Ad 00:06
What’s up everybody? Hey, this is Sean Bingham with Adventure Hunt. I am happy to be on the podcast. Sam had me on once before we do the really fun team building events and corporate retreats. So when you’re doing like your sales incentive trips for you guys, we do an absolutely epic trip to Panama, Bocas Del Toro it’s on the Caribbean side of scuba diving zip lining, five-star luxury resort. It’s absolutely incredible. We were on Shark Tank. We’d love to have you guys check us out at www.adventurehunt.com. You can also email me sean@adventurehunt.com
Sam Taggart 00:37
Hi, everybody. This is Sam Taggart and I am here with Miro Wcislo, and he is one of those awesome podcasters out there. So if you haven’t checked out bossed to boss, go check out his podcast. He is, you know, always been around in the top 100 for entrepreneurship. We’ve been I’ve been a guest on his podcast a few times. And now I’m fortunate to have him on the D2D podcast. And I ran into Miro what my very, very first roofing convention I’ve ever attended. Yeah, is where we met. So I literally went to that before I even started my first D to D con. So this is like January, beginning of January 2018. And I was just getting started. Like I’m talking like, I just let socius know that I was leaving. I was a week I was I was four days away from our main first year event. And we run into each other connected. And you know, he had just been starting this podcast called boss to boss and I happen to be one of his you know, earlier guests on the show. And it’s been fun to kind of keep tabs on each other over the last few years. You know, I do a podcast. Yeah. And now it’s cool to have him on the guest. So he his whole theory guys, this is interesting. So So marrows thing is, how do I help people understand and navigate some of the waters of going from being bossed meaning employed to self employed, and it’s always this scary, scary transition. And everybody’s always like, you know, I want to start a business, but they never have the guts. They never have the gusto. They never have the, you know, and then what Mira has done is he interviews these entrepreneurs, and he says, you know, what was the transition? Like, what’s the rate? What’s the ups and downs? What’s the navigating the had to do? What’s the whatever? So in this podcast, we’re gonna dive into one, how many guests have you had on this mirror, like on your show? 200. Now, so interviewed over 200 entrepreneurs, and I’m sure you’ve had met and some had some really cool guests. And so I’m going to ask questions about Okay, being in the head of that many different CEOs and that many different people that have gone through the transitions, we’re going to give light to those that are maybe on the verge hesitant, had the idea, we’re going to talk through that. And then we’re also going to be discussing kind of the COVID world today, like, you know, most of miros successes are actually selling virtually he owns a company. This is not all he does, it doesn’t make all his money through podcasting, everybody thinks we’re rich podcasters and we’re in the top 50 business podcasts and, and I don’t think I’ve made a dime on my podcast, heroes making money, I don’t even think about it. We all have businesses we run to. And, you know, so he runs a company called hodgepodge, which is a waste removal or storage, kind of, you know, like, you basically say, I got a bunch of stuff, can you get it out of my house and store it and sift through it and my mom died and she was a hoarder? I’m sure you’ve seen some crazy, you know, situations where you’re like, are you serious, you have like, you’re literally like, playdough man that you made in third grade that’s super hard and moldy. And you still kept in your 65. Like,
Miro Wcislo 03:58
The easiest thing I think we saw was a human life, like train sets, like across the entire house. Can you imagine that? You walk inside. And then tire level is a train set.
Sam Taggart 04:11
Like it’s like human size.
Miro Wcislo 04:14
I don’t know. Like you can’t get in it. But it’s just like, the size of us humans. Like we’re walking around. And there’s a trade set going around the entire house, like entire floor of the house. That is awesome. It’s crazy. And we had to take that whole thing apart. I mean, it was crazy. Like, I mean, we just dismantled it, and it broke it down eventually piece by piece, but I think sick forever, like the guy missed the years to build that thing.
