Business Podcasts | The Keys to Leading Effective Staff Meetings That Actually Produce Growth And Continual Improvement In Your Business + Why Diligence Is the Difference Maker

Audio Transcription

Alright, guys I’ve been to the mountaintop and I got something to say. Alright, I’m unveiling the new long-term profit goal. Are you guys ready for this? Drum roll please. This is going to blow your mind, okay? This is what we’re going to do. This is good. $30 million? There’s only two of us. We made $63,000 in gross sales last year. That’s everything. Okay, look, I’m a visionary. Okay, what you’re witnessing right here, this is leadership. I’m looking at where we’re gonna be 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now. Did Henry Fonda, when he invented the Model T, were they sitting around going, how are we gonna build this car? No, okay, they got their hands dirty, they grabbed the bull by the horns, and then they killed it. Okay, so what’s the plan? Step one, okay we’re going to maximize efficiency. Number two, write this down, number two, step three emulsification. Listen you guys follow those steps we’re gonna hit our goal by the winter of 2032. Okay, what an incredible Christmas that’ll be. Alright, so you guys know what you’re doing? No. Awesome, alright, I’m gonna hit the links. Ooh, daddy likes. Get ready to enter the Thrivetime Show. We started from the bottom and we’ll show you how to get here Started from the bottom, now we here Started from the bottom, now we here We started from the bottom, now we’re on the top Teaching you the systems to get what we got Cousin Dixon’s on the hooks, I’ve written the books He’s bringing some wisdom and the good look As the father of five, that’s why I’m alive So if you see my wabbit kids, please tell them hi If you see and see up on your radio And now 3, 2, 1, here we go! We started from the bottom, now we’re here. We started from the bottom, now we’ll show you how to get to the top. One of the biggest things we picked up when we picked up the Thrive15 team was an entire team. You want an SEO guy that knows things about search engine optimization? Got it. You got a website guy that’s built big websites like Garth Brooks’ website? Awesome, we have it. He’s coming in. If I had to pay for that on my own outside of Thrive 15, there’s just no way. For us, one of our most immediate needs when I got connected with Clay was technology. We had a website, but I had a website in Tulsa, our other partner had a website in Colorado, and they did everything from doing a drone video, where they flew over all of our markets with a drone, they integrated that into our site, they built every single thing that I think of they do we do a podcast if I was gonna produce my own podcast There’s no I mean that alone Just that alone would be what I pay for it just for that But then if you add the fact that I’ve got if I need a business card design if I need a website build if I need This if I need that I know what I would pay for that if I had to go A la carte I feel guilty sometimes like I don’t I don’t probably write a big enough check for the value that I get. I think there’s a lot of entrepreneurs that have ideas of what they want to do with their business and how they want to grow and what market they want to be in and how they can increase production and do all this. But it’s not about having 4,000 ideas. It’s about having 12 and executing them 4,000 times. That’s the trick in my opinion and that’s where Thrive’s value comes in. I feel like I have my own staff, my own like, I don’t know, 20 person team that when I need something, I just go to them and it happens. On today’s edition of the Thrive Time Show, I’m going to teach you how to effectively lead a staff meeting. How to effectively lead a staff meeting. So many entrepreneurs that I meet at our in-person workshops and that I personally coach, tell me that they struggle to lead their staff meetings. And so I’m going to walk you through on today’s broadcast or podcast on how to lead a staff meeting. So let me just tell you what we’re doing during this audio because today’s show features live audio of me actually leading a staff meeting for one of my companies called Elephant in the Room. It’s a haircut chain for men’s grooming. It’s a men’s grooming lounge. Kind of like a country club for men’s hair. So the first thing you want to do is you want to go over the wins. You want to celebrate the wins, great things that happened that week in the business. Second thing you wanna go over is you wanna go over your key performance indicators, your tracking sheet. You wanna look at all of your stats, all your statistics, and you wanna make sure that the people on your team are actually knocking out all of their action items. You wanna make sure that all of the numbers, all the metrics are being checked and being followed properly so that your business is not drifting. You wanna make sure that the team is actually following the tracking sheet, that all the key performance indicators are being knocked out. The third aspect of the meeting is you want to follow up on everything that was supposed to be done the week before. So everything that needed to be done, you want to follow up on it. You want to make sure that nothing is drifting, that nothing is allowed to drift without aim or purpose, that things are actually being done, that the things you discussed in last week’s meeting, action items that you assigned in last week’s meeting, you want to make sure that those action items actually got done. Then the next thing you want to do is you want to provide training. It’s a core training for your staff on how to do their jobs more effectively, with better accuracy, with more efficiency, more profitably, how to add more value for your customers, how to wow your customers, how to make the product or service better. That’s what you want to do. And then you want to end the meeting because you don’t have death by meeting. A lot of businesses get stuck in endless meetings. So now without any further ado, you’re going to hear audio of me actually leading an actual staff meeting for one of my actual companies, managing real people, where we have thousands and thousands of customers and real employees, 47 actual real employees who work at this real business. So here we go. That’s great. Okay, what else? I have a question. How many people in this room use DuckDuckGo ever? You do? Because you know what’s going on. Yeah. Okay. Yes, this is… I’ve used DuckDuckGo for a while and I changed to Opera. Opera? Who made that? No idea. By show of hands, how many people here have used DuckDuckGo? You do? Okay. Use Bing? Okay, keep going. 42 outbound books, 20 membership sold, 0 deluxe beer membership sold, 30,217 members, 385 paid non-member cuts, 15 reviews gathered, 2,165 downtown reviews. Now, Noel and Lily, your job is to make sure that membership number goes up. So there’s all this other stuff happening but that number needs to go up. So how do you do that? And that’s how you would define success. So if you had a good week we went up. You know, so what am I saying? If we have any downtime at all, any downtime, downtown, any downtime at all, you want to call 90-day outbounds. Hey, we haven’t seen you for 90 days and by the way we have special where you’re, since we haven’t seen you for 90 days, your haircut would be how much? $8. You know, we just get today or this week or what? And then, oh yeah, and every time you do one of those you make how much? $4. Right. And I’m not attacking you, I’m just pointing out things that won’t pay you. Talking to the person next to you will never pay you, unless they’re going to pay you. Now, again, if they, how much do you get for an upbound? Yeah, so if the person next to you wants to give you ten dollars, that’s a deal, but we just want to be like on the phone just pounding that. Because there’s two things, and then Carly, feel free to give me an amen or a correction or update on this, but Carly’s in the store and you’re gonna be, I’d say you’re pre-booked for probably 95% of your time. Is that accurate? So you don’t have a whole lot of downtime. And a few times that I’ll spot-check the cameras, I always see her busy. When she’s not busy, I see you a lot of times sleep. Who works with Carly? Do you guys see her do this? Am I making these up? Or like if somebody shows up for a haircut, if they’re on the books, I see Carly get those people in. Who does that downtown? Amanda. Okay, who does that broken arrow? Yeah, but I’m saying that’s how it should work. So you’re on the phone pounding outbound 90-day calls and if you ever have any downtime at all, like it’s like a nervous tick, you’re like, I’m gonna call 90-day outbounds. And if the person next to you is not, say something motivational like, call 90 day outbounds. You know, and you just keep doing it over and over and over, and that’s what makes it work, you know. So like for the Reawakened tour as an example, JT, who you guys will get to know more over time, but he currently lives in Nashville, but he worked, lived in Tulsa, and worked with me for a while. Every single event we would do, if we had 4,000 tickets we sold, he would always sell like 2,100 of those 4,000 tickets. You know what I mean? Like he would sell like 30 to 40 tickets every single day, regardless of how many leads we had coming in, because he was always calling people that had been to another conference. And that was like his thing, you know what I mean? He’s always on the phone. So your mindset, it’s like always be calling people, you know? And then what will happen is, is people that are not Carly will say stuff like, hey, hey, and that’s why I don’t like to talk to them, but they’ll say stuff like, hey, hey, hey, hey, you, you booked a 90 day outbound and I was busy. And they’ll try to