Navigating Business Growth: Essential Sales Strategies and Risk Management for Small Business Owners

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Joshua Kornitsky: Welcome to Cherokee Business Radio, where business leaders get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession. I’m Joshua Kornitsky here with you. And today we’ve got three guests in the studio. And I’d like to start by introducing Jeanee Gutierrez, the founder of Action Plan Sales. Jeanee, good morning. Welcome.

Jeane Gutierrez: Good morning. Happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

Joshua Kornitsky: Thank you for coming in. We sure appreciate it. So tell me a little bit about what you do.

Jeane Gutierrez: Sure. So what I do is I help business owners get more sales. That’s what I tell a five year old.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, then you’re on the right. The right track with me.

Jeane Gutierrez: So basically, um, to kind of break it down is, um, I build a path to more sales so that it’s consistent and repeatable, and that’s what I do because there’s so many small business owners out there.

Joshua Kornitsky: So what types of things do you see when you’re working with these business owners? Do they make a lot of the same mistakes?

Jeane Gutierrez: Yes, they absolutely do because you really think about it, right? You’re a small business owner. You go into business. Why? Because you have a passion or you have an expertise in a certain area. Um, but did you go into it because, hey, I really love sales quotas. I really love sales training and metrics. You know. No, that’s not why. So.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, so when you’re helping the folks that you’re helping, um, you know, what are some of the reasons that they struggle?

Jeane Gutierrez: Oh, gosh. I would say the biggest thing when it comes to small and medium business owners is they struggle because they’re growing. And what they do is they promote or they put someone in that business sales spot or a business manager, their top person. So, you know, maybe they their their partner or someone who is great in operations and great out in the field doing whatever it is in the trades or a professional person. They put them in the sales role and you know, that’s not the right thing. I mean, so you’re actually promoting someone, but they’re not a salesperson. So that’s the biggest mistake.

Joshua Kornitsky: So if they’ve let’s say they’ve put that person in and they may be the wrong person in the wrong seat or even the right person, but in the wrong seat, what do you do when you get involved with them to help get that on track?

Jeane Gutierrez: Okay. So the first thing is, um, and they’re not they’re not um, so everyone does this. It’s it’s not unique. And the reason they do this is because they say, well, this person has done such a great job, they know the business. And it could be even the owner, the owner themselves, they know the business so well, so of course they’re going to be the ones to sell it, to do the sales. And in the beginning, yes, that works. But when you’re trying to scale, what I do is I come in and see what the gaps are first, you know, you got to assess and a lot of a lot of times the number one thing is they don’t have a process. It’s all in their head. So it’s really hard when they’re trying to hire that next person to get all that stuff out in the head and, you know, verbally or do a ride along and you know, that only works so much. So basically you have to have something that’s very concrete, like what is the strategy? Who are you trying to target? And then what is that actual process look like from getting the lead in how to close the sale. And then really, you know, how do you follow up there and how do you track, um, success? All of those things are things that have to be put down, like in a sales playbook.

Joshua Kornitsky: So that’s a great concept. The first thought that occurs to me because using the example of of having that person who grew with the business sort of organically, right. They don’t necessarily know what all those steps are. All they’ve done is repeat what’s worked and avoided what hasn’t worked. So how do you help them kind of make sense of the chaos?

Jeane Gutierrez: So what’s great is I come in and sometimes I don’t even know what the business is. And that’s better because, you know, you have that blind spot because like you said, you know so much about it. So the customer or your target market does not. And you’re trying to solve a problem that they may not know that they have or a pain point. So it’s really asking questions like a five year old why why this why that. By doing that then you can actually break it down so that it’s very easy to explain and very easy to ask questions. And I’m going to get into that later. But the most important thing is oh, we were some of my colleagues here were talking about that. You know, when you’re selling something, people buy based on emotion, it’s not logic. Um, and they can’t buy on emotion unless they feel something. They can’t feel something if they don’t understand. So there are all these things happening in the background. But that business owner, they just know it. It’s part of their DNA. They hire someone, they’re not going to know it. So you got to break it down. It’s like when you’re training someone, you know, you’re a car mechanic and of course everything is, you know, it’s it’s second nature to you. You come in, I’m like, okay, I know I can do it if you just tell me what’s what.

Joshua Kornitsky: So, okay, you’ve, you’ve gone and you’ve you’ve helped them create a playbook. They’ve now got a process and they begin to sell. What happens when when the sale outpaces or the selling outpaces their ability to manage or to lead that. Because oftentimes you’ve got the, you know, the founder who’s busy doing other things right. And and now they’ve got this gap where they’ve got selling, but they don’t have leadership. How does that.

