1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,800 Share with me what Ignition Point Strategies is, please. 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:06,240 OK. 3 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:09,720 Ignition Point Strategies is a growth consultancy firm 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:12,520 for enterprise-level SaaS companies. 5 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:13,480 OK. 6 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:14,760 OK. 7 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:15,280 Elaborate. 8 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:18,960 OK. 9 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:24,080 So, Javonka, I want you to I'm going 10 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:26,160 to ask you a little bit of a personal question. 11 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:27,080 Absolutely. 12 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:30,120 Are you in any sort of a romantic relationship? 13 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:31,120 I am, yes. 14 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:31,760 OK. 15 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,440 So here's the question. 16 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:39,640 If your significant other completely disregarded you, 17 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:47,960 completely ignored your needs, and just went out and demanded 18 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:50,160 that you meet all of their expectations 19 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:52,560 and all of their needs without meeting any of yours, 20 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,920 how long would you stay in that relationship? 21 00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:00,080 I would not be in a relationship. 22 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:00,480 Right? 23 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:02,080 You wouldn't stay very long. 24 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:03,840 Not at all, yes. 25 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:07,360 And what we find is that most businesses are actually 26 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:08,880 this way. 27 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:15,200 Most businesses treat their customers almost not 28 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:18,640 with contempt, but disregard, I think, is a better word. 29 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,800 Where they learn just enough about the customer 30 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:24,520 to close the sale. 31 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:27,600 And then they don't care about what happens after that. 32 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:28,560 Yes. 33 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:33,400 And so what we do is we help businesses reduce customer 34 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,600 churn and improve their sales conversion rates 35 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:38,520 by better understanding their customers, 36 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:42,160 by understanding what made them say yes to working 37 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,280 with your business in the first place. 38 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:50,280 And what is the value that they need you to deliver to them 39 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:55,400 for them to continue to be your customer? 40 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:56,960 I love that. 41 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:58,640 I'm sure, like the rest of the audience, 42 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:00,600 didn't know what was coming, but I like it. 43 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,600 I like it back. 44 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,480 Because at the end of the day, I'm in real estate. 45 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,920 And one of the things we call it is nurturing the person. 46 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:14,320 So yeah, you get the house, you get the client, 47 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:16,920 you find a home, you close. 48 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:18,360 You just don't leave. 49 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:18,960 Right? 50 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,800 So I think that that's sort of where it took me to, 51 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:24,080 because you're right. 52 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:26,480 Close the sale, and now what? 53 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:30,240 But then I guess when it comes down to it, 54 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:31,920 relationships evolve. 55 00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:36,640 So you're helping not only to get the sale and to nurture, 56 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:40,080 but now you're also in their lives 57 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,400 to help the business evolve, correct? 58 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:45,600 Yes. 59 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:50,920 Well, it's more accurate to say that we help the business help 60 00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:52,800 themselves to evolve. 61 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:53,800 Right? 62 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:58,200 Because you have customers, you sell a house. 63 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:04,720 As the needs and desires of your customers change, 64 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:10,480 or their tastes evolve, are you going to continue 65 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:12,840 to show them the same house? 66 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:13,920 True. 67 00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:18,200 Are you going to continue to say that a dishwasher from the 1990s 68 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:22,520 is a benefit if it's not 1992? 69 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:23,280 You're right. 70 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,000 But I think that might work, though. 71 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:28,440 That might work better than what we have today. 72 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:29,880 I'm just saying, but keep going. 73 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:31,520 Yes, I understand. 74 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,840 Yeah, the point is that oftentimes we 75 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:37,720 focus on these features and benefits, 76 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,680 and we don't evolve with our customers. 77 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:46,040 Oftentimes, when it comes to innovation in our organizations, 78 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,520 we're innovating based off of what 79 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:52,520 we think the customer wants or needs or will benefit from, 80 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:55,400 not what the customer has told us they want or need 81 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:57,000 or will benefit from. 82 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:01,760 We don't understand the underlying job 83 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:03,640 that they're trying to do, the problem they're 84 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:05,920 trying to solve, the outcome they're trying to create. 85 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,080 Because we don't understand that, 86 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:09,920 it's throwing spaghetti against the wall 87 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:11,320 and waiting to see what sticks. 88 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:13,840 And spaghetti is expensive, guys. 89 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:18,200 Yes, it is. 90 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,400 And just don't mess up the walls. 91 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:29,440 When you decided to go into this business, 92 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:33,480 ignition point strategies, tell me about your vision. 93 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:36,280 What was your vision for this? 94 00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:42,800 Yeah, so I live in my hometown. 