WEBVTT 00:00:00.490 --> 00:00:02.209 Hey, what's up, my friends? Welcome into Vision 00:00:02.209 --> 00:00:05.469 Pros Live. We are diving in deep into what most 00:00:05.469 --> 00:00:08.390 e -commerce brands get wrong about 3PL partners. 00:00:08.750 --> 00:00:11.910 If you're in warehousing, fulfillment, transportation, 00:00:12.410 --> 00:00:14.990 you're looking to launch products, this episode 00:00:14.990 --> 00:00:17.870 is going to put you 5, 10, maybe even 20 years 00:00:17.870 --> 00:00:20.289 ahead. We got Dave in the house, who's an expert 00:00:20.289 --> 00:00:22.010 with this stuff. Dave Goulas, thank you so much 00:00:22.010 --> 00:00:23.510 for joining me here on Vision Pros Live today. 00:00:23.969 --> 00:00:26.070 Hey, thank you for having me, Jackson. I'm excited 00:00:26.070 --> 00:00:28.620 to be here. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, this is 00:00:28.620 --> 00:00:30.660 an area that I almost never get to talk about. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:33.820 I've done some things in manufacturing. I've 00:00:33.820 --> 00:00:36.439 got clients who ship supplements and things like 00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:39.380 that. But in reality, there's so much that I 00:00:39.380 --> 00:00:41.700 can learn about this process as well. I want 00:00:41.700 --> 00:00:43.200 to make sure that we're not just catering, though, 00:00:43.299 --> 00:00:45.399 to people like me who are kind of newer and on 00:00:45.399 --> 00:00:46.880 the outsides of this. I want to make sure we're 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:49.240 diving deep into the people who need this most, 00:00:49.399 --> 00:00:51.939 those who are right in the heart. figuring out 00:00:51.939 --> 00:00:54.899 their 3PL partners and what they can get out 00:00:54.899 --> 00:00:57.179 of it. We're going to dive right into that so 00:00:57.179 --> 00:00:59.659 that we don't make any noise and lose any opportunity 00:00:59.659 --> 00:01:04.659 to uncover what most brands get wrong when selecting 00:01:04.659 --> 00:01:08.319 a 3PL partner and what most e -commerce brands 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:09.859 are kind of overlooking when they're choosing 00:01:09.859 --> 00:01:11.700 them. Let's dive right into that, Dave. What 00:01:11.700 --> 00:01:13.959 is a 3PL partner for those of us who don't know? 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:16.079 And how do you choose it? Let's keep the shorter 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:18.810 segment on. What it is, move right into what 00:01:18.810 --> 00:01:20.549 are they overlooking when they're trying to find 00:01:20.549 --> 00:01:24.370 the right partner? Yeah, so what they're overlooking, 00:01:24.409 --> 00:01:27.150 the biggest mistake brands make is just seeing 00:01:27.150 --> 00:01:29.810 it strictly as a cost center, as an expense, 00:01:30.150 --> 00:01:33.150 and commoditizing it and thinking that all 3PLs 00:01:33.150 --> 00:01:37.030 are the same, when the reality couldn't be further 00:01:37.030 --> 00:01:41.370 from the truth, where the 3PL you choose as an 00:01:41.370 --> 00:01:43.189 e -commerce brand literally can make or break 00:01:43.189 --> 00:01:46.400 your business. Okay, so what you're telling me 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:50.140 is the universal principle of if I buy cheap, 00:01:50.260 --> 00:01:53.280 I'm going to get cheap. It can apply in this 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:55.939 reality, but also I should be looking at certain 00:01:55.939 --> 00:01:58.040 standards. What are the standards I should look 00:01:58.040 --> 00:02:01.640 for in a great 3PL partner? Well, yeah, so the 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:04.140 people behind the 3PL are what actually make 00:02:04.140 --> 00:02:07.719 all the difference. And just so the audience 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:10.080 knows, there's literally over 10 ,000 of them 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:13.120 in the U .S. alone. So there's a lot. It's very 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:16.120 easy to confuse that if you're not used to shopping 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:18.520 3PLs, if you haven't dealt with 3PLs in the past, 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:20.900 to really think all that are the same and then 00:02:20.900 --> 00:02:25.319 to commoditize it. But they're literally going 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:27.400 to be an extension of your business. Literally, 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:29.740 they're going to be your warehouse, especially 00:02:29.740 --> 00:02:31.539 if you're self -fulfilling right now. You have 00:02:31.539 --> 00:02:34.159 a warehouse. You have staff. You are used to 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:37.039 managing that inventory in -house. When you outsource 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:39.379 that to a 3PL, they literally become part of 00:02:39.379 --> 00:02:42.580 your business. So when you pick the wrong one, 00:02:42.740 --> 00:02:46.319 it can literally sink the ship. Or if you pick 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:48.680 the right one, it can literally allow you to 00:02:48.680 --> 00:02:51.539 scale and achieve the objectives you want by 00:02:51.539 --> 00:02:54.580 outsourcing that. Shoot down what I say next. 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:56.139 If it takes us into left field, I don't want 00:02:56.139 --> 00:02:58.960 to do that. I had a motorcycle parts company 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:01.060 working with me. They were a client of ours several 00:03:01.060 --> 00:03:03.800 years ago. They were doing $20 million per year 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:07.180 in motorcycle parts. And their distributor ended 00:03:07.180 --> 00:03:13.460 up cutting their rates. cuts that my client would 00:03:13.460 --> 00:03:18.340 get by 90 % almost overnight, completely changed 00:03:18.340 --> 00:03:21.599 the cost structure on them. Does that relationship 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:24.199 have anything to do with 3PL, the things like 00:03:24.199 --> 00:03:26.400 that happen in the 3PL world, or am I off in 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:31.259 left field? 90 % I've not seen. There's certainly 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:33.539 unexpected things that happen. We could dive. 00:03:34.090 --> 00:03:36.689 deep down the rabbit hole of horror stories of 00:03:36.689 --> 00:03:39.210 what can happen with a 3pl or with the wrong 00:03:39.210 --> 00:03:42.270 3pl i hadn't heard specifically a 90 increase 00:03:42.270 --> 00:03:46.330 but uh like you said that's a that that's like 00:03:46.330 --> 00:03:49.250 a a business critical blow that would be tough 00:03:49.250 --> 00:03:52.949 for anyone to absorb yeah no it it crushed his 00:03:52.949 --> 00:03:56.250 his um His survival instincts went through the 00:03:56.250 --> 00:03:58.590 roof. And the next thing you know, everybody 00:03:58.590 --> 00:04:00.949 was in the chopping block and it was a very nasty 00:04:00.949 --> 00:04:04.169 reality and situation. So I guess things like 00:04:04.169 --> 00:04:06.490 that can happen. Let's dive in a little bit further 00:04:06.490 --> 00:04:09.490 on 3PL Partners. So again, what are some of those 00:04:09.490 --> 00:04:11.740 principles? You talked about team. I don't want 00:04:11.740 --> 00:04:13.639 to overshadow that, my friends. Team is one of 00:04:13.639 --> 00:04:15.539 the most valuable aspects that I look for as 00:04:15.539 --> 00:04:18.540 well when it comes to website providers and SaaS 00:04:18.540 --> 00:04:22.519 providers as well. The world of websites and 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:25.199 SaaS is moving super, super fast. You can't predict 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:27.019 who's going to be ahead next year anymore. It's 00:04:27.019 --> 00:04:29.899 moving too fast. But what I can look at, who 00:04:29.899 --> 00:04:32.610 has a great culture? Right. Who takes great care 00:04:32.610 --> 00:04:35.990 of their people? Who abides by the same types 00:04:35.990 --> 00:04:38.389 of principles and values that we have? And that 00:04:38.389 --> 00:04:40.449 matters tremendously to me. And I also treat 00:04:40.449 --> 00:04:43.110 my I try to treat my SaaS companies like StreamYard 00:04:43.110 --> 00:04:44.810 here. StreamYard is a platform I could treat 00:04:44.810 --> 00:04:46.810 like a platform, but no way. Like I want to build 00:04:46.810 --> 00:04:49.689 a relationship with their support system. I pay 00:04:49.689 --> 00:04:51.949 a little bit of money every month. But if I tap 00:04:51.949 --> 00:04:54.759 into support. learn from them and see how we 00:04:54.759 --> 00:04:56.639 can maximize our relationship with StreamYard. 00:04:56.720 --> 00:04:58.660 That can lead to all sorts of opportunities. 