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BRX Pro Tip: Identifying and Converting Ideal Clients

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BRX Pro Tip: Identifying and Converting Ideal Clients

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, today let’s dive into identifying and converting our ideal clients.

Lee Kantor: This is an important exercise that I think every business leader should be doing. It’s so critical when it comes to your marketing or to how you’re going to market. You have to have a clear picture of who that ideal client is, and have a method or process to help convert them into actual clients. So, you have to get good at this, once you have identified them and then convert them into ideal clients, that is kind of table stakes if you want to grow any type of organization.

Lee Kantor: A great way to start this process is to start with your existing clients. You know, if you were to clone one or two of your clients right now, who would they be? Who are the most profitable clients? Who are the most easy to work with clients? And then, just figure out what they all have in common. What are the common characteristics and traits? Don’t just focus in on, you know, what business they’re in. Try to understand what their pain points are, what challenges they face, kind of really dig in there to really understand where they overlap.

Lee Kantor: And, also, when you’re kind of building this Venn Diagram, also focus in on your superpowers. Which ones of these clients would most benefit from whatever it is your superpowers are and what services you provide in that area. So, if you kind of build this Venn Diagram out and you’ll get to that ideal client, and then once you’ve identified who that ideal client is, you can then figure out where they hang out so you can market to them effectively.

Lee Kantor: And then, your marketing should include a combination of thought leadership that’s going to attract the right people to you because they want to learn more about what your expertise is, and how you’re great at what you do, and how they might benefit from them. And you also have to include some direct communication marketing that introduces you to the right people that you need to meet and who needs to meet you.

Lee Kantor: So, identifying the right ideal client is the first step, because if you start marketing without really understanding who your ideal client is, you’re going to waste a lot of resource, a lot of money, a lot of time.

23 Consulting CEO Bianca Thrasher-Starobin

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Bianca-Thrasher-StarobinBianca Thrasher-Starobin, President and CEO of 23 Consulting, is a consultant and lobbyist with experience in financial markets, investment management, electoral and legislative political activities, relationship management, and business turnarounds.

23 Consulting helps companies and organizations improve their business strategy, business development, and government relations.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for GWBC Radio’s Open for Business. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, broadcasting live from GWBC’s Open House. So excited to be talking to my next guest Bianca Thrasher-Starobin with 23 Consulting. Welcome.

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: Thank you so much for having me here, Lee. I’m excited as well.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about 23 Consulting.

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: So 23 Consulting. I actually started officially in about 2017. I am a lobbyist and a consultant. I am registered in Georgia as well as in DC, and I operate nationwide. Um, I also do a little bit of global business just in representing the interest of corporations and organizations before political audience, and then connecting the dots with the corporate corporations for opportunities for revenue growth for everybody.

Lee Kantor: So what’s the kind of the meaning of 23 consulting?

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: Yeah, sure. So Michael.

Lee Kantor: Jordan fan.

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: Oh, I’m not that cool. Not that cool. So before I incorporated, just before that, I kept seeing the number 23. And so I looked it up. I just decided to look into it like, what is this? And I saw Psalm 23, and it’s the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. And I’m not going to front on you. I am not in church every Sunday. That’s not me. And I wasn’t there last Sunday or the Sunday before that. However, that was a very powerful and strong message and I can honestly say that since that experience I have not wanted. I just thought it was really beautiful. I’d gone through some like some financial turmoil through a divorce as a result of a divorce right before that time. And so that was music to my ears.

Lee Kantor: So that’s kind of the guiding light moving forward.

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: Yep. That’s the entire Psalm. It’s just powerful.

Lee Kantor: So, um, how did you get into this line of work? What’s your backstory?

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: Well, so I started out as an intern before interning was the thing, and I was about 19 and I interned at the Capitol. And even before then, my dad’s family is from Atlanta, although I was raised in Virginia. And every whenever we would come to visit, we would always pass the Capitol. And I just remember thinking, I’m going to work there one day, I’m going to work there one day. And that’s how that happens. And once you get into the business of politics, you never leave because it’s all about relationships.

Lee Kantor: So what what do you like about it?

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: I love the impact, the ability to impact make a change in a positive way. And there is a lot of what some might consider negativity and all kinds of stigmas. And it’s not always a beautiful and perfect scene for all involved. However, learning to navigate that territory. I mean, these are the people that make the rules and regulations, and if you can connect the people that need those rules and regulations to work in their favor so that they can improve the conditions for us all, or a certain demographic or certain audiences or your client. Then you’ve done a really good job and figuring out what everybody in the equation needs to make something work is. It’s always very exciting. There’s never a dull day at the office.

Lee Kantor: So how does it work? Like a corporation hires you to do what? Like what’s the pain they’re having? Yeah.

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: So it’s always the same thing. For the most part. It doesn’t even matter. The industry. They want to make more money or they want to, um, they want to build relationships, to make more money, to be more successful and to have their interests represented, which always amounts to probably more money. Um, because all corporations, even if it’s a nonprofit organization, they need money to work.

Lee Kantor: So then how do you help them kind of translate what they’re doing into some line to the government to help them make more money?

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: Hopefully a little common sense and human capital resources. Figuring out depending on the corporation. Like, are they trying to penetrate this area of Georgia, this municipality, or is it something in New York? And then what political person do I go to to make the introduction that could use their support as well in some way, even if it’s just my support, and then to connect that dot with that dot. And so the political folks, they know lots of people. And if it’s a corporation, for example, let’s say I’m maybe I’m in the rug business, whatever. This is just an example. It’s like, I want to expand my business in this municipality, and I get to go and talk to this legislator. Well, the legislator knows all the different companies. They know a lot of different organizations. So they hear them out. They get to know that corporations, they’re hopefully they’re properly vetted through me, and then things pop into their head. Well, maybe they connect them with that and then they connect them with that. And then the introductions come from there. And an introduction from the top is always better than an introduction from somewhere else. It’s not that they don’t matter, but this one definitely makes a difference.

Lee Kantor: So when you’re working with some some organization, what does that look like? What are the initial questions you’re asking them in order for you to know if okay, is this the right fit? Am I going to be able to to make the impact that I, you know, hope to deliver.

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: At this state and at this phase in my in my practice, I want to get the warm and fuzzies because not all money is good money. I want to know that this organization, if I am able to use my gift of the relationships and my experience to be able to help them, to raise awareness to what they’re doing somewhere in that equation, that they’re going to use their ability, their success, to be able to help others. And I want to know that if I bring them to the table, there is properly vetted. They have as many of their ducks in a row as possible, because I don’t want to bring junk to the table, because that could amount that affects your reputation.

Lee Kantor: 100%. And that’s all you have, right?

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: Yep. That’s right. They don’t I mean, and that’s what we see sometimes in the media where something went sideways. Well, it might have started with the lobbyist not properly vetting their client or whatever. Next thing you know, it all went to hell in a handbasket. So, um, so yeah, I want to make at this phase, like, I’m taking on organizations and companies, whatever their give back is getting to know that CEO, getting to know the heads, like getting to know that they have a good, like a good cause, um, down the road, like, fine. I mean, you’re making the rugs. That’s great. But if I know that they have this aspect of their company where they give back over here to communities or to different audiences, then that I in some way or shape or form get to help those people. So that’s the gift and that’s the blessing and that’s what I’m seeking.

Lee Kantor: So why was it important for you to become part of the GWBC community?

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: Well, initially I, um, I guess probably like everybody else. I hadn’t heard of it, but I was speaking with a hedge fund buddy of mine, and and I’d heard somebody he’d mentioned, yeah, you should go and get this designation. And that designation. And I thought, ah, you know, I’m in the business of relationships. I don’t know if that’s even good. I don’t even know if these people want to hear that. That’s what I’m doing. And he said, you know what? It’s good you’ll be able to build relationships. And he said, look, lots of people get into different doors many different ways. Some folks might get into the doors because of their family. Some folks might get indoors because of their, their, um, country club affiliation. Some it’s like it’s if something’s going to give you the opportunity to get into a door, then you play the cards that you’re dealt and you make that work for you. So he said, go ahead on and get it. And I thought, you know what? This is a pretty credible dude, really great guy. Um, and I listened, and I’m so glad that I did, because really and truly, it’s an honor to be able to support these folks and to be a part of this squad, because it’s very genuinely they want to help women businesses. They really care. There is not. You never feel a sense of ulterior motives. I mean, the end goal is recognizing the value in women, women owned businesses and working together to collaborate to support them. And when we support these groups and these different sectors. At the end of the day, we’re really uplifting everyone.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How can we help you?

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: Let’s see. What do I need more of? My goodness. Um, you know, I’m just thankful for the opportunity to be here. As far as. What do I need more of? I honestly, I mean, I’m not sitting before you like. Oh, yes, it’s trillion dollars in the bank account. I mean, how can I help you? It’s not that. It’s just, um. I’m just thankful for the opportunity to be here. I mean, Mr. Patrick Berger and Ross. I’m just so fortunate to know these people and how they have been so welcoming in so many different areas that I just I just need to be able to have the opportunity to support them.

Lee Kantor: So what is that ideal client look like for you?

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: Oh my gosh, it varies. Um, it just like for now, I’m courting the interest. It’s like a Mexican nonprofit organization. And I like in my head, I kind of sum it up to like, they save the whales, but who? And so it’s like, but really they’re there. It’s like there’s a lot of overfishing in this area. This large body of water. And they are seeking to have protections for this, this body of water so that there can be no mining, there can be no overfishing. And so so I’m loving this because I’m like, ooh, I get to help the whales. So, so yeah, that’s that’s ideal. But the industries are changing. I just when I get that warm fuzzy when it comes across, it comes my way. And um, and you meet people that are really passionate about what they do, then that is the ideal client, because I have a feel good feeling that I get to go and help whoever it is that they’re helping.

Lee Kantor: Right? And if you are aligned philosophically and value wise, that’s a good fit and you know that you’re going to make a difference.

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: Yeah. You want to fight for people that you really care about. I mean, um, you don’t want to be in situations where you’re representing a corporation and now you’re going to have to do a cleanup on aisle three. That is so much not fun. It is so not fun.

Lee Kantor: Sounds like someone who has some scar tissue.