Jeane Gutierrez: Oh, okay. So, um, well, that’s a key to their selling, but they really should have someone that’s managing the day to day. The questions that they have. So, you know, salespeople are innately very self-sufficient. They want to be, you know, um, do you have the right incentives in place? Do you have the right commission in place? Um, you know, depending on what your company goals are, what are you trying to sell? So you put the incentives focused on that. Then you have to look at their activities. Because you know what? If you don’t put that in there, um, you may have someone just making 1 or 2 calls a day. Uh, so there’s lots of things that a manager looks at. It’s not a fun thing, but it’s something that needs to happen.

Joshua Kornitsky: Right. But do you help them in the event?

Jeane Gutierrez: Yes, I can help them as well. Um, so what I do is I’m, I’m what’s known as a fractional VP of sales. And so what that does is for small businesses, they may not be able to afford a full time sales manager. So I can help manage maybe one day a week, maybe a couple hours a week, whatever it is to scale. So the idea is that I help them grow to a point where they can now hire a full time sales manager, because a sales team does need someone managing them.

Joshua Kornitsky: So you’ve come in, you’ve established a playbook, you’ve helped them work out their compensation, their bonus plan, and then you’ve kind of rode shotgun while they get everything tightened up in an order. Do you just wash hands or do you help them find that next right person to fill that chair?

Jeane Gutierrez: Oh, I love how you tee that up. Yes, that is something that I can do as well. So it’s really just as from beginning to end. Beginning like really putting a strategy in place, rolling up my sleeves, putting that process together and then finding that person. So yes, there are things to look for. Um, you know, to make sure that there’s a personality fit, a culture fit, a skill set fit, depending on that industry.

Joshua Kornitsky: That makes perfect sense. So how did you learn to do all of these things?

Jeane Gutierrez: Oh my gosh, it’s just over time. Um, I started out actually in advertising. So a creative, uh, um, field and marketing. Um, but I fell into sales. But I was very fortunate because I ended up with a fortune 500 company. And, um, so they have the resources, those large companies, you know, they spend so much money on training. So I was trained for so many things. Um, and I didn’t realize that those processes that I learned that I, um, you know, used was what helped me become successful. Um, and then later, when I was in leadership, I just kind of used use the process as that, that I was taught. But, um, then later, um, when I wanted to find something more meaningful because, you know, big companies, you’re just looked at as a, um, you know, as a number, right? So even though I was doing well, it starts over and resets the next year. So I’m like, what is wrong?

Joshua Kornitsky: What have you done for me lately?

Jeane Gutierrez: Exactly. So the most meaningful was when, um, someone said, you know, there’s this business owner. Um, he’s got a small business, $3 million, and he’s struggling, and but he’s been in business for 20 years. And when I went in, I’m like, okay, let me see what I can do. And I was like, really surprised that they didn’t have a CRM, which is, you know, a software to be able to track activities. They didn’t they didn’t. They kept going through salespeople every, um, every nine months, which is crazy because they did not know who they were hiring. They were promoting people from within that they thought was good, and it would be frustrating for them for both sides, or they would hire outside, think, oh, you know, this person did really well in sales in this industry. Well, so there’s just there’s just a lot of things that go into it. So but I found that helping him, the CEO, um, was much more meaningful because I felt like I could see the impact I was making by just putting processes in place. He was he’s not alone. I mean, there’s so many businesses owned a business owners out there that just don’t have these because like I said before, they go into business not thinking about this, they’re just focused on that one product or service. Um, and then they get to this, you know, usually they’re very successful because they have 1 or 2 really large clients and it’s referral based, and they hit a plateau. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and you and I were talking earlier and you had mentioned that there was this really complex relationship between competition and business growth. And I feel like this is maybe where that wood would fall in. So can you explain so that people understand?

Jeane Gutierrez: Yeah. So actually, you know, a lot of people, I mean, owners and salespeople are afraid of competition. And I had to learn this over time. The competition is actually good, especially if you really know, um, who you are as a company, what your value is and how you’re different, because then you can capitalize on that and really set yourself apart. Um, and actually, um, kind of brainstorm on what additional value you can bring. But, but you need to do the work. You need to understand who your competition is. Right. But also the reason competition is good is, um, because if you’re the first to market, you have to spend all this marketing dollars to really educate people. If there’s competition out there, people already know what your product or service is. You just need to stand out. And so that is a marketing and a sales um feat in in marketing and sales are different.

Joshua Kornitsky: No question at all. No question at all. Two completely different disciplines. So when you’ve helped people and they begin to grow and they they start to experience a level of success, is that the end of your engagement with them, or do you work with ownership to continue on towards some eventual sunset?