Sam Taggart 04:36
Yeah. So I’m sure you know, and I’m sure there’s some cool stories. I mean, I’ve knocked a lot of doors and every door to door person out there has probably been in the hoarders house. They’d probably like if you’ve done this job. We probably have seen what you go and you go and get rid of like, I would indicate it starts being a storytime we could go on for I mean, this is just interesting. I go to this house and this lady is over. And I think hoarders tend to have senile prot like they’re just there’s something in their head right. And she definitely,
Miro Wcislo 05:08
Definitely emotional that you definitely got to like train, I definitely have to like train my employees talk to them about being more patients like there’s definitely preparation that goes into it. For sure. So
Sam Taggart 05:19
Luckily, I was trying to take over stuff, but I was trying to navigate to a table. So I walked through a aisles, it’s like this big of boxes, and I’m like side shuffling to the kitchen. And on my way, she had been hoarding. We’ll call it Lucy, the cat. That was dead. Probably for the last 10 years on the floor. I’m talking had been decayed, navigated, and like rotten on floor, and that’s where I found the stench, because I was like, this place smells like I’m like, Oh, man. And I’m like, that’s probably the source. But she’s wondering in this home, you know, like, I’m like, she didn’t even know her dog. Like, she’s probably like Lucy, Lucy, and I’m like, I’ve been dead for years. So I’m sure you’ve seen and if you’re listening to this messaging and comment on this or something, like what’s the craziest thing you’ve seen your craziest fording seeing that you see? Because I guarantee you, there’s been some things that your guys have seen the product in like, one.
Miro Wcislo 06:33
Yeah, I mean, we’re still in search of like that thing right there that they show on TV, like what they show on TV? Is that always real? And like the Storage Wars? I don’t know. I feel like it’s set up. But, you know, who knows? There’s crazy things out there. I’ve heard of, you know, I have a friend that found like, a crazy amount of money, but they didn’t give it to the customer. So, you know, they did it the right way. But, you know, one person had like, literally, maybe 100, like hundreds of 1000s of bears, like teddy bears. You couldn’t even walk through the house. It was you’re walking through like imagine being like, yeah, a ball pit of teddy bears crazy. I had to push him to, like, get pictures to be able to, like, have pictures of the sights. So we could quote it. I mean, it wasn’t possible. So yeah, it’s fun. It’s fun. And it’s also you know, there’s there’s a lot of selling that goes into it. So that’s why we’re sure why I’m here. It’s, it’s a it’s something that I think a lot of people experience, especially in door to door, because yeah, it’s when you go in, right, you have to quote something you want, you have to see it. And then a day you’re dealing with that person, right? No matter what
Sam Taggart 07:39
I say there’s, there’s there’s two types of people, there’s the You Guys and there’s the US that see the world in a different viewpoint, right. Like, we’re in so many homes all across America. And I was thinking that this would be like an interesting movie or something. But it’s like, like, nobody, like everyone’s like, I’ve been to Chicago, like you haven’t been to Chicago. Yeah, you’ve been to you’ve been to the sightseeings of Chicago exam. Sell Chicago and can tell you what it’s like going down to meet with Jerome. And you know, he like, I’ve seen Chicago line, you know, I’m saying like, and, like, I think it’s funny, like travel you don’t see when you go into people’s homes and have conversations with homeowners. Like, it’s so different than, like, I’ve been there, you know, especially the traveling door door persons like, like somebody’s like, you know, I’ve been around rod or Texas or Austin and like, yeah, I look like I’ve been in Austin, like I, I know that the personalities, the cultural differences of neighborhoods into the, you know, there’s a whole conversation we could go down as well. Hey, let’s let’s get back on track. So I want to I really actually want to talk bossed to boss like the concept of you starting a startup. And now it’s, you know, grossing over half a million a year and, you know, in a couple of years, and, you know, you obviously started an idea that was probably not your forte, it’s not like your background was like, I’m gonna go remove junk. Like, you know, you had an idea, you executer idea that you’re profiting from an idea. And it’s been fun to watch this journey. So I guess, I guess the question is, for those sitting, let’s just start high level, I’m on the fence. I’m an employee. I know I have this entrepreneurial itch. What advice would you give that person and just shouldn’t all of them take the edge? Or? Or is it like, No, no, not everybody should run with the edge. Like, you know, I’m saying like, I’m curious. You’ve got a lot of interviews. So yeah, just jam on this. Yeah, cuz
Miro Wcislo 09:38