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: Oh, my God, you didn’t see them. Like there was a huge gash across my cheek. I did the laser removal, so you probably. But if you look, you’ll still see the line. But everybody has those experiences in every industry. It’s a learning process and that’s part of the journey. Right?

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to connect with you, learn more, have a more substantive conversation. What’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Speaker4: Yeah. Yes I am.

Bianca Thrasher-Starobin: 23 consulting LLC. Com. Bianca. Bianca at the number 23 consulting LLC. Com. And of course my cell number. It’s all public knowledge. Google Bianca. It’s (678) 640-6819.

Lee Kantor: Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you. Thank you.

Speaker4: Lee, I’m honored to be here. Everybody have a great rest of the day.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor back in a few. With GWB open house.

 

BRX Pro Tip: Leveraging Content Marketing Assets

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BRX Pro Tip: Leveraging Content Marketing Assets

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Of course, as you and I well know, the Business RadioX platform methodology is an absolute content factory. But then it’s on us to leverage those content marketing assets. Speak to that a little bit if you will.

Lee Kantor: A lot of people spend their time kind of generating brand new content marketing assets, and that’s where they invest their time and energy and resources. And I don’t think enough people take the time to kind of curate the existing assets that they have already. And that’s important for us at Business RadioX, because every day, like you mentioned, we are a factory for our guests and for our clients. We are generating just a ton of content for them like a machine. So, like, every week, every month, they’re having multiple new assets at their disposal.

Lee Kantor: Now, how do you get the most out of them? At Business RadioX, we encourage our guests to take the interviews that we deliver back to them. And remember, we deliver back to them in two forms. One is an audio form, obviously, but there’s also the digital text format that we also provide for all of our guests. When they have these two assets, they can then repurpose that content into a variety of formats. They can put it in social media. They could put it on a blog. They could put it on their website. They could put it in their newsletter. The same piece of content can be sprinkled through all of those channels more than one time.

Lee Kantor: And that’s the thing, a lot of times people think like, “Oh. I was on that thing,” and then they put it out one time and they think that everybody in their network has seen it. And that’s just not true, especially for the ones that lean on third party social media platforms to share their content. Just because you put something on Facebook or Instagram or LinkedIn doesn’t mean your entire network has seen it. In fact, probably barely any of your network has seen it. Usually it’s less than ten, maybe 5 percent of your network sees any one given post. It could even be less than that.

Lee Kantor: So, if you want more people to see your post, the best thing to do is take that one piece of content and then sprinkle it through all of those channels multiple times. And multiple means way more than you think you should. If you think you’re hammering people with content, you are sorely mistaken because most people are not seeing your content.

Lee Kantor: So, you can take any one piece of content and share it multiple times throughout the year, you could share it monthly, your entire network still wouldn’t see this stuff. So, err on the side of sharing too much rather than too little, especially if it’s a valuable nugget of thought leadership that you’re proud of.

Rose Battle with Ultimate Model Management

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UMMI-logoRose-BattleRose Battle, President/Founder of Ultimate Model Management, Inc. (UMMI), has been in the modeling and entertainment industry for over 20 years and has achieved a reputation with numerous clients that are aiding the agency in gaining worldwide recognition.

Perception is everything in this industry, and UMMI guarantees the impression our team leaves is expressed with class.

UMMI will strive to see that the success of your event is achieved which will lead to repeat business and a respectable corporate relationship.

Follow UMMI on Facebook and Instagram.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for GWBC Radio’s Open for Business. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, broadcasting live from GWBC’s Open House. So excited to be talking to my next guest. Rose Battle with Ultimate Model and Talent Agency. Welcome.

Rose Battle: Thank you, thank you, thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Ultimate Model and Talent Agency.

Rose Battle: Well, Ultimate Model and Talent Agency is a full service talent and modeling agency. We do a variety of things, including fashion show events. So we provide the models. But we are Sag-Aftra franchise agency. So we support casting for film and television.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your backstory? How did you get involved in this line of work?

Rose Battle: I was modeling myself for many years, long before becoming an agent. And, um, it was really, um, a lot of my colleagues at Coca-Cola that saw the passion in me and they said, Rose, you should. You have such a passion for this. Why don’t you become an agent? And that was 19 years ago.

Lee Kantor: Wow. And then so did you start working for another agency or did you just.

Rose Battle: I was working with other agencies. I did pretty much all of them myself. I did, you know, film. I did, um, I worked for Macy’s. I did print advertisement for Coca-Cola and also mainly for Coca-Cola. I did a lot of their trade shows. And so I was working in consumer affairs for Coke, and that was why they saw that I had that passion and felt that I should become an agent, that that would be a good candidate for me to become an agent.

Lee Kantor: So now how has the, uh, talent and model agent business changed over the years with the advent of this film industry here in Atlanta?

Rose Battle: Oh, well, it’s changed quite a bit because, well, you know that Georgia is a right to work state. And then we have so many people that come from LA and other states to come to Georgia to work because of the tax breaks, and they bring projects here. So, um, it, it opens the doors, of course, for us and other to bring in other talent that want to work and get into the film industry here.

Lee Kantor: But your Sag-Aftra, Sag-Aftra. Can you explain the difference between being Sag-Aftra as opposed to since this is a right to work state so that.

Rose Battle: Yeah, well, as a Sag-Aftra because, you know, for many years I was nonunion, right. And because it is a right to work state, I was still able to book talent on those SAG commercials and, and SAG projects because they they still have the opportunity before they decide to join the union. Right. And then once they join the union, it just opens up so many other possibilities for them when they’re with with the union in terms of work.

Lee Kantor: So then how does it work for an actor to become a part of the union?

Rose Battle: They they have to go through a process. And there’s a fee that that’s associated with becoming a union. And they have to have at least three speaking roles before they.

Lee Kantor: So it’s speaking roles is the secret.

Rose Battle: Yeah, yeah. That’s the secret. That’s the secret. Getting those speaking roles and then going once they get that under their belt, then they go and they apply with SAG. Mhm.

Lee Kantor: And then are you finding more and more Georgians getting becoming part of the union.

Rose Battle: Yes. There are more and more Georgians, especially as the film, uh, projects come to Georgia.

Lee Kantor: Are you still seeing kind of that uh, a lot of projects here in Georgia being filmed?

Rose Battle: Yeah, absolutely.

Lee Kantor: So you’re pretty busy?

Rose Battle: Yeah, we’re pretty busy. And and we do, because we do the commercial part of it, too. I just booked someone yesterday for Georgia. The Georgia Lottery. So super excited about that.

Lee Kantor: So now what do you need more of? How can we help you?

Rose Battle: Well, I need more models because I do the film. I have no problem because we’re on some software that where we have several people that are looking for agents all the time, but the model industry part of it, because I’m a I’m a vendor for places like Americasmart that they have several. They have something called market five times out of the year where they bring models and buyers come from all over the world to purchase their gowns and their, their, um, bridal dresses and wedding gowns. And so I need models that are tall. Those are like five, 7 to 511. The ideal model is five eight. You know, five 8 to 511. Uh, and they’re hard to find for. Yeah, because the size two for your average model is not a size. It’s not a size two four. So yeah, to get those skinny models in that have great skin and great teeth and smiles because it’s the entire package.

Lee Kantor: So how do you go about finding them? Are you, like scouring Instagram or social media?

Rose Battle: Yeah, we scout sometimes. We have something called open call. Uh, we haven’t had one, uh, within the last couple of months, but we usually will have open call where, uh, everybody know once they look us up and see that we’re a legitimate agency, then they’ll come out and they’ll bring because we just we don’t just do the the models, but we have children. We have some kids that do Cartoon Network and, um, print for Oshkosh and Carter’s. Wow. Yeah. And so we, we, we always doing things to, for families, um, and people with disabilities and people that um, sometimes people that have, um, illnesses like cancer and diabetes. We have those kind of projects.

Lee Kantor: Right. So you’re, you want to meet everybody, right? Because you never know. Yeah.

Rose Battle: We want to we we want to meet them all.

Lee Kantor: Now, why was it important for you to become part of Gwdc?

Rose Battle: Uh, well, I was, um, I was in Coca-Cola’s mentoring program, and they had a they had a requirement that I needed to get certifications with one of the certifying agencies. And initially I had got certified with the Georgia minority Supplier Development Council. And then later I decided to go with the women with Gwdc because someone from Turner Broadcasting said, you know, there’s there’s some strength in in the numbers with women. And I found that to be an awesome thing, to be with someone like GWC because they it’s nothing like the, the womanhood and, and women owned businesses helping other women owned businesses.

Lee Kantor: And then have you found that to be so. Have you gained.

Rose Battle: It has turned out to be very, very, uh, profitable. Um, I’ve, I’ve, we just recently had a huge contract in California that came through Gwdc, and I just can’t, you know, tell you how much it has helped us not only in in resources, but also in the women that we’ve met that have been able to collaborate with each other and and help each other in business.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, the community impact is real.

Rose Battle: It is real. It is real.

Lee Kantor: Now, if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Rose Battle: My website is Qmi agency.

Lee Kantor: Com and then they can find you on on all the socials. I’m sure we’re on the social media.

Rose Battle: Yeah we are on all the platforms.

Lee Kantor: Well thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Rose Battle: Oh, thank you so much for. It was a pleasure to be here.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor back in a few at CBC’s open House.

 

BRX Pro Tip: Mastering the Art of the Podcast Interview

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BRX Pro Tip: Mastering the Art of the Podcast Interview

Stone Payton: And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, I cannot think of a better person on the planet to ask this question of, but what counsel do you have on mastering the art of a podcasting interview?

Lee Kantor: Being an interviewer is an important responsibility, and at Business RadioX we take that responsibility seriously. We have developed a lot of thought leadership around this. We have a philosophy when it comes to this. And our philosophy is simply, when it comes to interviewing, it is our job to help our guest articulate their uniqueness. And at the end of the day, to be able to use that interview as a facilitated conversation, with the goal being to support and celebrate their work.

Lee Kantor: We are not investigative reporters, and we do not approach our interviews through that lens. We are trying to help our guest articulate what makes them special. We want their passion to come out. We want their expertise to come out. We want them to be able to have a piece of content that they’re so proud of, that they’re going to be able to use this in their marketing, and they’re going to be able to share it with their network, and that they’re going to be able to get business from it. That is our job as interviewers. That’s how we look at it. That’s how we teach our studio partners.

