Full show notes for this episode can be found at https://podcast.jakehower.com/episode/how-providing-world-class-customer-support-can-make-your-business-more-profitable-with-james-schramko
This is episode 20 of the Multimedia Marketing Show.
Jake Hower:Righto, in this episode, we're bringing on someone who has been
Jake Hower:spoken about in numerous episodes by both our guests and also myself.
Jake Hower:That is none other than Mr.
Jake Hower:James Schramko from Superfast Business.
Jake Hower:Now James has in the past run a hundred million dollar companies in Mercedes
Jake Hower:dealerships in Sydney, Australia.
Jake Hower:But he's gone on to build a super successful online business being super
Jake Hower:fast business, where he provides a number of different services around
Jake Hower:traffic generation and retention.
Jake Hower:And then on the other side of the coin, he also runs some training forums,
Jake Hower:including fast web formula and silver circle, which is a business I guess you
Jake Hower:could say a business mindset mastermind.
Jake Hower:James employs about 80 people in the Philippines has a
Jake Hower:multimillion dollar annual income.
Jake Hower:Purely from online business and servicing the needs of his customers.
Jake Hower:Now, what we're bringing James on today is not to speak particularly about
Jake Hower:multimedia marketing strategies, more about customer engagement and retention
Jake Hower:strategies, which I believe is a very.
Jake Hower:Key point to serving your customers well, so we will go into depth in this episode
Jake Hower:about how you should be treating your customers, how you can rise above the pack
Jake Hower:by providing amazing support, both before a sale is transacted and then throughout
Jake Hower:the entire lifetime as a customer.
Jake Hower:So let's get stuck straight into that episode right now.
Jake Hower:James, how are you?
Jake Hower:Good.
Jake Hower:Thanks.
Jake Hower:How
Jame Schramko:you going,
Jake Hower:Jack?
Jake Hower:Really well, actually.
Jake Hower:And I'm actually, I'm very glad to get you on the show for a proper episode.
Jake Hower:We got you on for an impromptu episode in episode 4.
Jake Hower:5 to debate the different forms of content marketing with Dan Andrews and
Jake Hower:Dan Norris, and that was fantastic, but it's time to get you on and
Jake Hower:actually delve into some really good insights around obtaining customers.
Jake Hower:And then of course, keeping them.
Jame Schramko:Yeah you're the only guy I know who's got episodes with 0.
Jame Schramko:5 in them.
Jame Schramko:Is that like it was only half as good or something?
Jame Schramko:Yeah, I don't
Jake Hower:know.
Jake Hower:It was it was certainly very much as impromptu and it was I guess a little
Jake Hower:bit outside of the normal schedule.
Jake Hower:So I didn't want to make it five.
Jake Hower:So 0.
Jake Hower:5 is the way to go, I think.
Jame Schramko:I'm pleased to have the limelight all to myself
Jame Schramko:without having to fight this time
Jake Hower:interestingly enough you were probably one of the first
Jake Hower:people I booked in an episode with bats as I said at the time I wanted
Jake Hower:to get a few episodes under my belt so I could do this episode justice.
Jame Schramko:And how's the show going for you?
Jame Schramko:It is
Jake Hower:going fantastically well.
Jake Hower:Our listeners are really enjoying it.
Jake Hower:All the guests have been able to pull in different insights.
Jake Hower:And certainly I know personally, I've been able to apply a lot of the
Jake Hower:strategies taught my own businesses.
Jake Hower:And I get the feedback from listeners out there that they are able to do the same.
Jame Schramko:I think what you do so well is you take concepts from
Jame Schramko:different places, you apply them, roll up the sleeves and do it,
Jame Schramko:and then you share your results.
Jame Schramko:I think you're a natural at this.
Jame Schramko:I love seeing how successful you've become in such a short time.
Jame Schramko:And I imagine this will be a super famous podcast in a year from
Jake Hower:now.
Jake Hower:Here's hoping, I guess all we can really do behind the mic is to
Jake Hower:provide value for our listeners and it's the listeners who will be able
Jake Hower:to, decide where the show goes.
Jake Hower:So that's a, that's fantastic.