Sometimes the edge could be, like bad because it just means you’re addicted to something. And it’s like, here, I’m new after this next next thing, and if that first thing ran into the ground, the second thing probably will too. So the third thing, so I guess you got to kind of figure out what kind of person you are. But backtracking like right now and these times like and we’re when we’re recording this Today, you know that there are shelters pretty much in place everywhere, you know, nationwide and like this is the time. Like, this is the time like I can’t stress it enough. This is the time, especially if you got, you know, your unfortunately, if you gotten laid off for load, like don’t look at it as an unfortunate situation, because it’s really that. Yeah, like you, you have an opportunity here to finally do that thing you wanted to do. Like, if you were stuck at a job just because it was paying the bills, you weren’t leaving anytime soon, like you were working there, no matter what, for the foreseeable future, you probably weren’t thinking of leaving, especially now. You know, if you’re stuck in that job, and you’re not leaving anytime soon, you know, new jobs aren’t going to be opening anytime soon, unless you want to like go to work for Amazon or sell groceries, deliver groceries. Besides that, like this is the time like you finally are free. There’s nothing holding you back. Let’s just say you get your job back in three 612 months, like this is that trial period, like as long as you got a roof over your head, or your family’s want to take you win like this is that time, and no matter what it is, because even if it is like, I probably wouldn’t recommend like trying to start a store right now. Like if mortar retail malls are like, no, no. But if you have that idea, you know, especially if it’s something creative, something different, like, here’s the time to get that business model down, start pitching it, start thinking of ways to fund a creative way start making getting those domains, those websites, getting the business plan, like I mentioned, doing your social media accounts, like step by step, the different things that you can do to eventually set up a business. But right now, if I if I were that contemplating that moments, you know, the time is now but beside that fact, should I do it, should I not after talking to countless people, everybody has kind of their own opinion, you know, some are gonna say no matter what, like jump it, go for it, go for it, you know, the grant, Grant cardones method, just go go go. And then you have the others that are going to be a little bit more like, first, keep working, save up. That’s what I did. I’ll relate to how it worked for me, I saved up they said the rule of thumb is you want to save like eight to 12 months worth of savings before you go. So you want to kind of calculate sit back calculates all your main main expenses that are going to be reoccurring every single month, no matter what. So once you get those down, you know, throw a couple curveballs. And then you’re gonna have to be ready to hunker down and live a very, very humble life. Like if you’re going to go in all in on starting a business trying to start something entrepreneurial. You got to be prepared to be humble, like those crazy Hawaiian vacations are happening right now.
Sam Taggart 12:56
And this is the death of businesses in our space. So yeah, I was interviewing a guy to come on to be a potential partner in my company about a year or so ago. And you know, at that time, I wasn’t even taking a salary. Like I literally when you’re like eight to 12 months, I’m like, I’m like, man I depends on what kind of business you’re trying to run. Right? So like I’m bringing in revenue, but it’s like, I don’t think a lot of people realize, like, there’s so much cost, like I just wrote a $70,000 software bill cost, just barely. I mean, it’s like, somebody’s got to pay that, like, you know what I mean? And so I’m interviewing this guy, and he’s like, well, I want equity, and I want this and I at least need to make 200 grand a year and a little bit. And I’m like, dude, how about this, you move into the basement trailer, like, I don’t think you get like, you’re, when you go from me making salesmen money to going and being owner person, your lifestyle needs to take the same. And I think so many people, I love that you brought this up, then they think, because they put an owner cap on, they can still maintain the lifestyle that they’ve been living with a lot of these good sales reps that are probably in positions to go start companies aren’t mentally prepared to take the three year journey of lifestyle sacrifice. Like it’s so funny. My wife was like wanting to get this and this and I’m looking at a mountain bike, like, I need a road bike and a mountain bike. And I was like, oh, like so COVID thing. And this and this or revenues have been this. I can’t just like randomly just go about buy the mountain bikes. Like when I was selling and I was making hella money, like, you know, I mean, it was like, I’m a freak, I want it like and now I’ve got payroll, people I got to pay and this and that like, and I think that I think the idea of CEO or boss. Yeah, I don’t think people realize the stewardship that comes with it and then the lifestyle sacrifice and I’m curious, like, speak to That in some of the people that maybe you’ve interviewed, and then the journeys that you’ve watched people go through, and sacrifice, and that’s what it took, like, I love that you said like eight to 12, you know, six, eight months, or whatever that number is that helps like, what else? What else? Yeah,
Miro Wcislo 15:15