Lee Kantor: It is critically important to understand our role in this. So, our recommendation is to focus on conducting engaging and insightful interviews using active listening techniques, asking well thought out open-ended questions, and proven methods of creating a comfortable environment for our guests to share their story. That’s how we do it. That’s what makes us different and special. That’s why guests want to come on our show. That’s why PR folks are always sending their people to us, they know we are a safe place for their clients to tell their story.

Lee Kantor: It’s so important to encourage your guests, when you’re doing an interview, to share authentic stories and anecdotes that clearly illustrate how they help their clients succeed. If you’re able to do this, you are going to have a happy guest who’s going to share the content, and then you’re going to have a happy marketing and PR person who’s going to find more and more of their clients to put on your show. That’s how we do it at Business RadioX. That’s how we’ve been doing it for close to 20 years. And that’s why we’ve done over 100,000 interviews.

Yanika Daniels with Daniels Talent Solution

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Yanika-DanielsYanika S. Daniels, with Daniels Talent Solutions, has a wide range of experience in project and talent management, and change management and coaching for private, non-profit and education organizations. Over the last seven years as a consultant, she has focused on helping clients enhance talent management strategies to better recruit and retain staff.

Yanika has learned that talent placement requires not only the ability to analyze key organizational needs to find the right fit but also ensuring processes and policies are in place to retain great talent within the current organization. Investing in coaching and how an organization develops, supports, and promotes its talent leads to strong retention of staff and maximizing organizational goals.

Yanika began her career in education serving as the Director of Talent Management for the Fulton County Schools System in Atlanta, Georgia. Yanika facilitated the training of the Statewide Leader Keys performance management system at Fulton, training over 100 principals and district leaders on State required processes and changes.

She also facilitated Fulton’s own Central Office performance management system by training over 500 district managers on key performance competencies and the new required staff evaluation processes.

Yanika also worked closely with district leadership to facilitate and implement an inclusive school leader selection process for Fulton County Schools that led to the hiring of over 50 principals and 80 assistant principals over a two-year timeframe.

After Fulton County, Yanika served as the Managing Director at Teach for America (TFA). Yanika gained experience developing leaders as a coach for 12 Regional Heads of District Partnerships while at TFA, serving as a thought partner on district/charter relationships, district strategies, and implementing best practices for each region.

Prior to transitioning into education through The Broad Center, Yanika spent nine years working in the private sector in consulting at IBM and PWC. Yanika holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Supply Chain Management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

She is also a graduate of The Broad Residency in Urban Education with a Master’s in Education Leadership and holds a certification from John Maxwell Certification program in coaching and speaking.

Follow Daniels Talent Solutions on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for GW BBQ Radio’s Open for business. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, broadcasting live from GWBC’s Open House in the beautiful Bank of America Plaza. So excited to be talking to my guest Yanika Daniels with Daniels Talent Solutions. Welcome.

Yanika Daniels: Thank you. I’m so glad to be here today.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Daniels Talent Solutions. How you serving folks?

Yanika Daniels: Yeah. So we basically recruit, retain and train your staff. So we are a talent strategy organization. We work with a lot of small businesses and organizations who are growing. And so a lot of times they can’t or don’t have the capacity to recruit the right people to put the right processes and systems in so that they can keep their people. And then once you grow, you need to train. And so that is really what we do. We help you really think about your people strategy.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your backstory? How did you get involved in this line of work? How much.

Yanika Daniels: Time do we.

Lee Kantor: Have? We’ve got all the time. All the time.

Yanika Daniels: So my backstory, I actually have an engineering background. I spent about ten years in corporate America, and I was an engineer helping fortune 500 companies with their processes, their systems, and kind of along that path, realized that a lot of times, organizations forget about the people. So they put a lot of technology in, they put a lot of processes in. And your people are kind of left trying to figure it out. And so I became a lot more passionate about how do we really change systems, how do we make change that sustains. And it really comes down to your people. So about ten years in corporate America decided I wanted to shift, and I also wanted to do a little bit more impactful work. And so that’s why I kind of got into human resources.

Lee Kantor: So then, um, is do you have a niche or do you, uh, place people in all positions?

Yanika Daniels: Great question. Yes. So we are really great at supporting mission driven organizations when it comes to recruitment and retention. So when we think about nonprofit organizations and adjacent organizations, those that might not necessarily draw the big groups, but they’re doing really impactful work, we partner and support those organizations when it comes to our training. We will train anybody. And so we make sure that your managers can really be leaders. And so we work with any organization around really training their talent.

Lee Kantor: So what is a kind of a symptom a company is having where, uh, maybe training would be the right solution, that they may not even notice that they need training. But, uh, you know, that’s where they can connect with you.

Yanika Daniels: One symptom you might see your people leaving. So when you’re really trying to think about how do you retain your staff, if you’re seeing a lot of people leave a lot of turnover, you might want to look at your managers and really think about how are my managers trained to support their staff? What are they doing? How am I investing in that middle level of of staff to make sure that everyone is able to get on board efficiently, that the culture is right. That’s that’s the biggest thing you start to see. People are not going to stay places. This is different times now. People are not going to stay places that they are not happy.

Lee Kantor: And there’s a saying people, um, don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses.

Yanika Daniels: That is so true. It is so true. Yeah. Because, I mean, most people, um, want kind of the standard necessities out of life, right? You want a good salary, you want to be able to have benefits. You want to be able to meet your own personal needs. You don’t want to go into an office or work with somebody every day that is causing you tension and stress.

Lee Kantor: Right. So then if you’re a leader of an organization and you’re noticing there’s a high turnover in 1 or 2 positions, that might be kind of a warning sign that, hey, maybe we got something to fix here.

Yanika Daniels: Yes, you should be tracking. Always tracking from a metrics standpoint. So I told you I had an engineering background. I’m big on data. Big on metrics. Always tracking exactly who’s leaving. Why? Especially if you have one manager that keeps having to hire. That is a red flag, right?

Lee Kantor: If they’re always complaining that we can’t get the right person, it might be them, you know. Yeah.

Yanika Daniels: And you should really survey your people. Right. Always, always talk to your people. What’s going on? Trying to understand. You know, I know sometimes we do too many surveys, but people will tell you kind of what’s going on. You ask? Yeah, you got to ask. And a lot of people don’t take time to ask.

Lee Kantor: Now, why was it important for you to become part of Gwdc?

Yanika Daniels: Great question. So I recently became a member going through my certification to be a woman owned business. It was important for a couple of different reasons. As an entrepreneur, it can be very lonely trying to build a business, and so business has been around for a long time. There are a lot of people doing it. I can learn from anyone. And so one of our core values as an organization is continuously learning. So it was important for me to be a part of this organization, to be a part of like minded people who are doing similar things, trying to build businesses, building community and connecting with other people. So that’s one of the main reasons that I joined.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there a story you can share about your work that maybe you work with an organization that was struggling or had a problem that you were able to help them solve and get to a new level? You don’t have to name the name of the.

Yanika Daniels: Organization, but.

Lee Kantor: But just name. Maybe the challenge they were having.

Yanika Daniels: Um, yes I can. There are so many now I’m trying to decide which one is best. So one organization that is actually local to to the to to the city of Atlanta. They actually manager reached out to me and wasn’t sure if the organization the department itself was actually efficient. So it kind of organically grown people were kind of given titles over years. And now, you know, now you have a team of 30 and there’s overlap in some of the work that they’re doing. And so this becomes a retention problem. Right. Because if I’m showing up at work and somebody else is doing the work I’m supposed to be doing, but I was hired for something that becomes an issue. So we help that organization kind of take a look at their staff, their human resources staff, and really plot out what should each role be doing and how can they grow into where they want to be with the organization. So that’s just one example. If you have time, I’ll give you another one. Sure. If you got another one. So that’s one thing we do around retention. Recruitment is another big thing that we do, especially for mission driven organizations we like to partner. And so most of our clients are repeat clients.

Yanika Daniels: About 90% of our clients come back to us. One organization we partnered with about three years ago, they were a staff of five. They were a nonprofit organization, and now they are a staff of 32. Wow. Which is big growth for a nonprofit organization. Right. A corporate organization? Yeah. It grows fast, but a nonprofit that’s really big. And one of the things that was really important to them was that they hire people who were in alignment with their own mission, who were who cared, who were passionate. So we helped them through that recruitment process by recruiting their staff, training their leaders and managers. How do you train also working with them on anti-bias hiring? And so those are some of the things that we offer clients when we work with them. We train your staff. We help you not only build, but at some point you kind of need to get rid of us so you can do your own hiring. So we also help you do that, right? And so we can say that the staff that we hired have stayed 2.25 years. And so for a nonprofit that’s great. The national average is about 16 months for someone to stay in an organization from a nonprofit perspective.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there any advice you could share for that organization that maybe is running into retention issues? Is there some low hanging fruit that they can do to kind of help themselves?

Yanika Daniels: Yeah. So low hanging fruit. You know, we just kind of talked a little bit about talking to your people. Right. Surveying. So you know there there are key best practices that are out there. But there’s not a one size fits all. You really have to understand what’s important to your staff. Right. And so having focus groups talking to your staff bring us in. We’ll do it for you. Right and really understand what are some of their pain points? What are some of their needs? It could be that it is a manager training that’s needed. It could be that, hey, everybody’s trying to get us to go back to the office, and I still need a little bit of flexibility. Right. So the first thing low hanging fruit, talk to your people.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff. And if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team. What’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Yanika Daniels: Yes, we are Daniels Solutions LLC. Com that’s how you can reach us.

Lee Kantor: Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Yanika Daniels: Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll be back in a few. With NBC’s open House.

 

Building Bridges: The Power of Collaboration in the Perimeter Area

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In this episode of Chamber Spotlight, Lee Kantor talks with Adam Forrand, President and CEO of the Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber. They discuss the recent merger of two local chambers, forming a unified regional Chamber of Commerce. Adam highlights the chamber’s role in supporting both large corporations and small to mid-sized businesses, fostering community engagement, and driving economic development.