Jake Hower:Now, what I'd love to speak to you about today, you're obviously
Jake Hower:a business growth expert.
Jake Hower:And while the premise of the show is content marketing and using the different
Jake Hower:forms to bring in leads and customers, what I truly think is very important
Jake Hower:with this is focusing a little bit more on the mindset and then utilizing.
Jake Hower:Content marketing, but then also strategies that you can help to, maximize
Jake Hower:the value of the content marketing in the first place to obtain and retain
Jake Hower:customers, which you do extremely
Jame Schramko:well.
Jame Schramko:That's a handful.
Jame Schramko:I'll see what we can come up with.
Jake Hower:So for those listeners out there who may not have come
Jake Hower:across your three podcasts already, do you want to give them just a
Jake Hower:brief background of who you are and
Jame Schramko:what you do?
Jame Schramko:Sure.
Jame Schramko:I think there's actually four podcasts for everyone on the call, including Jake.
Jame Schramko:Seriously though, I've got this business called superfastbusiness.
Jame Schramko:com and the main specialty is in working with.
Jame Schramko:Internet business related matters so i have a internet business coaching forum
Jame Schramko:called fast web formula where people can congregate with others i've got a
Jame Schramko:high level business mastermind which is really good for six figure businesses
Jame Schramko:who want to take it to seven and that's a smaller group but really focused on their
Jame Schramko:business and a lot more access to me and that's the business coaching side of.
Jame Schramko:The business and then there's services on the other side where we do WordPress
Jame Schramko:website development and traffic SEO related services to help promote those
Jame Schramko:websites that's pretty much a three pronged business now but it used to
Jame Schramko:be a lot broader than that and as I continue on I keep refining and
Jame Schramko:streamlining and focusing on the areas that are the real sweet spots for me
Jame Schramko:and the best thing about the way that set up is that I have pretty much the
Jame Schramko:same customer in each of those three corners and that works really well.
Jake Hower:Yeah, you've as you say, keep refining it, but I guess there
Jake Hower:are a couple of common themes which run through your entire businesses.
Jake Hower:And I guess you're really fantastic at the strategy side of business.
Jake Hower:But also, as you say, you're able to promote products and services, which your
Jake Hower:customers naturally progress through.
Jame Schramko:Yeah, everything I've got is based around what
Jame Schramko:people have asked me for.
Jame Schramko:So it's really solutions based.
Jame Schramko:It's James.
Jame Schramko:Could you have a look at this or help us with that?
Jame Schramko:Or do you know, blah, blah, blah.
Jame Schramko:And by only working with customer solutions that people actually
Jame Schramko:want, it's been helpful for us to get up and running quickly.
Jame Schramko:We're not, I'm not classified as a startup in a weird and wonderful
Jame Schramko:market that doesn't exist before.
Jame Schramko:And I'm sure it's great for people to do that and they can
Jame Schramko:own their whole market if, okay.
Jame Schramko:It didn't exist before.
Jame Schramko:However, I'm just working with really established market.
Jame Schramko:Business growth has probably been around for hundreds and hundreds
Jame Schramko:of years, maybe thousands.
Jame Schramko:I'm not sure, but websites have been around for at least what, two
Jame Schramko:decades now and traffic and SEO people are always going to want
Jame Schramko:more customers for their business.
Jame Schramko:So they're just fundamental needs and I've worked in that
Jame Schramko:space and the best thing is that.
Jame Schramko:I have this call customer philosophy this really is one customer of this
Jame Schramko:business who could potentially experience each part of the business and i took
Jame Schramko:this idea from my old job which was running mercedes benz dealerships and.
Jame Schramko:I realized that there we just have one customer but the managers used to fight
Jame Schramko:over the customers if it was their customer and i'm like hang on your
Jame Schramko:service customer bought their car from our sales team and they financed it from
Jame Schramko:our finance department and when they need to change the spark plugs they buy the
Jame Schramko:spark plugs from our parts department we have the same customer so i actually
Jame Schramko:called it one customer and i presented this thing to a was a business development
Jame Schramko:thing for teaching people how to be general managers and i presented this.