So even though But even though I did that I like calculated my expenses. At the time I had an apartment, I was paying very minimal, cuz my parents owned it. So it was like, you know, a few 100 bucks a month. And even with that, when I left, like, I thought I was going to be pretty comfortable, like I ran, I ran dry after like, four or five months. So and you’re not paying yourself, like, let me tell you, if you’re paying yourself, if you think you know, you’re gonna go there and just start a business. And you’re going to start paying yourself like what you used to what you used to make, like you just said, that is not the case. That is not the case. Like yet, I’m still paying. I’m paying myself now in year three. But it’s it’s enough just to get me by. I have four employees that get bigger paychecks to me every month today. I would say every single employee, pretty much besides one out of my 15 gets a bigger paycheck right now.
Sam Taggart 16:06
Isn’t that great? Isn’t that weird, though? Like, I don’t think that is talked about much. Well, that’s a hard feeling. And there’s a salesperson or a regional manager or whatever they are right now listening to this. When you know, there’s people making more than you, are you okay with that? Because, see, I mean, are you okay with that? Like, I’m okay, writing a bigger check. And I’ve come to my senses of saying, I’m building something, I actually own the thing. I can drive it, I can flip the switch when I need to, you know what I mean? Like, but I think that it’s an interesting question of asking, like, Are you okay, watching a bigger paycheck every all your employees mirror? Or is it? You got to, you have to be the ego, like, here’s the other thing. Here’s a question. Are you are you okay? Are you okay? being seen as broke? Are you do you care to say my lifestyle image, the image that I need to portray is more important? Does that make sense? Like, it’s so much more important
Miro Wcislo 17:13
Right now, like, I am totally okay with it. And if anything, I use it to fuel me. And I know a lot of other people use it as fuel. Because right now, like, you need something during those moments, right? You need something that as you’re as you’re getting up there as you’re going to make it because you know, you’re going to make it you know, you’re not you wouldn’t go into this business if you didn’t believe in it, and believe in yourself and your partners and your employees, whoever’s with you. So later on, you want to be able to kind of also look back at, you know, like I got through these moments like this, this challenge is nothing like if I can get through running out of money, to the point where I had to move out the apartments. And I started, you know, moving into my office, I was gonna sleep on the couch there, I did it for one day. And luckily, now I moved into my feet. Luckily, at the same time, I was going out with my now fiance, and gradually started, thank you, I started kind of going moving in day by day, day by day. So me, I got really lucky. And I moved into her place, just in time, when I was pretty much flat out broke and in debt. So I got very lucky in that spot. But yeah, I was ready to move into my office, I was ready, I talked to my business partner about it, I had I moved my couch there, I had like this one room. And I was just gonna make it happen. Like that’s, that’s where I was at. And, and I looked at it as a point where like, if I can use this to motivate my team, motivate others later, it’s going to be worth it. Like, you will only grow as much as who’s around you and to bring the talents to bring those around you, they’re going to have to get paid, maybe not if they understand the company, though, here’s where things get fun, you know, fun. And interesting is when someone understands the value of the company. And now you kind of start looking into more profit sharing equity deals, those won’t require the paychecks from those understand the value of something long term. And that those sometimes could be the bigger pieces to your puzzle as well. So you got you got both so you got to kind of see pick and choose what kind of employees you’re looking for, because you have the ones with the shiny syndrome right now that you want to bring on. Not to say that each one is good or bad, because those will produce right now usually, but if that paycheck dries up, they’ll be moving on to the next one. So I guess you kind of got away the option. But back to your original question. Does it bother me signing bigger paychecks than the one I signed for myself? No. Like it, you would think that it does. But at the end of the day, I see the bigger picture. I do get to make the decisions. I do get to call it mine. I do I get to walk around and kind of lead and guide like I get to do those things. And I wouldn’t be able to if I started paying myself more Because then I would have to let go half the team. And then we’d be back to step one. And so
Sam Taggart 20:05
there was a question. Let’s say that I go three, four or five years, maybe. And I can’t ever seem to get that paycheck to go more to me. At what point do you feel like minutes? Is it worth being the owner versus going back to the employee? Is it like, at what point is it like? change? You’re just like, yeah, keep living a broken lifestyle? Yes. To where you can team up with somebody to take off way less responsibility and liability and make more, and you had a good run, but like, you know, I mean, like, at what point do you watch these people, you know, like, like, there’s got to be a point where it’s like, you can’t forever always pay yourself the least amount? Like, I’m wondering that, like, I’m like, at what point do I be like, I’m gonna get selfish for a second, and I’m going to, I’m going to actually take paychecks like I get, that’s a question I’ve actually had a lot.