00:04:58.819 --> 00:05:00.720 So I imagine the same type of framework exists 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:03.220 with 3PLs or am I getting off on left field? 00:05:03.930 --> 00:05:05.649 No, and it's actually interesting you brought 00:05:05.649 --> 00:05:07.769 that up because I did a lengthy post on this 00:05:07.769 --> 00:05:11.250 maybe a month or so ago. And it was really about 00:05:11.250 --> 00:05:14.569 small business versus big box legacy business 00:05:14.569 --> 00:05:18.910 and the stark contrast. But I not only mentioned 00:05:18.910 --> 00:05:21.870 3PL, but one of the areas I see it with is SaaS 00:05:21.870 --> 00:05:24.329 providers, particularly with companies we use. 00:05:25.829 --> 00:05:28.269 Like a mistake that is very easy for people to 00:05:28.269 --> 00:05:30.730 make is thinking bigger is better, meaning a 00:05:30.730 --> 00:05:34.269 big box name, a legacy name, a big company that's 00:05:34.269 --> 00:05:36.149 been around for a lot of years is automatically 00:05:36.149 --> 00:05:39.759 going to be better. When in reality, so often 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:43.500 that breeds complacency. There becomes a lot 00:05:43.500 --> 00:05:47.259 of bureaucracy. They stop innovating. There's 00:05:47.259 --> 00:05:51.259 a culture of people just want to maintain the 00:05:51.259 --> 00:05:55.040 status quo versus when you compare that to small 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:58.420 businesses, newer companies, startups are scaling. 00:05:58.899 --> 00:06:02.519 The level of service you get, founder -led companies, 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:05.480 the level of service and execution you get from 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:07.439 these teams that are hungry for business. that 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:09.399 want to create a positive customer experience, 00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:12.259 that actually care, where they don't just have 00:06:12.259 --> 00:06:14.120 employees that are literally just punching a 00:06:14.120 --> 00:06:17.079 clock, that are going to take weeks to do something 00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:20.160 that could be done very quickly. I mean, I literally 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:22.939 have seen that happen. And so I did a post just 00:06:22.939 --> 00:06:25.240 to call that out and just to say I see a shift 00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:28.339 happening where customers no longer care. They 00:06:28.339 --> 00:06:30.600 care about the people behind the brand. They're 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:33.600 not just going to automatically support this 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:35.420 legacy brand if they're not getting the service 00:06:35.420 --> 00:06:38.560 that they deserve. Huge. Absolutely. And this 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:41.360 applies again. So neat how these principles apply 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:43.759 to all of our industries. my friends if you want 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.720 to see a big box company that has gotten complacent 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:48.720 and that's overlooked the value of their customers 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:50.959 look no further than bank of america or wells 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:53.660 fargo um you know the same exact type of reality 00:06:53.660 --> 00:06:55.899 happens and so i hope they don't hire hitman 00:06:55.899 --> 00:06:58.439 to come after me after saying that um but in 00:06:58.439 --> 00:07:00.959 reality there's a lot of smaller banks out there 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:02.639 that we could be working with that we're really 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:05.079 eager to have our business and sure are there 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:06.879 are there challenges with that too of course 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:09.519 there's pros and cons in every situation we take 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:12.279 a risk every time we go outside all right but 00:07:12.279 --> 00:07:13.829 we We can't be scared of the risks. We've got 00:07:13.829 --> 00:07:16.230 to really evaluate what are the things that will 00:07:16.230 --> 00:07:18.870 help us with moving forward our brand. So when 00:07:18.870 --> 00:07:20.189 we come back, we're going to take a little break. 00:07:20.230 --> 00:07:22.529 When we come back, Dave's going to dive in to 00:07:22.529 --> 00:07:27.149 one of his top secret. discovery realities of 00:07:27.149 --> 00:07:29.470 how you figure out, Dave, which 3PL partners 00:07:29.470 --> 00:07:32.009 you want to work with. And then we'll shift gears 00:07:32.009 --> 00:07:33.889 from there. We'll see you guys on the other side. 00:07:34.050 --> 00:07:37.670 All right. Welcome in to Vision Pros Live with 00:07:37.670 --> 00:07:39.930 Jackson Callum. I'm your show host. We'll be 00:07:39.930 --> 00:07:41.649 doing interviews for visionary entrepreneurs 00:07:41.649 --> 00:07:44.490 and guest leaders who are building fantastic 00:07:44.490 --> 00:07:55.819 visions out there. Hey, what's up, my friends? 00:07:55.860 --> 00:07:57.680 Welcome to another episode of Vision Pros Live. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:07:59.360 I'm your show host, Jackson Callum, and I'm so 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:01.379 excited to have Dave Goulas in the house. We 00:08:01.379 --> 00:08:03.139 get to talk about things that we don't typically 00:08:03.139 --> 00:08:05.139 talk about in relation to vision, but behind 00:08:05.139 --> 00:08:07.459 the scenes infrastructure, especially for physical 00:08:07.459 --> 00:08:09.660 products, we're talking warehousing, fulfillment, 00:08:09.980 --> 00:08:12.360 and transportation. I'm going to see if I can 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:15.639 get Dave to dig deep into his catalog of secrets 00:08:15.639 --> 00:08:18.459 to help us with 3PL partners and even systems 00:08:18.459 --> 00:08:20.259 beyond that. This, again, it's a little bit outside 00:08:20.259 --> 00:08:22.379 of my scope, so I'm hoping Dave can continue 00:08:22.379 --> 00:08:25.199 to reshift my focus. some of the things that 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:27.360 are most important for those who are working 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:29.980 in physical product industries and beyond. So 00:08:29.980 --> 00:08:32.320 before I bring Dave back on, I also want to give 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:35.820 another series of resources to each of you. Nobody 00:08:35.820 --> 00:08:38.039 pays for these sponsorship opportunities, by 00:08:38.039 --> 00:08:39.480 the way. These are just brands that I freaking 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:41.679 love and I want you to be aware of. So we're 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:43.840 going to start with AI Mavericks, and this is 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:45.820 going to seem so contradictory, but I'm hoping 00:08:45.820 --> 00:08:47.960 that everybody who watches this understands that 00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:51.059 there's power in collaboration with competition. 00:08:51.769 --> 00:08:56.450 So AI Mavericks is the AI baby of Austin Armstrong 00:08:56.450 --> 00:08:59.549 and Scott Simpson. And I have joined this as 00:08:59.549 --> 00:09:02.529 a paying member because I want to stay by the 00:09:02.529 --> 00:09:04.850 best of the best in the AI world because I can 00:09:04.850 --> 00:09:08.009 see the shift is dramatic and everybody's talking 00:09:08.009 --> 00:09:10.509 about it still years later. Why? Because it is 00:09:10.509 --> 00:09:12.970 changing the game. We want to be ahead of that 00:09:12.970 --> 00:09:15.970 change. So I highly recommend joining over there, 00:09:15.990 --> 00:09:17.669 what they're doing. And I would recommend in 00:09:17.669 --> 00:09:19.710 this reality, don't look at this like I need 00:09:19.710 --> 00:09:22.340 one gym membership. No, no, no. We're talking 00:09:22.340 --> 00:09:25.240 about the wave and the future of education. So 00:09:25.240 --> 00:09:28.440 while I'm in AI Mavericks and building with them 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:30.340 as well, and I love the way they've constructed 00:09:30.340 --> 00:09:32.559 this program to help me continue to take things 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:35.340 to the next level. We also recently launched 00:09:35.340 --> 00:09:38.799 last week, the AI marketplace. If you go to AI 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:42.830 .firstclassbusiness .io, we also. have another 00:09:42.830 --> 00:09:45.370 angle. While AI Mavericks is helping me on some 00:09:45.370 --> 00:09:47.889 of the deeper advanced level stuff, like creating 00:09:47.889 --> 00:09:51.570 agents in AI, meaning like computers that do 00:09:51.570 --> 00:09:53.990 the work beyond just giving you great advice, 00:09:54.210 --> 00:09:57.250 we've launched the AI Marketplace to help professionals 00:09:57.250 --> 00:09:59.909 and business owners realize that you already 00:09:59.909 --> 00:10:02.450 are AI experts. You just don't know how to tap 00:10:02.450 --> 00:10:04.649 into your expertise, but you've been using AI 00:10:04.649 --> 00:10:07.639 for decades yourself. If you've ever set up email 00:10:07.639 --> 00:10:09.620 automations, if you've ever curated a playlist 00:10:09.620 --> 00:10:13.679 in Spotify, if you've loved and rated businesses 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:15.799 online, if you've reviewed them or you booked 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:20.399 online reservations, you have AI skills that 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:23.139 need to be on your resume, they need to be on 00:10:23.139 --> 00:10:25.220 your LinkedIn profile, and you need to know how 00:10:25.220 --> 00:10:27.759 to interview for those in order to protect your 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:30.019 job in the future. And business owners, there 00:10:30.019 --> 00:10:32.399 are bottlenecks that AI can solve like that. 