discourage that, because most people when they have downtime, they want to do nothing. And then Carly, I’m not looking for names, but are there people that do nothing? And they do nothing. And how often, if you think about the shop South Tulsa, is there somebody doing nothing? Because there’s no, there’s their appointment didn’t show up and there’s not someone filled in. Oh yeah, their appointment didn’t show up, they’re doing nothing. All it means is like one person per hour is doing nothing. Yeah, and it’s every hour, you know. So another example, Reawaken Tour, we sell tickets. The tent that we rented, I was told we can have 4,300 people in the tent in seats. So Zane, how many tickets do you think I’m gonna sell? Well, I’m gonna go over by 10%. So I’m gonna sell, store clear, I’m gonna get to like 4,700 tickets sold. If I do that, then there’s no empty seats. Make sense? But people will say, not you, nobody thankful that you’ve met here. I don’t think anybody knows these people. But there’s a guy from Iowa who I had to fire, and he used to tell me, I don’t know, I think we’re oversold. I’m like, if you speak to me again, I’m gonna kung fu attack you with my eyes. You know, because he is weak. So he wants to do nothing because he’s like, we’re guess we’re sold out for Anaheim. I’m like do not speak again Okay, that’s a poverty mindset anything you want to say is what shouldn’t be said. Okay, this is why you are poor I’ll always be poor stop talking. Okay, give him a phone Meanwhile JT is still selling selling selling selling selling selling so we go to Anaheim and thank God we oversold Because that’s their crazy-ass governor out there in California, he canceled Matt Gates, his event, because he said it was too many people, it was a risk of spreading COVID. This is the same governor that let you protest. So as long as you’re protesting, you can be together, that’s fine. But you couldn’t go to a Matt Gates thing. So people at our event were like, they heard that our event was canceled, but our event was not canceled. It was Matt Gates’s event that was canceled. So now we’re going to Vegas and it’s raining. There’s a hurricane off the coast of California for the first time in how many years. And people are like, oh my god, it’s raining. You have certain people that can’t handle rain. Have you ever met people from California? Does anybody here from California? No, I’m serious. I have family from California. If it rains at all, they’re like, windshield wipers? What? They think they just want to turn them on. Seriously, have you seen this? I’m gonna tell you, people in California, if it’s like a thunder, they’re like, oh! So now that it’s raining, people in Vegas are like, are you still doing the event? I hear it’s raining. Yeah, we’re not gonna be outside, you sickos, you know? But we have to keep selling tickets because I want to be oversold so when people don’t show up because of the rain, we’re full. And if it wasn’t raining, there would be something. There’s always something. So in the store, at least, and this is my opinion, if we have four stylists scheduled today, there’ll always be one doing nothing. And is that… am I out of my mind? Casey, do you notice this? Is there like one stylist doing nothing most of the time in your store, or is everyone busy all the time? It’s because someone doesn’t show up for a haircut. It’s going to happen. It’s going to happen. If you’ve ever been booked to do a Corey haircut, he never showed up, except for when he wanted to, right? Book him for 9, he’s booked at noon, he shows up at 2, pissed off, you can’t get him in. Have you seen this guy? Okay, so, unbelievable. So anyway, that guy, people started the fight club because of that guy. That guy makes me angry. So all I’m saying is you guys in the call center, you are like the machine that needs to be on the phone at all times, calling people that haven’t been in. And when you call them, it’s not a scam, but it should feel like a gift. Where you’re like, hey you haven’t been in for 90 days, you know. And so we’ve got a special where if you put in your haircut today, it’s how much? Noelle? $8 for a… or it’s a… for a… yeah and that includes a… yeah which would be… right awesome and so do you want to go ahead and do the stand… do you want to book but do you want to do today at 2 or today at 4? And you just do that all day and it will always be busy. But that number has to go up because that’s what your job is. Cool? But do not, but I’m saying this very positively. Jordan does a phenomenal job, I believe Amanda does a great job, we’ve got a wonderful team of people. But do not ask them about their opinions of this, because they will always say they’re too busy. But when you are in the store and you’re not, Carly, you’ll watch them doing nothing for huge periods of time. Cool? So they like the idea of doing nothing. So we want to make sure that everyone’s busy. And in the Bible, Proverbs, it says, for idleness is the devil’s workshop. Basically, you can’t have gossip or rumors if you’re working. So, book another haircut, you know what I mean? So, you know, like anytime my family wants to talk, we have Sunday family night, anytime they want to talk about gossip or rumors, I go take out the trash. Like anytime they’re like, hey, did you hear about your uncle, whatever, I’m like, I’m going to go take out the trash, and I’ll be gone for two or three hours. No, I do it. I do it every Sunday. Because I don’t want to talk about it. You know what I mean? So, if you ever see me driving around here, it’s because I’m dropping off the trash. It has to take two or three hours. I’m serious. People have downtime, they talk about gossip. Do they not? They’re like, well, did you hear this? I heard that. Well, okay, no way. What had happened? I heard the restaurant next door is going bankrupt. Well, I heard my company and all this and then what? And that doesn’t pay us. So you just want to make sure. So if I start getting complaints that the stores are too booked, I am happy. So you are only happy. Your goal is to make sure that number goes up. And when they start complaining, it’s an overbooked. That’s when I know we’re happy. So when they start complaining like we’re so busy, but I know you’re doing a good job. Make sense? So you are, I got a basketball team, you’re kind of like the head coach, and that you’re generating the momentum, you’re setting the pace, and so that number has to go up. And in the store, you guys as managers, your job is to notice like, wow, this person didn’t show up, this person just did, let’s get you in here, and you’re kind of quarterbacking that thing. And we need people like Carly who are diligent, who will try to do what they can in between haircuts, and that’s how it works. Make sense? Okay, keep going. Downtown, 2,165 reviews. Yep. Tulsa, 3,171 reviews. Broken Air, 2,657 reviews. Downtown, zero video reviews. Yep. Tulsa, zero video reviews. Yep. Broken Air, two video reviews. Yep. And then our closest competitor did not change from our views status. And then Matt, responded to bad reviews. And then managers, make sure you are checking to make sure whoever’s on the float or is new to your shop has lunches. And then I did order the lint truck and I delivered it to South, so we’re done there. I was called to a concern today. And then Matt, make sure we’re not turning away a haircut. Make sure we’re… Didn’t twist and turn. Twist and turn or a clean man. They came out on Thursday at 11. They didn’t get done. Yeah, they did a really great job. It’s been done. Okay, so I did call them. Yes, it’s been done. And they came in and it’s all finished. Back to this idea. We never want to turn away a haircut, okay? Now, I’m just going to get you, I’m going to be real, I’m just trying to help everybody today, okay? Today, a little more aggressive than normal, but I just want to make sure we’re clear, okay? So, if you… The other day I went, took my wife out to dinner and we were going to go to The steakhouse, what’s the steakhouse here by highway? Steakhouse right there by highway 35 Texas Roadhouse, we’re going to Texas Roadhouse. Hey Rachel if you go out to dinner, this isn’t a judgment thing I’m just wanting to know if you go eat somewhere, what’s the maximum threshold with which you will wait before you say I’m going somewhere else Like if you go to a restaurant you say hey how long’s the wait and they say what what’s the number you tap out at? Really okay Wow, okay. Now Carly. What about you? What’s it? I’m 30 Casey. What’s your number? Wow John what’s yours? 