95 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,960 I left for a while and got a master's in business. 96 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:52,720 But I remember I was about 17 at the time, 97 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:56,120 and this was when the 2008 market crash hit. 98 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,560 So I remember talking to a guy. 99 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,080 He lived in my neighborhood, really liked this guy, 100 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:04,920 and he was talking about how he was going to have to move. 101 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:07,440 And I was really sad, but he was like, yeah, there's 102 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:08,840 just no work here. 103 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:13,720 And so ever since then, it's been my vision 104 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:18,360 to sort of change the economy of my hometown 105 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,120 so that it can be far more sustainable 106 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:23,800 and that there's a lot more opportunity. 107 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:26,600 And so when I started ignition point strategies, 108 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:30,520 my vision for this is right downtown, 109 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:34,280 there's a bank that was converted from a post office. 110 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:37,800 And my grandpa's first job after he got married 111 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:43,520 was as a substitute mail carrier at that post office. 112 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:47,960 So my dream, my vision is I want to build this consultancy up 113 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:51,320 to be large enough that I can buy that bank 114 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,960 and turn it into what I call the ignition point launch pad. 115 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:59,400 And I want to give local business owners basically 116 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:02,720 office hours where they can come in and talk with us 117 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:06,520 for free and get insight into what they need 118 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:08,840 to do to fix their business. 119 00:06:08,840 --> 00:06:11,080 Wow, I love that. 120 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:12,360 I love that. 121 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,400 And that finds them a brick and mortar 122 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:19,000 to be able to also receive the help that you'll 123 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,760 be able to provide and be there and work the business 124 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:23,040 at the same time. 125 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:25,120 I like that. 126 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:26,560 That works. 127 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:30,840 And so how long have you done this business? 128 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:33,480 I've been consulting for about five years now. 129 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:34,640 Five years now. 130 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:35,360 OK. 131 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:40,040 And how has it changed in the last five years? 132 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,440 Consulting in the last five years, 133 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:49,120 I mean consulting is a very dynamic industry 134 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:55,120 just because I am never tackling the same problems twice 135 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:56,960 and I have to keep on top of the trends 136 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:01,200 to understand what are my customers and clients going 137 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:04,400 to ask me about next and can I provide meaningful advice 138 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:06,040 about that. 139 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:08,760 So there's always changes in that regard. 140 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,640 Technology changes, things like that. 141 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:17,120 I use GPT a lot more than I did when I started. 142 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,800 But a couple of things that haven't changed 143 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:25,320 are our fundamental approach to how we do business. 144 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:27,280 And it all starts with understanding 145 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:29,280 who your customer is. 146 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:34,000 We don't have a typical perspective on customers. 147 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:35,920 We don't believe you have a customer. 148 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:38,800 We believe you have a customer ecosystem. 149 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:42,360 And as business models get more complex, this really plays out. 150 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:46,560 But you have payers who write the check, 151 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:51,280 deciders who choose to hire you, and users who use your stuff. 152 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:54,480 So let's take real estate as an example here. 153 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:56,080 Because you're in real estate. 154 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,640 So what type of real estate do you do? 155 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:02,120 Do you do commercial, residential? 156 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:03,240 Residential. 157 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:04,040 OK. 158 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:11,240 So when you are selling homes or representing your clients, 159 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:13,800 I would imagine that you find that there 160 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:16,240 is one partner in the relationship who 161 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,080 is more of the decision maker. 162 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:19,880 Yes. 163 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:21,400 Yes. 164 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:23,440 And I'm going to go ahead and guess 165 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:25,480 that if trends are what they are, 166 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:32,480 it's probably a woman who ends up having more say on the house. 167 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:36,200 And so to me, you have this ecosystem. 168 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,080 Now that woman isn't going to be the person who pays you, right? 169 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:40,240 Right. 170 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,240 You get paid off of a commission that oftentimes comes out 171 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:45,800 of the seller's pocket? 172 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:46,960 Sometimes. 173 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:47,720 OK. 174 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:48,200 All right. 175 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:49,880 Things change, but yes, sometimes. 176 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:50,480 OK. 177 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:52,240 OK. 178 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:54,960 And then the users, it's going to be that couple. 179 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:57,600 It's going to be the seller, right? 180 00:08:57,600 --> 00:08:59,760 Maybe the seller has a real estate agent 181 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:03,400 that they're representing as well. 182 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:07,120 But basically, you have an ecosystem here. 183 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:10,200 Now a lot of times when we market, 184 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,960 we don't focus on the right person. 