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:35.269 For instance, I build websites for my clients. 00:10:35.750 --> 00:10:39.009 It takes me about five to 10 minutes to generate 00:10:39.009 --> 00:10:41.169 an incredible website beyond what they already 00:10:41.169 --> 00:10:44.190 have. And it takes me a couple of hours to pull 00:10:44.190 --> 00:10:46.090 it all together and to get it implemented these 00:10:46.090 --> 00:10:49.190 days. You no longer have to spend $5 ,000, $10 00:10:49.190 --> 00:10:51.830 ,000, $15 ,000 on setting up your marketing the 00:10:51.830 --> 00:10:54.769 right way when you are taught how to do it. correctly 00:10:54.769 --> 00:10:56.649 and when you were working with strategists our 00:10:56.649 --> 00:10:59.950 ai platform is about teaching leadership skills 00:10:59.950 --> 00:11:02.309 communication skills because the better we can 00:11:02.309 --> 00:11:05.570 communicate emotional intelligence and and our 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:08.340 what do you call, IQ, our regular intelligence, 00:11:08.539 --> 00:11:12.159 with AI systems, the better your outputs are 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:14.080 going to be. And it is driving so many companies 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:16.759 off a cliff right now. There's so much bad reputation 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:19.440 out there now. Again, look at these big box companies 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:22.440 that have tried to implement AI too early and 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:25.000 you're stuck on hold or you're trying to chat 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:26.980 with somebody and you can't get a hold of somebody 00:11:26.980 --> 00:11:29.820 and now you're hating that brand because they've 00:11:29.820 --> 00:11:32.200 done a poor job of implementing AI. If your brand 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:34.299 is not investing billions like those companies 00:11:34.299 --> 00:11:36.000 are, Please don't assume you're going to have 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:37.980 better results in there. You've got to learn 00:11:37.980 --> 00:11:41.360 the basics of AI and how to make sure to create 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:44.899 productive and profitable AI systems. Right now, 00:11:44.919 --> 00:11:46.700 we have the founding members cohort open for 00:11:46.700 --> 00:11:49.340 50 founding members. It's either $50 a month 00:11:49.340 --> 00:11:53.559 or $500 for lifetime access. You heard me right. 00:11:53.639 --> 00:11:55.879 $500 for lifetime access, not just one year. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:58.480 And beyond that, after the first 50, we'll raise 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:01.100 the price to $100 a month. So I look forward 00:12:01.100 --> 00:12:02.559 to seeing you in that. Come and join us. Help 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:04.879 us build out the future of what AI looks like. 00:12:04.940 --> 00:12:06.740 And then there's the Water Project. The Water 00:12:06.740 --> 00:12:08.519 Project is near and dear to my heart, my friends. 00:12:08.700 --> 00:12:10.620 This is something that when I saw these kids. 00:12:11.270 --> 00:12:13.590 celebrating water like my kids celebrate christmas 00:12:13.590 --> 00:12:15.610 day i just couldn't ignore it and we've got millions 00:12:15.610 --> 00:12:18.190 of people on this planet who don't have access 00:12:18.190 --> 00:12:20.169 to clean drinking water we can do something about 00:12:20.169 --> 00:12:22.769 it simply by giving 10 to 20 dollars if you do 00:12:22.769 --> 00:12:24.309 that what's neat is you get to pick the project 00:12:24.309 --> 00:12:26.509 that you want to support you get to see that 00:12:26.509 --> 00:12:28.570 project come to fruition they will email you 00:12:28.570 --> 00:12:30.090 and show you the results that they were able 00:12:30.090 --> 00:12:31.850 to drive for that community and you get to bless 00:12:31.850 --> 00:12:35.389 generations by by committing to that now if there's 00:12:35.389 --> 00:12:37.610 another cause that you'd rather see a support 00:12:37.610 --> 00:12:39.870 just drop that cause in the link again back to 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:43.320 collaboration with competition. There's so many 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:45.120 projects that we could help on. And there's 8 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:47.399 billion people in this world that we can help. 00:12:47.460 --> 00:12:49.299 And as long as I'm going to rock the mic for 00:12:49.299 --> 00:12:51.700 my profession, I'm going to do everything I can 00:12:51.700 --> 00:12:53.740 to try to inspire others to give back to these 00:12:53.740 --> 00:12:57.340 underprivileged communities. And so if you aren't 00:12:57.340 --> 00:12:59.240 in a financial position to give back, please 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:01.240 don't ignore this message. Instead, share it 00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:02.980 with somebody else because you may be the catalyst 00:13:02.980 --> 00:13:05.240 to help somebody be able to fund one of these 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:07.720 projects. And that would be a huge opportunity 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:09.820 to bless other people's lives. So without further 00:13:09.820 --> 00:13:11.299 ado we're going to dive right back into helping 00:13:11.299 --> 00:13:13.159 each one of you with your visions and with your 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:15.279 success dave gulas thank you so much man for 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:18.940 being here hey thanks jackson appreciate it yeah 00:13:18.940 --> 00:13:21.240 absolutely by the way dave you get an honorary 00:13:21.240 --> 00:13:25.720 membership to the ai marketplace um join us as 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:28.679 a as a leader for being on the show um and yeah 00:13:28.679 --> 00:13:31.899 man let's let's enjoy it so um if that benefits 00:13:31.899 --> 00:13:34.700 you fantastic if it doesn't and my friends i 00:13:34.700 --> 00:13:36.779 never want anybody to be busy because it leads 00:13:36.779 --> 00:13:39.149 to being broke If it's productive and it leads 00:13:39.149 --> 00:13:41.950 to productivity, fantastic. And so Dave, maybe 00:13:41.950 --> 00:13:43.710 we'll see you there. Maybe we won't keep crushing 00:13:43.710 --> 00:13:46.389 it though. Let's dive right into one of your, 00:13:46.389 --> 00:13:49.389 one of your top secret sauces. What would it 00:13:49.389 --> 00:13:51.169 be, Dave? Go ahead and put a framework around 00:13:51.169 --> 00:13:52.549 it and just let us, I'm going to let you talk 00:13:52.549 --> 00:13:54.909 because I'm not educated enough in this space. 00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:57.399 to really guide you down the path that you know 00:13:57.399 --> 00:13:59.399 your customers and prospects need, but you are. 00:13:59.820 --> 00:14:03.340 Yeah, I mean, this might sound like common sense 00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:08.059 if people are not knee -deep in this industry, 00:14:08.179 --> 00:14:11.399 but you would be surprised. I mean, so just literally... 