In this episode, I sit down with Gunnar Hood, owner of WSI Summit, where he shares his entrepreneurial journey from a 25-year corporate career in financial services to building a successful digital marketing firm. He candidly discusses the challenges of transitioning to being a business owner, including grappling with imposter syndrome early on. Gunnar delves into the pivotal decision to adopt a recurring revenue model and prioritize delivering a "luxury experience" to clients through strategic assessments and a consultative approach. He also offers a fascinating perspective on the rise of AI and how businesses can harness tools like ChatGPT while maintaining the essential human element. Gunnar's wisdom spans valuable lessons on sales training, the importance of systems and processes, and always staying curious to understand your client's needs deeply.
Timestamps:
[00:46] Gunnar's background in financial services before transitioning to digital marketing
[01:57] Gunnar's journey of leaving the corporate world and starting a business
[05:39] Why Gunnar chose the WSI franchise opportunity
[08:16] How Sandler's sales training helped Gunnar transition to being a consultant
[11:15] The shift towards a recurring revenue model instead of upfront website builds
[14:20] Gunnar's approach to conducting strategic assessments for clients
[19:21] The importance of ensuring clients are the right fit
[23:45] Gunnar's thoughts on the rise of AI and its impact
[30:11] Benefits of writing effective prompts as "the greatest programming language"
[35:52] The concept of delivering a "luxury experience" to clients
[40:07] Gunnar attributes being curious and having systems as keys to success
Quotes:
● If somebody's looking for an insurance company, maybe the fact that their service team is JD Power certified will be another reason for them to work with us.
● If you are curious and you stay that way and not just go, oh, I know this, but you can always ask another question, it's gonna help you develop that relationship even stronger with people.
● It's funny to see it [AI] say, I'm so sorry. You know, let me go back and fix that.
● Luxury, once sampled, becomes a necessity; think about it.
● We realized that that wasn't a successful approach. It was a process for a lot of people. And we ended up pivoting at that point to say, let's go towards more of a recurring revenue model that smooths this out for them.
● In the last year, 95% of our new business came from referrals. And so to us, that was one of those reflection points that says, that's awesome. I mean, we're making a difference.
Resources:
WSI Summit website: https://www.wsi-summit.com/
Gunnar Hood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gunnarhood/
