320 culture touch points in the weekend we built a house we have an above question that even more than a put you up or gonna put you and I don't want to be one of the people that are 14 minutes out 2015 isn't about giving value first competition and forward contribution forward every month which is our story we share with you our journey we share with you our stars please welcome your host icombacker welcome back everybody to behind the tool belt to show where we are uh built where we are building teams building great businesses and sometimes literally building houses and I am your host and welcome to episode 320 and you might be able to hear it in my voice I'm still running on that kind of energy that only comes from a weekend where our whole company shows up they roll their sleeves up and and they do something bigger than any one person could possibly pull off alone so this past weekend we were at the York home and garden show with the team and I'm telling you what happened was special I mean it it was it's always a special time of year but this year was for me a little more intentional a little more strategic and I kind of want to I kind of want to share some of that some of my uh sitting back observing watching things unfold and why you as a business owner sales manager or team leader or anybody and really I don't think it's gonna matter what industry you're in I'm sure they have some some type of expos and and things like that so anyhow hold on buckle up whatever you gotta do put it on mute put the freaking what's that subtitle up on the bottom whatever you gotta do anywho so this past weekend man we met we met homeowners who who you know genuinely needed help with their homes we had conversations that weren't just you know quick hey nice to meet you type of conversations but real human face-to-face interaction where you can see the relief you know in someone's eyes when they realize okay these people can actually help me and it was really cool to to experience that and watch that so you know we got to watch our you know our product production team build out the display and when I say build out I mean literally built a freaking house a full display that made people stop in their tracks and we watched the sales team show up early ready to meet and greet you know homeowners like they were welcoming guests to their own homes and it it was cool and I think we're gonna change some of that up to make it a little more you know cozy a little more approachable um and you know the wildest part about that the number of homeowners who walked up and said you know a version of like we came here to see you guys this is why we're here we we came to meet you and that's not a sales tactic that's that's real trust that's that's true loyalty and and that's brand awareness you know meeting real life um and that's that's culture meeting the the community so today I want to talk um talk about you know why the events like this matter so much to us and and and not as a go spend money on you know marketing pitch uh definitely not as a rah-rah sales episode I want I want to use this you know to be to be useful to you know any business owner sales manager salesperson you know anyone who's trying to build something you know that lasts and and because what what we got to experience at the home show is is what happens when your culture is healthy your your brand is consistent and and your teams align and the best part the best part about this the the payoff isn't just you know what happens in the building that weekend but the payoff is is is what happens in the weeks and months after the appointment set on the spot calls that come in all year long sometimes even years later and a reputation that keeps compounding like interest and I don't know it was it was freaking amazing so let's let's let's start let's start with the scene okay from from my best record recollection of the scene okay some some of it's behind the scenes but so if you've ever done a show okay so picture this it's early it's cold in our case the building's frickin huge um there's a mix of excitement there's a mix of chaos trucks unloading pallets rolling by people with lanyards clipboards moving in every direction power cords tools tape coffee cups everywhere and then there's your team okay and and I'm personally learning something really fast at an event like this like you can't fake alignment if your culture is fractured okay it shows if if departments don't respect each other it shows if leadership says one thing and does another it it definitely shows and it was really cool to we've done these enough where everybody kind of knows their job and it and it's really wild and nice to see everyone work cohesively together you know when when people are connected um they they actually like being a part of the same mission and at events like this it becomes the stage where the best parts of our company come come to life. So I watched our production team you know work like absolute professionals measuring assembling problem solving not complaining when something didn't go right you know when something didn't didn't fit perfectly and and there there was some of that there was a lot of that actually that that happened because we store this thing for a year and things happen and and things things you know don't work out right but you know I didn't hear any blame I didn't hear any finger pointing just just adjustments they were just adjusting hey go grab this these were short hey grab that that was broken hey paint this because that needs touched up and moving forward okay and I kept thinking this is the unseen part of the business that customers don't always appreciate but they feel it okay because when a homeowner meets you at a show they're not just evaluating you know your your brochure or your booth they're they're