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:14.399 take your time and do a full deep dive when you're 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:17.179 vetting out your fulfillment partner. I mean, 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:20.419 you'd be shocked at how many people just want 00:14:20.419 --> 00:14:23.360 to email and say, send me your pricing. And we 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:26.039 don't ever just do that, right? Like we get on 00:14:26.039 --> 00:14:28.500 a discovery call first and foremost. And then 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:31.580 when I say, hey, you know, let's hop on a call 00:14:31.580 --> 00:14:34.220 and even understand if we're even a good fit 00:14:34.220 --> 00:14:36.059 for each other before we even get to pricing, 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:38.220 they say, no, just send me your pricing. And 00:14:38.220 --> 00:14:42.289 it's like, well, we're not the right fit. Just 00:14:42.289 --> 00:14:45.049 take your time and understand. I know it sounds 00:14:45.049 --> 00:14:47.889 like such common sense and it kind of is, but 00:14:47.889 --> 00:14:50.990 my friends, I'm going to call out every single 00:14:50.990 --> 00:14:54.210 one of my clients for the last four years at 00:14:54.210 --> 00:14:57.909 least. Not a single one has called references. 00:14:58.230 --> 00:15:01.850 Not a single one. even if some of the best leaders 00:15:01.850 --> 00:15:04.129 in the world aren't even doing it, I can, I bet 00:15:04.129 --> 00:15:06.289 most of you aren't doing it. I call my references 00:15:06.289 --> 00:15:08.929 like every time I'll go call. If I were wanting 00:15:08.929 --> 00:15:11.129 to work with Dave, I would call the three references 00:15:11.129 --> 00:15:14.129 he gives me. And then I would go to his testimonials 00:15:14.129 --> 00:15:16.370 and case studies and I would assign a team member 00:15:16.370 --> 00:15:19.250 and I would tell the team member, look, I need 00:15:19.250 --> 00:15:21.769 you to go and find the contact information for 00:15:21.769 --> 00:15:24.750 these, for three to five of these, go to AI and 00:15:24.750 --> 00:15:27.230 ask it what questions you should ask them in 00:15:27.230 --> 00:15:28.529 order to not waste their time in order to get 00:15:28.529 --> 00:15:30.490 the most out of this. And ask them if Dave's 00:15:30.490 --> 00:15:32.690 legit. Find out if they're actually having a 00:15:32.690 --> 00:15:34.389 great experience. That's literally what I go 00:15:34.389 --> 00:15:37.610 through when I want to consider hiring or recruiting 00:15:37.610 --> 00:15:40.529 somebody. I don't see it done though. So to your 00:15:40.529 --> 00:15:42.409 point, Dave, almost everybody's skipping it and 00:15:42.409 --> 00:15:45.350 joining the Get Rich Quick Club. But if we want 00:15:45.350 --> 00:15:47.789 to get great results and get out of the fake 00:15:47.789 --> 00:15:50.350 Get Rich Quick Club that doesn't work, we need 00:15:50.350 --> 00:15:52.529 to take a deep dive and find out. So that's one 00:15:52.529 --> 00:15:54.629 thing that I do on the deep dive. What's one 00:15:54.629 --> 00:15:56.950 thing you recommend people do on the deep dive 00:15:56.950 --> 00:15:58.509 to figure out who they're supposed to work with? 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:02.559 Well, again, it's got to be a great fit on both 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:05.379 sides to not only have the discovery call and 00:16:05.379 --> 00:16:09.159 then dive deep into every aspect. So I'll give 00:16:09.159 --> 00:16:11.899 you an example, too, because most of the calls 00:16:11.899 --> 00:16:14.980 I have are with people that are coming from another 00:16:14.980 --> 00:16:18.419 3PL that they're not happy with. And probably 00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:23.580 the number one reason. I mean, it's either poor 00:16:23.580 --> 00:16:26.279 customer service, lack of response, or slow response 00:16:26.279 --> 00:16:30.460 time. But the other bigger one is the software. 00:16:30.659 --> 00:16:32.820 They don't have the right software. Meaning, 00:16:33.139 --> 00:16:36.100 I don't want to get too deep in the weeds for 00:16:36.100 --> 00:16:37.559 the audience, but there's something called a 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:39.740 WMS, which is a warehouse management system. 00:16:40.100 --> 00:16:43.159 So it's a critical piece of software that a 3PL 00:16:43.159 --> 00:16:45.240 needs to have. So when we were launching, we 00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:47.779 hired a consultant beforehand. And he said, listen, 00:16:47.980 --> 00:16:50.529 you can't even open up your doors. without a 00:16:50.529 --> 00:16:53.309 credible WMS in place. So that's what we did. 00:16:53.429 --> 00:16:55.549 When we get out - Let's dive deep on that, Dave. 00:16:55.750 --> 00:16:58.309 My audience that's not in this, like that doesn't 00:16:58.309 --> 00:17:00.610 get this space, it's okay. I hope you can see 00:17:00.610 --> 00:17:02.350 the universal parallels. I can't. I want to go 00:17:02.350 --> 00:17:05.789 dive as deep as you can. Okay. So we get a WMS 00:17:05.789 --> 00:17:08.730 and that's a whole, we actually got the wrong 00:17:08.730 --> 00:17:11.269 one in the beginning. And so we went through 00:17:11.269 --> 00:17:14.450 a couple to find the right one. But my point 00:17:14.450 --> 00:17:17.210 being too is when I talk to these other brands 00:17:17.210 --> 00:17:21.000 that are shopping 3PLs, I'm floored by how many 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:24.319 3PLs out there don't have a WMS. They're still 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:27.339 tracking inventory on spreadsheets, or they have 00:17:27.339 --> 00:17:30.480 one that's archaic and old and doesn't, like 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:33.029 it doesn't even connect to Shopify. Like I don't 00:17:33.029 --> 00:17:35.490 even understand how you can be serving e -commerce 00:17:35.490 --> 00:17:38.569 brands when Shopify is the premier player out 00:17:38.569 --> 00:17:41.450 there when you don't even have a direct connection 00:17:41.450 --> 00:17:44.069 to Shopify. So, I mean, I hear that time and 00:17:44.069 --> 00:17:46.230 time again. So I guess my point being too is 00:17:46.230 --> 00:17:48.130 if you're going to select someone to outsource 00:17:48.130 --> 00:17:51.069 your fulfillment to, like that's table stakes. 00:17:51.170 --> 00:17:53.230 It's making sure they have the right software 00:17:53.230 --> 00:17:56.089 that it aligns with your business. Because again, 00:17:56.150 --> 00:17:58.869 we get on calls and if they're in a different 00:17:58.869 --> 00:18:01.440 niche or they're in a... they have a workflow 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:03.960 that we don't support and it's just not the right 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:07.920 fit we say it's not the right thing my team my 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:09.859 team doesn't even want to get involved in something 00:18:09.859 --> 00:18:12.279 that's going to be uh with a bunch of manual 00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:14.519 work and it's not the right fit the right workflow 00:18:14.519 --> 00:18:17.559 so it's it's having that open and honest conversation 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:19.799 on the front end like is there even alignment 00:18:19.799 --> 00:18:23.250 here is there even a good potential partnership 00:18:23.250 --> 00:18:25.750 before we even get down to price and there's 00:18:25.750 --> 00:18:27.630 there's numerous other things to discuss before 00:18:27.630 --> 00:18:29.470 you even get the price but it's it's starting 00:18:29.470 --> 00:18:32.009 with with that having a call and really going 00:18:32.009 --> 00:18:35.529 deep on what the business is what the workflow 00:18:35.529 --> 00:18:38.410 is what the 3pl is how what tools do they have 00:18:38.410 --> 00:18:40.390 how does it how does it all fit together and 00:18:40.390 --> 00:18:43.509 is it even a match I love that. And guys, what 00:18:43.509 --> 00:18:45.750 you just heard Dave talk about from a WMS standpoint 00:18:45.750 --> 00:18:48.230 applies to every single one of your visions related 00:18:48.230 --> 00:18:50.970 to CRMs. Everything that he said, just replace 00:18:50.970 --> 00:18:54.349 the word, the acronym WMS with CRM. You're in 00:18:54.349 --> 00:18:56.430 the same boat. You need the exact same types 00:18:56.430 --> 00:18:59.589 of solutions and strategy going into it. So let's 00:18:59.589 --> 00:19:04.950 dive even deeper, Dave. So Dave, EZDC3PL is your 00:19:04.950 --> 00:19:09.029 brand. Tell me about the vision for EZDC3PL and 00:19:09.029 --> 00:19:10.750 your vision for your clients moving forward. 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:14.940 So when we started the company, I was coming 00:19:14.940 --> 00:19:17.480 from pharmaceutical. My partner and I were coming 00:19:17.480 --> 00:19:19.519 from pharmaceutical industry and we're looking 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:21.920 for another vertical to get into. He had just 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:23.680 bought a warehouse and didn't know what he was 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:26.279 going to do with it. So that was the we're trying 00:19:26.279 --> 00:19:29.640 to figure out a company to start with that. And 00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:31.680 we knew several e -commerce brands that were 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:35.380 having problems with their 3PL, meaning orders 00:19:35.380 --> 00:19:37.559 weren't going. They were getting poor service. 