Do you ever feel like you're beating your head against a wall with a struggling project? Have you ever wrestled with the decision of when to let go and when to hang in there? I've been there, and in this podcast, I, Jacob K Mead, open up about my trials and tribulations in business. We tackle the tough questions, like how to keep your motivation alive in the face of adversity, and the importance of perseverance and having a strong support network.
On the flip side of the coin, we also talk about the thrill of success. We explore how awards can validate your business and the role superior customer service plays in earning them. I'll let you in on how I built a robust customer service system from scratch and the strategies I used to boost brand awareness. We also delve into the power of role-playing scenarios for training your team, and the importance of establishing yourself as a trusted source in your industry. And, because no journey is all smooth sailing, I also share how my passion for helping others has been a double-edged sword. So tune in, be prepared to take notes, and let's navigate the challenging landscape of business together."
Until next time... Follow on Instagram @buytimepodcast Follow Jacob K. Mead on all the socials @jacobkmead
Do you ever feel like you're beating your head against a wall with a struggling project? Have you ever wrestled with the decision of when to let go and when to hang in there? I've been there, and in this podcast, I, Jacob K Mead, open up about my trials and tribulations in business. We tackle the tough questions, like how to keep your motivation alive in the face of adversity, and the importance of perseverance and having a strong support network.
On the flip side of the coin, we also talk about the thrill of success. We explore how awards can validate your business and the role superior customer service plays in earning them. I'll let you in on how I built a robust customer service system from scratch and the strategies I used to boost brand awareness. We also delve into the power of role-playing scenarios for training your team, and the importance of establishing yourself as a trusted source in your industry. And, because no journey is all smooth sailing, I also share how my passion for helping others has been a double-edged sword. So tune in, be prepared to take notes, and let's navigate the challenging landscape of business together."
Until next time... Follow on Instagram @buytimepodcast Follow Jacob K. Mead on all the socials @jacobkmead
Speaker 1:
Hey everybody, this is Jacob K Mead and this is the Buy Time podcast, where we discuss everything there is to know about buying back your time. Be sure to like and follow and share with somebody who needs to buy back their time. Enjoy today's episode. Welcome back to another episode of the Buy Time podcast. My name is Jacob K Mead, I'm your host and I'm excited that you're here today to listen to today's episode, because we have a lot of great stuff to cover today.
Speaker 1:
So, diving right in, I just had a workshop a couple weeks ago and something in that workshop, I always like to ask questions and always like to get the attendees to be able to be engaged, and so today we're going to really discuss a lot of the questions that I was asked in the workshop and what makes it so important, and some are super powerful. I even remember some of the questions and they still resonate with me today. So let's go ahead and dive in with the very first question I was asked, which is how do you know when to give up? How do you know if something's not working? And the way that I responded to that workshop question was I don't, and that's tough for me, because I don't know when to give up. I keep going and I keep going. I don't quit until I get the results that I want. But I knew where that question was stemming from and so I asked a little bit deeper. And the big thing was is he was struggling to get people into his business. He wasn't seeing people coming into his business and he's a new business owner, and so I explained to him that hey, listen, when I own mobile spot and I first started I was the only one there I was working Monday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm, most of the time even till 8pm at the store, because we were just open 10 to 6, but I would work until 8pm, if not later, at the store and I would be there.
Speaker 1:
And there was a lot of times, especially one week I can remember in particular, where I would show up three days in a row from 10 am To 6 pm. Not a single customer came through the door and I felt defeated. I can I remember I felt so defeated I said I can't do this. I what if no one really wants my service? What if I was wrong? And Looking back on it as such a poor mindset to have? But at that time I kept doubting myself and said what if I'm wrong? I didn't understand the importance of showing up, but I kept doing it. I knew I had to show up. I knew this is what I wanted to do and then I wasn't going to accept failure and so I showed up every single day. In every single day, there would be Sometimes one customer, sometimes two customers, sometimes no customers. No, but it was that week Stretch where I showed up three days in a row and I had no customers.
Speaker 1:
That really dug deep and it Affected me because I went through a huge roller coaster of emotions of I can't do this, I don't know what I'm doing. What if I was wrong? And I pushed through it. How did I push through it? I had I had my fiance at the time actually helping me. She supported me and she actually made sure that I was Keeping on with my goal and I wasn't giving up and She'd be there to say it's going to be okay, we got this. If I need to work more hours, I'll work more hours and she was there to help support me.
Speaker 1:
So having that strong support group someone there to help you when you're feeling those emotions is super important and I think, after I explained that to him, he his eyes just kind of got a little widened and you could tell he hit him emotionally and that's when I said, hey, if you were struggling with this, if this is something that you need help with, you need someone to sit there and tell you that it's okay. When you're having those tough days, let me know, text me, send me an email. I will be that person for you, because everyone needs that person. Everyone needs that person that's going to be there for them when they are going through those tough days, because not every day is easy Especially if you're just getting started off like this guy was just getting started off is the toughest part. You're building that groundwork and we covered the groundwork and one of my videos that I posted on, I think, instagram, where it talks about the importance of Building that groundwork and that that's the toughest part, and so that was one of my questions.
Speaker 1:
Another one of my questions was when I was talking about getting awards and how you know my store, mobile spot, was able to get best of the Moyan awards, and how important it is to be able to showcase awards so that we can show the Authority that you actually have in your community and it can be any award in your community. And so we are, you know, part of chambers of commerce, we are part of BBB, we are part of this so that we, we can show some authority, and that's super important. And so one of the questions that I got asked is how did we get those awards? And I had to sit back and actually reflect, because at the time when I got the first award, I was just nominated for that award through our customers. I didn't go out there, I didn't run ads, I didn't really do anything to target towards that award. I simply just got nominated through our customers.
