DFW Business Culture

In this episode, Tom and Andres Giraldo discuss: How to market your business in the modern era. Why business leaders often pay too much for advertising. How to take the ego out of advertising. Why it's important to build your brand. Key Takeaways: Online technology has changed the way consumers learn about and, potentially, interact with your product/service. Your culture should be strong enough to attract OR reject someone who does/doesn't fit your company. If you're willing to help people without asking for much in return, you'll help build your brand by word of mouth. Once you take the ego out of advertising, you can focus on what's actually helping/hurting your brand. Connect with Andres Giraldo CEO & Managing Partner, The Skyline Agency:   Email: accounts@skylineagency.com Website: www.theskylineagency.com Phone: 972-861-0416   Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com

In this episode, Tom and Matt Hoffman discuss: How the hotel industry is changing. What a short-term rental is. How technology is affecting travel. Why you should communicate with everyone on your team. Key Takeaways: Your ideas are a commodity and should be treated that way. Your culture should be understood by everyone at your company. Effective communication is needed at every level of your business. The short-term rental industry is changing faster because of technology. Connect with Matt Hoffman, CEO, Kigo:   Phone: 855-977-0843  Website: https://www.kigo.net/   Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com

In this episode, Tom and Mike "Batman" Cohen discuss: The ethics of modern recruiting. How to find employees that fit YOUR company. How to set yourself apart from the competition. Why a strong culture will attract better job applicants. Key Takeaways: The internet has made it possible for potential hires AND prospects to research your business before ever meeting. Never be afraid to support others, even your competition in some cases, as they can provide a referral network and build your brand/culture. Don't ever "commoditize" other people, ESPECIALLY not your prospects and/or potential hires. Just as in sales, a hands-on approach can help your search for a potential hire that actually fits your company. Connect with Mike "Batman" Cohen Founder, Wayne Technologies, Inc.:   LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gothamtechtalk/ Website: www.waynetechnologiesinc.com/   Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com

In this episode, Tom discusses: The differences between coaching and mentoring. When/how often to coach your team. How to be successful at coaching. Why most people don't know how to coach. Key Takeaways: If you're telling your team what to do, you're NOT coaching, you're supervising. A good leader should spend about 60% of their time coaching. If there's new products, guidelines, etc, it's okay to step back into a supervisory role. You should always set aside time EACH week to have a coaching session.   Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com

In this episode, Tom and Michael Welch discuss: The growing CBD and hemp industry. The recent farm bill that legalized growing hemp. How to learn from your competitors. Why research is key to kickstarting a new business. Key Takeaways: Your competitors are your best benchmarks for success/failure in your industry. Research your industry, competitors, products, and services as much as you can before starting a new business. While some businesses may not seem profitable at first, a slight pivot in your product/service can lead to success. When hiring, always look for candidates who are qualified as well as fans of your product/service.   Connect with Michael Welch President & CEO, Rocky Mountain High Brands:   Website: www.Hempd.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/livehempd Twitter: @LiveHEMPd You can also click here to buy their products on Amazon.   Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com

In this episode, Tom and Chris Rawley discuss: Why it's important to invest in your industry. How to develop a niche market. The farming industry and how it's changing. How to use technology to drive new business. Key Takeaways: The internet can help bring older industries into the modern era. Even when it comes to investing, appealing to a wider audience can help you grow your company. As the agricultural industry grows, so too does the economy. Adopting ethical business standards helps drive a company's success.   Connect with Chris Rawley Founder & CEO, Harvest Returns:   Website: www.HarvestReturns.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/harvest-returns/ Twitter: @HarvestReturns Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com

In this episode, Tom discusses: The four roles every leader should "play". How to transition between each role. The importance of each role. Why becoming a sales coach has become so popular. Key Takeaways: An effective leader spends about 40% of their time supervising. Supervisors should be collecting data. Coaches and mentors should take a "hands-off" approach to leadership. Leaders may have a hard time mentoring more than one or two people at a time.    Want to learn more about coaching? Send Tom your questions to be answered on the next episode of the DFW Business Podcast!  Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com

In this episode, Tom discusses: The importance of learning, and RE-learning something. Why training can be a waste of time. Why being open to change is so important. The B.A.G.E.L.S. approach to journaling. Key Takeaways: Change is painful but necessary. Accountability partners can help when learning something new. If you journal every day, you can track your growth. Too often we keep our heads down, working hard, without admiring what's already around us.   Click here to learn more about the book "You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar" that Tom mentioned.    Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com

In this episode, Tom discusses: Why the best way to grow a company is through sales. Why hiring the RIGHT salespeople can be tough, especially in 2019. How to understand your own hiring process. How to find the RIGHT salesperson for your organization. Key Takeaways: Only about 15% of a resume has reliable information. To stop candidates from "acting" during the interview, put them in a real-world "selling" environment. Your hiring process needs to include on-boarding AND compensation plans. If you're not tracking EVERYTHING a salesperson needs to do in order to be successful at your company, how will you know if they've worked out or not?   To learn more hiring best practices, click here to check out our upcoming Hiring Boot Camp on Feb 28th, 2019.   Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com