00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:42.420 And it was coming off the tail end of COVID, 00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:46.339 which I think there's a big reason for that, 00:19:46.380 --> 00:19:49.700 meaning when the supply and demand for e -commerce 00:19:49.700 --> 00:19:52.660 warehousing got completely imbalanced, I think 00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:56.500 that... accelerated a lot of complacency to where 00:19:56.500 --> 00:19:59.660 there was so much business falling from the sky 00:19:59.660 --> 00:20:04.160 for those brands, for those 3PLs rather, so many 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:06.039 of them got complacent. And next thing you know, 00:20:06.099 --> 00:20:08.200 the service dropped, the standards dropped. They 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:10.059 were just used to all this business falling in 00:20:10.059 --> 00:20:12.279 their lap. And we're seeing the fallout from 00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:16.599 that with numerous e -commerce brands. Our experience 00:20:16.599 --> 00:20:18.519 from the pharmaceutical industry where we were 00:20:18.519 --> 00:20:20.920 at, it was on the secondary market dealing with 00:20:20.920 --> 00:20:23.500 independent pharmacies. And what that means is, 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:25.740 you know, they're competing against the Walgreens 00:20:25.740 --> 00:20:27.920 and the CVSs of the world. So they're just fighting 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:29.539 every day for their life to stay in business. 00:20:30.220 --> 00:20:33.019 Everything goes overnight. Everything is urgent 00:20:33.019 --> 00:20:37.039 and things go wrong all the time. So as a provider 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:39.859 to those companies, it's just automatic that 00:20:39.859 --> 00:20:42.079 you're used to solving problems on the fly. You 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:46.779 respond fast. You know, stuff shipped today. 00:20:46.900 --> 00:20:49.809 Windows are as late as 6 p .m. which is late 00:20:49.809 --> 00:20:52.910 in that world. You're always kind of in touch. 00:20:53.069 --> 00:20:55.190 You're going to have problems to solve over text 00:20:55.190 --> 00:20:57.529 and you always need to make sure stuff's moving. 00:20:57.829 --> 00:20:59.670 I mean, that's just kind of automatic. If you're 00:20:59.670 --> 00:21:01.650 going to survive in that world, you have to be 00:21:01.650 --> 00:21:03.950 able to provide customer service in that way. 00:21:04.029 --> 00:21:06.109 So for us, we're just so used to that. And then 00:21:06.109 --> 00:21:08.390 when we saw the type of complacency we saw within 00:21:08.390 --> 00:21:10.390 e -commerce 3PL, we said, you know, we'd be great 00:21:10.390 --> 00:21:12.789 for this because we know how to service customers. 00:21:12.910 --> 00:21:15.119 We know what small businesses want. We're willing 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:17.619 to do the work. We understand kind of the people 00:21:17.619 --> 00:21:20.220 on the other end. Why not just start a 3PL? So 00:21:20.220 --> 00:21:23.640 that was really the genesis of the company. And 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:26.299 we just jumped in and did it. And then we began 00:21:26.299 --> 00:21:29.539 the process of figuring out everything we didn't 00:21:29.539 --> 00:21:35.200 know. All the things we needed to learn. And 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:37.240 yeah, we just kept doing the work and kept getting 00:21:37.240 --> 00:21:39.819 better every day. And yeah, here we are three 00:21:39.819 --> 00:21:42.700 and a half years later. I love that. And my friends, 00:21:42.779 --> 00:21:45.640 this is not something that I would say requires 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:48.359 a degree. I don't have a degree. For those of 00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:51.359 you who don't know, I started as an integrator 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:52.680 more than a visionary. I didn't even know what 00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:54.579 that was, but basically I wasn't ready to launch 00:21:54.579 --> 00:21:56.519 my own brand. And I just, I wanted to tag along 00:21:56.519 --> 00:21:59.160 with a great visionary. And, and in fact, I just 00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:01.460 wanted a job at Google. And so I ended up getting 00:22:01.460 --> 00:22:04.579 into a company that was a startup. And I learned 00:22:04.579 --> 00:22:07.680 about websites and SEO way back in 2010. And 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:09.460 so the reason why I'm bringing this up, I then 00:22:09.460 --> 00:22:11.579 went to Restaurant Connect after we ended up 00:22:11.579 --> 00:22:13.759 raising $10 million with that company. Then I 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:16.180 went to Restaurant Connect. I had never worked 00:22:16.180 --> 00:22:18.220 in a fancy restaurant. We were servicing fine 00:22:18.220 --> 00:22:20.039 dining restaurants with their dining room management 00:22:20.039 --> 00:22:21.740 softwares. I didn't know what a deuce was. I 00:22:21.740 --> 00:22:23.440 didn't know what an expo was. I don't drink alcohol. 00:22:23.579 --> 00:22:25.180 So I didn't know anything about the restaurant 00:22:25.180 --> 00:22:27.599 industry. And here I was learning that. And next 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:29.339 thing you know, within two to three years, I'm 00:22:29.339 --> 00:22:31.460 training the masters here in Augusta, all seven 00:22:31.460 --> 00:22:33.619 restaurants on hospitality. And we're training 00:22:33.619 --> 00:22:36.180 Kiwi on Golf Resort and integrating the hotel 00:22:36.180 --> 00:22:39.900 software with the restaurant software so they 00:22:39.900 --> 00:22:42.599 can see their reservations and streamline bookings 00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:44.960 and all that. And my point for all of you that 00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:46.880 are visionaries or maybe on the integrator side. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:50.920 Get involved and use your integrity. Dive into 00:22:50.920 --> 00:22:54.319 values, virtues, diligence, determination, working 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:56.779 hard, understanding that the types of people 00:22:56.779 --> 00:22:58.380 that you work with, the types of people you want 00:22:58.380 --> 00:23:01.000 to belong with long term, all of those can help 00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:03.619 propel you. You can learn the realities within 00:23:03.619 --> 00:23:04.980 an industry. And we're going to do that right 00:23:04.980 --> 00:23:07.460 now. I saw a blog post you had on that website. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:11.059 David said it talked about final mile delivery. 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:13.940 And I was like, oh, that sounds like a KPI. That 00:23:13.940 --> 00:23:16.019 sounds like something that's easy to overlook 00:23:16.019 --> 00:23:18.480 when you're first launching. What's final mile 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:20.799 delivery and how do you make sure that you crush 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:26.160 it? Yeah, so final mile, it's an industry term 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:30.460 that refers to the last carrier touch, the last 00:23:30.460 --> 00:23:32.900 transportation touch before the product reaches 00:23:32.900 --> 00:23:37.660 the customer. Like from our 3PL, everything is 00:23:37.660 --> 00:23:40.220 going final mile because we're shipping out UPS, 00:23:40.460 --> 00:23:43.039 USPS, other carriers, and it's all going directly 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:46.500 to the customer in most cases, to the end 3PL 00:23:46.500 --> 00:23:51.079 consumer. And then there's also a freight component, 00:23:51.180 --> 00:23:53.200 but that's the real thing that we do with the 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:56.299 final mile. And I mean, as far as crushing it, 00:23:56.359 --> 00:23:58.799 it's kind of a culmination of everything else 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:02.599 we talked about. But so often it's having the 00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:05.140 right workflow, the right people, the right systems 00:24:05.140 --> 00:24:08.279 in place to where you can get a lot of order. 