Miro Wcislo 21:00
And I do agree with that part. Like, you do want to save something for yourself something towards the company, like the book. But Michael mihailovich, I think it’s, that’s his name, profit first, amazing book. I don’t know if you’ve read it or not. But it talks about like, being a profits always coming first, that you first take a part of every single sale that comes through, and taking a percentage of that, and always putting it into a profits bank account, and like not touching that. So I do, I do definitely believe in that. And that. And if I didn’t see myself making anything, or see this thing, big or one day, maybe getting bought out like, for me, it was the industry also like I’m in transportation, waste removal, sustainable sustainability industry that we got in three years ago, right where things were starting to crack, like now you hear about all these huge companies, you know, Microsoft, the pledge, everything’s going sustainable, eco friendly, BlackRock said, all their properties are going to be eco friendly. So like us going eco with everything with your junk. We’re timing the market too. So I kind of did my homework with that part, I do have a business partner. So I did not go at it alone, either. So I wanted to make sure that some of the risk was spread around. But we did do some homework to kind of leverage ourselves that, you know, this does look like a good industry to get into. We had some stories, you know, tied to it. Like I came here as an immigrant and I got stuff repurposed, recycled, like my first 10 years of my life, so I knew there’s a market for it, and so on. But, yeah, I mean, if I didn’t pay myself for a few more years after this, like going forward, yeah, I would have to cut my losses, like, there’s no way I would keep going. I constantly reevaluate every few months, I’ll you know, see where I’m at. Nice thing about owning a business is that taxes, you know, a lot of times, especially like your business isn’t, since it’s in the growth stage, you’re probably not generating any actual net income. So at that point, you’re probably you’re able to write everything off and, you know, bring that on to your own taxes. So you got to kind of look at it that way. Like, even if you’re making a third or a fourth of what you used to, you might be paying no taxes right now, at all. You got to look, you got to consider that part. You know, that’s a good 20 30% if not more, depending what bracket you’re in, have tax savings that you got to get lost, you know, sorry. Okay, all good. Yeah, so that’s one thing. And so tax savings is going to be one. But yeah, eventually you want to wait, you do have to wait, I mean, you do every business, you want to have some sort of responsibility, you want to have a mentor, I have a board I have a board at my company. So we do away you know, whether or not how much we could pay each other going forward. So all this stuff does take into consideration you know, as I’m getting older now, I do want to, you know, move out of this basement apartment unit that I live in, but I’m doing it because because I have to right now and I don’t mind the savings especially right now, when I hope that you know the housing market eventually goes down, I want to be prepared for that. So with time I do have to keep paying myself a little bit more because as to be worthwhile, like there has to be some sort of growth at the end of the day. Part of it does have to go to you so as the company grows naturally you could pay yourself more and if you’re not the one that like if you’re if you are starting to get into your three your five and like I definitely recommend that the book profit first. At that point you should probably call it quits like there’s a there has to be something unless you’re made of money and you’re you’re willing to you know, you already had something saved up you know, you have some Family Fortunes that you have in this business is just like, you know, whatever. I can do this for 20 years and I don’t care if I break break the bank at all. Like you got to start paying yourself Something so it is important because at the end of the day, we are all driven by, by some kind of need, right? Like, we were all like, we all like to think we’re good people, we all like to give things away and do things for free. But sooner or later, like we’re gonna get sucked, sucked dry, right? Unless we’re one of these, you know, we’re not