185 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:17,400 Oftentimes, our marketing is targeted towards users, 186 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:20,560 but users can't say yes. 187 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:23,160 Our marketing needs to focus on the decider. 188 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:28,840 So for you, I would say focus all of your marketing content 189 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:32,000 on those moms, on those women who are the ones who 190 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:33,760 are choosing to hire you. 191 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:38,000 Because in one moment, I'm so sorry. 192 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:38,480 So sorry. 193 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:41,040 I'm going to pause it, OK? 194 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:45,840 So my recommendation is that you go and market 195 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:48,720 to those women, those moms who are going to be the ones who 196 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:50,000 are calling the shot. 197 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,840 They're the one who actually decides whether or not 198 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:53,920 they're going to hire you. 199 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,680 The husband is just kind of along for the ride, right? 200 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:04,720 And so when I talked about earlier, 201 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:09,520 businesses not paying attention and not knowing, 202 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:11,720 just like that relationship example, 203 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:13,920 this is what I'm talking about. 204 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:17,520 Because businesses oftentimes don't 205 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:19,220 know this customer ecosystem. 206 00:10:19,220 --> 00:10:22,560 And it's costing them a fortune because their sales and marketing 207 00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:26,160 teams are out there talking to the wrong person. 208 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:29,120 But when you get the right person in the right seat, 209 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,400 meaning you're talking to the decider, 210 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:33,640 you're able to close a lot more deals. 211 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:35,720 And when you understand who the user is, 212 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:38,240 you're able to create a customer experience that's 213 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:40,820 going to really resonate with that user 214 00:10:40,820 --> 00:10:44,440 in a very satisfactory way that keeps them around and generates 215 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:46,280 more referrals. 216 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:47,560 Makes sense. 217 00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:52,120 So you said it's the payers, the deciders, and the users. 218 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,800 And this is the customer ecosystem 219 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,720 that you created, correct? 220 00:10:58,720 --> 00:10:59,440 OK. 221 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:02,880 What inspired you to do this framework for the customer 222 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:05,200 ecosystem? 223 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:07,600 Couple of things. 224 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:11,120 One is I was working with a business, 225 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:13,640 and they thought they knew who their customer was. 226 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:17,160 And they were spending millions of dollars. 227 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,320 But growth had just kind of plateaued. 228 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:23,120 And we came in, and we helped them figure out 229 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:25,400 that you don't know who your customer is, 230 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:27,440 that you're actually marketing to the wrong person. 231 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:30,000 And once we got those right people in the right seat, 232 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,840 they grew by 40% year over year for three years. 233 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:34,240 Oh, wow. 234 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:39,080 Yeah, and they increased their per customer revenues by 30%. 235 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:39,960 Wow. 236 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:42,120 OK. 237 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:43,320 That was part one. 238 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,160 Part two is kind of a silly story. 239 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:48,440 I'm at my office one day, and my wife says, 240 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,320 hey, I need you to go and pick up a can of Manwich. 241 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:53,800 And I knew it had to be Manwich because I'd 242 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:56,400 made the mistake of getting the generic brand before, 243 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:58,760 and there was hell to pay. 244 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:04,880 So I go to the grocery store, and I kid you not, Jovanka, 245 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:05,920 did I say it right? 246 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:07,200 Yes, you did. 247 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:08,440 I love it. 248 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:09,080 All right. 249 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,560 So I kid you not, Jovanka, I went to the grocery store, 250 00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:17,400 and it took me 40 minutes to find this dang can of Manwich. 251 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:19,200 I was looking everywhere. 252 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:25,520 So I finally find the can, and I'm just like, what am I doing? 253 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:27,960 I'm not the customer here. 254 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:29,440 I'm not Manwich's customer. 255 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:31,680 My wife is their customer, right? 256 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:34,120 I was just a wallet on legs. 257 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:35,600 That's it. 258 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:41,520 And so that's really those two things combined in my mind. 259 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:43,400 And all of a sudden, I was like, well, you 260 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:45,120 don't have a customer. 261 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:49,840 You have payers, wallet on legs, deciders, my wife, 262 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:52,880 who says it's got to be Manwich, and users, 263 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:56,280 my wife, who is using the Manwich to make our dinner. 264 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:02,160 So oftentimes, like I said, because we don't break this 265 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,880 out, we're out there looking for something or someone 266 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:07,560 who does not exist. 267 00:13:07,560 --> 00:13:12,480 And it costs our marketing a fortune in efficiency. 268 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:16,320 And that means that we're not generating the level of returns 269 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:17,000 that we could. 270 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:19,880 It means that our sales are a lot more difficult 271 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:22,480 because we're not talking to someone who can say yes. 272 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:28,520 The sales cycle is a lot longer because we're 273 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:30,400 having to sort through all of these people 274 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:33,960 to get to someone who can actually say yes, right? 275 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,640 And what I have found, and as I've 276 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:40,240 talked with other consultants, they've found the same thing. 