10 minutes. Okay, Yong? Yeah. Now, real quick, I’m just giving you examples. This is real stuff. These are real, real examples. I’m trying to help you guys to make a profound life change moment today, okay, because, again, that number has to go up, okay? So let me just explain this idea. So there’s a buddy of mine who owned an Outback. He’s a proprietor, which means he’s a… The Outback, the way they do it, they call it managing partner. So you don’t own it, but you have to pay like $20,000 and you get a small percentage of the profit. So he’s a managing partner, okay? And he’s like, my Outback, I can’t ever make it profitable. And I’m going, well, the difference between you being very profitable and not profitable is not turning anybody away. And he’s like, well, we’re so busy on Friday. I’m like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, young Skywalker. Let’s teach you the force. So the move is, anybody who’s in line, you go, hey, welcome to Outback, how are you? Great. And somebody says, how long’s the wait? They go, well, a couple things. I can get you a free adult beverage and a free onion, whatever that is, blue onion. I can get you that, that, and I can do free beverage or free this if you’re willing to sit at the bar. Everyone’s like sure boom. Well all of a sudden there’s no wait. Like there’s no wait. All of a sudden he’s like man we are packed. Like you know there’s no available. And then so I’m like that’s that’s your first move. So people come in and go how long is the wait? You go okay I can get you a free adult beverage or a free blue million if you want to sit at the bar. And so people that wouldn’t sit at the bar are like yeah I’ll do it. Boom. So now you got that whole section filled. Well now it’s really full. He’s like, what else do I do? I’m like don’t turn people away. So if somebody says How long’s the wait you go? Well, I get your free adult beverage and a free blue banana if we’re willing to wait, they’ll be about 15 to 20 minutes You know and then if it’s like a 30 if it’s above 30, most people piece out at 30, you go Hey, by the way, if you got a free adult beverage while you’re waiting and if you’re willing to wait for 30 we’ll get you a free dessert and no one leaves but you have to have that mindset of like you cannot ever turn away a haircut because you told me yeah you can’t get your haircut today but how about next week I’d be like what the hell is wrong with you no you know I mean so because people when they have the thought they want to get the haircut it’s usually because they’re going holy crap I’ve got a job interview tomorrow I’ve got a date tonight. I’ve got a, I’m going to church. It’s Thanksgiving coming up. I’ve got a, and they want to do it now. They don’t want to do it later. Does that make sense? We’re on the same page? Okay, keep going. All right. What, averaging 200 outbound calls per shift and five outbound books, what in the past have they come out to both BA and South? Yeah, they’ve been to BA, yeah. They came to stop. Um, I changed the review thing to Noel and Lily. So any time you have a bad review, the response should be, our number one goal is to take care of you, make sure you’re super happy. Feel free to text our call center today. Feel free to call our call center today so that we can find out what happened and make it right. And if they’re like, I hate you, you pray to Satan, you must die, your still response is, thank you for alerting me. You can call our call center, we’d love to find out what happened and make it right. And if they’re like, I definitely hate you, your team is terrible, no matter how crazy it is, always have that same kind of response to it. Okay, next. I’m taking South off this and trying to pass on to South and then they’ll be at Broken Air this week. That was the students that get out to Broken Air. Yep. And then, oh, the weird smell is fixed. Yes. Okay. Hallelujah. And then we’ll wait. We’re gonna need to follow up with Jacob as far as like maintenance. His parent wasn’t supposed to be inside for a long period of time. Everybody was telling him not to. Yeah, they’re waiting for Paul to get back from hunting deer. I know I said that. Beautiful. But it doesn’t smell bad now. No. Great. Awesome. Next. And then we’ll weigh in a part. Oh, they already did it. Okay, so done. And then, you put clients. So on this, I say yes, go ahead and give them the Deluxe first. Because you’re blowing them away by over-delivering. So if they’ve been, once they turn 13, get them in for the Deluxe first. Because obviously they’ve been coming in so you’re gonna get them for a membership and it’s not worth fighting because you’re gonna lose more people than you gain. Alright, I did bond bench. It looks good. It looks really good. Anybody that ever wants to cancel a membership, okay? Noel, do you play any sports? What do you play? Soccer. Soccer? Carly, you were a cheerleader, right? Lily, do you play any sports? I play volleyball. Okay. Best examples I can give you. If you’re playing volleyball and the other team hits the ball to a bizarre location on said volleyball court, this real thing? Okay, great. You don’t go, wow, extreme level of difficulty is high, thus I will just watch it go by. That’s why nerds don’t do well at sports. Because they’re like, based upon their degree of difficulty, I probably will not… No, I’m serious. That’s why nerds can’t play sports. It’s not a good thing. So, as they look at… I played basketball, I was pretty good at that. But basketball, if you see a guy going to dunk and you’re me My civic duties I got 5,000 we use all of them No, it’s Duncan So I’m gonna hit him get my first technical, but no one ducks No, I’m serious these are rules, you know because it’s a demoralizing thing to get dunk on so you just don’t have so you do that and but you don’t like over analyze like I wonder if I physically attack a person who’s six foot eight, what will happen? You just do it. So when you’re on the phone with someone and they want to cancel, your immediate response is, how can I save this situation? How can I find the problem and solve it? Not just mindlessly go, okay. So if they’re like, hey, I want to cancel, you would say, well, tell me, what’s your main concern? And they’ll say whatever and go, well, I really would love to keep you as a member. What can we do to keep you as a member? And then you wanna find that out? Because usually what happens is there’s three reasons why people cancel memberships. One is that they’re pissed off at a stylist. Two, they’re pissed off at a stylist. Or three, they’re pissed off at a stylist. But most people are passive aggressive. So, like, most people, if I have a problem with Zane, which I don’t, but if I did I would tell you directly, but most people don’t operate that way. They’ll go, you see guys, there’s people in this meeting that are not doing well, and I would just list off all the things that pertain just to you. I’m like, certain people were, and we all know I’m talking about a specific person, but I speak in generality so as to not bother people. But that’s not how I roll. I like to tell people directly, hey, here’s the problem, we fixed the problem, so that way everyone knows where we stand, it’s all good. Customers are like that though. They’ll be mad about their stylist, and they’ll call in and go, yeah, you know, I just wanted to move on, and you need to go, well tell me what happened. And they’ll go, well, I don’t want to throw anything under the bus. I want to know, because it brings me extreme joy to fire jerks. It’s like the highlight of my year. Every time I find a jerk, it’s just awesome. And then they’re like, well the stylist who was cutting my hair said this, did this, did that, did this, and Carly knows it because she’s sitting next to the person who’s doing it. You know it because you see the crazy ass behavior. We all know it. And then the customer is gonna fire us by going somewhere else. But if you can find out the problem and they go, yeah this stylist was a jerk, then you go, okay, I want to make it right for you, so why don’t we go ahead and get you your next hair cut, no charge, and we’ll take care of you. I want to keep you as a customer. If they hear the enthusiasm out of your voice, you’re actually want to make it right, they’ll stick around. Then you find out who this person is and we want to give them a corrective opportunity to improve, and if they won’t, then we fire them. You know, so I’ll tell them something motivational like, hey, quit being a jerk. And they’re like, I’m only a jerk because I’m some life problem. Getting divorced, getting married, traveling, something. I’ll go, well, you need to stop that. And if they don’t, does that make sense? So Carly really doesn’t ever have somebody ever cancel, nor does Amanda, nor does, there’s a lot of people. And why? Because they like the stylist. If they don’t like the stylist, they will cancel. And they’ll come up with, they’ll always say, like, I’m traveling, I’m moving, my sister, the weather, I found a different place, my wife’s gonna cut my hair, I move, I got a new job, the economy, all things that don’t relate to the fact that they’re a fist and they’re a stylist. So then you go, is there anything else? They go, yeah, you’re a stylist, so they’ll trust me. And you wanna find me. Cool? All right, next. All right, so the upholster people are coming September 5th. Nice. And then they’ll do one chair at a time, and they’ll take them Saturday when we close and bring them back Monday before we open. And then Jane is doing a good job sending me photos of the flags and the O’clock. John, keep checking out the front daily. And then Mayna, Yon, sending me photos of the flags and the O’clock. and then Manna Young sending a new shirt, like, what’s happening, good job. Devin, how are we doing on listing reasons why people are not buying memberships? Good. Okay, and then all managers set up on Monday to charge after the 15th for the next month. Let stylists know when they receive a reading and text Carly and Manna. And then selling flat bill hats at 27, selling mesh caps at 25, and then giving away a free book or T-shirt whenever you pitch the membership. Did everybody do their drop-off this week? Jordan. Connect with their… Julie here, keep going. Connect with their team this week. Yep. And here are all the ways you can get paid. And then Devin, here’s the upload notes. Did everybody send their content to Devin? Rachel, no, you didn’t get your pictures? Okay, then yeah, everyone else. You want to get pictures every week and those go up on the Google Map, okay? And then we want to be getting reviews, photos, Google reviews, video reviews, and photos. Cool. Alright, next. Alright, and then Matt, are we at 46 employees? Yes. Okay, and then we need to make sure we’re series three-er. Can we do products for the training today? Yes. Okay. All right. And then schools are coming back from session, so I can start going to them again. And then we did membership training this morning, and then everybody’s numbers are up to date on the sheet. I did buy text credits for