evaluating you as a whole operation okay your organization you and the people that are proud you know you you could sense how proud everybody was on what we do and and do and we look like a team so they like people observe that you know um and it's not we're not just like a 10 by 10 booth where everyone's wearing you know matching matching t-shirts with the same uh name tag on it like it it was a well-oiled machine and and then our sales team same thing okay they they showed up with energy not fake high pressure energy and i and I'm talking about like a a genuine presence okay smiles that that that weren't rehearsed uh we did zero rehearsing we had zero scripts conversations you know that that weren't script scripted um the kind of vibe that says um we're glad you're here thank you for coming to see us at the show you know just real true authentic smiles and it was it was really nice to sit back and and be able to observe our team you know and when you can put those two things together okay production sales field frontline all that good stuff you're not just creating leads you're creating confidence creating confidence amongst your your co team members your co-leadership your your different departments and I hate the D word we're we're creating confidence in production we're creating confidence in our sales team and we're we're creating that moment where homeowners think okay these people have it together right and and I really feel like we do have it together and and here's something that that I want to say clearly because I think a lot of business owners and sales leaders miss this and and trust me I I watch and see what everybody else is doing out there as well and I'm not throwing anybody under the bus I'm not bad mouthing I'm not I just we've been doing this a long time I've been fortunate and blessed enough to to have a great team to to be able to pull off large events small events and and just create magic at times I think sometimes I don't know how the hell we did but somehow some way we tend to pull things off pretty successful but the home show wasn't wasn't just successful you know because we we had the booth it was successful because our team showed up like a team everybody did everybody and and I want to unpack that because there are lessons in it that apply to every any and all industries it it doesn't matter if it's trades doesn't matter if it's tech doesn't matter finance retail real estate it it it does it's it doesn't matter um but let's talk about culture for a minute okay because culture is one of those words that gets thrown around so much you know it it it it can start to feel like wallpaper okay like yeah yeah culture you know Ty's gonna talk about culture again you know and you know ping pong tables and team lunches and and motivational posters that's not culture okay culture is what your team does when they're under pressure okay and there was a lot of pressure there was timelines there was deadlines we only had a short window of opportunity to get this building this house inside of another building another structure culture isn't culture is how people treat each other when when nobody's getting the credit okay culture is whether your people choose to carry the load together or quietly hope that somebody else will and I've I've watched not this past weekend but I've watched that I'm I'm I'm guilty of it myself and at an event like the York Clemen Garden show puts culture on full display it it tests it you know it's early mornings it's long days on your feet it's reporting you know repeating you know the same answers over and over with patients you know it's staying sharp even when you're tired and trust me it's it's long days my back hurt my you know I could come up with a million excuses of why I could have stayed home or or did whatever opposed to to going to you know the home show there was times where I know the team was hungry um it's handling those those little problems without them turning into big drama from the beginning to the end to tear down from setup to tear down and everything in between and and here's the thing those moments bond people together that's probably one of the biggest most beautiful things that I've got to experience over the years since we've hosted our own events since we've attended events from traveling around the country and watching how poorly shit has been put together experiencing great great expos to mediocre expos to everything in between and it was nice it's nice to come home and experience our own team pull together and get through the stressful moments get through cut through the timelines and all that amazing stuff and the thing that I learned early on these things are about you know not just people bonding but but it's about working shoulder to shoulder physically building something solving problems in real time that creates trust faster than a hundred meetings ever would it's about team building okay it but but most of the time team building is is artificial people talk about it and I think they don't know how to how to create a team building event and home show's always been one of those great moments for us to to to be able to do that in real time and and um learn a lot from it because it's it's there once it's done it's done um and uh it's it's there for the world to see so because you have to have people you have to have amazing people and they have to know their role okay and everybody can see the role everyone else is playing and and you get to see the sales people get to see the production side of things the production gets to see you know sales do their magic and and vice versa and it all works in unison and I talk a lot about I talk a lot about that in our meetings here um but leadership under those circumstances leadership can't hide right that that's where it exposes it itself