277 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:43,920 When you get, like I say, the right person 278 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,960 in the right seat, things just fall into place. 279 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:50,280 I know a guy who took a company from, 280 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:53,880 I think it was like half a million to eight figures 281 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:59,480 within, I think it was two years, which is absolutely 282 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:01,400 bonkers and saying growth. 283 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:04,560 But he did it by targeting the decider. 284 00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:05,080 Got it. 285 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:07,840 Thank you, right to that decider and saying, OK, 286 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:09,600 this is exactly who our sales team 287 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,080 needs to talk to every single time. 288 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:12,880 Yes. 289 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:17,880 And so when you get a client and they're wanting your services 290 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:20,480 and they're wanting to have this discussion, 291 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,160 what's the process that you get to a point 292 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:27,880 where how you find out who the deciders are for that person, 293 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:30,160 for that company? 294 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:31,800 So whenever we work with a client, 295 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:36,360 we have the same process that we walk through. 296 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:40,440 I jokingly say, first you dance with someone, then you date them, 297 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:42,560 then you marry them. 298 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:45,960 So I kind of feel like the sales process is like, let's dance, 299 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:47,840 let's get to know each other a little bit. 300 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:52,600 But we do what we call our spark offer, which is where we come in 301 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:54,480 and we're just investigating your business. 302 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:59,280 We're trying to get a grip on where you are, what you're doing, 303 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:06,360 what your core values are, what your unique value proposition is. 304 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:09,360 And then we start building things out. 305 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:11,480 We'll build a basic customer ecosystem 306 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,120 based off of what they tell us. 307 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:18,640 And that's a two to three week sort of exploratory phase. 308 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:21,360 After that is where the real heavy lifting comes. 309 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,280 Because in that two weeks, I really 310 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:27,400 come to know what are your problems? 311 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:29,200 What do you really need to solve? 312 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:33,080 And are we even the right people to do it for you? 313 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:37,400 So once we know that, then we start getting into it. 314 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:40,960 We're actually a very data driven organization. 315 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:43,760 And most people don't know this, but there are two types of data. 316 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:46,440 There's quantitative data, which is the crunchy number stuff. 317 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:48,120 It's anything that you can measure. 318 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:51,520 And then there's qualitative data, which is everything else. 319 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:52,400 It's kind of squishy. 320 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:54,440 It's thoughts, opinions, things like that. 321 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:59,560 Now quantitative data is what most people think of when 322 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:00,800 they say we're data driven. 323 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:04,360 But qualitative data is actually far more important. 324 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:09,920 Because qualitative data gives quantitative data context. 325 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:11,440 OK. 326 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:17,560 So what we do is we come in and we use quantitative data 327 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:21,040 to figure out who your most profitable customers are. 328 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:25,120 Because we want to know who your ICP is. 329 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:26,600 And that's it. 330 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:31,440 The people that you can consistently profitably serve. 331 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:33,360 I can drop one in and you know that you're 332 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:34,880 going to make a profit on this person 333 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,440 because it's just a piece of cake, right? 334 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:41,760 So we use the quantitative data to figure that out. 335 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:46,360 And then we start getting into the squishy qualitative stuff. 336 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:50,160 My partner is a product manager with 15 years of experience 337 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:55,400 working with major companies to develop product in the SaaS 338 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:56,920 space. 339 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:01,520 And what she's very good at is understanding 340 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,200 those squishy stuff. 341 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:07,120 And so we go out and we actually talk 342 00:17:07,120 --> 00:17:10,480 to those most profitable customers. 343 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:11,920 And other people like it. 344 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:17,160 Because we want to know actually from the horse's mouth, 345 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:19,000 why did they buy from you? 346 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,960 What is the value that you're delivering to them? 347 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:24,280 And then we take all of that data that we get 348 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:28,000 and we turn it into actionable recommendations 349 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:30,160 for your sales team, your marketing team, your product 350 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:33,480 team, growth strategies that your company can implement. 351 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:35,600 What you need to be aware of so your company can 352 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:39,400 be seeing around the corner and focusing on the next big thing 353 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:41,680 before people know it's the next big thing. 354 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:43,000 Yeah. 355 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,160 And you know it makes all the sense in the world. 356 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:50,200 Because without the data and everything, 357 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:54,600 we do think of quantity over quality. 358 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:56,200 That's the way most think. 359 00:17:56,200 --> 00:18:00,480 But it really is the quality, as you mentioned, over quantity. 360 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:02,080 And not just in what you do. 361 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:07,160 But I think that I've heard it several times about life 362 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,200 in general. 