Jeane Gutierrez: Yeah, that’s the goal because the goal is I, I am not looking to work full time for a company. I’m looking to help several. And that’s like I said, that’s what’s meaningful for me. I’m now able to put in, see, um, the impact that I make. So that is my goal is to get to that point where they’re self-sufficient and it really depends on them. Um, maybe I’ll check in once a year. But really, the goal is for them to be self-sufficient with a sales manager, and they can do it on their own.

Joshua Kornitsky: So what advice do you give a business owner who say wants to exit at a certain point?

Jeane Gutierrez: Oh, you mean like exit? Like.

Joshua Kornitsky: Like we’ve talked about your exit. But let’s talk about their exit. Their exit. You’ve helped them achieve a level of success, and now they start looking towards their own future. And often business owners do have a long term plan of of exiting at some point. Right. Are you able to help them with that?

Jeane Gutierrez: Yes, I can, and actually, if they have someone like me from the beginning to set this in place when they exit, their valuation will be so much more than if they didn’t. So so if I if I was in their, then they have everything in place to be able when they, um, you know, bring on um, someone who does the valuation. All of that will be, you know, because their contracts are sticky, meaning that, uh, someone I’m not a financial person, but. So someone financial will look at it and they see, oh, wow, there’s this many contracts so I can give a higher valuation on the contrast. If a business owner says, you know, I think I’m going to, um, exit in a couple of years, but they don’t have anything in place. They’re going to get a much lower valuation because they don’t have a process. They’re going to be in the business probably, um, helping, um, after they sell because, um, they, they are not able to scale without them. They can’t remove them. So how much time? I was just going to say something that’s really quick.

Joshua Kornitsky: At least we got all the time you need.

Jeane Gutierrez: Because it’s interesting you bring that up because right now, you know, everyone’s heard of baby boomers, right?

Joshua Kornitsky: I’ve encountered 1 or 2.

Jeane Gutierrez: 1 or 2, and we don’t know. In this room everyone looks young, so there’s probably no one in here.

Joshua Kornitsky: There’s a baby outside. It helps.

Jeane Gutierrez: But baby boomers, basically, um, they’re born between, I think 46 and 64. It’s a huge I mean, they’re 40, 40% of business owners are small, are our baby boomers. So they’re going to retire. And 10,000 baby boomers retire each day. So this is a huge group of people. What’s going to happen? Are they going to get the most out of it? You know, are they going to, um, what’s the succession plan? Are they going to sell to someone? Are they going to have a family member take over or someone? Those are all questions they need to ask themselves, and they really need a 3 to 5 year, um, what is that called, path or runway?

Joshua Kornitsky: Gotcha.

Jeane Gutierrez: To to do it successfully.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. Well, first, thank you for sharing your knowledge and your insight. But second, I want to ask you one last question before I ask how people can get in touch with you. What would you say is the best piece of advice you’ve gotten in your career?

Jeane Gutierrez: Okay, there’s a tie for two, and I think it’s really important. And, um, one of them is, you know, you can have a million problems until it’s a health problem. Then you only have one. So we can talk about business, we can talk about career and goals. But really, you Do you know when you’re on a plane and you know, the flight attendant says, put on your oxygen mask before you put it on someone else? Well, you’ve got to always take care of your health because then you that’s your physical and your mental and emotional health. Then you’re able to be a good family member and then that. See, we’re a whole person. We’re not just a business owner. Then you’re able to be successful in your business. So I think that’s that’s one the other one is love who you are, because all your little quirks and everything, that’s what makes you different and that’s what makes your business different.

Joshua Kornitsky: My mom says it makes me special.

Jeane Gutierrez: Yep. That’s right.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, Jeanene, thank you again. Uh, Jeanene Gutierrez, founder of Action Plan Sales. And, Jeanene, what’s the best way for folks to reach you?

Jeane Gutierrez: The best way is to go into the Cherokee Business Radio website.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. We will have all that contact information posted there. Uh, I hope are you able to hang out while we talk to the rest of our guests?

Jeane Gutierrez: Oh, absolutely. I can’t wait to hear.

Joshua Kornitsky: Really appreciate that. Thank you so much. Thank you again. Jeane Gutierrez action plan sales. So moving on to someone I’ve known for, well, let’s just say a little while, but certainly longer than a moment. I’d like to introduce my friend, my own personal insurance broker, and, uh, an unbelievable senior partner with Risk and Insurance of North Georgia. Dana Dorris. Good morning.

Dana Dorris: Joshua. I’m glad to be here. Thanks for inviting me.

Joshua Kornitsky: Thanks for being here. So tell us a little bit about what you do and how you help.

Dana Dorris: Okay, so I am a 20 year veteran. That makes me sound old in the risk management.

Joshua Kornitsky: You started at 2.