Jame Schramko:Presentation called one customer and was this idea that the customer is actually
Jame Schramko:in the middle and we should work together to communicate effectively with that
Jame Schramko:customer to take a lifetime approach to that customer and if we never abuse that
Jame Schramko:customer they will stay with the business.
Jame Schramko:Forever and that we don't give me a reason to go somewhere else and we can all
Jame Schramko:share that customer and that's developed into my concept of the chocolate wheel
Jame Schramko:it doesn't matter where someone comes into the business but i can work their
Jame Schramko:way right around the whole business units and that still the same customer
Jame Schramko:so when i draw a map of my business.
Jame Schramko:It's a big circle, like a target, the customers in the middle, and then the
Jame Schramko:pieces of the pie around that are the various business units from the business.
Jame Schramko:And then the outside of circle is your customer attraction.
Jame Schramko:You're prospecting things like podcasts and sales pages, lead pages, blog
Jame Schramko:content, Facebook posts, YouTube videos.
Jame Schramko:Those things bring the customers in and they turn into a customer and they
Jame Schramko:go straight into the center where they get royal treatment and loving care.
Jame Schramko:Yeah, absolutely.
Jake Hower:Now, I think just to give a little bit of extra context for
Jake Hower:our listeners, for this particular conversation, how many customers do you
Jake Hower:have that you personally have contact
Jame Schramko:with?
Jame Schramko:In my office autopilot account, I have about 23, 000 records and.
Jame Schramko:A good chunk of those people have bought something at some point and i have a
Jame Schramko:high transaction value per customer and a pretty small list size compared
Jame Schramko:to your classic internet marketers but each customer for me is a recurring
Jame Schramko:customer and they stick with me for a long time i've got some people i've had
Jame Schramko:for six years so it just grows at about.
Jame Schramko:It grows at around about 60 to 70 people per day at the moment.
Jame Schramko:So it's not a huge influx, but they stick.
Jame Schramko:Yeah.
Jame Schramko:Okay.
Jame Schramko:So
Jake Hower:why do they stick?
Jame Schramko:Oh I've got a few golden rules.
Jame Schramko:For example, if I ever send something to a customer by email, they must
Jame Schramko:be better off for opening the email.
Jame Schramko:So it's not a take it's a give it might be a give with a request or call to action
Jame Schramko:but they have to be better off so if I don't break that rule it doesn't matter
Jame Schramko:the frequency I could send them something every day I could send them something
Jame Schramko:once a week once a month it doesn't matter because they're better off opening it
Jame Schramko:because I'm always stepping inside their shoes and thinking how can I help them
Jame Schramko:and another secret to it is to be relevant and to be contextual so those are the two.
Jame Schramko:Thank you.
Jame Schramko:Big words, context and relevancy of what it's all about and when you
Jame Schramko:recognize how important that is about having the right conversation with
Jame Schramko:the right person at the right time, that's when systems like infusion soft
Jame Schramko:or office autopilot become a really powerful weapon in your online marketing
Jame Schramko:business compared to the classical sort of one bucket for everything type.
Jame Schramko:Systems like a Weber or whatever, where you tend to just be broadcasting or heaven
Jame Schramko:forbid blasting your list which have words that I just banned from our team.
Jame Schramko:So we now segment and do things such as lead scoring and attribute of value to
Jame Schramko:each customer so that we can categorize them correctly and group them and
Jame Schramko:now just communicate to that group.
Jame Schramko:So someone who buys a website will get a website.
Jame Schramko:Communication someone who is in a coaching community will get a coaching community
Jame Schramko:news update and they're having the right conversation with me yeah that's
Jake Hower:fantastic and I guess you could almost say what you're
Jake Hower:doing is you're expecting your customers because you're giving them
Jake Hower:information that they want I guess what.
Jake Hower:These systems allow you to do is that they're allowing you to leverage the
Jake Hower:communications you would only be able to have on a one on one basis by segmenting
Jake Hower:them further than what the, something like an Aweber or a MailChimp allows you to do.
Jake Hower:And that's, a really fantastic way to really power up your content
Jame Schramko:marketing.
Jame Schramko:And there's some tweaks you can do to this that just boost it that
Jame Schramko:nobody does that make you stand out.