okay if if there's poor leadership you wouldn't be able to uh create things of this type of scale I mean it it just it would just show and and trust me you can pull it off and we've pulled it off where um under poor leadership and nine chances out of ten it was under my leadership but we got through it and we debriefed and we discovered where the deficiencies and the gaps and what we could do better and what we shouldn't do the previous year and and so on and so forth. But people can feel that okay they don't have to um they don't have to say anything they can they can feel it and they walk away whether you know excited or not excited because um of how poorly it was ran or how successful it may have ran. But but um I'm gonna get probably a little specific here because I want I want you to picture what I mean. When I saw our production team building the display and again literally building a freaking house inside this building I didn't just see I didn't just see a a display I saw craftsmanship I saw our standards I saw this is how we do things and I mentioned that in in the company photo and I saw homeowners faces when they walked up I mean it it was astounding to see people like wow you know this is great it's the biggest booth and it wasn't it wasn't uh a stroke of ego it was just this is what we do and we have the people to do it we're not a paper contractor we are an actual construction company we build shit we build shit we build teams we build houses we build roofs we build culture we build things and we put that on display you know we're not um it was just it it was it was it was mind blowing it it it was good it was proof that you know somebody on our team knows what the hell they're doing that's what it was you know I mean from the production side to the sales team um you know and you gotta have good people on your team because we're not trying to convince someone that that we're legit we we're we're letting them experience it and and that's culture culture is the habits and the standards that show up in public okay and here's a question every business owner should ask themselves okay if my team had to represent us publicly for three straight days face to face with hundreds or thousands in this case it was thousands of people would I feel proud or would I feel nervous and if you answer nervous that's not a marketing problem that's that's a culture problem and now let's talk about the the brand awareness the omnipresence because I know the phrase can sound like corporate fluff okay but brand awareness is one of the most practical things in business especially if you sell something that involves trust and roofing that there's a lot of trust involved okay it's stressful it can be stressful for people it's a lot of money and and you and you got to be trusted to do that and and here's why because customers customers don't just buy the best option okay they buy the option they feel safe choosing okay when a homeowner is deciding who to call they're not only thinking who can do the job as I was thinking they're thinking um who will show up they're thinking who will respect my home they're thinking who who won't disappear after I give them my deposit who will communicate who will fix it if something goes wrong that's trust that's what we're building trust is built through touch points okay and I and we we talked about touch points before and I'll probably talk about them again but a touch point is is any moment someone experiences your brand your name your your people your work your reputation and most businesses underestimate how many touch points it takes before somebody feels comfortable picking up the phone and calling you okay think about think about your own life for a minute okay how often do you hire someone the first time you see an ad you don't usually you don't okay you see the name once then again then you notice a truck then you see a billboard then you see them at at an event then you think oh yeah I've heard of them it takes several touch points and then one day you actually need the service you pick up the phone you call them and that's how that works so when we were at the Yorkoma Garden show we weren't just there we were there creating touch points that scale okay we were giving people a chance to meet us hear our voice shake our hands ask questions and feel feel our professionalism in real time and that's really what it was about. And at that moment when homeowners walked up and said that's why we came we came to meet you that's the payoff of touch points okay they saw us someplace and I even asked a homeowner you know where where have they seen us and she was like well I've seen your billboards I've seen your yard signs I've seen your trucks and when she talked about the yard sign she was like yeah there's a house over there on South Salem Church Road that must be getting a lot of work done because there's always a yard sign there. I was like that's my house and no I'm not getting work done all the time but I just leave a yard sign in my front yard. So they work all of that stuff works when you think it's not it really truly is and it just takes repetition and consistency you know um time and time and over and over and over and over and over and over again. Okay. And that means they they had already she had already had enough exposure to our brand and that we were, you know, part of and that they were good, she she knew what she was looking for because she had saw all of those other touch points, right? And and the cool thing was is that she woke up she got in her car she drove to the show and and and she she was very intentional intentional about who she was coming to see and it it that just really felt good. You know not not just because we begged them to come see us not because we pressured her into come seeing us because we were