00:24:08.359 --> 00:24:12.599 And again, right. Every e -commerce brand, right, 00:24:12.660 --> 00:24:14.440 wants their customers to be happy. And what do 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:16.259 customers want in this day and age? They want 00:24:16.259 --> 00:24:19.220 their stuff quick. Right. So they want it. They 00:24:19.220 --> 00:24:21.599 want to place an order and they want to know 00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:25.319 that it's shipping, you know. We have a same 00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:27.259 -day cutoff, but if it doesn't go same day, it 00:24:27.259 --> 00:24:29.160 goes the next day. So they want their stuff quick, 00:24:29.299 --> 00:24:31.519 and we want to deliver that. And then, of course, 00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:33.259 having the right systems in place for everything 00:24:33.259 --> 00:24:38.220 to have a smooth final mile delivery, that's 00:24:38.220 --> 00:24:39.880 what we want. And even with all that, things 00:24:39.880 --> 00:24:42.380 can go wrong. UPS can make a mistake, of course, 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:47.480 but we want to do everything possible to deliver 00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:49.619 the right experience with everything we can control. 00:24:50.359 --> 00:24:52.339 I love that. It goes hand in hand, my friends, 00:24:52.359 --> 00:24:55.119 with the book Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard. It's 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:56.960 one of the best books on the planet for helping 00:24:56.960 --> 00:24:59.039 you understand how the customer journey works 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:02.500 out. And so this last milestone, we have to think 00:25:02.500 --> 00:25:04.900 about that in terms of all of our brands. How 00:25:04.900 --> 00:25:06.779 do we make sure that the touch points, anybody 00:25:06.779 --> 00:25:08.779 who has to touch our product or service, our 00:25:08.779 --> 00:25:10.640 billing, whatever it is that we're doing, how 00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:12.599 do we make that process as smooth as possible 00:25:12.599 --> 00:25:14.920 so that it's fast? And I would say reliable as 00:25:14.920 --> 00:25:17.420 well. Those two factors, they apply to every 00:25:17.420 --> 00:25:19.799 single industry. And if it's not going to be 00:25:19.799 --> 00:25:22.190 fast, be fast, then simply, my friends, I got 00:25:22.190 --> 00:25:23.869 the trick for you. Just set clear expectations. 00:25:24.089 --> 00:25:26.930 If it's going to take three weeks, let them know 00:25:26.930 --> 00:25:30.289 it can take three to six weeks. Don't put yourself 00:25:30.289 --> 00:25:32.490 in a bind where you're over -promising and under 00:25:32.490 --> 00:25:34.990 -delivering. Most people are willing to wait 00:25:34.990 --> 00:25:37.190 if they understand that that's part of having 00:25:37.190 --> 00:25:40.190 a quality experience. So let's dive a little 00:25:40.190 --> 00:25:43.009 bit deeper, Dave, into things that maybe we didn't 00:25:43.009 --> 00:25:47.109 plan out for this agenda. So if you were sitting 00:25:47.109 --> 00:25:50.369 in front of a room, of a hundred people who were, 00:25:50.470 --> 00:25:53.170 let's call them, you know, ideal client profiles, 00:25:53.289 --> 00:25:56.109 people you could serve really, really well, what 00:25:56.109 --> 00:25:58.630 would they want to know about that that's in 00:25:58.630 --> 00:26:02.230 your head, in your hands, in your strategy? Well, 00:26:02.349 --> 00:26:06.180 yeah. So if. If I'm talking to a group like that, 00:26:06.259 --> 00:26:07.900 I just want to let them know who we are, what 00:26:07.900 --> 00:26:09.940 we do, who we're a fit for and who we're not 00:26:09.940 --> 00:26:12.359 a fit for. So, for instance, we're located in 00:26:12.359 --> 00:26:14.759 central Kentucky. We can reach 80 percent of 00:26:14.759 --> 00:26:16.980 the company within two days ground. So very fast 00:26:16.980 --> 00:26:18.980 delivery. We are a young company. 80 percent 00:26:18.980 --> 00:26:20.720 of the company or 80 percent of the country? 00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:23.910 Country. Country. Did I say company? Yeah. 80 00:26:23.910 --> 00:26:26.549 % of the country. We got it. Yeah. 80 % of the 00:26:26.549 --> 00:26:28.990 country within two days ground. We are a young 00:26:28.990 --> 00:26:31.849 company. We're three and a half years old. We're 00:26:31.849 --> 00:26:34.829 continually growing, but we have a solid team 00:26:34.829 --> 00:26:37.690 in place. We specialize in direct -to -consumer 00:26:37.690 --> 00:26:39.950 Shopify sellers, typically that are shipping 00:26:39.950 --> 00:26:42.750 between 1 ,000 and 10 ,000 orders a month. That's 00:26:42.750 --> 00:26:46.109 our sweet spot. We work in industries like beauty, 00:26:46.390 --> 00:26:50.230 nutritional supplements, home goods, books, that 00:26:50.230 --> 00:26:52.309 sort of thing, smaller -type items that can go 00:26:52.309 --> 00:26:56.650 within a parcel. And, yeah, we care about delivering 00:26:56.650 --> 00:26:59.869 an outstanding customer experience, and that's 00:26:59.869 --> 00:27:01.789 our mission, and the team has bought into that, 00:27:01.950 --> 00:27:05.109 and that's what we focus on every single day. 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:08.240 Okay, very good. And what are some of the companies 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:12.119 that wouldn't be a good fit? You want me to, 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:15.339 well, I mean. Not a specific company, sorry. 00:27:15.500 --> 00:27:18.039 What are the sizes or like, you know, for instance, 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:20.759 in my case for marketing, you know, like I won't, 00:27:20.759 --> 00:27:23.799 I wouldn't probably be the best hire for any 00:27:23.799 --> 00:27:28.009 blue chip stock. Apple. Google, et cetera. I 00:27:28.009 --> 00:27:29.809 don't know how to run billion dollar budgets. 00:27:30.069 --> 00:27:33.329 That's not my specialty. I play a lot smaller 00:27:33.329 --> 00:27:35.890 than that in the $1 .5 million to $10 million 00:27:35.890 --> 00:27:39.089 range. That would be my max. I would feel very 00:27:39.089 --> 00:27:41.650 out of my league if I went beyond that. Okay. 00:27:41.690 --> 00:27:44.509 Yeah. So for instance, anyone shipping products 00:27:44.509 --> 00:27:48.369 that are big and bulky and heavy, that's not 00:27:48.369 --> 00:27:51.250 something that we're good at, nor do we want 00:27:51.250 --> 00:27:54.049 to get involved in. Anyone that's exclusively 00:27:54.049 --> 00:27:59.190 or heavily big box retail i mean we do a little 00:27:59.190 --> 00:28:01.069 bit of that and we've done some of that in the 00:28:01.069 --> 00:28:03.569 past but it's certainly not our sweet spot as 00:28:03.569 --> 00:28:05.809 you get into bigger brands they all tend to have 00:28:05.809 --> 00:28:08.730 a b2b component so sometimes you kind of have 00:28:08.730 --> 00:28:10.410 to do that if you're going to service the all 00:28:10.410 --> 00:28:12.710 of the brand's business but in general like we've 00:28:12.710 --> 00:28:15.690 had people come to me come to us and say listen 00:28:15.690 --> 00:28:18.960 all my business is between these 10 retailers 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:21.359 and there's no direct to consumer business. And 00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:23.099 right there, it's just a non -starter like that. 00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:25.579 We're not the right fit for that. Cause then 00:28:25.579 --> 00:28:27.539 you're 10 different routing guys. You're all 00:28:27.539 --> 00:28:30.279 sorts of all, you know, there's companies that 00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:32.420 specialize in that, but that's not us. So we, 00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:34.940 we, we focus on the direct to consumer stuff. 00:28:35.660 --> 00:28:37.680 Let's bless and release that audience real quick. 00:28:37.720 --> 00:28:39.980 If you don't mind for big and bulky, you may 00:28:39.980 --> 00:28:42.099 not be able to give an exact like, Oh my gosh, 00:28:42.119 --> 00:28:43.779 you should go with these guys, but who would 00:28:43.779 --> 00:28:47.500 you recommend exploring? I mean, again, you can 00:28:47.500 --> 00:28:50.000 put that in AI and find that out. There's companies 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:53.420 that specialize in big and bulky and they'll 00:28:53.420 --> 00:28:55.599 tell you right up front. So, I mean, it's not 00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:57.559 hard to figure that out. And then you can get 00:28:57.559 --> 00:28:59.640 a short list of people you want to talk to depending 00:28:59.640 --> 00:29:02.700 on your area. Dave, I got to find that out because 00:29:02.700 --> 00:29:05.079 I can do the same thing with AI for marketing. 00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:06.660 And here's, guys, here's why I'm challenging 00:29:06.660 --> 00:29:10.240 that. AI will drive you off a cliff. Um, real 00:29:10.240 --> 00:29:13.460 fast. Um, and so having the AI, but also having 00:29:13.460 --> 00:29:16.099 an expert to kind of vet, I'll give an example. 