Dana Dorris: That’s right. In the risk management and insurance industry. I have worked both on in the agency field as well as on the corporate side. So it enables me to understand, you know, what goes on behind the scenes with underwriting and rating and product solutions and that sort of thing, as well as being able to serve the community as an insurance agent.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, I said broker, I apologize. It’s okay, it’s okay.

Dana Dorris: It’s fine.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s fine. Sorry. Um, so in in the time we’ve known one another and as you mentioned, you’ve kind of held different roles within the sphere of insurance. What would you say are the biggest things you’ve learned on that journey?

Dana Dorris: So I mean, gosh, it’s such a wide spectrum of of things that I’ve learned. Um, I think, you know, when the rubber meets the road, so to speak, I think that it comes down to serving the client. And I think that you learn throughout, whether you’re the, um, feet on the street, talking with the clients in the community or you’re at the senior most corporate level, the end result is the same that you’re trying to serve that client and do what’s best for them. So I think that’s the most important lesson is just when you peel the onion back, you’re at the end of the day, you’re taking care of the client.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, well, and in taking care of the client in particular to that journey, tell us a little bit about about risk and insurance of North Georgia, because I happen to know they take good care of their clients.

Dana Dorris: Right, right.

Joshua Kornitsky: So so what makes you different?

Dana Dorris: Okay. So, um, risk and insurance consultants I’m going to start there is our Atlanta office. And it was founded back in 2006 by, um, two gentlemen, Bobby Kitchen and Steve Molina. And they have a great agency. And in 2022, I decided to partner with them to open risk and Insurance Consultants of North Georgia is a local agency, is quite different. The Atlanta office focuses a lot on large commercial. They do have a personal lines department, life and health, all of all of the things. Right. But, uh, the North Georgia office was specifically designed to be that neighborhood agency where we could really focus in on the community and be that, um, that one stop shop there in our our North Georgia location. Uh, we focus primarily on personal lines. We do some small business as well. And, um, it’s been great. It’s been a lot of fun integrating into the North Georgia community. That’s where, uh, Steve, who serves as the president of risk and Insurance consultants, and then, um, I, we both live in the Emerson area, and the agency is right there.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. And you and I run into each other at networking events all the time. We do. Um, so I know when we were talking earlier, you had mentioned that there were really, uh, some interesting new products that that you’ve embraced and kind of created to bring forward. Uh, I think one of them was the, the essential and then the, the Rev Match Motorsports insurance. Can you tell us a little bit about those, so that people that are looking for those things will know they’re available?

Dana Dorris: Sure, sure, sure. So, um, listening to Jeanee speak about marketing and, and sales plans and that sort of thing, it, it it kind of ties in. Um, so the insurance market has changed dramatically over the last three years. I’m sure you all see it within your pocketbook, right? As you’re paying premiums and as you’re shopping your insurance and and all of the above. Well, essential was born, um, November of 24 out of a need. And so basically what essential is, is a nonstandard Department of risk and insurance consultants of North Georgia. And what do I mean by that. So underwriting guidelines really, uh, tightened the market became what we call in the insurance industry, a hard market. And we had to start looking for other solutions for our clients so that they could even qualify for auto insurance.

Joshua Kornitsky: Really, it’s become that big of a problem.

Dana Dorris: Some people that, yes, some people that, um, you know, had standard insurance all of a sudden became substandard. And we, we felt like it was our, our responsibility and duty to make sure that we were able to provide a product to them, for them. Um, you know, so that they could, could meet the guidelines for the state of Georgia. So essential was born out of a need. And it just so happened that we had a, uh, an employee at risk and Insurance consultants of North Georgia that had previously specialized in the, um, nonstandard market. So she came in and we’ve been able to to, you know, find a solution for our clients, which has been really great.

Joshua Kornitsky: And has that been something that they’ve adopted.

Dana Dorris: It is, it is. It’s nice. It’s nice to be able to, you know, they call in for an auto quote in, in our agents that would typically say, I’m sorry, we can’t help you. It’s been nice to be able to offer something that’s, you know, taking care of their need. In addition, we’ve become a referral, um, source for other exclusive agents in our area that that doesn’t have that nonstandard.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic. So it’s something that you can offer.

Dana Dorris: It is, it is. And the time back how I started with, with Jeane is that, you know, we we looked at a sales plan where we couldn’t sell a lot of auto insurance to on our side. So, um, it was we were able to, you know, think about how can we help our community, but also bring in a different sales acquisition process. So a little bit of both.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. And and the rev match Motorsports.

Dana Dorris: So rev match is is just launching now. I’m really excited about it.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, tell us about it.