top of mind. Okay. And that's what brand awareness does okay it makes you it makes you the obvious choice and and when someone and when someone finally needs you they're they're going to call you and and it's not just the hype even though we hype it up um and it's not magic it's it's repetition and it's consistency. Like I can't express that enough and here's an important piece to that okay I want to emphasize especially for sales managers and business owners brand awareness brand awareness is is not just uh the the marketing department okay it is your your brand is your your team your brand is how people um interact our our people interact um your brand is whether you show up on time your brand is whether your booth looks put together your brand is the energy that that you bring your brand is how you handle tough questions okay you're and and your brand is whether you treat a not ready yet okay customer with the same respect as someone who's ready to buy okay that's brand so when you invest in an in an in an event like the home show you're not only buying a booth okay you're buying a chance to put your culture on display okay and when your culture is healthy that display is powerful just just and I feel like we we it was it was a very powerful weekend and uh I'm gonna shift here a little bit shift into the part that um a lot of people are thinking about but maybe don't want to to say out loud and and the return on investment okay I can't ignore that because even if even if your culture even if you're a culture first leader which I hope you are you still have to run a business okay you still have to look at time and money and say does this make sense we talk about it all the time and here's what I've learned events like like this have two kinds of ROI okay first you have the immediate ROI okay where you're able to set appointments on the spot that's straightforward that's measurable and that's the kind of results people like because you can point to that and say we spent this and we got this back okay but the second kind of ROI is the one that changes companies this is the long term this is the long game okay the long term ROI you know the calls that you get all year long um six to 12 months later sometimes even years later we've gotten calls from people that yeah we've seen you at the home show we got one of your t-shirts we grabbed one of your bags we got one of your fly swatters we got one of your koozies we took a picture of your display because it was amazing you blew everybody out of the water we made an impression a lasting impression we we gave them a a a wonderful first impression of us and on how we conduct business okay and and referrals that happen because a homeowner you know told a neighbor we met them at the home show they seem solid I don't know how many times I've heard that the brand recognition that shows up six months later when someone sees your trucks and thinks oh yeah I know that company they feel like they know us okay and that's long-term uh ROI and it's hard to measure I I I I can I would I would admit that but it's very real and you can't ignore it's like planting okay like you don't plant seeds and then stare at and start yelling grow even though I've done that grow damn it but um you can't do that you got to water it right like the seeds that you plant you have to water them you have to stay consistent and then when the harvest comes later that's when that's what the home show is okay it's planting and if and if you're only willing to do things that pay pay you back you know instantaneously then then you will stay stuck you'll just stay stuck in a constant cycle of short-term urgency and you're always you'll always be chasing okay you'll always be reacting always trying to to get leads now and unfortunately it just doesn't happen that way because when you invest in long-term touch points you start building a pipeline that has true true depth okay and that that changes how your business feels okay it changes the pressure that that's put on that that's put on your team right it changes how how you can schedule it changes on how you know you hire it changes it changes everything it changes your confidence it changes not just in the owners or the sales managers but in in your production in your sales team it changes their confidence okay now I want to I I want to make this useful for somebody so let's give you a little simple framework here if you're gonna do an event trade show home show community festival conference think of three phases before during and after most companies only focus on during I've watched it I've seen it I experienced it okay done it been there did it okay they show up they stand there they hope it works and then they're surprised when the results are random okay but the winners handle all three phases okay in phase one before the event there's where you build a system that makes the event work okay before the show you should know what is our goal okay we set a goal okay is it brand awareness is it appointments is it partnerships is it recruiting is it re-recruiting your team is it customer retention okay pick one main goal and then support it with a secondary goal okay and before your goal is everything your team won't know what winning truly looks like okay then define the roles okay who's greeting who's qualifying who's capturing information who's handling hand handing out materials who who's making sure the booth is staying cleaned and stocked um who's managing breaks and and rotating sales teams in and out so nobody gets burnt out you know roles roles you know just just basic roles to reduce the stress okay and we've we have literal meetings about these things okay and again when we did our debriefing we act we we the question we asked was is did we hit our goal? Yes how were the sales reps they were