unless we’re like, somewhat holy, and this is what we do. This is our life career, you know, but if we’re not like in that world, then sooner or later, we need to be rewarded somehow, someway. So I do I do reward myself, I do, you know, we do still take some vacations every once in a while now, in the beginning, we didn’t. But now, coming into year three, I do at least try to find like, once or twice a year when I do something to reward myself. So you do have to throw in certain thresholds like, you know, when we first hit 100,000 in sales, when you when you hit a half a billion in sales, like I did go off, I did celebrate, I did do a few things I did, you know, a splurge a little bit. So. So you do still have to be able to splurge a little bit, you do still have to reward yourself, otherwise, you’re going to go crazy. And it’s not going to be worth it. But is it gonna be what you were making prior? No, not yet. But can it be can it be way, way, way more, while you get to still call it your own? And, you know, maybe the big dream is one day become little listed on the New York Stock Exchange or one day you get bought out by some private equity deal? Or you’re on Shark Tank and they invest 20%? And, you know, boom, like, is that a possibility? Yes, it is, if you believe in it, and that part is worth it. Because you live in that regular day to day job that day to day life. Like that becomes born to, and you already knew what your potential is, with that, you know, you usually know, right? Like you go out there, you know, if you put in this many hours, you’re going to get this many sales, you know that if you do work this many days a week, you’re probably going to get this many sales, usually usually know what your potential is with, with running it yourself with the business, especially if you have a team, you team up with 10 20,000 people like think about that, that’s exponential, there’s no limit on that.
Sam Taggart 27:09
Love the love that. So let’s and I appreciate that. I think that it’s it’s such an interesting, good perspective. And you’re, you know, you’re not coming from a position of, well, I’m 10 years into this and I’m now sitting on my frickin Range Rovers and lambos. Like, you know, I mean, it’s, I’m still in the grind of thick of it, and I appreciate your authenticity. And I think that we can both relate in that I think a lot of people and and obviously to the outside world, like, yeah, you’re gonna try to put on the biggest peacock you can as far as like, puff my chest and be like, what’s up, like, we’re crushing in life. And, you know, and I’m lonely. And I don’t know where you’re at. But like, like, I’m starting to see the year three curve of like, Oh, cool. There’s like a lie here, I can see where we’re making good money like, but I think that a lot of people get a miss a misperception. And that’s what I wanted to talk about was just like this, this misperception of being the CEO, and what it takes in the end the tunnel, you have to kind of go through the darkness in order to get the lightness. And I watched so many people because they get so spoiled in direct sales, that they they actually have inhibited and slowed down their ability to be CEO, because they’re so attached to the image, the lifestyle, the income potential, like the quickness of making money, like, you know, you’re playing the long game versus the short game, right? So it’s like, you know, the quickness of ISO one, I get a commission, I make money, I buy stuff like that, that that is such a, like a short term thinking. And yeah, it’s a great place. But, you know, how long do you want to kind of keep being the person that goes and hunts The, the the caribou? Why don’t you be the person that can start to farm caribou? You know what I mean? But it’s gonna take time to grow animal and feed it and you know, I mean, like, I said, I like go onto the wall and find it, kill it and bring it home. Like I got an instant hit. Right? So um, no, I picked caribou. That was you probably like, is this from like, it’s
Miro Wcislo 29:13
connection because I’m interviewing the CEO of the former Caribou Coffee. This is a sign this is a sign
Sam Taggart 29:23
to sad. Okay, so the last thing I want to jam on is just selling it virtually, obviously, you’re getting clients and you’re doing well selling over the zoom calls or whatever system you use any tips to the, to the salesperson trying to sell digitally, virtually.