South. That’s kind of a pro. I did drop off last week. I’ll do that again this week. And then all of the demos that came in last week were not good fits. All of them? They couldn’t touch. That’s a challenge. She’s arguing with you that she could cut hair? Who was this? Pam? Pam? So she went to the Broken Arrow and Jordan gave her a no and when I called her to tell her the no she goes, well she said I could do a haircut other than a bald fade. I was like, you’re always welcome to re-apply in the future. She goes, okay, can I re-apply today? Do we know this person? Is she bizarre? Is it weird? What happened? She cut my hair. I asked her if she would do it. She didn’t. I asked her to do it. She didn’t really listen to me. And then a guy called the call center and was extremely upset about the hair cut she gave me. Yeah, he called, I talked to him, he said that he wanted a fade and she just did the sides all the time. It’s a little rough, but it’s more off. They seem to be a common routine. Okay, that’s good. Maybe she worked in the military before. Yeah, she has, yeah. Military haircut. That is all the same. Military haircut. What do you want? Okay. And I did update the reviews. Yep. And then make sure I can bring the Facebook recommendations. Yep. Yeah Yeah Yep Yeah Condition it. All right, and then Clay, give us a bench. Looks like a good bench. Good bench. Solid, sturdy bench. Solid, sturdy bench, that’s great. Okay, that’s it. Cool? Three, two, one, move. You have questions? America’s number one business coach has answers. It’s your broda from Minnesota. Here’s another edition of Ask Clay Anything on the Thrive Time Business Coach Radio Show. All right, Thrive Nation, welcome back to another exciting edition of Ask Us Anything. On today’s show, we are talking about the difference between merit-based pay employees and flat pay employees, salaried employees. Again, easy for me to say. Merit-based pay employees versus salaried employees. They’re employees who can’t make any more money no matter how hard they work. So let’s, before we get into the data and the research, before we get too deep into the weeds here, Marshall, why does a job for you not appeal at all if it is a flat salary. It doesn’t appeal because my ceiling is capped. I know that I’m going to make so much and no matter whether I perform well or don’t perform well, I’m not going to be able to make more money. And so I love to be able to go eat what I kill. I love to be able to know that because I am busier, because I am performing more effectively, because I’m producing more results, I’m going to get paid more. And that’s why I love the merit-based pay versus the flat salary. All right, Clay Stairs, you are a former school teacher. Talk to me about the kinds of behavior that you would see from your fellow colleagues who are all on a flat salary. No, seriously, because a lot of people have never been a school teacher or have never worked for the government, but what kind of work ethic or lack thereof would you see from your colleagues who all made a flat salaried wage in the public, in any public school system? Let’s see, I’m really tired today. I think we’ll watch videos in the classroom today. I think that’ll be a good thing. You know, I think I’ll wear my sweats today. I think that’s a good move for me. I get 10 sick days a year, I’m taking every dadgum one of them. I get another six personal days, I’m going to take those as well, every single year. I had a friend of mine that was a very, he was a teacher who taught in the public school system for over 30 years, and he got this thing called tenure. I’m not sure how many years you have to work before you earn the tenure. Is it three? Three. And so basically, unless he sexually or physically assaulted a kid, he’s good to go. And they had this thing called personal days. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with that, but it’s where you could call in and your employer was not allowed to ask why. Yes, I remember this. And he would just call in. At that point, Clay, I loved it because I was a C player in those days. So let me just tee up what he would do. He DJ’d for us on the weekends, on a Saturday usually. So what happened is, he would tell me, he’s like, dude, here’s the deal. Because we were merit-based pay and the job he had during the day was not merit-based pay. Because I was merit-based pay, he would tell me, just so you know, I am not going to be at work Saturday or Sunday. I’m just telling you in advance I’ll be out of town. I’m like, okay. But as I got to know this person, he started telling me, I’m calling in my workplace and I’ve put you as like a backup employer or my second employer or whatever, and I took a paid personal or whatever it is, personal day. So I’m going to call in last minute on Thursday and Friday. I’m going to call in last minute on Thursday and Friday. I’m telling you in advance that I’m going to be gone Saturday and Sunday. I also have a call in last minute on Monday so I can string together a long weekend because I’m going to Florida. And I’m like, so you’re going to go to Florida on Wednesday knowing for sure you won’t be at work on Thursday, but you’re going to call them Thursday morning with a personal issue? He goes, oh, exactly. It’s a system. He said, all the teachers do it, man. I’m going, are you serious? Have you seen that scenario unfold, Clay Starrs? Oh, completely. Unfortunately, again, unfortunately, yes. Again, it’s not just teachers. It’s just in that salaried world of whether I’m awesome or whether I suck, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to get paid the same, so I might as well just be marginal. So again, as we’re talking today about flat salaries or just salaries where you’re capped versus a merit-based pay system, the level of performance of the average employee is just dramatic, Marshall. I mean, people who are chasing a carrot, they are just sincerely and much more motivated than the average person who, no matter how hard they work, they make the same amount of money. And there’s a book called The Service Profit Chain that’s written about this concept. The service profit chain essentially establishes relationships between profitability, customer loyalty, employee satisfaction, loyalty, and productivity. But Marshall, you’ve read the book, you’ve broken down the service profit chain. Why does merit-based pay dramatically impact the performance of the average employee? Okay, so merit-based pay is so crucial because at the service profit chain core, that’s what drives it. So they find, okay, we understand that we need to increase customer loyalty. Well, what drives customer loyalty? What they found in the Harvard Business Review is that customer satisfaction, that’s what drives it. So they’re like, okay, how do we drive customer satisfaction? Well, what they found is employee satisfaction. And at the core of employee satisfaction are things like merit-based pay. They know I can make more if I produce more, and my employer is going to engage with me, they’re going to train me, they’re going to help me become better and therefore help me make more money. That’s really cool. And so that’s why merit-based pay in the Harvard Business Review, this is one of my favorite topics. If it’s okay, I would like to just tee up some ample examples and we’ll go to Quick Trip first. The convenience store industry, the gas stations. For those of you listening in different parts of the country where you cannot find a Quick trip convenience store. There are billions and billions of dollars generated every year by Quick Trip. They are a very successful company. Just Google search Quick Trip convenience stores to learn more. Marshall, contrast your experience as a customer going into a Shell gas station versus a Quick Trip gas station. Going into a Quick Trip merit-based pay culture versus a Shell flat rate, salary based culture. Talk to me about the difference between merit based pay, quick trip, versus salary, let’s pay as little as possible, shell. I have a confession to make, and it was one of the low moments of my life. Last week, I was like, I’m looking around for a quick trip to pull over, maybe use the restroom, get some gas, get something to drink on the way to the show or something. So I just pulled over in a local gas station and I’m like, it can’t possibly be bad. And I assure you, there’s like open standing water back there, there’s like gas tanks. I’m like, oh my gosh. They’re giving me a key to the restroom with like a car carburetor attached to it or something like that. It is wild, but you walk into Quick Trip, it’s always clean, everything’s always stocked, there’s checklists on the door showing the last time it was cleaned and who it was cleaned by. As a customer, I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else. I would go out of my way in order to go to Quick Trip. Okay, Clay Stairs, you travel a lot. You’re a paid speaker. You travel now all around the world. People in San Diego love you. People in New York love you. People in Florida love you. You speak all around the world at different events. And you and Lisa, your wife, incredible wife, have a great opportunity to travel together and to speak. It’s a neat… I just, in the future, as you’re adding more and more speaking events, it’s exciting to see you guys do that. But you, I’m sure, have flown on many different airlines. Could you please contrast Southwest Airlines and their merit-based pay culture versus that of pretty much everyone. Everyone. Yeah. Oh my gosh. It’s night and day. And you know, there’s been several times where flying out of Tulsa sometimes can be tough, you know, with your choices. Right. But man, if I can get on Southwest, it’s the only way to go. The friendliness, the ease in getting onto the plane is so much easier. Clay was