In this episode, Tom discusses: What a business culture is and how to understand yours. Why every business should have a list of "best practices" to follow. How to come up with a sales plan for 2019. Why reaching out to old customers/prospects can increase your bottom line. Key Takeaways: When coming up with a plan to follow for the New Year, it's important to find out what worked best in years passed. It's not enough to simply come up with a plan to follow, you have to track your progress at least monthly. Old customers and previously uninterested prospects can be a great source of new business. Never be afraid to ask for referrals... you might be surprised how many people enjoy helping you out.   Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com

In this episode, Tom and Brent discuss: How technology changes between being introduced and being widely adopted. A great product or service without a good culture does not always equal success. A good company culture does NOT just mean good benefits. How employees choose your company because of the culture, whether you/they realize it or not. Key Takeaways: As a leader, it’s important to make your company as accessible as possible to consumers. Modern technology should be used to both protect a company AND its’ customers. A good internal company culture will end up affecting consumers positively too. Your company culture is made up of your employees.   Connect with Brent Chapman, CIO , RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing:   Website: www.RPMServicing.com Twitter: @BrentRChapman Check out his new book at: www.BrungardtChapman.com   Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com

Delivering Success   In this episode, Tom and Kyle discuss: How to differentiate yourself from the competition. How to be more service-oriented. Why your employees are so important. How to take a simple business concept and improve upon it. Key Takeaways: Having a solid management team can make or break your business. Some of the best business solutions come from everyday struggles. If you treat your customers with respect, you can expect it in return. It's important to differentiate yourself up-front when starting a business.   "Do you save your customers time, do you save them money, and do you make their lives easier? If you can do those three things, then I think you have a nice opportunity." -Kyle Bainter   Connect with Kyle Bainter, CEO & Founder, CallBox Storage:   Website:  www.callboxstorage.com Phone: (833) 937-8673 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/callboxstorage   Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com  

Clean Up Your Business   In this episode, Tom and Greg discuss: How to use SEO tools to increase your reach. How to expand your business. The importance of finding quality employees. Simple steps to build your business from the ground up. Key Takeaways: Treat your employees with respect and reward their services. Don't be afraid to go for the "dull" business idea. Your people are your biggest asset. Expect to pay more for mistakes early on when starting your business.   "Try to figure out all of your costs of starting and maintaining your business for the first year...once you figure out all of the costs, write that number down, then multiply that by two- that'll be your REAL cost- and then add a quarter for your mistakes." - Greg Shepard   In 2004 Greg left the high tech world to start a maid service.  Why a Maid Service? A question he is often asked. After all, he had an amazing career in high tech working at fortune 500 companies. What was he thinking?… A thought that often crossed his mind those first couples of years after starting Dallas Maids. Anyway, to answer that question… Building a business was what Greg wanted to do. He wanted to create something of value. And he wanted to see people, both customers and employees, benefit from that value. This was much more fulfilling than hacking away behind a glowing computer screen all day. And it was the best business decision he ever made. Greg's programming skills easily transferred to starting a cleaning service company: Building a business is like writing code: You write the code (i.e. business’s operation manual) then continually debug it until you have a program (cleaning service system) that produces the same quality results (housecleaning) for the user (customer). And it worked well... Today Dallas Maids is not only one of the largest maid services in Dallas, but no other services have won as many awards as Dallas Maids have for their cleaning service.   Connect with Greg Shepard, CEO & Founder, Dallas Maids:   Website:  www.dallasmaids.com     Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com  

Educating the Workforce   In this episode, Tom and Sean discuss: The importance of hands-on, accessible learning. How engineering is similar to sales. How businesses can benefit from an educated workforce. Why having a sales process can make or break your company. Key Takeaways: Don't try to trick the magician. Things are never as bad or as good as they may seem. Separate your own self worth from your company's. Will a present failure matter down the road?   "Don’t trick the magician…that’s so important in sales. When you’re working with other salespeople or just other people who’ve been in the industry for years…don’t try to use a sales tactic that’s in all the books that they’re also reading. Just be authentic and sell a product you believe in." - Sean Maroni   After studying mechanical engineering at NC State, Sean decided to leave the path of the standard engineering job and start Betabox. As a kid, he was constantly learning by doing and working on projects of all types. Sean realized that he learned the most when he took his education into his own hands and figured things out in order to make progress in projects. But he was also fortunate, having a Dad that exposed him to concepts or engineering, buying him rockets and legos, etc. He started Betabox to bring the power of guided hands on learning to young people everywhere, regardless of geography.   Connect with Sean Maroni, Founder & CEO Betabox Labs:   Linkedin:  www.Linkedin.com/in/seannewmanmaroni Website:  https://betaboxlabs.com/   Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com  