Miro Wcislo 29:39
Yeah, and I want to backtrack one thing really quick, nothing against short term and sales, nothing about it. Like you have to decide who you are. Right now. If you are possibly out of a job. Maybe you’re in a transition phase like it’s the time to figure out who you are.
Sam Taggart 29:55
I couldn’t agree more. I couldn’t agree more. Or you’ve been on Limbo for Six months in your company is on pause, be like, I’m gonna go take control my own destiny like right now like that that might be that might be your sign I don’t know.
Miro Wcislo 30:11
Exactly. So it’s, it’s actually not that bad of a time to be alive like it really isn’t. And for us, yes, I do love face to face contact I do you know, there’s nothing like going into a hoarder house and meeting the people and hearing their story and kind of, you know, breaking it down and quoting it in person like those yet closing rates on sales like that. I mean, it’s like 90%, like, I go to a house that I know, I’m going beforehand, like, I’m gonna quote this job, it’s 80 to 90% that I’m closing every single house I go to, in my industry specifically this, it’s not because those are pleat pre planned visits usually. So like they’ll call us or send a request. And so it’s not like a straight up flat cold call. Versus Yes, like talking over the phone or doing email, text message, kind of request, the close rates are lots smaller. So yes, I do prefer going in, you know, in person, I do love it. But right now, with these times, you can’t you can’t really do that we do it occasionally here and there, some customers are okay with us, they’ll go in. So we take all precautions with the masks and the gloves and stuff and the six feet apart. But uh, besides that, like we’ve got really, we’ve really doubled down on all the virtual sales, like we’re doing a lot of pictures, a lot of videos. So when a customer sends us a request to our website, that they’re interested in the job in a move or some kind of decluttering removal, we will just have them take photos of everything will kind of guide them, we could call them up, do a FaceTime call, we do a lot of like FaceTime like tours, where they’ll just FaceTime us and just walk walk us through a house. And we just pretty much just write down everything, they have screenshotted and stuff like that, like as simple as that. And with that, it’s actually making things kind of easier and cheaper. Because it’s definitely not as expensive to have someone do a FaceTime call with you for five minutes, as opposed to spending 10 bucks and gas driving over there. 45 minutes coming back another 45 minutes being at the site an hour, you know, there’s three, four hours of labor, you’re paying one of your employees, for example, or your own time, plus the gas, and, you know, versus this virtual sales call. So like, you know, definitely there’s definitely some pluses and negatives to it. We’ve doubled down as well by doing a lot more on social media. So social media is so important right now during these times. If this if to decide which one’s best for you, you know what, depending what kind of business you might be using LinkedIn, Facebook’s Instagram, tik tok, right? That’s the new one that I guess everyone’s talking about. But you want to make sure your customers, your potential customers that they know you’re available, you’re open, and that you’re doing everything possible, especially in these times right now of COVID-19. You want to constantly keep reiterating to people of what the problem is, like, as bad as it sounds like, you want to make sure they know about the problem, even though they keep hearing about it. And that you’re they’re showing a solution to the problem. So that’s the you know, every couple of days, we’ll keep having a post about, you know, stay stay together. You know, like stay stay at home or wear your masks, wash your hands like presenting something to do with the COVID and then presenting the problem solution right away and talking about how we are sanitizing our trucks how we are wearing gloves and masks, and we are doing virtual quotes right now. We should
Sam Taggart 33:53
just letting them know. I can do everything virtually is an important thing. Like saying we’re doing virtual things where I don’t have to come to home in order to so you don’t I mean, I like that. I like the um, yeah, we like any other last advice for like the actual process for selling virtually like, Is there a technique that you use that gets a customer to stick on their appointment? Or is there like a flow that you’ve, you’ve used to actually make sure that that appointment sticks, and then you have a smooth virtual demo?