Jame Schramko:And I think that really has been the Holy Grail for me is to, if someone,
Jame Schramko:I get emails like this, right?
Jame Schramko:Hi, James, just wanted to find out.
Jame Schramko:Have you taken me off your list because I didn't get an email last few days and
Jame Schramko:I only receive emails from my family friends and you and no one else and
Jame Schramko:like for me that's wow I've made it to the inbox where people want to open
Jame Schramko:the email and there's things you can do to cause that to happen and I could
Jame Schramko:go through a couple if you like please yeah so one of the most important ones
Jame Schramko:that I've done is I send emails from my own email address and I put a note
Jame Schramko:at the bottom of my email that I reply to emails I personally reply to emails.
Jame Schramko:And I've been doing this for a long time and it's quite uncommon in business most
Jame Schramko:people send an email from a no reply at which I likened to saying I don't give
Jame Schramko:a shit about you this I'm going to push this communication to you but God if you
Jame Schramko:want to talk to us forget it we're not interested we're just here to sell you
Jame Schramko:something and then if you want to speak to some of these companies, you have
Jame Schramko:to jump through 10 hoops to go to their support desk, to go through a little
Jame Schramko:problem solver to find out, have you already answered in the knowledge base?
Jame Schramko:Like it's too hard.
Jame Schramko:It's much easier for somebody to hit email.
Jame Schramko:And I figure out why wouldn't I want a prospect or a customer to be
Jame Schramko:able to hit reply and ask me another question that helps me solve their
Jame Schramko:problem that will lead to a sale.
Jake Hower:Yeah, definitely.
Jake Hower:Definitely.
Jake Hower:I think a lot of people see systems and automation as the holy grail failing
Jake Hower:to realize that the idea of systems and automation is to give you back time.
Jake Hower:And when you've got that time, I guess you've got the time to be speaking with
Jake Hower:your customers and answering emails.
Jame Schramko:There's a few things there.
Jame Schramko:I learned for some, from really wealthy, smart people a real estate agent.
Jame Schramko:I remember clearly when mobile phones were new, I was just a kid.
Jame Schramko:We were driving along and his phone rang and he's talking to a customer.
Jame Schramko:And at the time I was in debt collection, I was about 18, I was a debt collector.
Jame Schramko:And my experience was that people did not want to answer the phone.
Jame Schramko:Don't want to hear from people.
Jame Schramko:Funny that when you're asking for payments, but I said to
Jame Schramko:Matt, why are you so accessible?
Jame Schramko:How come you don't have a secretary screening that stuff?
Jame Schramko:All my customers.
Jame Schramko:And he said, I want people to ring me because they want to buy something.
Jame Schramko:They want to, they've got a question.
Jame Schramko:If I can solve it, they'll make a purchase and it could be worth 20, 000 to me.
Jame Schramko:And another thing that one of my mentors taught me was.
Jame Schramko:Not to process people hate being processed you know here's your ticket
Jame Schramko:number or whatever it's like when you go to mcdonalds these days in
Jame Schramko:australia and i have to specify that because i went to mcdonalds in france
Jame Schramko:they actually had an ATM system like you push on the screen you choose your
Jame Schramko:meal on the screen and then you go and pick up your order was completely
Jame Schramko:hands off no human involved and.
Jame Schramko:But in Australia, you go and order from the thing, as soon as they've got your
Jame Schramko:order and taking your money, they just turn their back on you and walk off.
Jame Schramko:It's like you are dumped, dropped, forgotten about and processed.
Jame Schramko:And then you have to somehow figure out that you're supposed to shuffle
Jame Schramko:down to the next counter and wait for your order to be assembled.
Jame Schramko:But as soon as they've got your money, you're out of there.
Jame Schramko:And you don't feel very special about it.
Jame Schramko:There's no personality involved in that.
Jame Schramko:So people do not like to be processed.
Jame Schramko:So if you're using automation, be mindful that if people feel processed,
Jame Schramko:you're going to depersonalize it.
Jame Schramko:Now, when you say PS, I applied to my emails personally and they can hit reply
Jame Schramko:and they ask you a question and you actually reply back with their name.
Jame Schramko:How good is that compared to everyone else out there already?
