Jay Sofer runs a locksmith business in the New York City area where he operates in not only a big and competitive city but also a very competitive industry. Jay adopted using Yelp quickly after her started but has since branched out to focus on many other online opportunities.

Looking for the articles we mentioned?

• Zooming to Conclusions
• How to Earn Customers’ Trust
• And a video Jay did for Yelp recently.

Building Trust

This episode and interview however don’t focus on any of that, it focuses on how to unlock and build trust with people offline and online.

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Full Transcript

Matt Siltala: [00:00:00 ] Welcome to another exciting episode of the business of digital podcast, featuring your host, Matt  and Dave roar. Hey guys, excited to have everybody join us on another one of these business of digital podcast episodes. And we have a treat for you today. I know that we have Dave here with us. How’s it going, Dave?

Dave Rohrer: [00:00:21 ] It’s going, it’s going.

Matt Siltala: [00:00:22 ] We also have a long time. Friend and bud of mine. And, uh, I’d like to introduce everybody to Jay Sofer, Jay, how’s it going? But

Jay Sofer: [00:00:32 ] Hey man. Good to be with you guys. Thanks for having me

Matt Siltala: [00:00:35 ] now, just to give everybody a little bit of an idea, when you, when you start to talk, I’ll let you share any information, URL, whatever you want to everybody.

But, uh, uh, Jay and I go back a long way. Um, Jay actually was one of my first clients way back in the day. And, uh, basically I guess the simplified way of putting it J as your a, a East village or a New York city, a locksmith [00:01:00 ] that the easiest way to put it, um, you know, for on, on my end. And so, uh, we were talking about just the kind of trust that it takes to be able to go into someone’s house.

And when you do that kind of work and, and Dave had this idea too, To have you on and talk about them. So I kind of want to like let Dave position it, but before he jumps into it and starts asking you the questions, can I give a little bit of your background, Jane, let everybody know who you are.

Jay Sofer: [00:01:29 ] Yeah, sure thing.

So Yemen, we do go back a long way. I mean, you, you meet right, right. When I got my start, you know, and, and, uh, I, I love the theme of this podcast because, you know, the way I became your client was because I trusted you and, you know, I was. Trying to have better exposure on the internet via search engine optimization and the decent website.

And I was, I don’t want to even say a fish out of water. I, I, I wasn’t, yeah. Even a fish and I didn’t even know what water was, [00:02:00 ] you know, I mean just a complete deer in headlights and, you know, that’s how, I mean, people hire me because they don’t know what they’re doing. Why, why, why would I be relevant then if they did, you know, and you know, to, to gain someone’s.

Trust, you know, Ty for me to be hired and invited into your house where your kids live, you know, where you keep your life’s work into your business, you know, where you have all your sensitive information he needs. It means a lot to me. And it’s, it’s a big responsibility and I, you know, not only do I want to earn your trust, you know, online, that’s sort of the first that’s like you kind of walking into my virtual store and, and, and, you know, being received well and, and establishing trust from that point.

But then when I show up, you know, so. I learned this job as a kid. And, um, you know, part of, part of my intro to trust was just to see how old school businesses work. I mean, my dad had a shop for 43 years. You know, in an old school neighborhood, in New York city? Um, my, my first job was actually with, uh, one of his friends who had, uh, a shop for, uh, just about the same [00:03:00 ] time.

I mean, I think I was about 13 or 14 years old and this guy was about 80, I think, at the time. And yeah, so like, I, you know, I got to learn from like the oldest school, like, like the school before the old school, all New York, old school. And, um, you know, that shop. That my dad had. And

Matt Siltala: [00:03:20 ] this was thinking about a 13 year old blockbuster in New York

Jay Sofer: [00:03:23 ] city.

I mean, I learned, I learned all the do’s and don’ts, it’s like, you know, how to, how to sweep a floor and carry a toolbox and make coffee. And, uh, and, uh, you know, they, everyone knew everyone in the neighborhood, you know, half the people that came in the shop were just to say, hi, And, and, you know, the shop owners there, they knew your name.