00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:18.079 If I, if you could work with anybody in the world 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:20.119 right now, besides first class business and what 00:29:20.119 --> 00:29:22.500 you do, I would say get into Virgin startups 00:29:22.500 --> 00:29:25.240 with Richard Branson. 100%. I mean, I haven't 00:29:25.240 --> 00:29:27.819 worked with him, but like the guy is on point 00:29:27.819 --> 00:29:29.940 how you couldn't get better guidance than probably 00:29:29.940 --> 00:29:32.119 what he's up to. But if you don't qualify that, 00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:34.740 come and talk to us. Like you should kind of 00:29:34.740 --> 00:29:35.900 first class business. I wouldn't go anywhere 00:29:35.900 --> 00:29:39.019 else. You might try 2x .co. You might try that. 00:29:39.099 --> 00:29:41.799 They might be great. You might try Gary Vaynerchuk's 00:29:41.799 --> 00:29:44.019 VaynerMedia. I don't have any problem talking 00:29:44.019 --> 00:29:45.759 about that because of the scale that we have. 00:29:45.859 --> 00:29:48.359 But I do want people to know that if you go to 00:29:48.359 --> 00:29:51.140 AI, you might end up with some really, really 00:29:51.140 --> 00:29:53.279 awkward results just because people who may have 00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:55.400 gamified that system. So feel free to bounce 00:29:55.400 --> 00:29:56.960 those off of me and Dave as well if you come 00:29:56.960 --> 00:29:58.279 up with some results. But Dave, who would you 00:29:58.279 --> 00:30:01.210 recommend on the big and bulky side? Uh, yeah. 00:30:01.309 --> 00:30:03.730 Okay. So there's a company called, uh, growth 00:30:03.730 --> 00:30:07.309 catalyst group, GCG. So they've got, uh, and 00:30:07.309 --> 00:30:09.029 I, you know, I've referred business to them. 00:30:09.069 --> 00:30:12.029 They've taken care of, uh, you know, some, some, 00:30:12.069 --> 00:30:14.809 uh, leads we've had and yeah, they, they've got 00:30:14.809 --> 00:30:16.630 millions of square feet and they've got something 00:30:16.630 --> 00:30:20.650 like 20, 20 plus warehouses nationwide. So they're, 00:30:20.650 --> 00:30:23.549 they're a big, big, they're a big company in 00:30:23.549 --> 00:30:26.509 terms of size, but they operate, uh, they don't 00:30:26.509 --> 00:30:29.460 operate like a complacence big box. competitor 00:30:29.460 --> 00:30:31.579 like we were talking about earlier so uh yeah 00:30:31.579 --> 00:30:34.359 i would say give them a call cool man thank you 00:30:34.359 --> 00:30:38.660 for that um and uh let's talk about scaling brands 00:30:38.660 --> 00:30:41.359 um and and what what brands that are scaling 00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:44.599 need to understand before outsourcing fulfillment 00:30:44.599 --> 00:30:50.740 yeah so again it's if you're picking a 3pl right 00:30:50.740 --> 00:30:53.460 and you're at the point where you you want to 00:30:54.180 --> 00:30:56.980 I mean, I guess have a longer -term vision and 00:30:56.980 --> 00:30:59.339 talk about all the points, not only the software, 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:03.799 the team, their capacity, their ability to scale, 00:31:03.980 --> 00:31:07.640 where are they going, references like you mentioned. 00:31:08.460 --> 00:31:11.160 Funny you mentioned that too because we've had 00:31:11.160 --> 00:31:17.440 not percentage -wise, it's probably less than 00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:21.359 10%. of the customers that we brought on have 00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:23.680 actually wanted references and check references, 00:31:23.859 --> 00:31:26.779 but the ones that have ended up being the best 00:31:26.779 --> 00:31:30.819 customers. So mean, meaning they take their time. 00:31:30.859 --> 00:31:33.079 They're serious about this. You know, you really 00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:37.000 can't ask enough questions and you really can't, 00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:39.539 you know, I mean, obviously it's a, and our typical 00:31:39.539 --> 00:31:42.099 sales cycle is several months. So it's not like 00:31:42.099 --> 00:31:45.819 a. It's not a, you know, like a quick decision 00:31:45.819 --> 00:31:49.160 in most cases, but just the ability to actually 00:31:49.160 --> 00:31:52.880 talk to someone that's, you know, to know that 00:31:52.880 --> 00:31:55.980 they called and followed up. And I always, you 00:31:55.980 --> 00:31:57.559 know, if they're even asking me, they're going 00:31:57.559 --> 00:31:59.980 to talk to them. And I usually get feedback that 00:31:59.980 --> 00:32:01.599 they have talked to them and that they had a, 00:32:01.619 --> 00:32:03.299 you know, a good call and that type of thing. 00:32:03.359 --> 00:32:05.559 So, yeah, all those things and just having a 00:32:05.559 --> 00:32:08.019 long -term vision about it and really understanding 00:32:08.019 --> 00:32:11.380 that the person you choose is going to be your 00:32:11.380 --> 00:32:14.309 partner. in your business so and it truly is 00:32:14.309 --> 00:32:17.940 a partnership um And again, you talked about 00:32:17.940 --> 00:32:20.900 setting expectations too earlier. We want to 00:32:20.900 --> 00:32:23.480 set expectations on both sides. So not only what 00:32:23.480 --> 00:32:25.460 they expect from us and what we're going to deliver 00:32:25.460 --> 00:32:27.299 and what we're committed to, but on the other 00:32:27.299 --> 00:32:30.799 side too. We want people that are going to understand 00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:33.119 their business, provide us with the right information, 00:32:33.339 --> 00:32:36.960 follow our routing guide, adhere to the terms 00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:38.940 of the agreement. Both sides are going to do 00:32:38.940 --> 00:32:41.079 that. But all those things are so important. 00:32:41.180 --> 00:32:45.619 And to truly see it is. as a partnership that 00:32:45.619 --> 00:32:49.599 you strategically decide and not just a cost 00:32:49.599 --> 00:32:51.299 center where you're trying to beat someone up 00:32:51.299 --> 00:32:54.420 or just choosing strictly based on price. This 00:32:54.420 --> 00:32:56.940 is huge. And this is so applicable, visionaries. 00:32:57.339 --> 00:33:00.619 every single component, industry, and vision. 00:33:01.140 --> 00:33:03.660 As always, this goes down to marriage as well, 00:33:03.680 --> 00:33:06.140 your own personal lives. These are all pieces 00:33:06.140 --> 00:33:08.400 of due diligence that are super helpful for setting 00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:10.539 healthy boundaries and ensuring that you get 00:33:10.539 --> 00:33:12.160 the best results possible. I'm going to speak 00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:14.640 to that through a couple of different truths. 00:33:15.309 --> 00:33:18.529 One, it reminds me of when I was working with 00:33:18.529 --> 00:33:21.210 Restaurant Connect and we were working with Fonda 00:33:21.210 --> 00:33:23.210 San Miguel in Austin, Texas. And they were a 00:33:23.210 --> 00:33:26.549 top 50 restaurant in the world, 30 years running. 00:33:27.130 --> 00:33:30.309 And we were also working with Uchi restaurants, 00:33:30.549 --> 00:33:32.690 which at the time was 2010. They were nominated 00:33:32.690 --> 00:33:35.730 for top 10 most important restaurants in America. 00:33:36.359 --> 00:33:38.680 And so here we were working with two restaurants 00:33:38.680 --> 00:33:41.400 that could easily see themselves as competitors. 00:33:41.720 --> 00:33:43.339 And they kind of knew it. And they were in the 00:33:43.339 --> 00:33:45.880 same region within a two -mile drive of each 00:33:45.880 --> 00:33:48.980 other, maybe three -mile drive. And I took Ben 00:33:48.980 --> 00:33:52.599 Kachila from Uchi at his request after calling 00:33:52.599 --> 00:33:55.359 Danny, who is the manager of Fauna Semi. I said, 00:33:55.420 --> 00:33:57.579 hey, can I bring Uchi by? They'd like to see 00:33:57.579 --> 00:33:59.680 what you're doing with the system and how you're 00:33:59.680 --> 00:34:01.539 using it and how you guys are operating and exchange 00:34:01.539 --> 00:34:03.140 some ideas with you. Would you be cool with that? 00:34:03.579 --> 00:34:06.180 And Danny from Bonnet said, absolutely. So Ben 00:34:06.180 --> 00:34:10.119 and I go to his competitor in person and we start 00:34:10.119 --> 00:34:12.639 talking with them about their operations and 00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:14.179 how they're using systems and what they could 00:34:14.179 --> 00:34:16.480 get out of, et cetera. And Ben does the coolest 00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:17.840 thing is we're getting ready to leave. He says, 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:21.440 Hey, Danny, here's a $50 gift card to come to 00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:23.780 Uchi anytime. Bring your friends and family and 00:34:23.780 --> 00:34:26.059 we'll take good care of you. And that classy 00:34:26.059 --> 00:34:28.900 move of realizing that, again, we're competitors. 