The episode also covers the benefits of chamber membership, the importance of collaboration among businesses, and the diverse industries represented in the perimeter area, emphasizing the chamber’s commitment to innovation and entrepreneurship.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studio in Sandy Springs, Georgia. It’s time for Chamber Spotlight, brought to you by Corp Care, your Employee Assistance program partner. Caring for them because we care about you. For more information, go to CorpCareep.com. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of Chamber Spotlight and this is going to be a good one. But before we get into it, it’s important to recognize our sponsor CorpCare. Without them we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Chamber Spotlight, we have the president and CEO of the Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber, Mr. Adam Forrand. Welcome.

Adam Forrand: Hi, Lee.

Lee Kantor: I am so excited to hear an update kind of state of the union of the chamber. I know a lot of exciting things are happening. Would you like to share?

Adam Forrand: Absolutely. You have found us at a fabulous time in our organization’s history and our growth. The Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber, as our Board of Directors and the board of Directors of the Perimeter Chamber this summer agreed in principle to merge our two chambers into a unified regional chamber of commerce serving the leading cities, the perimeter leading cities of Sandy Springs and Dunwoody. And we are in the process of integrating our two organizations from a technical and operational standpoint, all in service to our members, with our goal being that come January 1st, 2025, that our members of both organizations find the power and the potential and the opportunity that a larger chamber can bring them.

Lee Kantor: Now, what was kind of the impetus for this kind of combination collaboration to to bring the chambers together? I know there’s a lot of growth in the perimeter area. I know there’s a lot of activity in the the cities that surround the perimeter. But what was kind of the catalyst that brought you both together?

Adam Forrand: You know, I’d say a maturation of our two communities, the cities, the municipalities themselves of Sandy Springs and Dunwoody as they continue to grow and mature in terms of their service to their residents. We find ourselves in the context of a marketplace, the central perimeter market. The economy here has been here for many, many years and has been recognized across the southeast as an epicenter of employment and and business and commerce. And what you find is the convergence, if you will, of touring cities and equity and building and brands about what’s happening in these two cities, along with the the bedrock that is the central perimeter economy. And this conversation has been going on for the last ten, 11, 12 years, about two municipally focused chambers coming together to better serve the region. And I think it just reflects sort of that time and in a post-pandemic recovery as well, is that as our economy continues to evolve with uncertainty and economic environments, that the evolution of the central perimeter deserves a strong regional chamber for both small businesses, solopreneurs as as well as the fortune 500 that call perimeter home.

Lee Kantor: Now, there’s obviously a lot of large organizations and companies here in the perimeter area that have decided to headquarter and to call home. Yes. Um, how do you foresee the chamber creating value for them as members and also serve, like you mentioned, the many more small to midsize businesses that also are in the perimeter? Because I would imagine that’s one of the challenges, is to create value for all of the constituents. It is a.

Adam Forrand: Challenge for sure, but on the continuum of resources and partnerships and opportunities that a chamber, a good, strong chamber, can provide a member and the business community. It does run that full gamut from a small business to a large business. So we’ll start with those large businesses that you described that are resident here in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody, who continue to choose to remain in this community as they consolidate offices from across, say, the southeast or across North America into a focused hub of activity. And we’re hearing these announcements on a daily basis as new lease arrangements come up across the perimeter, that they have particular needs, cultural needs of their organizations to bring people back into the office. And as talent talent acquisition, talent retention remains a competitive challenge for all employers of all sizes. A chamber like ours can help activate relationships for those large employers among, say, their young professionals, those who are 40 and under. We know that if young professionals meet other young professionals outside of their own work environment, in the community in which perhaps they work or play or even live, that there’s a higher likelihood that they will remain committed not only just to that employer, but to the community itself.

Adam Forrand: So we are going to convene and catalyze these relationships among young professionals through our Perimeter Young Professionals program. We also know that the importance of employee resource groups, ERGs, and business resource groups Brgs and their connection to the community is a facet of that connectivity that a large employer has to the to those local residents, and the impact that they can have in advancing and sustaining these ergs and brgs. And we can serve as a conduit to making those connections and relationships to ensure that these particular areas of focus or concern or issues in the community that the large employers have articulated and stated as being important to them, that we help them activate that here in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody as well. So from a from a large standpoint, a large employer standpoint, we can serve as that local hyper local partner to activate these relationships. Um, whether it’s in talent, whether it’s in enterprise, whether it’s an issue oriented opportunities.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, as part of your role in the chamber, is is part of your role, um, helping attract other businesses to the community? Is that, um, part of the mission or is that something economic development in those locales are in charge of?

Adam Forrand: Most certainly we are a partner to our city’s economic development leadership. So in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody, we work very closely in partnership with them, um, particularly as those cities provide Opportunities to provide incentives to recruit businesses, as well as retain businesses and employers in our community as well. That looks different from one conversation to another, but our role as the local chamber is to ensure that there’s a vibrant, economic, prosperous environment in which executives choose to live, um, that they know that their employees can live in, uh, and that there is opportunity here for growth. And that growth may be challenged by, uh, amount of square footage they have access to, or perhaps the amenities in the region and the community in which they live, and they work and they play. And our job is to be sure that our members are growing and are prosperous, and then in turn, makes it a very attractive environment in which businesses would seek to relocate or to expand within.

Lee Kantor: And that relocation, obviously, the business climate has to be right, but also it has to be right for their employees. So there has to be kind of. That’s where I think the small to midsize businesses come in, right? Where everything is working hand in hand. If you have a thriving small and midsize business community that lends itself to the larger organizations employees to have a happy life and to live closer, to go into the office and do things like that. Indeed.

Adam Forrand: Yeah. The smaller businesses that provide the professional or personal services to the employees, uh, you know, as as mundane as it is, we need these services to live our lives in the high quality of life. And so whether it is, uh, your local dry cleaner or your daycare or even the quality of restaurants, the fast, fast service that you may receive for any part of your life, that is the ecosystem, that is a community and that every business contributes to that quality of life.

Lee Kantor: So what are the things as a chamber expands throughout the region? What are the things you need more of and how can we help you?

Adam Forrand: Oh, well, we need, uh, What we need more of is more engagement. And engagement shows up in many different ways. In this particular case, I’ll specifically speak to the engagement of our business owners, our leaders, those who are chamber members, to bring their knowledge and their expertise to the benefit of their fellow members. Uh, one phrase that I use often is that we want our members to show up to coach and to be coached. And what I mean by that is that they bring their subject matter expertise to the room, that if another member should be so appropriately vulnerable to say that I need help in this particular domain or this particular area that we can find and make those matches and connections that a member can help another member. And so that type of engagement in which that knowledge and expertise is shared to the benefit of fellow members in their goals and pursuits of growing their business. And so we do that in person. We convene and catalyze these relationships through over 80 events over a year. Um, but we’re also going to transition into doing so electronically and digitally in, uh, in asynchronous ways as well. And so, uh, what that means is that we’re seeking more members, we’re seeking more experts, we’re seeking more expertise and knowledge and a commitment to growing their business as well as other people’s businesses in this community.

Lee Kantor: All right. So let’s give the pitch to each of those constituents. So if you were talking to a small business owner, what would be your pitch to them to become a member? And not only just pay dues to be a member, but to actually lean in and get involved with the organization?

Adam Forrand: Yeah, membership is an interesting thing. Um, there’s a lot of analogies that we can use about membership and optimizing and maximizing membership, and they’re not many of them are not perfect. Um, and so the pitch would be that as the decision maker, if you’re the business owner and you are deciding to make an investment in your business through chamber membership, that the membership is not necessarily yours and yours alone as an individual. Although you may be the decision maker, you may be the one making that financial investment. The rest of your team needs to be on that membership roster that you deputize. You enable, and you empower the rest of your team to show up at our events, to be present at the opportunities to learn and to grow, to represent your business. And that way, your enterprise, your company gets the full benefit of membership and not just you as the owner or the decision maker. And that’s a challenge because people think about membership as being their own, their own personal membership. And we use some mixed analogies, like a gym membership. Like if you don’t show up to the gym, then you’re not going to get the benefit of it.

Adam Forrand: Like that’s such an individual thing. We’re trying to find ways in which we project that onto the business itself, that the business itself, if the business does not show up through its representatives, through through any member, any or any person, employee of that organization is a member of the chamber, that they show up and leverage the benefit of the of of their chamber membership, their businesses membership, then that’s the best thing that they can do. And that means that perhaps there’s some expertise in a very specific domain as it relates to finance or accounting or marketing, that a fellow fellow member can show up and help them with. Maybe it’s a young professional who’s learning about business development that they can show up and meet their peers and learn and grow together. And so it really is a an enterprise wide proposition that I would ask more specifically, if there are some acute areas of pain or challenge that perhaps our resources and our fellow members can help them with.

Lee Kantor: Right. And that’s something important for the small business owner to understand, even if they have a small team. The brand is the member, correct? It’s not the individual. And that mindset shift is really important because that the the brand then can use that as a benefit to attract and retain employees because they’re getting part of their when they work there, they’re getting access to all of the benefits of the chamber.

Adam Forrand: They are they are. And these are great experiences for professionals of all ages, at all levels within an organization to be able to step out of the business, step into community, a community of other business professionals who are there to help and support. Have an enjoyable experience for sure. We are very proud of the quality of the experiences that we produce, but ultimately it’s what you get out of it in terms of the resources, the connectivity, the support, the encouragement, the inspiration. You will find that, Uh, as as every member of your team encounters and experiences and engages with the chamber. Your organization will benefit from that.

Lee Kantor: All right, so now let’s pitch these kind of billion dollar firms that are around here. Now, you mentioned some of the benefits of being part of the chamber and active in the chamber. But what are what’s your pitch when you’re talking to, you know, one of these fortune 500 company leads?