good you know um we did like a a rotation this year and we've had it before we've had them there all all day long and then what happens is is one sales rep ends up with 30 appointments and the other sales reps end up with nothing and it's like this freaking chaos and and you know through trial and error and stress we I think we got it pretty nailed down and you know when the stress goes down the performance goes up and that's the thing that I've noticed over the years as we've done these things and then and then next prep your team to just be human. Okay and this is important like don't hand people a script that turns them into robots okay I've seen that I've tried it doesn't work give them a few conversation starters okay and Ben's real good at this on on prepping their team and stuff like hey what brought you out today I don't know how many times I heard that you know what what kind of projects are you thinking about doing this year you know what questions can I answer for you just be human okay that's it curiosity beats pressure every time okay if you act genuinely curious if you if you you know if you care about them and what their pain points are and you you are genuinely there to to want to solve you know their problems for them and that's that's that's sales one-on-one right there um and then decide ahead of time okay like how will we follow up like how soon who's responsible for what okay and and because a show creates momentum and we talked a lot about you know maybe not on the show but but with our teams and stuff like this this for us this home show is the kickoff to the momentum for the for the season for us okay so phase two during the event okay this is where the culture piece really shines okay during the show your job is to not close everyone your job is to create a great experience okay when someone walks up they're not just you know checking you guys out they're they're evaluating your service right they're evaluating how you know you make them feel they're they're checking everything out they're looking on looking at how things were put together they're looking at how you're dressed they're looking at how you approach them did you pressure them they're checking they're checking all of that stuff out okay so do you acknowledge them right away do you make eye contact do you listen you know they're checking they're checking all of this stuff out you know did you answer their questions clearly um do you treat them with respect even if they're just looking okay because a lot of times if they're just looking that means they're undecided right now which is fine and again you dropped a touch point what was the lasting impression that you made on them when they walked away from that booth because here's the truth just looking is is often just not ready yet and not ready is where the future pipeline lives and that's what I talked about earlier. And so during the event focus on being memorable in a good way okay and I don't mean loud or flashy I mean solid professional friendly helpful consistent and take care of your people right when you're there as as a manager or as the owner take care of your people okay events are are marathons okay make sure people are are or can have access to food make sure people have access to to water rotate um feed your team okay burned out people can't deliver a great customer experience I've watched I've seen people I've done it myself where I've been just so burnt out and and just I and my nerve shot you know and and all of that matters you know to to take care of your team and make sure people are well rested and and one more thing okay tell stories. I love telling stories okay like about when you know you're you're talking to a homeowner and and um you know I've I've seen where stories can can create um trust and then you know we had a homeowner with a similar situation as this um you know we're not we're not bragging don't brag don't exaggerate okay just share real examples of of how you've been able to to help people use similar situations that they're going through you know it's not a pitch it it's that's that's proof and when your production team is is right there because a lot of them come and show up during during the entire show you know the the oper the the production team is right there those stories become even stronger because the customers can see the depth of your company right because and anyone who knows us knows when we go anywhere and we do any event and I don't care what it is there's more than 10 of us there at any of these events because that's the depth that's the culture that's the brand you know we're all rider dyed for for each other you know and and people see that people ask us about that all the time so I would say phase three is after the event okay this is where where most companies I think lose I think because they're exhausted I get that um they you know I've I've seen our teardown team um things go back to normal they don't have a debrief um you you gotta you gotta have a debrief after after we we had a debrief on on Monday and if and if you want the long term that's why this that's why a debrief is is so important because if you want a long term ROI you have to do the after part almost with like discipline and and and I'm gonna I'm gonna give you um a few few examples of probably just like following up right so following up after you know you met somebody you got their phone number um you know within 24 hours you should send like a quick you know hey it was great meeting you message you know and then like 72 hours later should probably make a personal phone call um you know and then with like within like seven days give them something useful a tip a checklist uh a resource a short video uh something that helps them even if they're not going to buy today you know and so on and so