actually literally on a plane one time, and it was on not Southwest, and I just asked the stewardess, or the flight attendant, pardon me, could I have some snacks, some peanuts or something like that? She literally looked at me with angst in her eyes and said, this isn’t Southwest. She literally said that. Okay, now I want to be, Marshall, I want to be united in this idea. I want to be united in this idea because as great Americans, we’re not here to name specific American airlines that suck. We need to be united in this idea. We don’t want to name specific American airlines that suck. We don’t want to do that. We’re not the kind of people that would name specific, right, are we united in this idea? We’re not going to name specific American airlines that suck. Exactly. Right. But talk to me, Marshall. Your experience, you’re a tall guy. You’re a tall man. How tall are you? I’m 6’7″. You have flown on many different airlines. Yes. Talk to me about the courtesy, or lack thereof, of Southwest Airlines versus other airlines when it comes to just accommodating you and other people. I would say on other airlines, it has been disastrous when the flight is empty, I kid you not, there’s an economy class and then there’s economy plus with a little extra leg room. And when the flight is empty, I might like to, you know, go up a little extra couple rows and sit in the economy plus because there’s five people on the plane. And I’m promptly asked, sir, you didn’t pay for an economy plus. Can you please move back to the economy seating? There’s literally nobody else on the plane. You know, a little fun factoid for you. This is a little fun factoid for some of the listeners out there. A lot of our listeners like to tune in for fun factoids. Oh, Marshall, I think I might have hit the wrong button. I’ll just kind of make a sound effect. Okay. So, Marshall, I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but delta is actually the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. That’s right. Completely unrelated to this conversation. Because we are united in our decision to not speak specifically, antagonistically about any other American airline. Have you ever flown on another airline outside of Southwest Airlines that was a positive experience? Because if you have, I want to keep it fair and balanced. People have said good things about Virgin. People have said good things about JetBlue, which was started by a former Southwest employee. That’s right. Have you ever, have you guys, have you ever, ever had, Marshall, an experience that was positive with another airline outside of Southwest Airlines? No. Clay Stairs, we want to be united in our non-attack of American Airlines. Fun factoid, the fourth letter of the alphabet here in the Greek language is delta. Just a fun factoid. Have you ever had a positive experience with another airline that’s not Southwest Airlines? No, I have not. Six hours. Six hours on the tarmac. Starbucks. Starbucks. Merit-based pay. So what happens is I actually met a lady who’s the regional manager for the Starbucks stores in this area a few years back. And she was sharing with me at the end of the month, she makes a percentage of the store’s profitability. Okay. She personally gets to keep a percentage of the store’s profit ability. Sounds to me a lot like merit-based pay. The better they perform, the more she makes. Bingo. So, have you ever been into a Starbucks, Marshall? Yes. Clay Starrs, have you ever been into a non-Starbucks? Yes, I definitely have. Have you noticed the difference between a local donut slash coffee shop with the white ambiguous styrofoam cups versus a Starbucks, Marshall. Yeah, it’s vastly different in that I could go to a Starbucks in the Northeast or down south or here in Tulsa and I know that I’m going to get the exact same experience across the board. It seems to me in these first few examples that merit-based pay versus salaried pay, There might be something to this whole idea that you pay people based upon what they do versus what they say they’re going to do. Do you guys agree at this point? Are we? I agree. I’m with you. Okay, so Disney World versus the average amusement park. Have you ever been, Clay Stairs, to a Bells amusement park in Tulsa, Oklahoma? Yes. Do you remember Bells? I remember Bells. Marshall, do you remember Bells? Phantasmagoria. Oh, thank you very much. You guys, remember, you could actually bring a Pepsi can and you could get in for like five dollars? That’s right. Your admission to Bell’s Amusement Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma was only five dollars if you brought in a Pepsi can. That’s right. And do you remember how that was too much? Yeah, you’re like, I don’t know. It was like you went into an airport store. The airport store has a store called CBS News, CNBC News, and you’re looking for a tuna fish sandwich from the CNBC airport store. It’s weird. You’re looking for a tuna fish sandwich and you’re thinking, well, you know, in a typical American economy, 2018, I’d probably spend $6, $5 on that. At the airport it’s like $26, $17. It’s like $26.17. Are you going to the airport and you’re looking for a yogurt, like a yogurt parfait? Yogurt parfait is typically what guys? $2 at Whole Foods, $3 at Whole Foods, Sprouts maybe $3, whatever. You go in the airport, Marshall, how much could you expect to pay for a yogurt parfait at a typical airport? It would be like $17.50. Do you remember how that felt when you went into Bells? You brought in a Pepsi can, you did your duty to help recycle. You go in there, and it was normally like $30. And they said, did you bring a Pepsi can? You said, yeah. They said, well, it’s $5. Do you remember the feeling of like, this is probably too much. You’re like, I could use this $5 for so many other things. I’d be in gouged here. Yeah. And do you remember how no matter how your shoes were going into Bells, you would always leave with gum on your shoes going out? Shoes were different. What about Bells Amusement Park was terrible? Their culture of salaries, of paying people as little as possible. And then let’s contrast that to Disney World. Okay, so let’s go with Disney World versus Bells. So Clay Stairs, you’re on the team Bells. Tell us what was terrible about Bells, and then Marshall one-up him with team Disney. So let’s go with you, Clay Stairs, first. Well, just the cleanliness at Bells. Like you were saying, your shoes change while you’re there. They’re like offering tetanus shots when you get out of the bathroom. And another one, well, I’ll take that one, then Marshall will go to you with Disney World. So, then back to me. When we were interviewing the former executive vice president of Walt Disney World Resort. A partner, a friend, a frequent guest on the Thrive Time show, Lee Cockrell. We’re there in Walt Disney World, and we watched different cast members, not team members, but cast members, walk around the park and pick up trash. We never saw trash down on the ground for longer than, I don’t know, 10, 15 seconds. Somebody’s coming by and picking it up, because that was how important that was. They assign a specific area, and they walk up and down all day picking up trash and greeting guests. That’s what Disney World does. It was impressive. At Bell’s, people almost walk around avoiding the trash. They’re like, oh, there’s trash. Try not to see it. Try not to see it. I want salary. I make a flat rate here. I can’t get promoted. No matter how hard I work, I can’t make any more. I’m out. Yeah, Bell’s had that culture of carnies, too. They were always just a little sketch. Could you, for the listeners out there, we have a lot of listeners who are in Florida, California, Canada, Australia. We have a lot of high-class listeners that cannot relate to the term carny. Could you please explain what a carny is, Mr. Kleyster? They’re carnival people. They’re vagabonds. They are travelers. They are bohemians. They’re moving with the trucks. And they usually talk, they kind of have their own thing where it’s like, well I’ll tell you what, you want to play here today to win a chance to win that big old stuffed animal, I respect that because you want to step right up or are you a weenie? And you’re like, did a man just call me a weenie? You just ask somebody, how much does it cost to play this game? Well I’ll tell you what, you a weenie or are you going to play the game there?” And they do a lot of like, well, I’ll tell you what, my God. And they do a lot of, it’s like a lot of, it’s like a, they’re into doodling. Yes. One of the redneck games. There it is. That’s right. They’re just, it’s an interesting breed of people, the Carnies. Marshall, contrast the Carnie culture of Bells versus that of, by the way, the bankrupt Bells, Bells now out of business, versus that of the consistently profitable Walt Disney World Resorts. Marshall, talk to me. Kearney’s versus, what kind of people can you find at Walt Disney World Resorts? Well, first of all, we’re talking about cast members. So they’re not employees, they’re not team members, they’re cast members. And that’s exactly how they acted. They’re actually always on showtime. They call it showtime there at Walt Disney World. Well, I put on my pants this morning and it became showtime right away. And so you’ll see all of these cast members in their character. They’re acting as Cinderella. They’re acting as Goofy. Goofy is another one. I’m dressing up like I’m Mario and Druscia. Marshall, I didn’t brush my teeth, but do we know if Mario and Druscia brush their teeth? No, we don’t. And so you’ll see that regardless of what’s going on in whatever the cast member’s life, how they feel, they’re acting the entire time that they’re out in front of their guests because this is supposed to be the happiest place in the world. And you can’t have that. Hey Marshall, real