Dana Dorris: Yeah. So it is a motor sports insurance. Motor sports insurance. Um, department, we’ll call it a department of, of our agency. And so we will be specializing in collector cars. Um, which we’ve done a lot of anyway. Uh, race teams, racing facilities. Um, you know, a lot of, of things that pertain to cars. So performance shops. I’m just trying to think off the top of my head. I have.

Joshua Kornitsky: A list. How did you get into that space?

Dana Dorris: Okay, so Joshua and I met, um, 25 years ago. We were both in the car business.

Joshua Kornitsky: It was. It was more of a daycare center.

Dana Dorris: Uh, well. Well, we’ll let you go with that. Fair enough. Um, but basically, um, I love cars. I think it stems from being a young girl and my dad and my brother fixing up old cars in the garage at our house, you know, just fixing up and and car shows and, you know, all the things that that muscle cars looked like in the, the 80s, right? And so for me, um, I’ve always enjoyed going to car shows. I’m lucky my husband loves cars, and so we may have too many at our house right now. Uh, kind of thing.

Joshua Kornitsky: I know a lady that can get great insurance.

Dana Dorris: I know, I know. And then, um, Steve Molina, who I mentioned earlier, serves as our president of risk and insurance consultants. He, too, loves cars. And so he was doing a lot on the, um, racing side, and I was doing a lot on the collector car side. So we decided to brand this thing and name it Rev match. And Rev match has a specific meeting. Steve can explain it way better than I can, but when you’re racing, it has to do with the RPMs and the gas that you you give and it’s and it translates over translates over to insurance because for us, it’s all about the risk management side and making sure that we are understanding our clients and we are understanding what we need to do to provide them the best overall coverage that’s going to take care of their needs. And so we’ve been, um, you know, dabbling, dabbling in this motor sports insurance and just decided to attack it full force. Because what we’ve learned being out in the industry is that not a lot of people understand cars, understand, um, the racing, but they also don’t understand the risk management component because there are a lot of things that we do anyway. And we might do it for a restaurant, we might do it for a car dealership, we might do it for a manufacturer already. That just translates beautifully over to this motor sports arena, because we are able to make sure they have everything in place. There’s a lot of different areas.

Joshua Kornitsky: I can’t even begin to imagine, but I would have to think that the person that’s drawn to motorsports, they understand risk management in a different way, right?

Dana Dorris: That’s right, that’s right.

Joshua Kornitsky: How fast can I go around the corner? Is their version of risky?

Dana Dorris: I know, I know. So we’re really excited about it.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, see, you touched on earlier, uh, the fact that you grew up around cars that your dad and your brother, uh, we’re into cars, but it makes me ask the question of thinking about your life and your work. Your your active. I know for a fact in the community to an extreme level. You’ve got new products that you’re offering at work. How do you keep it all balanced?

Dana Dorris: Oh, well, you know, sometimes there’s not enough hours in the day. That is absolutely for certain. But, um, I think it’s important at the end of the day to make sure that, um, you know, what comes first comes first. And my family is very, very important to me. So sometimes I do have to turn it off just like everybody else, to be able to go home and spend time with the ones I love. But as I mentioned earlier, it’s I’m in a little different scenario now. Um, maybe I’m a little seasoned, seasoned agent in more ways than one, right? My kids are grown. My husband loves cars. Um, my husband is also in the insurance industry, so he brings a whole nother level of education and experience from the claims perspective. That helps me, um, with my clients. Make sure too, that we’re handling everything professionally and to the best of our ability because I know what goes on on the other side of the the coin when the the claims happen.

Joshua Kornitsky: So you’re able to collaborate and.

Dana Dorris: We collaborate all the time, maybe a little too much.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s great. Well, that’s but that’s the secret to success both personally and professionally. Learning to work with one another. Right? Right. Um, so I guess the the listening to the personal side of your life a little bit and trying to understand more about that and knowing that that in in the foundational days of our mutual careers, we worked with some pretty incredible people and some remarkable people using that word in its broadest sense. Uh, I know what I took away from it, but what would you say is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Dana Dorris: Um, I’m going to I’m going to say two things. Uh, number one. Uh, my dad always says that if you love what you do, it’s not a job. Okay. And I do love what I do. And so I feel a passion, still, 20 years later, about helping people and making sure that, um, you know, they have what they need. Uh, my little tagline has always been protecting today and preparing for tomorrow. So I feel I own that, I own that, and then my my other thing is, you know, things don’t always go as you expect for them to go in your career, right?

Joshua Kornitsky: No.

Dana Dorris: Sad but true. You may have the best intentions, but sometimes things don’t work out. And I know in 2020, I was involved in a in a reduction in force. Right. And so I lost my job after 16 years with the same carrier. And it was very difficult. You know, I used to feel sorry.