Adam Forrand: Absolutely. Well, beyond being able to activate and support their talent retention, acquisition and development needs around young professionals or engaging in employee resource groups or business resource groups. Ultimately, it sends a signal to the community that as a resident of this community, these large businesses are concerned about the quality of life here and the quality of the economy, and that through an investment in their local chamber, they are then parlaying that into additional resources to support small businesses of all types. And so it shows up in manifests itself in many ways, certainly visibly, when you can see that a large employer, a large global Fortune 50, has made such an investment in their local community. It’s reassuring. Um, but the flip side of that is there’s also a benefit to that. It reminds people in this community that they are an employer, that they are an employer of choice, and that, uh, if you do not want to commute across the metro and you’re looking for an opportunity in a large enterprise, there may be a company, a member of ours that is hiring today that may really suit your particular skill set and your knowledge that you can contribute to and improve the quality of your life as well that you can contribute. So we talk about that not just from a from a young professional standpoint, but also the these brands, these consumer brands that are easily recognized, that are members of our chamber and fly great flags on tops of buildings here in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody are fabulous. And it’s a reminder, hopefully to them that their employer brand here in the local community is just as strong and that it’s conveyed.

Lee Kantor: Now, for folks who aren’t aware of maybe the types of industries that are represented here in the perimeter. Yes. And especially when you expand beyond Sandy Springs into the perimeter as a region, can you share some of the industries that maybe aren’t on the radar of people who aren’t familiar with this part of town? Well, I.

Adam Forrand: Think there’s two parts to that, Lee. One is we can name those sectors or verticals or industry by name and think about specifically what they do. So we’ll use transportation distribution and logistics as an example. Ups, a fortune 50 company headquartered here in Sandy Springs. Everyone knows what Brown can do for you. And they think of the trucks, they think of the deliveries, they think of the retail storefront services. But what they may not think of is the fact that marketing, accounting and finance and all those operational opportunities are based here as well. Right. Um, but then there’s a clustering effect around transportation distribution logistics that there are a number of, um, well known, uh, companies that in that sector that are known in that sector for their specialties. Um, perhaps they may specialize in cold distribution and storage. Perhaps they specialize in a particular food group. And these companies are clustered here as well. Um, they’re in the same buildings. They share a propensity for the the needs of talent that they share among them as well. And so there are big brand names, consumer brand names, and there are a whole host of lesser known names that are in those same sectors. So transportation distribution and logistics, for example. But each of those companies have a full complement of enterprise wide jobs that that they need to fill as well.

Adam Forrand: Um, financial technology, uh, we process over I think the latest data I heard was like 79% of all financial transactions in the US come through Sandy Springs and metro Atlanta. And these are names that many people may not recognize, but Global Payments Deluxe, uh, there’s a whole host of companies that are in the fintech space are based here as well. Um, we are certainly well known for our concentration, the density of fast casual restaurants that are owned by private equity firms and other, uh, other organizations that, uh, go by the name of Inspire Brands and Roark Capital and go to foods, and they have got a whole host of consumer brands that we would recognize as well. But they’re all based here. But it’s the entire enterprise is based here. All their marketing operations, their supply chain and distribution operations are based here as well. And certainly last but not least, health sciences, health services. We have got a density of, uh, service providers, practitioners, researchers here in central perimeter that ensure that not only are our residents well taken care of, but we’re advancing medical sciences and discoveries in the community as well.

Lee Kantor: Now, I think you brought up an important point when it comes to having these large firms here. Um, it does create kind of a cluster effect where that the other companies that serve them in a variety of ways. It’s also a good idea for them to be close, in close proximity of them, so they can have access to them when those people need them to deliver some of the services that they outsource, for sure.

Adam Forrand: And we also know that, um, not only just from a vendor supplier standpoint that there’s those relationships, but many joint ventures and perhaps research and development come out of these relationships that are clustered in these communities as well. We know that there’s test kitchens in our communities. We know that there are R&D labs testing alternative supply chain distribution methods and models as well in our own community. And these are, uh, companies that are in that sector that are very interested and very keen on these relationships and proximity matters, for sure. Yeah.

Lee Kantor: And a lot of times, um, what happens is those large entities acquire the smaller entities, and that happens more times than I can count, I think in just in doing the show over the years, that you see that happening, that somebody as part of one of those clusters starts delivering a service that the larger entity likes, and then all of a sudden cut to a few years later, they’re acquiring that organization. Yeah.

Adam Forrand: And that’s where innovation occurs. Innovation occurs certainly within the confines of these large employers, but it also occurs when entrepreneurs take a step out and believe that they that they have a a new and better and a different way of doing things. And so conceptually, this is a ripe environment for entrepreneurs as well to, to test those waters, to be in the environment in which they know other industry sector companies can, will be able to easily evaluate and to partner and to test and advance innovation in those respective areas.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to connect and learn more, what is the easiest way to plug into the chamber?

Adam Forrand: Oh boy. Well, you can find us certainly online everywhere, but Sandy springs.org is the current URL for the Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber of Commerce. But you can just Google us. You can hit Sandy Springs perimeter chamber and you’ll find us on all the social medias as well. Uh, happy to connect with you on LinkedIn. Uh, as well, uh, where where we try to focus some of our business oriented conversations as well. Um, but we are in the community. Uh, we’ve got a fabulous office here in Sandy Springs as well that we open up for programs and events as well.

Lee Kantor: Is there an event that you would recommend a prospective chamber member attending? Is there something, uh, that they should know about? And and can they just go to try it out?

Adam Forrand: Absolutely. We program breakfast, lunch and dinner. We, uh, welcome nonmembers to come and enjoy and experience firsthand what a chamber membership may feel like and look like for them. Uh, to test those waters and ask those questions and meet those other subject matter experts who are showing up to help coach them. Um, we have a monthly luncheon where we bring in a particular subject matter expert who has some expertise that can help and inform and educate and perhaps inspire our members. That’s once a month, uh, we, uh, our next one will be in November on the I think it’s the 15th of November where we’ll have Justin Campbell from Assembly Studios, Atlanta, uh, a big new production complex, uh, on the top end perimeter over by 85. Uh, and talking about what they’re doing, not just in the backstage in the back. Lots there in terms of production, but they’re community facing activities as well as they seek to enrich our economy.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And that’s another sector in the area that maybe people aren’t aware that is happening.

Adam Forrand: It is. It is because it happens in nooks and crannies and in locations and sets sort of tucked in in a way. You see those yellow signs, but, uh, gray, gray television has made a significant investment in our region, uh, With the support of NBC universal. With that, Assembly Studios Atlanta. It’s certainly a bright, shining star.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. Um, the perimeter is definitely where things are happening. The center of gravity of the city seems to be moving north into our backyard.

Adam Forrand: There is definitely power and magnetism here in perimeter. I think it always has been. Um, to, you know, uh, to a certain degree, at a certain times and the ebbs and flows of, of where investments are made. Uh, but definitely pay attention to the headlines of what’s happening in perimeter.

Lee Kantor: All right. Before we wrap one more time, the website, Sandy Springs.

Adam Forrand: Org. Uh, we’d love to have you there. Uh, but Google Sandy Springs, perimeter chamber.

Lee Kantor: All right. Adam. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing important work, and we appreciate you. Thank you. Lee. All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Chamber Spotlight.

 

From Tech Support to Trust: Transforming Company Culture in the Digital Age

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In this episode of Sandy Springs Business Radio, Rachel Simon and Lee Kantor talk with Adam Bieber, Director of Business Development at Logic Speak and Founder of Synergetic Culture®. They explore the evolving landscape of IT services and the critical role of cybersecurity in modern businesses. Adam emphasizes that every business is now a technology company due to the digital age. He discusses the importance of fostering a positive company culture, employee retention, and the need for leaders to build trust and personal connections within their teams. The conversation also highlights the value of authenticity in personal branding on platforms like LinkedIn.

Synergetic-Culture-logoAdam-BieberAdam Bieber is the director of business development for an MSP (managed service provider) called Logic Speak. He’s also the founder of a leadership and sales consulting firm called Synergetic Culture®.

More importantly Adam is a husband and father and he has an amazing family.

Follow Synergetic Culture® on LinkedIn.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Sandy Springs, Georgia. It’s time for Sandy Springs Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here with Rachel Simon, another episode of Sandy Springs Business Radio. And this one is brought to you by Connect the Dots Digital. When you’re ready to leverage LinkedIn to meet your business goals, go to Connect the Dots dot digital. Welcome, Rachel.

Rachel Simon: Hi Lee.How are you?

Lee Kantor: I am doing well. So excited about the show. You got a great guest.

Rachel Simon: Yes. And we’re back in the studio. Yeah, that’s a great day. Yeah, we have a great guest. I’m super excited about this conversation. So I’m really happy to welcome Adam Bieber with Logic Speak. Nice to meet you.

Adam Bieber: Rachel, thank you so much for having me. It’s great to be with both of you today. I really appreciate it and excited. Excited to chat.

Rachel Simon: Ya’ll, he’s a pro. We’re going to have a great conversation here. So let’s just kick it off. Tell us a little bit about you your company what you do.

Adam Bieber: Sure. Yeah. Well like you said, my name is Adam Bieber. I am the director of business development for a managed IT and cybersecurity company local to the north metro Atlanta area. Um, we’ve been in business for 20 years. We serve small to medium businesses providing technology support, technology strategy and planning and all the things that need to be considered when it comes to how you do business, how you interact online, protecting your digital assets, cybersecurity, all of that fun stuff. So I get to go and meet with prospective clients, meet with existing clients, hear what’s happening, hear from them, work on building relationships and bring them in to work with us and hopefully to drive their business forward.

Rachel Simon: It’s interesting. I was just talking with somebody recently about the change. We were talking about another industry that has sort of shifted the way it has, because I remember back in my early career, you know, there was the IT guy who had to do all the things right. He had to like, deal with the servers. And then everything from dealing with the servers to helping, you know, the older, potentially less computer savvy people figure out how to use their mouse. Yep, yep.

Adam Bieber: But or how to hook up to.

Rachel Simon: The printer or how to. Yeah, exactly. So it seems like today companies are really doing more with outsourcing those IT services.

Adam Bieber: Yeah. The reality is as technology evolves and as business evolves, every company, whether they like it or not, is a technology company. And so I always say, whether you have a digital footprint or data to protect, you’re a good client for us. And really that’s anybody. Everybody’s got data to protect. Everybody’s got a digital footprint and they need to consider those things more on the side of cyber threat cybersecurity protecting their their data, not just their data, but their clients data. And yeah, so it has evolved from, you know, just the guy that sets up the printer and fixes the server. What does that even mean to is there.

Rachel Simon: Even a server?

