10 to 15 leads a week. I have doubled my number of employees. I’m now hitting the highest revenue weeks in the history of the company, week to week it seems like.

We went from about six appointments today as our highest in February to now 14 to 15 appointments a day. Hiring quality employees has become much simpler and less stressful by using their systems for hiring. I typically only get maybe two complaints a month, if that, and everybody shows up to work. I just have really high quality employees now, especially in something people typically consider a high turnover type of work, you know, cleaning houses, cleaning businesses. I have amazing employees now and I get rid of the ones who are not so amazing and bring on new ones because of, you know, group interviews, and interviewing every single week. It’s just been great, and I don’t waste as much time on low -quality candidates anymore.

And your coach will hold you accountable, which I love. Again, the tough love is really great. Luke’s like a stern father figure, but he’s also nice, but also stern when he needs to be when I’m being lazy and not doing the things that I know I need to do because I don’t want to do them. So that’s just great. Worth every penny. I’d pay him a million dollars a month if I can.

and maybe someday I’ll be able to but I would just say go for it if it seems like a good fit just go for it do what they say even if you think it’s just or ridiculous, just do what they say because it’ll work. You know, people, when they look at my business, you know, people in my town, they think I’m lucky. They think I’m just, you know, things just happen for me. And you know, maybe I am lucky, but it has a lot to do with hard work and, you know, perseverance and, you know, working till you cry sometimes. That’s just being an entrepreneur, which if you’re a business owner, you understand that.

But it’s having these systems in place of, you know, of course I’m going to be successful. It’s an absolute because I have all this stuff in the background happening. And I have Luke and Clay and everybody on their team working really hard to make sure that I’m a success. And I can tell that they are just so excited every single week when I’m having all these wins and things like that. They’re so excited for me. So it’s the best thing ever.

And I would suggest to anybody to work with them. So sorry for the long -winded reply, but I just had so much to say, and I could go on for hours probably about how amazing they are. But thank you to Clay and Luke and the entire team there, everything you guys have done for me, and I am so excited to continue to work with you for years to come. Thanks so much for watching. My saying is, if it’s important to you, hire a coach. And I think that’s one of the reasons people are not successful is they You know, they eat a cheeseburger instead of hiring a coach.

You know what I mean? And so my coach pushes me. They’re younger than me. They push harder. They’re trained. And as my rich dad always said, you know, amateurs don’t have a coach, but professionals always have coaches.

So I’ve always had coaches for whatever was important. My rich dad was one of those persons. I wanted to learn how to play Monopoly in real life. So he was my coach. And the great thing is we have nothing to upsell. At every workshop, we teach you what you need to know.

There’s no one in the back of the room trying to sell you some next big, get rich quick, walk on hot coals product. It’s literally, we teach you the brass tacks, the specific stuff that you need to know to learn how to start and grow a business. And I encourage you to not believe what I’m saying. And I want you to Google the Z66 auto auction. I want you to Google elephant in the room. Look at Robert Zellner and Associates.

Look them up and say, are they successful because they’re geniuses? Or are they successful because they have a proven system? When you do that research, you will discover that the same systems that we use in our own business can be used in your business. Come to Tulsa, book a ticket, and I guarantee you it’s going to be the best business workshop ever. And we’ll even give you your money back if you don’t love it. We’ve built this facility for you, and we’re excited to see it.

Transcribed with Cockatoo