Jame Schramko:And that's aside from the fact that I've got other things like, Okay.
Jame Schramko:Helping them select the frequency they'd like their email so it's such a simple
Jame Schramko:obvious thing to do but it's hey would you rather receive a weekly update instead
Jame Schramko:they can click on that and be moved automatically through automation to a
Jame Schramko:weekly list and now they can hear from me weekly so instead of having to leave my
Jame Schramko:list they can just dial down the intensity so that's a little safety net technique.
Jame Schramko:And then the other things you can do to really show people that you
Jame Schramko:care is you can use a real name.
Jame Schramko:You can put your picture on the support desk.
Jame Schramko:You can list your phone number and your address and you can put a
Jame Schramko:phone number for people that they can call you in their own country.
Jame Schramko:That is.
Jame Schramko:Going to cost them the minimum possible.
Jake Hower:Yeah.
Jake Hower:So let's give it again.
Jake Hower:Let's give listeners a bit of perspective again.
Jake Hower:So you're doing multiple millions.
Jake Hower:You've got 80 employees.
Jake Hower:You've got so many different customers.
Jake Hower:You display your phone number in clear daylight on all your websites.
Jake Hower:How many calls a day do you get from customers?
Jame Schramko:I would probably average one or two calls a day and
Jame Schramko:I've got customers in every country.
Jame Schramko:So sometimes it'll fly through to voicemail.
Jame Schramko:But if I'm awake and it rings, I'll answer it.
Jame Schramko:And I can tell you the closing rate on a sales inquiry is a hundred percent
Jame Schramko:because they're hovering on your site.
Jame Schramko:They're looking at a package that might cost a thousand dollars and they're saying
Jame Schramko:listen i just have a couple of questions and you say sure and they ask the
Jame Schramko:questions you answer it and they say great i'm ordering it now so it really it's
Jame Schramko:a high paid thing to do and it's also.
Jame Schramko:When you're dealing online, trust is such a huge factor.
Jame Schramko:And if they feel like they're not going to get ripped off, then they'll proceed.
Jame Schramko:And I suspect for the few calls that I get, there's probably a lot of people who
Jame Schramko:see the number and feel more confident about it just because it's there because
Jame Schramko:it's so easy for people to contact us.
Jame Schramko:And we also have a leave a message tab where they can click a support ticket.
Jame Schramko:They don't have to put in anything other than like their email address is not like
Jame Schramko:twenty seven fields we don't run them through a knowledge base like they can
Jame Schramko:ask us anything we get out we get a lot of tickets every day we get dozens of tickets
Jame Schramko:every day and i have full time support team who answered tickets every day and
Jame Schramko:they quite often will lead to sales.
Jake Hower:That's really interesting.
Jake Hower:So we're combining these fantastic techniques by segmenting your
Jake Hower:client base so that they're getting relevant information with being
Jake Hower:super open about contacting you.
Jake Hower:And as you say, I'm sure many people will visit the site, see the number
Jake Hower:there and out of respect for the fact that you're respecting them, they're
Jake Hower:not going to call you unless they really
Jame Schramko:need to.
Jame Schramko:And if they do really need to, then you've got a high chance of making
Jame Schramko:a sale where it may not have been
Jake Hower:possible.
Jake Hower:And then also on the flip side of fixing up a potential issue or problem.
Jame Schramko:Yeah.
Jame Schramko:And the stats that I get in my business are just, when other people see
Jame Schramko:them, they just can't comprehend it.
Jame Schramko:For example, my returning customer percentage is 91 and a half percent.
Jame Schramko:That means that I'm growing my business probably about 10% continually, but
Jame Schramko:people just keep ordering and ordering and the average value is very high.
Jame Schramko:It's yeah, really high
Jake Hower:actually.
Jake Hower:Yeah.
Jake Hower:I guess you play a pretty big role or a central role in most
Jake Hower:of your marketing strategies.
Jake Hower:Do you see that as important for our listeners to do
Jame Schramko:something similar?
Jame Schramko:Yeah, I think there's two main roles you want to do in your business, and that
Jame Schramko:is to be the marketing strategy chief and to control the costs, control the
Jame Schramko:checkbook, don't give away the checkbook and don't hand over your marketing mission
Jame Schramko:because no one's going to drive your business with the same passion as you,
Jame Schramko:no one knows what you like or don't like, or your philosophies as well as you do.