Speaker 1:
But what I did do was provide top-notch customer service. I made sure that my customers were taken care of. I made sure that I was actually Understanding my customers and providing a solution to their needs. Big. So many times I'd have customers that would come in and say I went to this other Shop or I went to this other store. And when I hear that, the first thing that I started to do is I started to listen deeply. I start to listen close Because if that other shop, that other store, couldn't solve their solution or it's couldn't solve their issue, and I'm able to give them a solution, then I'm going to be the person they come back to. I'm gonna be the person that they remember. And so I would listen super close to everything that they say, and then I would say I understand those two words. I Understand always put my customers at ease. It gives them a breath of fresh air that finally someone understands me, someone's able to actually help me out. And so I would say I Understand, I will help you out, here is my solution. And then I would give them a salute, a solution that would actually help fix the issue that they're having.
Speaker 1:
And so I built my customer service up by doing this, and it's just me in my shop at this time when I'm doing this. So then I start to bring team in. And when I start to bring my team in, I want to make sure that I still have a great customer service. So I would do role-playing scenarios with them. I would make sure that they understood how to provide that customer service. And it's tough because in my industry we hire a lot of technicians and sometimes technicians don't have the best of customer services. So now you're training them from being, you know, a technician to also offering some customer service, but it most people will be trainable, especially when they come in. So that's the first thing I started with. I started to teach about customer service.
Speaker 1:
And then how did we get nominated? What made people nominate us? I think a couple reasons. One we really did a lot of brand awareness. We ran a lot of Google ads. We ran a lot of Facebook campaigns. We made sure our name was getting out there. I connected with a lot of the carrier stores. I connected with a lot of other businesses and I made sure our name was getting out there. And I made sure not only it was our name getting out there, but it was getting out there as a trusted source.
Speaker 1:
There was a lot of things in my particular industry that I was in that were shady. You know, we had shops doing very shady tactics. We and I I always said I'm not going to be that person. You don't. There's other ways to win in business other than being shady and having shady practices, and I was not going to put aside my character in order for me just to create extra revenue. So that's something I did. As I said, no, I'm going to make sure that I'm running everything by the books. I'm going to make sure that I'm helping my customers and I'm not going to run any shady practices. In fact, I actually had a couple calls that I was on and they were like you could do this and make make extra revenue. I said I'm not doing that because it wasn't ethical. I will never put aside my character or my beliefs or my views In order to make more money in my business, and so I think just having that brand awareness, making sure that I was constantly out there, was constantly talking with business owners, made the difference. And people, when that that line came up that said who's the best cell phone repair store Mobile spot? People could see me, they could picture it, people need to see you out there, they need to see your ads over and over and over. So that really helped.
Speaker 1:
Then follow up to that question was how did we know when the right time was to start advertising? And that was a tough one, because I don't think you really ever know. I think that advertising is just part of business, that you should go into your business and know that you need to spend money on advertising. Not everything's going to come word of mouth. If you really want to see growth, not everything's going to come from word of mouth. So, as far as when was the right time, I don't know if there really was a time that clicked and said this is the right time when you spend money on advertising at least for me. I just knew that we always had to spend money on advertising.
Speaker 1:
And one of the things with advertising is I see a lot of businesses make this mistake. They will start advertising with, let's say, $600, $1,000 a month at Google Ads. They will give it two months and they'll quit. That's the issue They'll quit. It takes time. It takes time for the momentum to build up. It takes time for your ads to work. So with Google Ads especially, or even Facebook ads, give it sometimes six to eight months before you give up, and even then don't give up. Look at possibly changing your ad. Do A and B split testing. There's different ways that you can go about running these ads. So, figuring out why it's not working because it does work, you just need to figure out why it's not working.
Speaker 1:
So answering that question in my workshop was super exciting and I was really able to dive in, and I had a conversation afterwards and I said hey, listen, google Ads, I'm not an expert and I hire someone to do my Google Ads. Facebook I'm not an expert and I hire someone to do my Facebook ads, but I also know that if I don't do it, I lose that brand awareness, and that's super important. And then I also know the consistency. So running ads one month and then stopping them for two months to rerun them again, you're going to lose those placements. You're going to go from being number one to being number two to number three, and people are always looking for number one. That's what they want. So be the number one in your industry Advertise. So those are a couple of the questions I got in my workshop that I just did a couple of weeks ago and it was awesome. You know, it was such a great time.
Speaker 1:
I just I can't help, but love helping people is what I've loved to do. That's why I got into this. To begin with is I love helping people. Even my wife just a couple days ago said hey, one of your great traits is that you love helping people. You would give the shirt off your back to somebody else that they needed it, and that is it's true, and it's something that I accept. Is I love helping people. Has it gotten me into some troubles in the past. Yeah, has it gotten me into some financial troubles, because I'd rather help someone else than pay attention to my own finances. It has, but it's something to do with my trait and my character and I'm accepting that, and so I love helping people.
Speaker 1:
So having people come to me after my workshop and asking me questions and me being able to actually help them, and then hearing back in a week that, hey, wow, this really, this really worked like this is great. That meant a lot. It really did. So thank you for that, and if the people that were at my workshop are listening, I really want to say thank you. It meant a lot. So thank you so much. Well, that's going to be everything for today's episode. I hope you guys got some knowledge and understanding from this. In fact, I hope this motivates you guys to keep doing what you're doing, keep showing up even if no one's there. Put money into advertisements so that way you have that brand awareness, and keep being the great business owner that you are. Don't give up. There's something out there for you. Thanks, guys, my name is Jacob K Mead, and until next time. Thanks for listening to today's episode. My name is Jacob K Mead and until next time.