363 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,720 And you have so much passion behind this. 364 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,440 Like, I love how you could just talk about it. 365 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:18,720 And it comes with ease. 366 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:23,800 What are the greatest joys of what you do? 367 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:27,920 I love puzzles. 368 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:33,520 So the biggest joy for me is the excitement 369 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,640 that I get when I look at this problem 370 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:41,480 and I just am able to, using my analytical and intuitive 371 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:46,720 superpower alien brain here, find the solution. 372 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:48,240 It is so much fun. 373 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:50,160 And it brings me so much joy. 374 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:53,120 And then to see it implemented and be 375 00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:57,480 successful for my clients, that's also amazing. 376 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:07,240 Getting a 63% beating growth projections by 63% is awesome. 377 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:12,280 Helping companies improve profitability by 12 and 1.5% 378 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,600 is pretty dang good. 379 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:17,760 Those are the things that bring me joy. 380 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,120 Because I understand the trickle down effects. 381 00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:24,840 That money isn't just ending up in some random person's 382 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:26,000 pocket. 383 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:30,440 Oftentimes, that money is used to pay people more, 384 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,960 to bring in more customers, to solve 385 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,360 people's problems, to make lives better. 386 00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:39,160 I love it. 387 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:40,360 And I could tell. 388 00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:44,000 I definitely could tell that as you spit out the numbers 389 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,760 and you talk about the clients that you're helping 390 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:50,640 and your vision too. 391 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:54,000 It definitely shows in all of that. 392 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,400 Before we go, what's one actionable step 393 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:01,520 startups can take to better target their decisions? 394 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:02,020 OK. 395 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:08,960 So you've got to know who they are. 396 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:13,280 This is, I'm honestly, I'm going to tell you 397 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:14,880 the secret sauce here. 398 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:15,380 OK. 399 00:20:15,380 --> 00:20:16,360 Don't tell anybody. 400 00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:18,840 That's easy. 401 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:22,960 So I'm comfortable telling you this. 402 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:25,480 Because I think that, to be quite honest, 403 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:28,160 90% of your listeners aren't going to do it. 404 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:31,720 They're just not. 405 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:35,120 They can come and hire me and I can help them do it. 406 00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:38,360 But the truth is there is something called activities 407 00:20:38,360 --> 00:20:40,320 based costing. 408 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:42,520 And what activities based costing does 409 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:45,760 is it helps you reallocate your costs 410 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:52,920 to match with how much your customers actually used that. 411 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:56,480 So it gives you a clearer picture of how much 412 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:58,480 your customers used that. 413 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:02,360 It gives you a clearer picture of who your most 414 00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:04,640 profitable customers are. 415 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:09,760 So the first step that I would say 416 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:12,400 anyone should do to better target their deciders 417 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:17,240 is go do that activities based costing analysis 418 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:19,600 on every single one of your customers. 419 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,120 And I mean, you can ask ChatGPT for help. 420 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:24,600 ChatGPT understands activities based costing. 421 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:26,360 So you're safe. 422 00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:28,400 The second step is you'll actually 423 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:33,680 get a ranked list of who your most profitable customers are. 424 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:39,840 And then you apply that customer ecosystem framework to that. 425 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:44,560 So you're saying, OK, I know who these people are, right? 426 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:49,440 But in this context, who is the payer, decider, and user 427 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:52,960 for this transaction? 428 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:56,960 About 20% of your customers generate about 80% 429 00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:58,440 of your profits. 430 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:01,400 And those are the people that you want to focus on. 431 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:05,240 Those are the people you want to know who the deciders are. 432 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:07,480 Once you understand that, then you 433 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:11,480 can start focusing your sales and marketing spend on them. 434 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:14,200 Then you can start focusing your time and networking 435 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:16,520 and attention on them. 436 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:19,720 And talking to them, understanding, hey, 437 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:21,240 do you have a problem? 438 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:22,520 How can I help you solve this? 439 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:24,360 This is what we do. 440 00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:30,400 And making things far more effective at generating 441 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:32,520 a return on your marketing. 442 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:33,920 Thank you for being here today. 443 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,400 I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. 444 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:39,040 I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions 445 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:41,280 as these episodes continue to move forward. 446 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:43,000 This is going to get more and more fun. 447 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:44,920 We'll have more and more engagement as well. 448 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:46,960 We'll invite people to participate in the show. 449 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,320 And thank you for giving us your time and attention. 450 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:52,040 Have an excellent time building out your vision 451 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:54,720 and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.