Jame Schramko:So even if you have people help you implement it as both of us do, we
Jame Schramko:have teams surrounding us that can it.
Jame Schramko:Translate our vision both of us are creating the original content because it's
Jame Schramko:highly personal and no one else in the world can be james shram co i mean that
Jame Schramko:technically there are three of us from facebook but you know what i'm saying in
Jame Schramko:my capacity as the driver of my business if i can step up to the plate and make
Jame Schramko:videos and audios it's highly personal.
Jame Schramko:If I care enough about someone to respond to inquiries and to be approachable,
Jame Schramko:that is a big differentiator from your average marketing person.
Jame Schramko:And I remember some saying about my grandfather used to give me, it's like
Jame Schramko:to be able to walk amongst the common man and and not lose touch or something.
Jame Schramko:It's about being able to walk with Kings or walk amongst the common men.
Jame Schramko:If you can slide up and down the social spectrum and be able to talk to anybody.
Jame Schramko:Without being an asshole or being over the top or special or arrogant
Jame Schramko:or whatever, then you'll be really going well in your business.
Jame Schramko:If you're a good communicator and you genuinely care.
Jame Schramko:In fact, one boss once told me I care too much, but I would argue that yes, it does
Jame Schramko:burden you with a little bit of stress.
Jame Schramko:If you care so much that you.
Jame Schramko:That it's bothering you, but you really should care about the customer
Jame Schramko:and stop focusing about paying off your mortgage or your credit card
Jame Schramko:because the customer does not care.
Jame Schramko:That is not their motivation for buying from you because you've got a debt burden.
Jame Schramko:They're buying from you because of their problem that you can solve.
Jame Schramko:So if you just obsessively focus on customer problems and customer
Jame Schramko:challenges and solve that, the rest will take care of itself.
Jame Schramko:And as Peter Drucker said, the only purpose of a business is to you.
Jame Schramko:Attract and then retain a customer and that's what i focus on attract
Jame Schramko:the customers and then i retain the customers and it's just so much easier
Jame Schramko:to keep existing customers and just to develop that relationship and one
Jame Schramko:of the commitments i made several years ago strategically was i got this
Jame Schramko:crossroads do i stay where i'm at.
Jame Schramko:And let the customer move past me or do i step up and grow with the customer and
Jame Schramko:i've ended up creating things like my silver circle mastermind where i can grow
Jame Schramko:with the customer all the way to the top of their limit and now i can have someone
Jame Schramko:started entry point go right through to the top end and that's giving me.
Jame Schramko:Amazing bandwidth to stick with that customer and then if i could solve
Jame Schramko:their biggest challenges like a website and their traffic that really need to
Jame Schramko:look outside for those call things.
Jake Hower:Yeah that's incredibly interesting.
Jake Hower:I love it.
Jake Hower:Okay, James, a couple of episodes we had Pat Flynn on and going through our
Jake Hower:conversation, he spoke about something which you speak about yourself and it's
Jake Hower:being interested versus being interesting.
Jake Hower:How does this play out in your business and in your dealings with your customers?
Jame Schramko:I see a lot of, gurus or experts trying to in Australia is
Jame Schramko:the phrase wank off a bit, but they're trying to make themselves special and
Jame Schramko:use all this, just really basic Goal oriented aspirational marketing, the
Jame Schramko:scene of them driving along or whatever.
Jame Schramko:And I think that's very effective for them, but it's not really that genuine.
Jame Schramko:What they really should be focusing on is being more interested in their customers
Jame Schramko:and just getting down to how they can actually solve problems and rather than
Jame Schramko:be a circus pony or a feature star actor.
Jame Schramko:So I think if you.
Jame Schramko:Care enough about your customers to actually want the feedback from them
Jame Schramko:and to ask them if they want anything to let you know then to just push market
Jame Schramko:to them so in the old days people just sending emails put it pushing out their
Jame Schramko:messages with aggressive marketing making people jump through countdown banners.