Miro Wcislo 34:29
Yeah. So well, the one thing with going virtually as opposed to like, showing up to a to a home is that not everyone likes the same buffet. So that’s one thing we figured out, you’re gonna have the people that want to do phone calls, you’re gonna have the ones that only do text messages. If you’re a millennial like us. I mean, it’s text message or bust. I realized some people will only reply to texts, they won’t even call you back or ever look at their emails, and then you got the emailers and then you got the social media people so like, if you Get a lead, for example, depending on what industry you’re in, be sure to try every single method. Like I can’t stress that one enough. I’ve a couple of my sales guys, sales people, and they’ll like, Oh, yeah, I called everybody on that list. And I got nobody. Nothing. Nobody answered. I was like, Did you try texting them then? Did you try emailing them? like half of them had emails to? Like, did you try finding them on social media? Maybe? Yeah, no. Well, and then later on, he went in, and he tried texting them. And what do you know, like, a third of them replied, he had sex. So there there there is one method right there, when you go virtually, be sure to try all the different touch points, because every one is different. And then also, when they see you through the three different methods, that’d be like a way. There’s a reason this person is contacted me, right? I’m supposed to do something right. Supposed to declutter, right? That’s what I was supposed to do. I knew I was supposed to do something. So you keep the situation. Well, that. So that’s probably like my biggest advice. And then I do, I do follow up right now a little bit more than normal as well. So we are sending them like an extra everybody that’s scheduled, we’re sending them an extra email slash text of, you know, the job is your job is coming up in two days, we are going to be taking extra precautions right now. Because a COVID. We’re doing so and so and so if we could please request only one person being at home, if it’s a senior, make sure they’re wearing a mask and staying as far away from us as possible. So an additional kind of reassurance to make sure they don’t, you know, get scared off right now, because it is a scary time for a lot of people. So additional reassurance, and then the day of we’ll send another note coming to your place text slash call to also reassure them that we are coming. Because a lot of people right now, even we would normally do this anyway, but especially right now, they’re always like, Oh, are you actually going to show up? What if someone gets? Yeah, so a lot of reassurance right now. And then afterwards. This is one thing that like, I pride myself in very much and I feel that’s it’s helped us kind of get get things to the next level, is I will call every single one of our customers. And we’ve had over 1000 customers already. I’ve spoken on the phones, every single one. I not everyone answered, if they didn’t answer, I left them a voicemail. But every single one of them, I followed up with a personal phone call. And what’s come of that it’s been tenfold. Like how many, like not even really thinking that would happen? Not really like depending on it. The referrals, the feedback, the reviews afterwards, tenfold. So nurturing the ones you have, and giving them that extra attention right now. More than
Sam Taggart 37:49
I’m cool. I mean, those are those are awesome. I was just trying to think of like anything I could add to that. But I’m like, that’s nobody, it’s 100% you’re I think a lot of the sales guys have this ad that they struggle with actually, like mapping that process out to so my invitation, we map out that process of like, what is the email template look like? What does the text template look like? What does the videos what’s the referral process? So just spend some time and energy on that.
Miro Wcislo 38:16
We got to wrap up, but it’s it’s definitely time consuming. Yeah. When you put in the work, though, you know, you actually put in the work. It’s there. Copy, Paste.
Sam Taggart 38:26
Yeah, go build it, then it’s just copy paste. I love that. Um, what do I appreciate you being on the show? And, you know, for those that are listening, go check out his podcast, bosta boss. And you know, a lot of good, a lot of good guests on there a lot of good people that you’ve interviewed, and yeah, keep inspiring people in entrepreneurship. I love that. So thank you so much for being on the show. Now.
38:50
It’s always a pleasure. You really made me think of that story of when we met each other. That was a wild time. I remember coming up to you, you were about to have your show. And I was like, hmm, something about this guy just seems like he’s gonna make it big and do some big things. And what do you know, here we are a year you’re doing big things. So I was right now.
Sam Taggart 39:11
That means appreciate that. Yeah, you saw me writing my like day five. Like I just started like it was brand new. Something’s happening here, man. Something’s on board. Okay, well, nice giant. And if you guys liked this, share this comment. Give us some good feedback in the comments. And remember, share your most craziest horror story. I want to hear some crazy ones. Yeah, that’d be interesting. Guy. You’re the man dude. Thank you.