They, they knew my dad, you know, they knew my, they knew my sisters, you know, by name. And, uh, it was just a, it was a great, you know, neighborhood. And, uh, you, you generally catered to the people that you were going to see again every day. So, [00:04:00 ] you know, to be a member of the community was vital to your success and to your longevity.

So I got to see. What just being a part of the community was like, and that was my incidentally. My first exposure to business was very small neighborhood businesses. So, um, you know, I wanted to duplicate that somehow without a brick and mortar, uh, location. And how do you establish that online? I mean, you know, you were a huge help.

I mean, the work we did, you know, it was the catalyst for all that. I don’t even think I had. I mean, maybe I had 50 reviews, 60 reviews at the time. I think, you know, maybe less. I don’t, I don’t remember. I was just getting my start, but I was already. At that point, pretty highly regarded. And I just needed some rocket fuel behind it.

We definitely took it to the next level, but, uh, but yeah. Yeah, that’s my start. I mean, old school, New York, small business background, and, uh, you know, needed to, um, you know, well, like every other kid growing up in an industry, I wanted to get the heck out of it. You know, when I grew up in, uh, the recession in [00:05:00 ] 2008, boomerang me right back in it, you know, I had to drop out of school and I lost my apartment, moved back home with mom, but you know, I had this profession to fall back on by, and I didn’t think it could work without a brick and mortar shop, but, uh, I think you did a good job convincing me otherwise.

Matt Siltala: [00:05:14 ] That’s awesome. I appreciate you sharing that background and getting everybody the, uh, The scoop on it. And so, uh, I don’t know, Dave, go ahead and, uh, and, uh, do your magic thing.

Dave Rohrer: [00:05:25 ] I don’t, I don’t think that could have come up with a better intro segue. You, I mean, you talked about the old school, you had, you know, the storefront and, you know, people come in and just say, hi, you can’t do that.

Not just your business, but just with online stores with online businesses, you don’t have a storefront, or if you do have an office it’s. In San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, you know, Nashville, upstate New York, downstate New York somewhere, but it’s not river you are interacting from. And so how do you, Jay [00:06:00 ] now online work and get trust?

Jay Sofer: [00:06:06 ] Like what

Dave Rohrer: [00:06:07 ] do you do now to get people to initially trust you? I guess is what I’m asking.

Jay Sofer: [00:06:12 ] Yeah. No, you don’t. That’s a great question. It’s not like I ever gave it a thought, you know, prior to, to starting a business, I just have a way that I talk and interact with people. Uh, there’s really never any implied goal.

You know, my, my job is, is to help people, you know, it usually out of a sticky situation. And, uh, I had, I had the best of examples ever, you know, being in a, those local storefronts, but to your question, You know, I actually feel like I have more of an advantage now. Um, people don’t have to walk blocks over, you know, in the rain or in the cold to see me, you know, with the question Mark above their head and then for a shop owner or anyone working there to gain their trust.

[00:07:00 ] You could just text me from anywhere, you know, any five boroughs in Manhattan or in New York, any, uh, any area close by in New Jersey, you know, or you could shoot me a text message. You could shoot me an email. Uh, you know, we can talk on the phone. Uh, I have a lot more avenues and can spread a lot farther and to, uh, initiate communication with people.

And, uh, I think the same sincerity can come across in a text message and an email, you know, that could come across in a conversation. I mean, I’m old school, you know, I’ve of course I’d rather be face to face. But, uh, you know, people aren’t stupid and they’re sure as heck are not stupid. You know, these days with all these lines of communication, I think people can see through BS, you know, very quickly and maybe even more alert to scans and, and, and disingenuous, uh, actors, um, just because there’s more outlets, you know, To do so there’s so many [00:08:00 ] avenues o