Adam Bieber: Yeah, exactly. So now we do a lot of that virtually. We utilize the Microsoft Azure cloud to be able to spin up virtual servers and be able to serve businesses so that if there were some type of catastrophic event to their brick and mortar, they’re still able to operate and conduct business. And then, you know, putting in all the puzzle pieces that they need to make sure that they have access to all the applications and, um, files and things of that nature. So, yeah, it’s evolved.

Rachel Simon: Is there a certain industry that you all work with?

Adam Bieber: Yeah, that’s a good question. We tend to work with professional services the most. So that’s going to be like your financial advisory firm, CPA firms lawyers things like that. We also work a lot locally with engineering firms. Our founder’s wife actually owns an engineering company. And so through that network, we’ve been able to serve a lot of the engineering firms in the in the area were also part of a couple associations that focus on on that, that vertical, um, nonprofits and churches. Um, kind of the tagline at the end of our mission statement is to have a positive impact on the community. And so we love to give back to churches and nonprofits that are doing good things in the community that we can support and protect. So usually they’re, um, 20 or so employees or greater. Um, that’s kind of where we found our sweet spot to be. And then, um, usually when you’re in that realm, you’re looking at 3 to 5 million in revenue or greater. Um, and that’s where we can come in and really do a lot of, a lot of good things, um, within a, within a healthy budget to be able to support.

Lee Kantor: So now part of your backstory is you help companies with culture. Um, why is culture important to you and why is it important to firms that you serve?

Adam Bieber: Yeah, I love that question. Um, it is it is incredibly crucial. Um, the way that I think about culture is less about what you do and more about how you feel about what you do. And it’s interesting. There’s so many different data points that you could pull out. Um, and it seems to be a hot topic right now, but people care about the environment that they’re going in to work. And, um, sometimes people will, uh, take less money for a better culture, um, or make a lateral move that’s not necessarily up the corporate, the corporate ladder in order to be in a better environment. And so to me, it’s crucial. Um, but what I like talking about is how it doesn’t matter what position you have in the organization, you can impact and affect the culture. Um, and so what I like to talk about through some of my consulting on that side, but also through the podcast that I have, is about maximizing your influence and impact so that anybody can make a difference in the culture that they’re a part of.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you find that, um, culture is one of those things. My background’s in marketing, so I look at it through the lens of marketing. Like when it comes to branding, it’s one of those things that are going to happen whether you put energy into it or not. People are going to have an opinion about your brand, whether you’ve been kind of mindful about it or not. Is culture the same thing that if you ignore culture, a culture is going to develop without any of your input, and so you might as well invest resources into it?

Adam Bieber: Yep, 100%. I love that you drew that parallel between the marketing industry and culture. I often say culture is formed either by design or by default. And so the default settings when you get a new laptop or a new electronic, usually the default settings are not enough. You got to tweak, you got to customize, you got to build it or customize it the way that you want that thing to to operate. And the same goes for your culture. When you design it, you’re actually being proactive about how you create it and develop it. And I’ve just been so blessed. Logic speak already had such a healthy, thriving culture, so I felt like I got to step into an organization that truly lived and breathed what it was that I was so passionate about.

Rachel Simon: Do you think in the culture, you know, it’s such an interesting word, right? Because people have, uh, it’s one of those words, I think that when you hear it in the within the work, uh, context, it either is like, yes, or. Oh. Um, but sometimes do you see that companies kind of use it as a crutch of why they can’t innovate? Like, oh, that’s not our culture. That’s not the way we do things here. Um, um.

Adam Bieber: I see it more as a, um, justification for toxic behavior. Yeah. Um, and so, you know, we’re just a culture that works really, really hard. Um, well, that that doesn’t that’s not a justifiable answer when you’re talking to someone that just put in a 70 hour a week. That’s not healthy. Um, and so I see it more on that aspect of not being willing to make changes and kind of own up to the design that you have for your culture if it is toxic. Um, and so, uh, that can be a really hard thing to change. And, um, what what I’ve found is it has to start at the top. There has to be buy in from the executive executive level down in order for people to really jump on board and get involved. And unfortunately, it’s uncomfortable, like, um, growth is uncomfortable. Change is uncomfortable. Um, you know, I’ve been involved in really fast paced, growing companies where it seemed like every week there was a new process and a new way of doing things, and the change was so stinking uncomfortable. Um, but that kept us on our toes and that kept us moving and growing. And I like to use the image of, like a either a river or a, a a stagnant pond. That stagnant pond grows a ton of bacteria, has a bunch of nasty pollen. We’re in the south. The pollen just sits on the top of it. It’s gross. It’s disgusting. It’s not safe to drink. Um, but when you think about a river that moves and that filters through rocks that is constantly rushing, that has power and strength. Um, you have you have cleaner water. Um, and so that’s just kind of how I think about culture and growth.

Rachel Simon: And that’s a great analogy actually. Like, I mean, especially again, for the since I can absolutely picture that gross stagnant pond covered in nasty pollen that you would never let your dog get in. Like, no, don’t get in there. Uh, um, yeah. It’s so interesting the way, um, you know, again, there is like definitely that level of, uh, hesitation and fear when change needs to happen. But I agree with you that pretty much anything that is worth building and growing has to start at the top. Yep. Otherwise, it’s really, really hard to actually make it happen and make it happen successfully. Yeah, no.

Adam Bieber: 100%. It, um, Uh, as as a leader by title. It’s it’s your job to to rally the people that work with you and work under you. Um, to head in whatever direction and execute. And it’s not just about executing the business. It’s about doing it in a way that builds the people. And so when everybody can be on the same page and they can they can work together and they can they trust each other, there’s a high level of trust involved. Um, you can see some really amazing things. I’ve seen people that are super trustworthy and may not be the most polished looking salesperson, and they are more successful because they are trustworthy and they have that grit and they execute and they know the culture versus the person that just has, you know, the suave or, you know, the look or the, you know, maybe they came from the bigger school or what have you.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. Now, what are some kind of symptoms that a company’s culture might be not on the right path? Is it like something like we’re having trouble hiring, Or is it come down to sales where, you know, our sales have plateaued? Are there some kind of warning signs for organizations you could share?

Adam Bieber: Yeah. I mean, I think probably the biggest one is retention. Employee retention. Um, you know, that says a lot about an organization. If you’ve done any job searching or had to go through the process of applying for jobs. Um, one of the things I always encourage people that are in that season is to take a look at some of the other factors, not just how many positions do they have to fill, but look at how long they’ve been hiring for that role. Like maybe go look at some of the people that have that role and look at how long they’ve been at the company. Reach out to them on LinkedIn. Ask them, hey, what do you think? I’m seriously considering applying. Um, I’ve had people in previous roles reach out to me and just say, hey, we don’t know each other, but we’re connected. I see that you work here. You’ve been here for two years. You’ve been here for three years. What are your thoughts? Um, can you give it to me straight? And I think we need to do more of that because, um, employee retention is a big, big indicator on on the health of the organization and the health of the culture also. I think people sometimes blow it up on social media where they present themselves in one way. Um, uh, and say on LinkedIn, the company does and the people that work at the company. But then when you get one on one with someone, you realize that is not at all how it how it looks and how it happens. Um, that’s always a red flag for me. Um, I was just having a conversation this morning with someone who’s worked at a big company in the area and I said, is the hype real? Like, I know it, I’ve seen it. I, I’ve been aware of the company. And she just said for what I was doing. No, it’s not. And I was like, wow. Um, so yeah, maybe those are a couple couple indicators.

Rachel Simon: That’s interesting. The hype like meaning what they’re presenting on their like company page as being like and.

Adam Bieber: Just as employees.

Rachel Simon: We have a ping pong table.

Adam Bieber: Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. We do beer Fridays and, you know, get pizza at the end of the quarter. Like, that’s very interesting.

Rachel Simon: Yeah, because obviously LinkedIn is something I talk about a lot. Sure. And, um, you know, it’s it’s so important for people to actually present what’s actually happening. Yeah. Um, because otherwise, to your point, it’s not really the reality of what it is like to be an employee of that company.

Adam Bieber: Sure. And, I mean, I encourage people that, um, are building their personal brand on LinkedIn. I, I tell them I’m like, look, you can look at what everybody else is doing, but just sound like yourself. Like, if you don’t sound like yourself on, on, on that online presence, it just feels fake. Um, I’ve had plenty of conversations where somebody’s got this loud personality through the keyboard. And then when you’re sitting down one on one, it’s hard to hold a conversation and you’re going, wait, I’m just confused. You’re not who I thought you were. Um, and it may not be any detriment to their character. It just gives you an unsettling feeling of like, okay, I’m just confused. So I always just tell people I’m like, if that’s not you. Don’t be that person. Just be yourself and who you are will resonate with the right people.

Rachel Simon: Oh, 100%. I mean, I completely agree. I think that there’s that’s one of the big challenges when you’re for people who are trying to build their brand on LinkedIn is they they forget that. And I was just again talking about this yesterday, um, you know, with a B2B company and they’re like, well, we’re B2B and we’re trying to present this, you know, corporate, uh, you know, whatever vision of who we are. Sure. But ultimately, you are still selling to a human being.

Adam Bieber: Yeah. You’re people selling to people, right?

Rachel Simon: Yeah. You’re just a business selling to a person in another business. Yep. Not a consumer. So we got to remember the humanity piece well.

Adam Bieber: And the farther upstream I think you go, the loss in communication like the, the, the bigger gap that happens there where it’s just, hey, I’m the vendor. All I’m doing is just, you know, trying to get the renewals and the transactions and they keep it very transactional. It’s like, no, like the downstream person that is also a business owner. They care a lot about their business. It’s their baby. It’s their, you know, their their life’s work. It’s their legacy. So talk to them like that. Treat them like a human being.

Lee Kantor: So now is there any exercises or any activities you can share for an organization to help kind of number one, safeguard against that incongruity where they’re they might be thinking there’s something that they’re not and how the public is perceiving them. Is there anything you can share that can give somebody something actionable today to say, hey, hey, we’re a little off the mark here. Let’s do this so that we can be better. Yeah.