forth you know and and getting back to the whole you know culture part of it you know that's where you know the debriefing meeting and and I saw even um somebody had said our meeting that was a great meeting okay so we asked essentially like what went well what felt smooth what broke down um what did customers you know ask for over and over and that's how we kind of got to where we're at because we we try to focus on what people have been asking for you know year over year time after time um what surprised us what was unexpected uh what what can we change next time what what um you know what what can we do to improve the event um you know you're training your team essentially okay to to think like owners and and that's a culture upgrade right there in itself you know so now I'm I want to zoom out I want to zoom out and talk directly to business owners just just for a minute here and if you're listening to this and and you're an owner or you're leading a company I I want you to consider the hidden value of this event and essentially this is what I've been trying to talk about the whole time. It's like you're making your your your business visible okay not just to customers okay your people get to see what we value the most if leadership shows up early stays late carries boxes talks to customers checks on the team and treats everyone with respect the team feels that okay they walk away thinking okay we're all in this together but if leadership shows up for the photo up disappears and then critiques from from a distance the team feels that too okay culture is always being built and I mean always and the question that you got to ask is are you building it on purpose or by accident and I've done both okay by default a home show is a culture accelerator it magnifies what's already there okay so if you want to use it well all right you show up as a leader who serves and serving doesn't mean being soft okay serving means removing obstacles so your team can perform it means clarity preparation coaching standards and if and if you do it right your people will talk about the weekend for months not just because it was easy but because it was meaningful okay and we this has been a great recruiting tool for us too because they see these events and people want to be a part of something big and huge with purpose and I can't emphasize that enough so let's talk about sales managers and and sales leaders because this is where I think you can get a massive advantage. Okay most sales training is done in classrooms or in a meeting okay but this event is is is live training real world live training there's a chance to coach in real time okay and here are a few things that I watched okay and a few things that I that I would recommend number one coach coach persistence okay teach your team to to to slow down okay teach them to take a breath teach them to listen shut your hole you got one mouth two ears okay teach them to ask questions instead of jumping to solutions okay when a homeowner feels heard the conversation changes it changes everything number two teach your team to qualify quickly okay qualifying isn't isn't about pushing people away it's about understanding where they are okay are you looking to do this soon or are you planning for later is this a want or is this a need are there decision makers we should include in this conversation okay and you can use these not necessarily even at a home show you can use them anytime okay show gives you a bunch of opportunities but discipline turns opportunities into outcomes okay and here here's here's a good um leadership principle okay what gets celebrated gets repeated okay if your team captures great info celebrate a great conversation and then and then nobody follows up hold on a second where's Howard at we got to get him to change these filters I think okay all right so you're training your team to to believe that that effort does matter okay if you celebrate effort okay um you're building a culture where the job gets finished okay not just started but but but finished and and number four coach coach confidence okay through confidence all right confidence isn't just hype it's it's preparation okay at least for me if I'm if I'm getting ready to do a speaking engagement if I'm getting ready for a meeting I always prepare myself for that meeting I I never used to do that but I I do that today I I try to prepare for everything probably over prepare but I walk into that room I walk onto that stage I I feel more confident because I am I am prepared even if it's not what I rehearsed or you know but I just feel confident that I'm not gonna just draw a blank and and um especially in in uh you know um like a a speaking you know environment like if you're training your team make sure if you're a sales manager or a sales coach or whatever make sure you're preparing yourself for for the These and speak from um experiences, don't make shit up. That's a huge thing. So um, okay, where was I? Um, so if you work in sales, um you already know this, but it but it's worth hearing again. People don't people don't want to be sold. And I and I saw this. I got unfortunately I saw this this weekend. You know, they want it, they want help. Um, a home show is full of people um at different stages. I I heard people who were ready. I was I heard people that weren't sure what they needed. I heard I heard people that that you know weren't ready um to to move forward. They want help, though. They're looking for um answers. A home show is is um, you know, and and some some are ready. Um, some people are ready right now, some people are are you know just gathering ideas, some people are overwhelmed. I've I've see I've seen that. Some people are skeptical. Um some people have been burned before, and some are excited and and just need a need a little guidance. So