00:34:29.820 --> 00:34:31.940 but we're collaborators. We can still get along. 00:34:32.039 --> 00:34:33.539 We can still help each other out. This applies 00:34:33.539 --> 00:34:36.360 to any industry. So not as an only doing your 00:34:36.360 --> 00:34:38.840 reference checks, but it's also making sure that 00:34:38.840 --> 00:34:42.539 you're creating opportunities at any point in 00:34:42.539 --> 00:34:46.920 time, Danny. And it's been what, 16 years, maybe 00:34:46.920 --> 00:34:50.530 Danny and Ben. decide to launch their own restaurant 00:34:50.530 --> 00:34:52.670 because of that experience collaborating together 00:34:52.670 --> 00:34:55.510 back then. My friends, it's about moving on from 00:34:55.510 --> 00:34:57.349 a scarcity mindset where we're scared people 00:34:57.349 --> 00:34:59.409 are going to take things from us and moving into 00:34:59.409 --> 00:35:01.389 an abundant mindset of, I want to find people 00:35:01.389 --> 00:35:03.969 who are going to help uplift me and move me along 00:35:03.969 --> 00:35:05.849 this path. Dave, you've been a really, really 00:35:05.849 --> 00:35:07.869 great example of that. As we've talked from last 00:35:07.869 --> 00:35:09.510 time to this time, I've seen that hold true. 00:35:10.090 --> 00:35:12.719 As we get ready to wrap up. Any final thoughts 00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:14.820 that you'd like to share? Any final words of 00:35:14.820 --> 00:35:17.340 wisdom for all visionaries out there? Any truths 00:35:17.340 --> 00:35:19.219 that we just didn't discuss that are burning 00:35:19.219 --> 00:35:20.539 on your chest and you're like, man, I want to 00:35:20.539 --> 00:35:23.420 say this? Well, you mentioned the collaboration. 00:35:23.500 --> 00:35:27.000 That's so interesting, too, because in the pharmaceutical 00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:30.179 industry where I came from. Everything was so 00:35:30.179 --> 00:35:33.460 cutthroat and competitors were just everything. 00:35:33.760 --> 00:35:36.179 There's a lot of scarcity mindset within there, 00:35:36.219 --> 00:35:38.239 despite the fact that it's I don't know what 00:35:38.239 --> 00:35:41.260 how many billion dollars of an industry it is. 00:35:41.300 --> 00:35:44.400 But when I came over to logistics, one of the 00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:46.460 things that was so refreshing is it's such a 00:35:46.460 --> 00:35:48.300 collaborative industry. And I'll go to these 00:35:48.300 --> 00:35:52.500 industry conferences and some of my. best friends 00:35:52.500 --> 00:35:56.239 are literally competitors, but yet the best conversations 00:35:56.239 --> 00:35:59.480 I often have are with other 3PL owners where 00:35:59.480 --> 00:36:02.099 we literally talk about our challenges, what 00:36:02.099 --> 00:36:04.360 we're dealing with, how we did this or that. 00:36:04.559 --> 00:36:09.260 And I couldn't agree with that point more about 00:36:09.260 --> 00:36:11.900 collaboration and, of course, how you tie that 00:36:11.900 --> 00:36:14.989 into an abundance mindset. I love that. I'll 00:36:14.989 --> 00:36:16.650 give one more example, my friends, because this 00:36:16.650 --> 00:36:18.670 exists in any industry and maybe you still don't 00:36:18.670 --> 00:36:20.429 see how to apply it to yourself. But I was working 00:36:20.429 --> 00:36:23.469 with Nautical Dental in San Antonio. They're 00:36:23.469 --> 00:36:26.670 one of the best dentists in that city now. Well, 00:36:26.730 --> 00:36:28.690 they were. They just needed some marketing built 00:36:28.690 --> 00:36:30.170 for it. But we got to a point where I could no 00:36:30.170 --> 00:36:32.409 longer provide the value that I had told them 00:36:32.409 --> 00:36:35.630 that I could provide. And so we were in the off 00:36:35.630 --> 00:36:37.690 -boarding processes and they still had a lot 00:36:37.690 --> 00:36:40.010 to do with growth. But I said, look, here's what 00:36:40.010 --> 00:36:42.730 I recommend you do. Call the best performing 00:36:42.730 --> 00:36:47.989 dentist in Florida, New York, and over in California 00:36:47.989 --> 00:36:51.349 and ask them if they will form a mastermind with 00:36:51.349 --> 00:36:53.130 you. Because you're not going to compete with 00:36:53.130 --> 00:36:55.369 each other anyway. And so just tell them we want 00:36:55.369 --> 00:36:56.969 to share ideas of what we've done. We'd like 00:36:56.969 --> 00:36:59.090 to know what systems you're doing. You will uncover 00:36:59.090 --> 00:37:02.050 more systems, more processes, more things that 00:37:02.050 --> 00:37:04.530 you could do without my presence than if I were 00:37:04.530 --> 00:37:06.610 to try to do everything myself. So go ahead and 00:37:06.610 --> 00:37:08.050 do that. And so they were like, I'd never thought 00:37:08.050 --> 00:37:10.130 about that idea. And they did it. And naturally, 00:37:10.190 --> 00:37:12.730 it has helped them flourish. When we learn to 00:37:12.730 --> 00:37:15.349 collaborate like that, guys, it allows us to 00:37:15.349 --> 00:37:18.630 explore formulas and realize frameworks and opportunities 00:37:18.630 --> 00:37:20.769 that we may not have ever come across before. 00:37:21.480 --> 00:37:23.179 So always look at the opportunity to collaborate 00:37:23.179 --> 00:37:26.340 with others. Dave, I will say that if I end up 00:37:26.340 --> 00:37:28.360 in this space where I'm like, man, we've got, 00:37:28.380 --> 00:37:31.400 I don't know, physical products coming out. We've 00:37:31.400 --> 00:37:33.380 got clients who are, well, if we've got clients, 00:37:33.380 --> 00:37:35.219 that's easy. I already got a couple that I want 00:37:35.219 --> 00:37:37.340 to connect you with. But if I'm looking at the 00:37:37.340 --> 00:37:39.539 idea of, hey, I might want to crack into this 00:37:39.539 --> 00:37:42.079 industry and see if there's an opportunity. You're 00:37:42.079 --> 00:37:43.860 the guy I'm calling. You're the guy I'm going 00:37:43.860 --> 00:37:46.500 to be like, Dave, I would like for you to be 00:37:46.500 --> 00:37:49.599 the leader on this. Help me see what I don't 00:37:49.599 --> 00:37:52.739 see and let's get ready to bless lives. But my 00:37:52.739 --> 00:37:55.320 friends, you don't have to start from scratch. 00:37:55.440 --> 00:37:56.559 You don't have to be the pioneer who figures 00:37:56.559 --> 00:37:58.519 it out. In this case, Dave is the guy who's cracked 00:37:58.519 --> 00:38:00.920 the 3PL code. He's the guy that's understanding 00:38:00.920 --> 00:38:03.559 how to help in manufacturing. If you're, as he 00:38:03.559 --> 00:38:06.329 talked about. in the space of smaller products 00:38:06.329 --> 00:38:09.489 and 1 ,000 to 10 ,000 per month, Dave's one of 00:38:09.489 --> 00:38:10.789 the first people I would go and interview and 00:38:10.789 --> 00:38:12.989 say, hey, can you help us with our growth? So 00:38:12.989 --> 00:38:19.340 you can go to. EasyDC3PL .com. And you can find 00:38:19.340 --> 00:38:20.559 out more about what he does. You can connect 00:38:20.559 --> 00:38:23.400 with him on LinkedIn as well. And my friends, 00:38:23.460 --> 00:38:25.300 if you want to come share your vision on Vision 00:38:25.300 --> 00:38:26.940 Pros Live, in the top right corner, there's a 00:38:26.940 --> 00:38:28.340 button that says, Be Our Guest. You don't have 00:38:28.340 --> 00:38:31.159 to be the king of 3PL to come on the show. You 00:38:31.159 --> 00:38:33.139 might be starting your vision out from scratch. 00:38:33.320 --> 00:38:36.139 But Dave, final words of wisdom or final invitation, 00:38:36.380 --> 00:38:38.750 and we'll wrap up from there. Yeah, like you 00:38:38.750 --> 00:38:41.010 said, connect on LinkedIn. Happy to talk. And 00:38:41.010 --> 00:38:42.809 if you're looking for 3PL, want to know more, 00:38:42.929 --> 00:38:44.989 even if it's not us, I can always point you in 00:38:44.989 --> 00:38:46.650 the right direction depending on your situation. 00:38:47.090 --> 00:38:48.869 And, man, Jackson, I just want to say love your 00:38:48.869 --> 00:38:50.909 energy, love what you're doing with the show. 00:38:51.110 --> 00:38:53.630 And, yeah, for everyone, all the visionaries 00:38:53.630 --> 00:38:55.869 out there, keep believing in yourself and keep 00:38:55.869 --> 00:38:58.590 making it happen. Thanks, brother. We'll see 00:38:58.590 --> 00:39:00.190 you all in the next episode. Take care, visionaries. 00:39:00.289 --> 00:39:02.130 Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy 00:39:02.130 --> 00:39:04.389 that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking 00:39:04.389 --> 00:39:07.650 forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes 00:39:07.650 --> 00:39:09.429 continue to move forward. This is going to get 00:39:09.429 --> 00:39:12.070 more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement 00:39:12.070 --> 00:39:14.150 as well. We'll invite people to participate in 00:39:14.150 --> 00:39:16.309 the show. And thank you for giving us your time 00:39:16.309 --> 00:39:18.590 and attention. Have an excellent time building 00:39:18.590 --> 00:39:20.909 out your vision and becoming a vision pro yourself.