Dana Dorris: For people who. Right. Who go through half are forced to go through a career change. Um. And I was 50. So you know it. I felt sorry for people who had to go through that. And then all of a sudden, I was one. And I was on, um, the great base of wisdom Tree called LinkedIn.

Joshua Kornitsky: We can all get a good laugh out of that.

Dana Dorris: Right? I saw a quote and it stuck with me and it basically said, you can get bitter or you can get better. It’s your choice. And so I chose to get better. And that’s when when Risk and Insurance Consultants of North Georgia was born. And I think that was excellent advice from an unknown source.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well that’s fantastic advice. And it’s and it’s a great point for us to to wrap up. Thank you for sharing. Uh, everything about risk and insurance consultants of North Georgia. Um, quick question. The the, uh, essential and the rev match. Are those both available now? They are wonderful. What’s the best way for folks to reach you?

Dana Dorris: So our main agency line is (470) 689-0151.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Dana Dorris: And I can be reached there.

Joshua Kornitsky: Fantastic. And we’ll also have the information on our website when all of this goes live. So anybody that didn’t get that number can, can check there to get a hold of you via all the, the normal social ways and, and even pick up some some additional insight from the occasional anonymous quote. Misquote. Are you able to stay with us for just a little bit longer?

Dana Dorris: I am, I’m looking forward to it. And thank you again for having me today, Joshua.

Joshua Kornitsky: Thank you. And Jeane, thank you as well for being here. So let me introduce our third guest. Uh, this is Mr. Richard Flournoy. And Richard and I met through professional channels. He was actually a client of mine. And then he was not a client of mine through no choice of our own. But he became a fantastic friend, uh, a trusted consultant, an advisor. And, uh, I’ve learned more from him than I think I ever taught him as a as a teacher. Uh, let me please introduce Richard Flournoy, uh, the founder co-founder of Lux and Roam Travel out of White, Georgia, also the co-founder of Deep Dive Plumbing and Drain and a consultant with Service Titan. So, Richard, welcome. What on earth are you doing now? Well.

Richard Flournoy : When Joshua called me to ask me to do this, I was like, what in the heck is this about? And I and I said, well, really, do you really need to think about what this is about? Is Joshua just do it? So I didn’t put much thought to it and I just showed up. And I don’t know if any of y’all have ever heard of Doctor Mehrabian of UCLA, but he has a seven 3855 rule and 55% of communication is the body language, 38% is your tone and inflection, and 7% is the words you say. Now, I know none of y’all can see the body language in this room, but it’s absolutely amazing what I realize that this show is about people helping people because we’re all in the people business. And as I’m listening to both these ladies talk, I’m like, I could use her in my future business and I could absolutely use her and my future business and their their stories are amazing and and the tone and you can tell by the tone and inflection by how genuine they are. But watching their body language tells the whole story. And while we won’t remember everything that they said, I’ll remember how they made me feel today and the way Joshua made me feel in this room. So, uh, thank you for inviting me on here.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, thank you for being here. So. So let’s take them one at a time. And I actually skipped over one of your businesses, which is Flournoy Consulting, which you’ve already led with. So tell us a little bit about what Flournoy Consulting is and who you help and how you help. Well, I.

Richard Flournoy : If we could go back in time a minute, I would rather go back in time. So in 20, I’m sorry. 2001, the day after September 11th, I started my first business, a Total Plumbing. And I had a very, very weak why I wanted to start it because I didn’t like working for somebody. So for the first 16 years of that business, I operated by the law of accident, which means that I didn’t have a plan and I just just kind of floundered around. And in 2016, I discovered, I’m sorry, 2017, I discovered the law of cause and effect. And what that means is that if you have a plan and you execute on that plan and you learn and you do and you learn and you fail and you fail and you do and you learn that you’re going to succeed. And I also learned that if you have a strong enough why, you can bear any what. So the why went from I didn’t want a boss to I want to be a provider for my family, my wife Felicia, who’s also a master plumber, my daughter, who just got accepted into law school, congratulations. My 21 year old son that lived his first year of life in HOA and they sent him home after a year, said he’s not going to make it very long, but we want you to spend time with him. He’s been on a on a ventilator since birth. And because because he was such a strong. We had such a strong.