our job is is not to treat everyone the same, okay. Our job is to meet them where they're at. And this this works in so many different aspects of life, but meet meet the homeowner where where they're at, okay? And and here's a mindset that will change your results. Don't don't don't chase transactions, build trust. Focus on, you know, solving their problem. And that that in itself will build a lot of trust. When someone says we're just looking, don't get discouraged because I've watched that. Smile and say something like, perfect. Um, this is the best place to look. What kind of projects are you thinking about this year? And when someone asks a question, you know, don't give them, you know, a bunch of crap. Say, say something like, um, like if you don't know the answer to somebody's question, say something like, hey, that's a great question. Because I had to say this. Somebody came up. Ben, Ben actually knows um more about our smart lighting. So I said, that's a great question. I want to make sure that I'm giving you the right answer. Let me grab somebody on our team who can help you. That moment of honesty right there builds trust. Okay. And I'm the owner and I didn't know about it because Ben is the one that set that entire process up. Um, you know, give them something useful, give them a tip, give them a checklist, give them a small piece of guidance, right? We may not provide that type of service. Somebody came up and they were looking to get their kitchen and their bathroom remodeled. We don't do that. So I walk them across the hall over to my friend Barry, who actually does, you know, additions, bathrooms, kitchens, all that stuff. Um, and guess what? They actually came back over and they started talking to us about their gutters. Imagine that. That wasn't even my intentions. I just knew that we didn't do kitchens and baths. So, because here's what happens help, helpful gets remembered. Okay. Um, helpful gets gets talked about, helpful gets referrals. Um, and if you do it consistently, you'll wake up one day and you'll realize your pipeline is full. And people who uh and people who already, you know, you're already sold, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. And that's a good, that's a good way. That's a good thing. All right. So let's get practical here. If you're listening, if you're listening to this and you're thinking, like, okay, I get it. Culture, brand awareness, touch points, um, long-term ROI, that all sounds great. But you're probably also thinking, where do I start? And that's actually a great question because here's a few um action steps that you can take, no matter what size your business is. Um, action step. One, um, pick pick your event. Okay. Not 10. Not 10 events. Been there, did that, done that. Okay. Just pick one. Pick a home show, pick, pick a street fair, pick a local festival, pick a chamber event, pick a community fundraiser, pick a school sponsorship. Okay, and we do all of these things, okay? Something where your customers already are, okay, and commit to showing up with intention, okay? Build the experience, not just a booth, okay? And then ask, what do what do we want people to feel when they walk up to us? Okay. Do do um do we look organized? Do we look approachable? Do we look like a team? Okay. And then involve as many people as you possibly can from your company. Because I saw some people where it was just like the owner in one sales wrapping their booth. I seen, I seen booths where the owners weren't even there. It's like they're hiring other companies to come out and like sell their product for them that and they don't even know because they don't even know what their product is. I saw that too. Um, so so don't do that. If you're the owner and you're a small business, I I mean, I still consider us a small business. I still go to these events. Okay. Um, so so be there, be present, be present, not just for homeowners, but be present for your team. Okay, because this is where your true leadership skills and abilities get sharpened by by doing these types of events. And I know I've gone down this long ass rabbit hole here, Vic. I'll try to wrap this up soon, buddy. Hopefully, it's not boring too many people. Okay, plus it builds that'll build respect, okay, with your team. All right. Um, and it's a good place for you to to train your team, all right. It's a good place for you to um watch your team from a distance too, and how they react and how they respond to to certain situations, whether it's homeowner stuff or how they're putting the booth together. And probably most importantly, it has been the most, the best team building um effort, you know, that we've that we've ever done was was hosting, you know, or not even just hosting, but attending, you know, events and stuff like that. Okay. And then um I would say don't forget to um, you know, celebrate the wins, okay? Celebrate the effort, celebrate um the team. All right, culture grows where appreciation lives. And look, this doesn't have to be expensive, okay? It just has to be consistent. I want to, I'm gonna circle back here on something that I said at the beginning. The home show wasn't successful because we just had a booth, it was successful because our team showed up, and I mean the whole team showed up with their best efforts, okay? And I'm gonna add one more thing to that. It was successful because we treated it like it mattered. Okay, we didn't treat it like it was an obligation, we didn't treat it like it was a marketing thing, we didn't treat it like it was a sales thing, we treated it like it was a company thing, okay. And that mindset in itself is rare. Okay, a lot of businesses are are too compartmentalized, okay? And I hate that. I do, even though I I understand there has to be different departments and and all that stupid D-word