Adam Bieber: Um, to me, it comes back to the trust of the human beings on the team. Um, if there’s no trust between people, then no team building exercise in one day is going to get you there. Um, that’s something that has to be cultivated and built. And so if you’re leading, um, you know, one team of three people, or you’re over a a couple of teams or a division or an entire group. As the leader, my encouragement would be find ways to connect with your people personally. And I think like that’s a whole nother subject. That could be a whole nother podcast. People say, check your, you know, personal stuff at the door, like, no, we’re human beings. Going back to that point, if you have a really horrible morning and you just got some really difficult news, you’re going to I’m I’m an emotional person. I wear that on my face so people know if there’s something going on. Um, cultivate personal connections, personal touch points, um, be consistent. Um, uh, honor what you say you’re going to do. And it doesn’t have to be this crazy big transformation.

Adam Bieber: Like, if for like very practical action steps. I always encourage leaders when I’m talking to them, like build into your routine either weekly or bi weekly. Touch points with your team and spend ten minutes of that meeting just connecting with them personally. How’s it going? How are you? How’s your family? What sports are your kids in and be genuine about it. Ask questions. Be be. Be curious. Um. Get into some of the business stuff. Get into. Hey, this is where I see you going. This is where you’re headed. Um, change up the way that you do your one on ones. Cultivate trust with your team. It’s hard to do it in an instant. But over time, you start to build this rapport and this this trust. And that trust turns into loyalty. It’s loyalty to the leader. It’s loyalty to the brand, loyalty to the company. And people want to stick around for for loyal, loyal bosses and loyal people. So, um, yeah, that it’s kind of hard to just say, do this one thing, but that would be where I would start.

Lee Kantor: Great.

Rachel Simon: Yeah. No, it is, um, I mean, it is really kind of just going back to basics, right? Yeah. I mean, I think that sometimes, especially as, like, organizations get bigger and bigger, they put this distance between the top and the, you know, the leadership and the people kind of lower down. Um, but, you know, we have to remember that everybody is showing up to work for a common goal, right? To move the business. The goals of that organization forward. So, yeah. Um, no, that’s that’s so interesting because you’ve got so many different aspects of like what you do professionally, right? You’ve got like your full time job, your consultancy. You’re also like a LinkedIn super user. So tell us a little bit about like what inspired you to start to build your brand. Yeah.

Adam Bieber: So I can actually relate it back. There’s a gentleman who I don’t think would care that I use his name because he’s in this, in this, uh, greater Atlanta area. His name is Peter Pasternak. And, um, he, uh, the company that I worked for with him, um, they were doing remodels and home renovations, and this was like, in my early 20s. And every time I would see him, um, he would ask me, Adam, did you build your network today? And I would look at him and be like, no, dude, I’m like, wearing boots. And I’m on this job site. Like, no, I didn’t build. And he would just say, build your network today. And then I watched him. And the way he cultivated relationships and they would do this real estate networking event that actually still happens, which is really cool. Um, and I think they just celebrated 14 or 16 years. Um, and I credit it back to him. He saw the value of building a network, cultivating relationships. And so that’s when I started. It was years ago, and I just wanted to connect with people and try to try to build and cultivate relationships. And I’ve seen in different seasons and stages of my life. And then kind of the growth trajectory of my career, it has been such a joy and a benefit to be able to, um, know so many great people, be connected to so many amazing people, support my friends that start businesses, support other creators and entrepreneurs, um, and and really, um, really build each other up. And that’s something that I’ve just loved about the the networking world, the LinkedIn world. Um, and when I launched my podcast almost three years ago, it gave me an immediate audience that was ready to hear more of my thoughts, ideas, and passions. And so it’s just been fun to be able to do that and, and share the things that I’m passionate about with others.

Rachel Simon: Can you think of a story of like a result of the what you’ve kind of put into LinkedIn? You know, like, I mean, there’s probably a great, you know, even if it’s because I can think of so many different ways of, you know, over the years where you’ve been able to connect this person with this person and it results in this. Right? Like, yeah.

Adam Bieber: I would just say like some of the coolest relationships. Um, and there’s been several very recently, like this year, um, I think out of the six most recent podcast guests, three of them were just LinkedIn connections that I met over LinkedIn. Um, saw their content, believed in who they were, start to got to know them just because of their presence. And, you know, going through the filter of like know like and trust like these were people that I felt like I got to know I really did like them. And I started to trust the validity of what they do. And then we connect. And one of the more recent ones, his name is Jeff. He runs a marketing agency. They have this really cool AI platform. They’re doing all kinds of different, um, marketing for, for businesses. Um, he and I were connected and he just reached out and was like, dude, I think we think a lot alike. I think we’re similar. I’d love to just get on a call if it’s any value. I’d love to jump on the podcast and share. And I just loved it. We got on the phone and it was like we were brothers. We knew, you know, we hit it off kind of like you and me when we first got on the phone. Rachel, we just hit it off. Um, and so it’s just it was just so cool. And then he came on the podcast and he started one and was like, all right, dude, I might call you and ask questions. And and then I got the camera that he uses. And so it’s just been fun to, to collaborate and help and, and build relationships like that. There’s so many stories just like that one.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned earlier, um, a tactic that Peter Pasternack uses of having in-person events. And I know, Rachel, you believe also in that, but is there any kind of tips you can share on how to execute an in-person event and to elevate your network, you know, from maybe online to in real life? Sure. Um, in order to deepen those relationship and accelerate relationships.

Adam Bieber: Sure, absolutely. Um, I’ll take it from the perspective of not not necessarily, um, like going through the nuts and bolts of event execution, because that’s not my strong suit. Uh, but showing up how you show up matters. That’s just a good law for life. Um, how you show up for your kids, how you show up for your spouse, how you show up to network, how you show up to work. It matters. Um, and so I, I always like to encourage, to show up, not looking for what you can get, but for looking for where you can serve. Um, and so I whenever I’m talking to people, I’m always thinking through the lens of, do I know someone that I could connect them to? Is there a way that I could? Um. And what’s so cool about the world and how it works? And, you know, whether you think it’s divine or just something in the ether or however you view it, that value that you give to someone comes back around and it’s amazing. And so I always go into I’ve come to your events, Rachel, I’ve, you know, I try to be at different events throughout the week and I always just go in with that mindset. Go in curious, ask questions, learn about people, um, share a little bit about who you are, and then look for ways that you can add value. And it’s so cool when those connections come back around and start introducing you to people that you can do business with that align. Um, it’s it’s more organic that way. It’s more relational that way. Um, I have a hard time when I walk into a room and somebody comes up and shoves the business card, and this is what I do, and we should work together. And I want to hear about, um, and it just it’s disingenuous. It doesn’t feel, um, it’s.

Rachel Simon: Icky. It just it’s it’s I try to.

Adam Bieber: Avoid that word, but it is. It’s not completely. Yeah.

Rachel Simon: And that’s why that doesn’t work on LinkedIn either in the DMs. Um. Oh, gosh. Yeah. No, I, you know, I love in-person events, and, um, we’re doing another. I’ll just do a little plug. We’re doing another LinkedIn local ATL happy hour in November. November 13th at Barn in Dunwoody. And, um, you know, just being a convener I think is so fun. Yeah. Right. And getting people in the room together and like, I’ve been really into these more relaxed events where it’s just like, hey, we’re going to this bar. Come get yourself a drink and talk to cool people. And you never know who you’re going to talk. And every single time we host these, somebody tells me, oh, I met this really good person, and now we’re doing x, y, z. Yeah. Yeah.

Adam Bieber: And if you’re no matter what realm of business you’re in, if you’re an entrepreneur or solopreneur or you work for a company, you’re in sales. You’re not in sales. How you present yourself, um, in in person and online. See, like when I leave those events, I take the business cards and I look those people up and I kind of just do a, you know, I connect with them and then I just, I kind of feel them out through their online presence and the ones that are super genuine. It’s just so cool because you build this relationship. They know what I’m about. I know what they’re about. We’re not sitting there trying to just sell, sell, sell to each other. But then what’s awesome is something not as sexy as information technology and cybersecurity comes up. They go, oh, Adam Bieber, you should call logic speak. I know somebody let me connect you. And that’s that’s the really cool thing that happens as a result. It’s not the driving force or the goal, but it’s one of the byproducts of building relationships and doing it in person in such a neat and cool way.

Rachel Simon: Yeah, and obviously your online persona should absolutely match the way you’re showing up in the real world. It’s really, really weird when it doesn’t for sure. Yeah.

Adam Bieber: I’m sure you’ve got stories.

Rachel Simon: I have a lot of stories. I have a lot of stories. But, you know, sometimes it’s like you just never know. Um, when you, you know, strike up a conversation. I was at a networking event last night, and, you know. Oh, hey. Hi. How are you? What do you do? Oh, I’m a CPA. I’m an accountant. And I was like, oh, my son’s an accounting major at Georgia. And he’s like, he is. Does he need an internship? I’m like, well, in fact, yes, he’s looking for internships, right? So I’m like, amazing, mutually beneficial introduction. Yep. Um, you just never know.

Adam Bieber: Yeah, they may never be a coaching client, but they’re going to be a big fan of you. They’re going to start to get to know you, your family and how cool. I mean, I call them circle of influence opportunities, where you just are the person that people think about. And I’ve actually started I would encourage others to do this. I’ve started creating. I’m actually going to put it in a spreadsheet because for me it was like a mental Rolodex of like, who do I know that does what and who do I trust? Who’s in my network that I believe in trust in? I would do business with if I was ready or able or needed. And so I’ve started to kind of build, like I know who I’m going to print with, I know who I’m going to ship with, I know who I’m going to, you know, buy a house with and get a loan from and, you know, all these things and it’s just from building relationships, networking, talking to people. And when the time comes, you can either give them direct business or you can point them in the right direction of somebody who needs them.

Rachel Simon: Yes, my husband would call that the I got a guy for that.

Adam Bieber: Yes, yes. I used to be one of my favorite things to be able to say I got it. And my brother actually just texted me the last week and I can’t remember what he asked for, and I and I wrote back, unfortunately, I do not have a guy for that.

Lee Kantor: So is there a story you could share about your work at Logic Speak? Maybe that illustrates how you were able to help a company that had a challenge, and once they started working with you, you were able to help them get to a new level.