Richard Flournoy : Why? To take care of him. Now he’s 21, about to celebrate his 22nd birthday. And we went to our first adult hospital. And they’ve never seen a kid like Jackson that’s on a ventilator because typically they don’t live this long. And so they didn’t really know how to do it. Which which is a testament to the love and the power of God and the, uh, goal setting and the strong. Why? But he’s going to be 22. And then my why is still the same provide for my wife and kids. And so I kind of do a lot of things. But the primary thing that I want to do is help people, whether it’s through Flournoy Consulting, whether it’s through transformative travel, through Lux and Rome Travel, or whether it’s through Flournoy Consulting. Um, uh, I started when I started that first business. It was with a rented van that I paid $50 a week to my grandfather and it had no air conditioning. It was painted with house paint, and I literally had $250 in the bank. And I grew it, and I sold it for ten figures in 2022. And then I read, and then I resold it a second time and made more money off of it. And then I thought I was done with the plumbing business. So I started a consulting company, and I became a professional speaker and coach. And I so far I’ve coached, uh, an OCD therapist, an attorney, a heating and air company and a plumbing company.

Joshua Kornitsky: And what type of coaching do you provide, Richard?

Richard Flournoy : Um, so I do mindset, uh, and goal setting because business is 95% mindset and 5% strategy. But that 5% strategy has to be so good that it equals that 95%. But if you don’t have the mindset, then the strategy is worthless, absolutely worthless. So I help I help bridge the gap to just know that you can do it. But you got to. You got to have clear written goals, uh, and you got to have the right mindset and you got to have that deep why. And like you can have everybody has a why. But you have to clarify it and you have to write it down. And then the mind can only think about one thing at a time, whether positive or negative. And so anytime I had a negative thought, I pull out this index card and it would have my why. Or I’d look at a picture of my son and my wife and my daughter, and then it would say, that’s why you got to keep going.

Joshua Kornitsky: Pretty powerful motivation.

Richard Flournoy : So that’s a little bit about me and I, and I know the looks and Rome. It sounds like I’m doing a lot of things, but they all complement each other because travel is one thing that people neglect that they a lot of people work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work. And they’ll go on a little vacation here and there, but they don’t truly release. And in order to really activate your super conscious mind, you’ve got to go on a vacation where you forget about the world. Here, here. Forget about everything. So?

Joshua Kornitsky: So tell us about that. Tell us what? What? So you’ve. You and Felicia and your family have traveled quite a bit, as you’ve shared with me. What drew you to this completely different arena from from where you had been?

Richard Flournoy : So my daughter and I had, because of our son that’s on a ventilator. Um, my wife and I have to juggle trips, so she’d have to go on a trip. I’d have to go on a trip because the logistics are just too difficult, because Jackson is so medically fragile. So my daughter and I had been on many trips. My wife had been on many trips with my daughter, and then I was like, you know, you can accomplish any goal if you have a strong enough why. And I’m like, I can figure out a way for us, for me and my wife to go on a really good trip. So two years ago, I went on a trip, took my wife to Italy, and the logistics to set it up was a lot, sure, but I wrote wrote down the goal, and then all of a sudden you go to sleep and you wake up the next day and you’re like, you can do this, you can do this, you can do this. So we laid out a plan, a backup plan so that for people to take care of Jackson. And we went on a trip to Italy.

Richard Flournoy : And the first two days, even though I was not in any business at all at that point, because I’d sold my business and I hadn’t started Flournoy Consulting, and I hadn’t started luxury travel yet. So the first two days I’m still thinking about, I’m like, calling Josh and Josh is like, quit calling me. You’re on vacation. And and so it took me two days to get into it. But then when we, we were in Italy and we just, we started going around and I’m like, you know what? This is something I neglected. My whole career is travel. Like traveling, because it’s while it’s extremely fun and rewarding to travel with one of your family members, it’s much more rewarding to travel with everybody in your immediate family. So I was like, how can I give back and teach people about going on transformative trips that will transform their lives. And I’m like, I can start a travel agency. And then I can start a consulting business. And so immediately when I went to when I started the consulting business, I had two people call me and just randomly say, hey, could you help us with our business?

Joshua Kornitsky: So back up. Basically what you’re saying is leisure travel opened your mind and relaxed your brain enough that you you immediately came back and thought of new business.

Richard Flournoy : 100%. And that’s and so that’s how it it works altogether.

Joshua Kornitsky: So so you heard it here. You need to take a vacation, take a clarity break in order to have a.

Richard Flournoy : Really good vacation. And whether you book, like if you contact me through Loxodrome, whether you book a trip through me or you just want me to help you come up with some ideas, I’ll do it. No charge. Like that’s it’s more important for me to help you, um, than it is for me to make money. 100%. Um.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s a great perspective. Information is is what changes everybody’s perspective on everything. And I think that it was Mark Twain who said something to the effect about how travel opens the mind. So until you get around the planet, some you don’t really have that great perspective. So we’ve got Lux in Rome, we’ve got Flournoy Consulting. Let’s talk a little bit about Servicetitan and a little bit about deep dive plumbing and drain.

Richard Flournoy : So Servicetitan, I was a customer of service titans.