Building an Iconic Brand   In this episode, Tom and Paul discuss: How to "revive" a previously popular brand. Why training can make or break your team. How important it is to have a company culture. Catering to your customer. Key Takeaways: Just because a brand may have lost popularity doesn't mean it's "dead". Building a relationship with customers means more than just having good service. Would you rather have a well-trained, successful team that MIGHT leave or an unsuccessful team that WILL stay? When building a company through franchising, you'll need to find owners who buy into your culture.   Paul is the passionate Chairman and CEO of Legendary Restaurants Brands and is leading Bennigans, Bennigan’s On the Fly and Steak and Ale to an exciting new era. Paul was formerly the President and CEO of Salsarita’s Fresh Cantina, an award-winning fast-casual Mexican chain and is also the author of Bennigan’s Return to Relevance…Bleeding Green 25/8.   Connect with Paul Mangiamele:   Twitter:  @Paulmangiamele Website:  https://bennigans.com/   Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com  

Pick Up The Phone and Build Your Business   In this episode, Tom and Don Williams discuss: Why it’s so important to have salespeople who are successful over the phone. The types of businesses that are attracted to DFW. The importance of sales when it comes to growing a company. Why it's important to always try and grow your business.   Key Takeaways: Your tonality and body language are both very important, even over the phone. Would YOU buy from you? Always assess yourself before looking outside your company. If you’re going to grow your company, you’re going to have to make sales. Don’t be afraid to get help… you don’t have to build your business on your own.   “How many companies in the Fortune 500 use the telephone to drive business or better service customers? …the accurate answer of course is all 500 do, because the telephone is the 2nd best form of communication behind face-to-face.” - Don Williams   Connect with Don Williams:  Website:  www.AllianceDMS.com  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/don-williams-a63375a   Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223  Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com  Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com 

Retaining and Leading a Great Business    In this episode, Tom and Melanie Shaffer discuss:  What Talent Suit is and what they do as a company.   Having and talking about retention with clients.  Having a coach and who your coach should be.  Looking at your business from an outside perspective to see if it's good enough for another company to buy it.       Key Takeaways:  For your business to survive you need good talent in your company.  Training and development is essential for retaining your goals.  Recruit people who can resolve conflict easily.  Never promote your best sales person to a sales manager.        "I got to a point where I wanted to do something new, and learn something new." - Melanie Shaffer      Connect with Melanie Shaffer:     Website:  www.talentsuitellc.com  Email:  mshaffer@talentsuitellc.com  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanieshafferts/    Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:     Phone: 972-860-8695 x223  Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com  Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com        Connect with Brisa Castillo:     Phone: 972.960.8695 x227  Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com  Email: Brisa@salesmadeeasy.com      Show Notes by Show Producer: Jessie Taylor    Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

Building a Successful Company   In this episode, Tom and Mark Borge discuss: How Mark started his company and the evolution of it. The pros and cons of major companies existing. Which companies rise up, and why. How to make your employees feel a part of the success and leadership. Book: www.texasgotitright.com     Key Takeaways: Other companies create opportunity. Talk to other people, and follow up on them. You learn more from negative experiences than positive experiences. Building the right culture is so important in your company.       "If I ever have a negative experience I can always learn from it." - Mark Borge     Connect with Mark Borge:   Email:  mark@bestfacilityservices.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-borge-b198426   Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com     Connect with Brisa Castillo:   Phone: 972.960.8695 x227 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Brisa@salesmadeeasy.com    Show Notes by Show Producer: Jessie Taylor   Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.   

Creating Solutions for Salespeople   In this episode, Tom and Steve Benson discuss: How to be a more efficient sales person Sales people spend too much time doing busy work instead of actually selling How the world of sales is going to change in the next few years Disruptions in a business, and how to deal with it    Key Takeaways: Plan out what you need to accomplish Sales people provide a tremendous value in helping the people make a decision, unlike technology You have to be adaptable People need lots of help with technology    "We find there's a huge uptake in productivity if people plan things out and create a schedule." - Steve Benson     Connect with Steven Benson:   Twitter:  https://twitter.com/badgermaps?lang=en  https://twitter.com/stevebenson?lang=en Website:  https://www.badgermapping.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenbenson/   Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com     Connect with Brisa Castillo:   Phone: 972.960.8695 x227 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Brisa@salesmadeeasy.com     Show Notes by Show Producer: Jessie Taylor   Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

Business Owners Learn From Improv   In this episode, Tom and Frank Ford discuss: What improv teaches you The yes and philosophy Collaborating with each other Listen to everyone's ideas     Key Takeaways: You need to have a good culture Don't be scared of change Don't lose other people's trust Everyone has different perspectives       "No gives you the illusion of control, and shuts the door to all possibilities.." - Frank Ford     Connect with Frank Ford:   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankjford/     Connect with Tom Niesen Owner & CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc:   Phone: 972-860-8695 x223 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Tom@SalesMadeEasy.com     Connect with Brisa Castillo:   Phone: 972.960.8695 x227 Website: www.SalesMadeEasy.com Email: Brisa@salesmadeeasy.com     Show Notes by Show Producer: Danielle Taylor   Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.