Adam Bieber: Yeah, sure. Um, so what’s really cool about the kind of the clientele that we work with? Most companies already have a provider. Um, most companies are used to working with a third party IT company that comes in and augments a lot of the, the, the tasks that an IT person would do on the larger company side. Sometimes they have that IT person that goes and works on the server or helps people connect to printers and they work for that company, but they also know that it’s too much for that one person to handle. So they augment. And we call that co-managed. Um, so with that being said, a lot of times we work with people that have previous experience with other providers. Um, the Atlanta market, there’s a lot of IT providers. It’s very saturated. Um, and there’s a lot of really good ones. There’s some that struggle to really do all the things that they say they do, but there’s also a lot of really amazing companies in this area. Um, and sometimes what happens is a company will grow to a certain size and then they will, um, go through the acquisition process, get acquired. I think it’s every like small business person’s dream is to sell and, you know, sail off into the sunset. And so we actually had a recent scenario with a company that they had a really good relationship. Their their IT company was very close. That guy got the opportunity to sell sail off into the sunset.

Adam Bieber: He was involved for a while. And then his kind of terms of sticking around during the transition ended And when things transitioned, this company went from local provider really hands on approach personal to national provider IT team somewhere else, service desk somewhere else, having to fly people out if they want to meet with them. And it just wasn’t meeting their business needs. There are businesses that thrive with that model. There’s a bunch of them that I know that are doing really well, but for the ones that need that personal connection and personal touch, it was too much change. They went through a backup and disaster recovery issue. They had a server get hacked because of the gap in communication. It took them three weeks to get their data back from their provider and that should never happen. Um, we put systems in place that you can either spin it up within minutes. Um, that cost extra. There’s a whole nother layer of software and hardware that needs to be incorporated. Or we can we can restore within a business day. It took them three weeks to get. And we’re talking client data. So it was just a monumental, um, the, the, the lady that ran the office has, uh, she’s nearing retirement. She said this was the second worst day of my life, which is just crazy. And so we were able to come in. Hey, we’re down the road. Um, we can help.

Adam Bieber: Here’s what we’ll do. And I just kept showing up to the office and sitting with her and talking with them and meeting the team and getting them introduced to our executive staff. And what’s so cool is Jason’s been been leading the company for 20 years. Um, if I tell him, hey, we need to go in person and meet with this person, he will make the time to go and meet with the five person, ten person, 20 person company, sit down and answer questions and help provide reassurances that they need. So it’s just been really cool. We’ve been able to really turn the corner on their perception of our industry, and they just said, please don’t sell. And Jason said, it’s not on my radar right now. I’ll let you know if it does come up. But, um, just a neat experience to be able to kind of flip the script a little bit for them on their current experience and give them a much better one. And I’ll just say this most the number one feedback we got from our end of year surveys from our clients was your team is very kind to work with, and that’s saying a lot about it people. We have a genuinely kind, easy to work with team. All the technicians, all of our engineers. They’re brilliant, but they’re also genuinely good and kind people and that makes a difference. That’s such a nice compliment. Yeah, it is.

Lee Kantor: And it speaks to the culture.

Adam Bieber: Yeah it does.

Rachel Simon: Yeah, it sure does. That’s you would not expect that in the. I’m sure that was a surprise like kind you’d think like oh brilliant. Competent like yeah. Responsive. But they’re just like genuinely nice, genuinely kind.

Adam Bieber: They’re lucky to work. They’re here. We’re not we’re not shipping it offshore. Um, larger companies need to do that I get it. It’s, you know, it is a business practice. I’m not here to knock it. But when you can really connect with the person that you’re talking to, I mean, it all kind of connects to go back to building relationships. Humans helping humans. Um. Ah, Jason, who founded Logic Speak, will often say we are people serving people. We’re not going to we’re not going to sit there and just think that we’re machines, serving machines. That’s not how we do things. We are people who serve people.

Rachel Simon: And and like you said, if you’re working in a lot of the professional services, we’re talking attorneys, accountants. That’s a lot of very highly classified and important information that needs to be secure.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, and they’re probably not tech savvy. So they they’re relying on humans to help them solve this problem. Right.

Adam Bieber: The going rate for cybercrime is $164 per piece of compromised information. So take one document that has address, phone number, name, social.

Rachel Simon: Security number, social.

Speaker5: Security, credit card routing.

Adam Bieber: Information, credit card information. One one document could cost thousands. And then you take a legal document. I unfortunately got divorced five years ago. I’m remarried now, but when I went through that process, the stack of papers that I had to go through and read, oh my gosh, if one attorney got hit and only one client’s information was compromised, we’re talking about thousands, tens of thousands of dollars in not just losses, but, um, um, fines. And I mean, it really could be catastrophic. And so then when you multiply that over multiple clients, um, it’s so serious and so important to have a strong practice in place, a posture that says we’re going to protect and defend from all cybercrime. Yeah.

Rachel Simon: I mean, and, you know, to reiterate what you said earlier, every organization, no matter how small, is a technology company these days, because we all do everything through our technology, through our different platforms, right? Even if you’re a solopreneur and you’re using QuickBooks, you’re a technology company.

Speaker5: Yep.

Rachel Simon: Um, awesome.

Lee Kantor: Now, if somebody wants to learn more about your IT firm or your consultancy, what are the websites? What’s the best way to connect with you?

Adam Bieber: Yeah, I, think I’m pretty easy to find. My last name is Bieber and spelled just like Justin Bieber. So I would say connect with me on LinkedIn because that’s the best way. I’m there most of the time during the day. Um, but if you want to email me directly with logic speak, it’s just hello at Logic Speak Comm. That’s a super easy one. And the name of my podcast is Synergetic Culture. Um, that pops up too if you search Spotify and Apple and then the email for that is Adam at Synergetic culture.com. You’re an.

Rachel Simon: Easy man to.

Speaker5: Find. Yeah.

Lee Kantor: And the website for logic. Yeah.

Adam Bieber: W-w-w dot logic speak.com.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff. Well thank you so much for sharing your story.

Adam Bieber: Thank you for having me. This has been a lot of fun. I really appreciate you guys and hope to do it again soon.

Rachel Simon: Yes, we loved having you on.

Speaker5: All right.

Lee Kantor: This is Lee Kantor for Rachel Simon. We’ll see you all next time on Sandy Springs Business Radio.

 

About Your Host

Rachel-SimonRachel Simon is the CEO & Founder of Connect the Dots Digital. She helps B2B companies close more business by leveraging the power of LinkedIn.

Rachel works with professionals, both individuals and teams, to position their authentic brand on LinkedIn so they can connect organically with ideal clients, attract the best talent, and stand out as a leader in their industry.

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Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn.

BRX Pro Tip: Non Sponsor BRX Revenue Streams

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BRX Pro Tip: Non Sponsor BRX Revenue Streams

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, all of our studio partners, myself included, a core revenue stream for us is to have professional services providers underwrite, sponsor a show, and as a result, they build great relationships, they get that actual green dollar ROI. But there are quite a few non-sponsor Business RadioX revenue streams, so speak to a few of those, if you will.

Lee Kantor: That’s kind of one of the benefits of being a Business RadioX Studio partner is you have access to over, I want to say, two dozen. I think we have somewhere on our website where we mentioned close to two dozen or maybe even over two dozen other revenue streams.

Lee Kantor: And the beauty of the Business RadioX platform when you’re a partner, all of our partners set their own pricing. All of our partners keep 100 percent of the revenue generated. We do not have an operation where there’s a royalty, where there’s any type of way where they have to pay us ongoing based on any of these revenue streams. They just pay a subscription fee to Business RadioX, and they keep all the money and they can set their own pricing. So, that is a super important benefit of working with us.

Lee Kantor: So, some of the most popular non-show sponsorship revenue streams that our business partners are making money from every day, a lot of them, and us included, are doing on site broadcasts at conferences or trade shows where we actually go into a trade show booth or at a conference and interview the folks there. That is a really great revenue stream for a lot of folks.

Lee Kantor: It’s a high dollar amount because it really sets apart our clients from everybody else because we’re doing a live broadcast inside of their event. It elevates the event. It helps the event get more sponsors because there can be a radio sponsor. So, it’s a win-win-win all the way around. And we’re really good at facilitating this. And during one day of one of these events, we could interview 20 or 30 different people so it’s creating a ton of content, and it’s creating a ton of possible revenue for that event or our clients.

Lee Kantor: Another thing that we do, another revenue stream that our studio partners can tap into is that they can work with groups to interview their clients or their members. That’s something that we’ve been benefiting from where we work with associations and groups and really capture a lot of testimonials and a lot of really good content for our clients by interviewing their clients or members.

Lee Kantor: Another thing, another revenue stream for folks is content repurposing on a variety of social media channels. We have taken the content we created, and on behalf of our clients, repurposed it and created more content from it, and created a content strategy or a lot of content opportunities for them to repurpose the content in a variety of channels down the road.

Lee Kantor: Another thing that we’ve been doing is this community partner program for ambassadors who believe in our mission and want to contribute financially, but can’t afford a formal show sponsorship. So, we give them a way to participate at a community partner level.

Lee Kantor: That’s a couple ways. Other things to think of that folks have been doing, we do podcast coaching to teach somebody how to run a podcast or to create a podcast. Some of our folks have Patreon, that’s a common way to make money from your show. We have ambassador referral programs. We have studio partner referral programs. So, people who refer clients and business people to us is another way to make money. Preferred vendor sponsorships, that’s another way.

Lee Kantor: Things that you could do, we haven’t really done a lot of but it’s possible. Our mastermind group facilitations do group coaching around with all the people that you know. Workshops, podcast recording in kind of just a service delivery manner where we’ll just record somebody else’s podcast because they don’t have the access to the equipment we have. So, there’s lots and lots of ways that you can make money being a Business RadioX Studio partner that go well beyond just sponsoring a show.

Stone Payton: So, a couple of my favorites, I don’t think you mentioned them. I do the thought leadership segments like the audio newsletter. Sometimes I bundle these services, but it can be a separate service. And then, for smaller clients, sometimes attached to the community partner program, I’ll incorporate live reads on the local house show. And then, for those of you in the golf cart community, like Woodstock, Georgia, I’ve got golf cart sponsorships. So, I’m driving around town in my golf cart constantly. I’ve got magnetic signs that I can switch in and out.

Stone Payton: There’s virtually no limit to ways for helping people in making money with this methodology and this platform.

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