quick here. Bells, a lot of people are getting that fancy Bluetooth technology. Barrels were offering brown tooth technology. Marshall, I’m sorry. No, you can’t have that. That’s not a thing. That’s not a move. I want to make sure you get this. Those of you who have not been to Bells, it was unbelievable how low the quality standard was. And for years, Tulsa was forced to go to Bells as its only entertainment option. Now we go to Chick-fil-A. Clay Stairs. Have you ever been to a Chick-fil-A? Yesterday. Marshall, have you ever been to a Popeyes? Ooh. Have you been to a Chick-fil-A, Clay? I have been to a Chick-fil-A. Have you been to a Popeyes, Marshall? Yes, I have. So please contrast. Now, Clay Sturge, you could be the good guy now. Oh, yeah. Talk to me about the merit-based pay culture of Chick-fil-A, where they pay people based upon results and not based upon intentions, versus that of Popeyes. No offense to Popeyes, we’re just talking about facts. When I say, with all due respect and no offense, henceforth, I can say whatever I want. So Clay Stairs, Chick-fil-A, why do people line up and form a line around the building for Chick-fil-A? Well, number one, I’ll go first here, Marshall. Number one, my pleasure. Just the courtesy and the kindness of the people behind the counters. And they’re like 16, 17, 18 years old. Nice people. Nice people. And look nice. I feel like I’m going to like a Mormon missions trip. Thank you very much. I’m going to Chick-fil-A. Nice people. Filled with homeschoolers. Now we go here to Popeyes. Marshall, have you been to Popeyes? Yeah. Objectively, do you like the chicken? I don’t like it more than Chick-fil-A. Have you been into a Popeyes? Yeah, I’ve been into a Popeyes. What’s the difference between the people at a Chick-fil-A versus the people of Popeyes? Well, you’ll just stand at that counter with the register and you can almost like see the eyes from back behind the the grill and they’re like looking, does he see us? We have a customer coming in today. What do we do? I wasn’t prepared for this. I wasn’t prepared for what is going on. But that’s how it feels. With Chick-fil-A, when you walk in, they’re greeting you and acknowledging your presence immediately. But at Popeyes, you’re like, I’m here. You almost want to yell, shout through the door. Guys, I’m here. I mean, seriously, when you walk into Popeyes, you want to freak a Popeyes employee out, just go there. They’ve never seen a customer. Show up. It’s amazing how it still exists. Seriously. Okay, now Chick-fil-A. Another good attribute, Clay Stairs, of Chick-fil-A. Think about Chick-fil-A. What makes Chick-fil-A so spectacular in your mind? Okay, I’m doing two here. Clean, alright? Clean and the music. I’m going there. Clean and the music. Marshall, contrast that to Popeyes. The fluorescent light bulbs that are out, or worse than that, they’re not out, but they’re just kind of flickering. So you feel like you’re in an industrial park inside the Popeyes, and you’re like, oh gosh. And it’s eerily quiet. Late at night. And so you’re like, can I just get my chicken, get out of here? Or they got the TV going. They got the TV going. You know, so you got some kind of rando drama going on. Now again, Chick-fil-A really does accommodate, as a parent, they accommodate the kids. They always have balloons for the kids, slides for the kids, a nice environment for the kids. My kids want to go there. My kids, you know, kids when they’re like 12, when they’re 13, they start to develop a filter, but 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, my kids will just say, no filter, they’ll say, Dad, we don’t want to go to Popeyes, it’s terrible. Now as an adult you go, this podcast host is mean. He’s slanderous. This is a mean person. He’s mentioning a company by name and talking about how terrible it is. Yes, because everybody out there knows it. You just don’t want to say it. Marshall, talk to me about how Popeyes, you know, accommodates kids. Talk to me about the slides, the balloons for the kids. Talk to me about the Popeyes aura they bring to the table on a daily basis. Okay, I’m not a parent. Clay Stairs, you help me out with this. I’ve never been to Popeyes. But you help me out with this. Okay, I’m with you. You’re going to Popeyes. You’re bringing your kids when your kids are little. Yes. Kids don’t touch anything. Dwarf kids. Dwarf kids. Dwarf kids. Dwarf kids! If they’re headed towards the playground, the thought crosses your mind, what did the other kids touch before they touched it? Do we need to wipe this town? But at Chick-fil-A, it’s always clean. Everything, it’s spotless. If you’re out there today and you’re going, I don’t really see the difference between merit-based pay and flat pay, salary pay. Marshall, could you read the notable quotable from Jack Welch here? Jack Welch, the CEO who famously grew GE by 4,000% during his tenure. Yes. So Jack Welch, he says, if you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread spread their wings and put compensation as a carrier behind it, you almost don’t have to manage them. And Clay, I want to one-up you with another quote from my main man, Steve Jobs. In my face! Okay, so this is what Steve Jobs talks about A players, okay? He said, I noticed that the dynamic range between what an average person could accomplish and what the best person could accomplish was 50 or 100 to 1. Given that, you’re well advised to go after the cream of the cream. A small team of A-plus players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players. What does this mean? This means if you’re gonna hire people, hire the A-plus players. And what are A-plus players looking for? They are looking for merit-based pay. Set it up. If you are out there today and you’re fighting this idea, I want to just give you an example we can all relate to. Everybody knows about this. Marshall, are you aware, you watch a lot of NFL. Yeah. Who’s your favorite team? The Cleveland Browns, baby. Okay. Play Foo! And I will tell you, the Cleveland Browns, objectively, these guys are really turning their organization around. But I want to make sure that we get an example of merit-based pay. The NFL stands for not for long if you don’t produce. That’s right. Why? Why, Marshall? Why does it stand for not for long if you don’t produce? Because they’re in the business to win games and sell tickets. Okay, so think about this. The average career of the NFL players, Marshall, if you had to guess, the average career length of NFL players is what? I would say maybe six years, eight years. Three, four. Really? I’m going three or four. 3.3. Boom! Really? Yeah, 3.3. Now I want to I want to take an example of from my favorite team the New England Patriots and I just want to give an example about why the Patriots can win year after year. They create a team where the vast majority of the income for players can be made via incentives. So as an example, Rob Gronkowski, who is an all-pro future Hall of Fame tight end for the New England Patriots, he has a contract that’s very nice, but the guy can earn up to $4 million a year of additional income based upon incentives and those are like making the Pro Bowl Playing and it’s per game. He plays so he has an incentive to play hurt. He has an incentive to play at his best It’s based upon getting to the playoffs Number of catches there’s a lot of incentives, and we’ll put a link to Rob Gronkowski’s 2018 Patriots incentives, but if the NFL. I couldn’t do it, even if I wanted to. But if let’s just say that we were all 6’8 and we were very athletic, Marshall, would you want to play in the NFL if you couldn’t earn millions of dollars per year? No, I probably wouldn’t. Play stairs? I mean, if you were offered an opportunity to play in the NFL, knowing that there’s concussions, injuries, a lot of times life-altering. I heard an interview the other day with Jerome Bettis, the former running back for the Steelers. And they were asking him about what it’s like getting up every day, how are you dealing with retirement. Every morning is, again I’m paraphrasing, he says, every morning is a living hell. Wow. He’s like, I just have so much pain, arthritis, it takes me till about noon just to kind of get my mind right, you know, kind of get, and there’s a lot of people in the NFL that have a similar, if you look up, Marshall, put it on the show notes, Michael Strahan’s hands. Clay Stairs, have you seen Michael Strahan’s hands? I don’t think I have. Okay, I’m going to pull it up so you can see it on the screen here. It’ll blow your mind. This is Michael Strayhand, and this is what an NFL career does to you. Look at his fingers. Oh my. Look at those fingers. Whoa, that’s not right. But I’m just saying, how many people out there, Marshall, you included, would want to play any sport at all if your fingers were going to be in continual arthritic pain for the rest of your life if you could not earn millions of dollars as a reward. Nobody’s going to do it. Would you do it, Claysters? I would do one play, but not two. Okay, so a lot of people, though, would say, I’m not going to play in the NFL, but if there wasn’t that kind of merit-based pain. Now let’s dial it down a little bit. How many listeners out there, Mr. Listener, Mrs. Listener listening out there today, I ask you this, would you be willing to care about the profitability of a billion dollar company like Starbucks if you did not earn a bonus based upon the profitability? I mean, Clay Sears, if you were the district manager, regional manager for a Starbucks, would you care at all about the profitability if you couldn’t make more by essentially living at Starbucks to make it more profitable? No. Marshall, Disney World. You’re a manager of Disney World. Would you at all care about the profitability of Disney World if you could not make more