stuff, okay. But in our company, sales don't just sales, operations don't just operate, you know, marketing doesn't just operate, like everyone, everyone, right? Pulls together. And and I'm not saying like, because I've heard where sales will complain about um, you know, production and vice versa, but we actually host meetings where sales and production get together in the same room to try to solve issues. So then that alleviates the finger pointing and and things like that. But when but when you have moments where the whole team aligns and and and shares the mission, especially something public like like the home show, something tangible, you build something deeper than strategy. You build belief. And belief that that can can do hard things together. Belief that that can um represent ourselves with with pride, uh belief that what we do matters to customers. And and I I wholeheartedly believe that we all believe what we do matters, okay. Belief that that our standards are worth protecting. Okay. And that belief is the foundation of culture. And now, now let me let me share a quick reference that I that I think um that I think is important. It's like when homeowners walked up and said, that's why we came. It wasn't about ego. Okay. It it wasn't like, hey, look at us. It was a reminder, a reminder of of responsibility. Okay. When people choose you, they're choosing trust. Okay. They're trusting you with their home, they're trusting you with their money, they're trusting you with their time, they're trusting you with their stress, okay? And being visible, being present in the community should make you take that responsibility seriously. Okay, it should make you want to be worthy of the trust. So if you're listening and you lead a team, here's a challenge. Okay, create moments where your team can earn trust together, not just in private, okay, in public. And then celebrate the heck out of them when they do. Okay. And before before we wrap this up, I want to, I want to give um a sincere shout out to to our entire team, okay, to um, you know, to our production team, our our crewmen who who built the display. Seriously, you guys are unreal. Okay. The craftsmanship, the work, the work ethic, and the attitude. I mean, this was probably the best year. I swear it was. Glenn nor myself was down there that entire time where the team just suited up and showed up. And honestly, I believe that's what set the entire tone.

Okay.

And then I want to I want to shout out the sales team who who showed up to greet homeowners and carry conversations all day. You know, thank you for for representing us with professionalism and heart. I think that's the best way that that I can explain that. You know, to everybody behind the scenes, okay, the coordinating, the scheduling, the answering the phones, the handling logistics, the, you know, these these events wouldn't happen without every single individual in this building and over in the other building. Even if you had to be here in the building while everybody was there doing their thing, it was because of you staying here and answering the phone and crunching numbers and adding data and entering data and all the administrative stuff, or if you were out on a roof installing a roof that day that we were putting this thing together, thank you. Thank you. You know, because that was true culture in action. That it was brand in action. All right. And it was it was the best teamwork that I've seen ever, you know, and it and it's gonna pay dividends. I know it's going to. And it's not, it's not about the appointments and it's not about the calls. It's it's about pride, it's about the pride that we should take in all this, everything that we've performed this past weekend. Okay, it's about getting shit done. That's right. Getting shit done. Okay. It's about pride because when your team can look back and say, okay, we pulled that off, and they did. They did. It changes how they show up on Monday morning, and I seen it, I got to experience it. So it changes, changes how they speak to customers, it changes how they work with each other, it changes what they believe is possible, and that's the real win. So I'm gonna land this plane, I'm gonna get the hell out of here soon. So, so the strongest brands aren't built on billboards, okay? They're built in experiences, like we got to experience this weekend. They're built when people meet, meet you, and they think I like them, I trust them, I'm gonna call them. And the strongest cultures aren't built in speeches, okay? They're built in shared effort, they're built in weekends where the team shows up, solves problems, and supports each other and wins together. Okay. So take take a look at your calendar. All right. Where can you show up this year in a way that brings your team together and puts your brand in front of the community? Where can you create touch points that compound like interest over time? And where can you create a moment your team will be proud of? Because of that, if you show up consistently and intentionally, your business will grow, not just in revenue, but in reputation and resilience and belief, and that's how you build something that lasts. Okay, that's it for today's episode of Behind the Tool Belt, episode 320. If this episode gave you something to think about, share it with a business owner or a sales leader who needs to hear it. And if you're part of a team, send it to your team. Talk about it seriously, use it as a conversation starter. And if you want more episodes like this, make sure you subscribe wherever you listen and leave a review. I think we only got a couple of reviews. Please leave a review. Give it a minute, go in there, give us a review. It helps more people find the show. I'll catch you on the next episode.

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