Joshua Kornitsky: So back up. For those who don’t know, could you tell us what Servicetitan is?

Richard Flournoy : Servicetitan is a software company that handles everything from taking the call all the way through the documenting of the work order, and then integrates with the like, QuickBooks or sage intact. So basically it’s a field management software.

Joshua Kornitsky: For, for all industries.

Richard Flournoy : Uh, for um, uh, plumbing, heating and air roofing. Uh, electrical, uh. Pest control.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. All right, so I’m sorry I interrupted you. So you you help bridge the gap in knowledge there? Is that what you do in the role with Servicetitan?

Richard Flournoy : Well, so I put a I put a goal on a vision board to get a job at Servicetitan because I really loved the people and the culture, but that’s all I put on there. So I ended up going to a speaking academy class in San Diego, California, and the chief revenue officer of Servicetitan lives out there, and I had met him and became friends with him because we were a customer, and I told him I wanted to, I wanted a job there. And he’s like, well, what would you do? Uh, I sold him on giving me a job, but neither one of us knew what I was going to do there. Okay.

Joshua Kornitsky: So so so sales coaching also.

Richard Flournoy : So he he he gave me a job, and then they I work in the sales team, and basically I do, uh, Up sell core product which is new customers. I sell pro products and then I also coach team members that work in the in the, um, in servicetitan.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay. Thank you for sharing that with us. And then last we round out on on deep dive plumbing and drain.

Richard Flournoy : So sometimes you set a goal and you’re led to something else. So um, not change the goal but led to something else. So I had set a large revenue goal, uh, for my consulting business and travel business. And then all of a sudden, this opportunity pops up where I could restart a plumbing company, and I don’t know if it’s God’s way or the universe’s way of telling me that, hey, this might be a little bit of a stretch. And in those spaces or if we’re just going to exceed that goal and have another business and they all work together because it when I open this business, it’s not going to I’m not going to actually work in the business. I’m going to work on the business. Uh, my wife is going to work in the business, but it’ll be more of a coaching and training perspective. And, uh, so the goal is to have it open by May 28th.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Richard Flournoy : Um, and the goal is to to get to 12 trucks by the end of 2026.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s certainly an ambitious goal. But you’ve done this before. So I think you, uh, you, you know, that arena. Um, well, then then let me ask you this, um, last closing thoughts are, you know what? What’s, uh, what’s a mistake that helped shape your career? What’s what’s something that you did wrong that helped get you right?

Richard Flournoy : I would say that. It. Everything. I mean everything.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, clearly you haven’t done everything wrong.

Richard Flournoy : No no, no. So it’s. It’s fail and learn. Don’t be afraid to fail. Success is goals. And all else is commentary. And and to go back to it like the biggest killer of success is inaction. You can have all the greatest ideas in the world. But if you don’t get up and try it, then what good is it? And so if you try it, people don’t try stuff because they’re worried about failing. But don’t worry about failing because guess what? Most people that like I’m a I’m a black belt and don jitsu Ryu. Uh, martial arts. The hardest step for somebody to become a black belt is to become a white belt, because most people don’t even start.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s a great perspective.

Richard Flournoy : And so just starting will help you finish and just stick with it.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, my head is full of lots of quotes because my mom was a librarian, now retired, and I think it was Walt Disney that said a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. He also said it all began with a mouse. So, you know, take what you want from Walt. But thank you for sharing your your your insight, Richard. Thank you for sharing your guidance. Any final piece of advice for anybody that’s that’s looking to get started on goals?

Richard Flournoy : Um, my passion is, is the consulting. Uh, so if you wanted to reach out to me and do like, a free session, like just to learn about your why and your goal setting and look, you can read, you can find a hundred books on digging into your why and goal setting, but I can put it in a way that you can actually get it accomplished in your life. And if you want to do that single session, I wouldn’t charge anything for it. And as far as contacting me, I’m going to defer to my colleague and you’re going to look on the website for my contact information.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s our closing question to ask the best way to reach you. So, uh, we’ll have your information along with, uh, Janine Jeanene Gutierrez from sales or action plan sales. Uh, Dana Doris from North Georgia. Insurance consultant. Insurance rate risk and insurance consultants of North Georgia. I knew I’d get it right. It’s it’s a tongue twister. And Richard Flournoy from Flournoy consulting luxe in Rome. Travel, uh, service titan and ultimately, deep dive plumbing and drain. Thank you all for coming in and for sharing your your experience, your perspective and all of the things that you do to help the people of our community excel.

Jeane Gutierrez: Thank you. It was fun.

Dana Dorris: Thank you for having us.

Joshua Kornitsky: Thank you. This is Joshua Konicki saying goodbye for now from Cherokee Business Radio.