money as a result of the success of the team? No, I wouldn’t care. Okay. Chick-fil-A. Clay Stairs. If you owned a Chick-fil-A, no matter how bad or good it did, you made the same amount of money per year, would you care? No, would not. I can say this, if I ran a Quick Trip or Southwest Airlines, I wouldn’t care. And maybe you’re listening today and you say, we’re bad people. I think we’re honest people. Well, Clay, that goes back again to me as a school teacher, flat pay, and the only way for me to make more money was to teach another year. And I got like a 2.5% increase. There’s just no reason to want to do a great job. Yeah. I think if you’re out there and you’re honest with yourself, you’re going to probably not be super motivated to do something unless you can make more money. That’s why you started the company. That is why you started the company. You started a company because you wanted to make money based upon the value that you add to the hour and not get paid based upon the hours that you work. So why would you not share the wealth and create a merit-based pay program for your team? Marshall, what’s the biggest struggle that clients have, that entrepreneurs have, that business owners have when it comes to implementing merit-based pay? Where do you get the pushback? I don’t know how to implement it. I don’t know what it should be. I don’t know, like, metrics-wise what it should be. Clay Stairs, where do you get the most pushback on how to introduce and implement a merit-based pay program? Oh, yeah. Most of the people that when I bring up the topic with our clients, Clay, they just don’t have any idea what it is. And they think immediately they go to paying employees more money. No, I can’t afford that. I can’t afford that. That’s the pushback that I’ve had. So if you’re out there today and you are struggling with implementing merit-based pay or any other best practice that we teach on Thrive Time Show, I would encourage you today book your tickets to our next in-person Thrive Time Show workshop. Because Marshall, when people have a specific question about how to implement merit-based pay for their specific company, home builders, doctors, dentists, lawyers, chiropractors, what do we do in between the breaks? Well, we have a 45-minute sprint where we’re teaching a principal and then the 15 minute break we’re actually breaking out into small different groups and answering any questions that you have and then we actually have boards that we’ll have up there so that you can write down your questions and we’ll answer all of the questions that you have before you leave. Clay Stairs, if somebody has a question at the workshop, you’ve seen this, they’re going, I just don’t know how to implement the merit-based pay. I have a question. What do you see us do? Do we just disregard the question or how do we handle it? Oh no, we address it right there. We address it right there. We do. We answer it to the satisfaction of the person that answered the question. We even stay during lunch. We stay after the workshop. Oh yeah. We’ve met people before the workshop. That’s why we cap the workshop at 150 people or so. So if you’re out there today and you’re going, gosh, I want to take my business or life to the next level, I would encourage you to book your tickets to our next in-person Thrive Time Show Workshop today. It is irrefutably the world’s highest and best, it’s the world’s best and most reviewed workshop, the world’s best and most reviewed business workshop. It’s called the Thrive Time Show Workshop. You can book your tickets online today by going to thrivetimeshow.com. That’s thrivetimeshow.com. And now without any further ado, 3, 2, 1, boom! The number of new customers that we’ve had is up 411% over last year. We are Jared and Jennifer Johnson. We own Platinum Pest and Lawn and are located in Owasso, Oklahoma, and we have been working with Thrive for business coaching for almost a year now. Yeah, so what we wanna do is we wanna share some wins with you guys that we’ve had by working with Thrive. First of all, we’re on the top page of Google now, okay? I just wanna let you know what type of accomplishment this is. Our competition, Orkin, Terminex, they’re both $1.3 billion companies. They both have 2,000 to 3,000 pages of content attached to their website. So to basically go from virtually non-existent on Google to up on the top page is really saying something. But it’s come by being diligent to the systems that Thrive has. By being consistent and diligent on doing podcasts and staying on top of those podcasts to really help with getting up on what they’re listing and ranking there with Google. And also we’ve been trying to get Google reviews, asking our customers for reviews. And now we’re the highest rated and most reviewed Pest and Lawn company in the Tulsa area. And that’s really helped with our conversion rate. And the number of new customers that we’ve had is up 411% over last year. Wait, say that again. How much are we up? 411%. Okay. So 411% we’re up with our new customers. Amazing. Right. So not only do we have more customers calling in, we’re able to close those deals at a much higher rate than we were before. Right now our closing rate is about 85% and that’s largely due to, first of all, our Google reviews that we’ve gotten. People really see that our customers are happy, but also we have a script that we follow. And so when customers call in, they get all the information that they need, that script has been refined time and time again. It wasn’t a one-and-done deal. It was a system that we that we followed with Thrive and in the refining process. And that has obviously, the 411% shows that that system works. Yeah, so here’s a big one for you. So last week alone, our booking percentage was 91%. We actually booked more deals and more new customers last year than we did the first five months or I’m sorry the first we booked more deals last week than we did the first five months of last year from before we worked with Thrive. So again we booked more deals last week than the first five months of last year. It’s incredible but the reason why we have that success by implementing the systems that Thrive has taught us and helped us out with. Some of those systems that we’ve implemented are group interviews, that way we’ve really been able to come up with a really great team. We’ve created and implemented checklists that when everything gets done and it gets done right, it creates accountability, we’re able to make sure that everything gets done properly, both out in the field and also in our office. And also doing the podcast, like Jared had mentioned, that has really, really contributed to our success. But that, like I said, the diligence and consistency in doing those and that system has really, really been a big blessing in our lives. And also, you know, it’s really shown that we’ve gotten a success from following those systems. So before working with Thrive, we were basically stuck. Really no new growth with our business. We were in a rut. We didn’t know- Okay. The last three years, our customer base had pretty much stayed the same. We weren’t shrinking, but we weren’t really growing either. Yeah. We didn’t really know where to go, what to do, how to get out of this rut that we’re in. Thrive helped us with that. They implemented those systems, they taught us those systems, they taught us the knowledge that we needed in order to succeed. Now it’s been a grind, absolutely it’s been a grind this last year, but we’re getting those fruits from that hard work and the diligent effort that we’re able to put into it. So again, we’re in a rut, Thrive helped us get out of that rut, and if you’re thinking about working with Thrive, quit thinking about it and just do it, do the action, and you’ll get the results. It will take hard work and discipline, but that’s what it’s gonna take in order to really succeed. So we just want to give a big shout out to Thrive, a big thank you out there to Thrive. We wouldn’t be where we’re at now without their help. Hi, I’m Dr. Mark Moore. I’m a pediatric dentist. Through our new digital marketing plan, we have seen a marked increase in the number of new patients that we’re seeing every month, year over year. One month, for example, we went from 110 new patients the previous year to over 180 new patients in the same month. And overall, our average is running about 40 to 42% increase month over month, year over year. The group of people required to implement our new digital marketing plan is immense, starting with a business coach, videographers, photographers, web designers. Back when I graduated dental school in 1985, nobody advertised. The only marketing that was ethically allowed in everybody’s eyes was mouth-to-mouth marketing. By choosing to use the services, you’re choosing to use a proof-and-turn-key marketing and coaching system that will grow your practice and get you the results that you’re looking for. I went to the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry, graduated in 1983, and then I did my pediatric dental residency at Baylor College of Dentistry from 1983 to 1985. Hello, my name is Charles Colaw with Colaw Fitness. Today I want to tell you a little bit about Clay Clark and how I know Clay Clark. Clay Clark has been my business coach since 2017. He’s helped us grow from two locations to now six locations. We’re planning to do seven locations in seven years and then franchise. Clay has done a great job of helping us navigate anything that has to do with running the business, building the systems, the checklists, the workflows, the audits, how to navigate lease agreements, how to buy property, how to work with brokers and builders. This guy is just amazing. This kind of guy has worked in every single industry. He’s written books with Lee Crockrell, head of Disney with the 40,000 cast members. He’s friends with like Mike Lindell. He does Reawaken America tours where he does these tours all across the country where 10,000 or more people show up to some of these tours. On the day-to-day, he does anywhere from about 160 companies. He’s at the top. He has a team of business coaches, videographers, and graphic designers, and web developers, and they run 160 companies every single week. So think of this guy with a team of business coaches running 160 companies. So in the weekly, he’s running 160 companies. Every six to eight weeks, he’s doing Reawaken America tours. Every six to eight weeks, he’s also doing business conferences where 200 people show up, and he teaches people a 13-step proven system that he’s done and worked with billionaires, helping them grow their companies. I’ve seen guys from startups go from startup to being multi-millionaires, teaching people how to get time freedom and financial freedom through the system. Critical thinking, document creation, organizing everything in their head to building it into a franchisable, scalable business. One of his businesses has like 500 franchises. That’s just one of the companies or brands that he works with. So amazing guy, Elon Musk, kind of like smart guy. He kind of comes off sometimes as socially awkward, but he’s so brilliant and he’s taught me so much. When I say that, Clay is like, he doesn’t care what people think when you’re talking to him. He cares about where you’re going in your life and where he can get you to go. And that’s what I like him most about him. He’s like a good coach. A coach isn’t just making you feel good all the time, a coach is actually helping you get to the best you. Clay has been an amazing business coach. Through the course of that we became friends. I was really most impressed with him is when I was shadowing him one time. We went into a business deal and listened to it. I got to shadow and listen to it. When we walked out I knew that he could make millions on the deal and they were super excited about working with him. He told me, he’s like, I’m not going to touch it, I’m going to turn it down because he knew it was going to harm the common good of people in the long run and the guy’s integrity just really wowed me. It brought tears to my eyes to see that this guy, his highest desire was to do what’s right and anyways, just an amazing man. So anyways, impacted me a lot. He’s helped navigate. Anytime I’ve gotten nervous or worried about how to run the company or navigating competition and an economy that’s like, I remember we got closed down for three months. He helped us navigate on how to stay open, how to get back open, how to just survive through all the COVID shutdowns, lockdowns. I’m Rachel with Tip Top K9 and we just want to give a huge thank you to Clay and Vanessa Clark. Hey guys, I’m Ryan with Tip Top K9. Just want to say a big thank you to Thrive 15. Thank you to Make Your Life Epic. We love you guys. We appreciate you and really just appreciate how far you’ve taken us. This is our old house. This is where we used to live a few years ago. This is our old neighborhood. See, it’s nice, right? So this is my old van and our old school marketing and this is our old team. And by team, I mean it’s me and another guy. This is our new house with our new neighborhood. This is our new van with our new marketing, and this is our new team. We went from four to 14, and I took this beautiful photo. We worked with several different business coaches in the past, and they were all about helping Ryan sell better and just teaching sales which is awesome but Ryan is a really great salesman so we didn’t need that we needed somebody to help us get everything that was in his head out into systems into manuals and scripts and actually build a team so now that we have systems in place we’ve gone from one to ten locations in only a year. In October 2016 we grossed 13 grand for the whole month. Right now it’s 2018 the month of October it’s only the 22nd we’ve already grossed a little over 50 grand for the whole month and we still have time to go. We’re just thankful for you, thankful for Thrive and your mentorship and we’re really thankful that you guys have helped us to grow a business that we run now instead of the business running us. Just thank you, thank you, thank you, times a thousand. The Thrivetime Show, two-day interactive business workshops are the highest and most reviewed business workshops on the planet. You can learn the proven 13-point business system that Dr. Zellner and I have used over and over to start and grow successful companies. When we get into the specifics, the specific steps on what you need to do to optimize your website. We’re going to teach you how to fix your conversion rate. We’re going to teach you how to do a social media marketing campaign that works. How do you raise capital? How do you get a small business loan? We teach you everything you need to know here during a two-day, 15-hour workshop. It’s all here for you. You work every day in your business, but for two days you can escape and work on your business and build these proven systems so now you can have a successful company that will produce both the time freedom and the financial freedom that you deserve. You’re going to leave energized, motivated, but you’re also going to leave empowered. The reason why I built these workshops is because as an entrepreneur, I always wish that I had this. And because there wasn’t anything like this, I would go to these motivational seminars, no money down, real estate, Ponzi scheme, get motivated seminars, and they would never teach me anything. It was like you went there and you paid for the big chocolate Easter bunny, but inside of it, it was a hollow nothingness. And I wanted the knowledge, and they’re like, oh, but we’ll teach you the knowledge after our next workshop. 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. 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’re going to give you your money back if you don’t love it. We built this facility for you and we’re excited to see it. Hey, I’m Ryan Wimpey with Tip Top K9 and I’m the founder. I’m Rachel Wimpey and I am a co-founder. So we’ve been running Tip Top for about the last 14 years, franchising for the last three four years. So someone that’d be a good fit for Tip Top loves dogs, they’re high-energy, they want to be able to own their own job but they don’t want to worry about you know that high failure rate. They want to do that like bowling with bumper lanes. So you give us a call, reach out to us and we’ll call you and then we’ll send you an FDD, look over that, read it, fall asleep to it, it’s very boring, and then we’ll book a discovery day, and you come and you can spend a day or two with us, make sure that you actually like it, make sure that you’re training dogs for something that you wanna do. So an FTD is a franchise disclosure document, it’s a federally regulated document that goes into all the nitty gritty details of what the franchise agreement entails. So who would be a good fit to buy a TikTok K9 would be somebody who loves dogs, who wants to work with dogs all day as their profession. You’ll make a lot of money, you’ll have a lot of fun, it’s very rewarding. And who would not be a good fit is a cat person. So the upfront cost for TikTok is $43,000. And a lot of people stay there generating doctor money, but on our disclosure, the numbers are anywhere from over a million dollars a year in dog training, what our Oklahoma City location did last year, to $25,000, $35,000 a month. To train and get trained by us for Tip Top K9, to run your own Tip Top K9, you would be with us for six weeks here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. So we’ve been married for seven years. Eight years. Eight years. So if you’re watching this video, you’re like, hey, maybe I want to be a dog trainer, hey, that one sounds super amazing, go to our website, tiptopk9.com, click on the yellow franchising tab, fill out the form, and Rachel and I will give you a call. Our Oklahoma City location last year, they did over a million dollars. He’s been running that shop for three years before he was a youth pastor with zero sales experience, zero dog training experience before he ever met with us. So just call us, come spend a day with us, spend a couple days with us, make sure you like training dogs, and own your own business. Well, the biggest reason to buy a Tip Top Canine is so you own your own job and you own your own future and you don’t hate your life. You get an enjoyable job that brings a lot of income but is really rewarding. My name is Seth Flint and I had originally heard about Tip Top K9. They did a phenomenal job and became really good friends with Ryan and Rachel. I was working at a local church and it was a great experience. I ended up leaving there and working with Ryan and Tip Top K9. The biggest thing that I really, really enjoy about being self-employed is that I can create my own schedule. I have the ability to spend more time with my family, my wife, and my daughter. So my very favorite thing about training dogs with Tip Top K9 is that I get to work with the people. Obviously I love working with dogs but it’s just so It’s so rewarding to be able to train a dog that had serious issues, whether it’s behavioral or whatever, and seeing a transformation, taking that dog home, and mom and dad are literally in tears because of how happy they are with the training. If somebody is interested, I’d say don’t hesitate. Make sure you like dogs make sure that you enjoy working with people because we’re not just dog trainers we’re we are customer service people that help dogs and and so definitely definitely don’t hesitate just just come in and ask questions ask all the questions you have.