Jame Schramko:Exit squeezes all this sort of stuff they were being very forceful marketers
Jame Schramko:and they were trying to razzle and dazzle them but i think that wears off
Jame Schramko:and i think for the long haul it's far better just to be genuinely interested
Jame Schramko:in your customers solve those problems communicate them without being a dick and.
Jame Schramko:Be there for them for the long haul.
Jame Schramko:I'll still be around when most of these people have fallen off
Jame Schramko:the edge as they tend to do.
Jame Schramko:And I've seen it happen.
Jame Schramko:Some of them have lists of 500, 000 emails and they can't
Jame Schramko:get a fraction of it to open.
Jame Schramko:Just the tiniest little percentage will even open the email because
Jame Schramko:they've just been worn out and overrun.
Jame Schramko:They're just no longer interested because being interesting is.
Jame Schramko:Find in the beginning but it doesn't last that's
Jake Hower:really interesting the concept of that and you can see it play out in
Jake Hower:many different areas I guess if you're being interesting and it wears out then
Jake Hower:all you're trying to then do is to drive traffic to your interesting thing or as if
Jake Hower:you're being interested in your customers you're likely to keep them for a longer
Jake Hower:period and not have to worry about or worry so much about driving new customers
Jake Hower:or new traffic to what you're doing.
Jake Hower:It helps people
Jame Schramko:feel better i mean if you go back to the beginning of this
Jame Schramko:podcast unless you edit it out to make me look silly i asked you how your
Jame Schramko:podcast is going even though you're interviewing me today because i'm
Jame Schramko:actually genuinely interested and.
Jame Schramko:I admire the growth and challenges you've overcome to get this thing going from no i
Jame Schramko:think from memory you used to start a lot.
Jame Schramko:And for a lot of people that would just stop them in their tracks and
Jame Schramko:they would think I'm not definitely not suited for podcasting and you just
Jame Schramko:whatever, I'm just going to get out there and do it and you've grown this
Jame Schramko:thing and you're taking sales from the related products that you offer.
Jame Schramko:So I think being curious is a fantastic skill in business.
Jame Schramko:And in fact, there's someone on my payroll who I pay to do two things only.
Jame Schramko:She prepares numbers every day for me in it for my dashboard
Jame Schramko:and she gets paid to be curious.
Jame Schramko:That is it and her job is to poke around the business to all the different
Jame Schramko:departments looking to help desk speak to the managers speak to the link builders
Jame Schramko:speak to the web developers and just be curious what are you doing how's it going
Jame Schramko:what do you think we could do a better job with this what is the most difficult
Jame Schramko:customer we have right now which parts of the job do you love is there something
Jame Schramko:else in the company you like to do.
Jame Schramko:If she's just curious and interested in our team, and that flows through to
Jame Schramko:our customers, cause they feel that the work that we're doing is impassioned
Jame Schramko:and high quality and good stuff.
Jame Schramko:People will stick around.
Jake Hower:Yeah, absolutely.
Jake Hower:Now, have you given her a title yet?
Jame Schramko:Oh, technically she's just number one.
Jame Schramko:So she was the first one I hired.
Jame Schramko:She's still the big boss.
Jame Schramko:So we're, we just call her number one.
Jake Hower:I was just thinking you'd probably look at something like chief
Jake Hower:interesting officer or chief curious
Jame Schramko:officer could, but it's, I find all that a bit cliched.
Jame Schramko:And the funny thing is, like, when I became a general manager, I got given
Jame Schramko:business cards and I don't think I used more than about five of them in four and
Jame Schramko:a half years and my last job, I don't really need that sort of status and,
Jame Schramko:and labels for stuff like I'm like screw that, just be yourself, whatever that is.
Jame Schramko:I don't have a title for myself.
Jame Schramko:I don't have business cards per se.
Jame Schramko:So I think actually labeling things or titling things can be dangerous because
Jame Schramko:it might restrict somebody's ability to.
Jame Schramko:To go beyond that scope and one of the greatest techniques we have in our
Jame Schramko:business and also when we're applying this to customers is to not limit ourselves
Jame Schramko:to the traditional standard partitions and labels that people want and we
Jame Schramko:don't really strive to be normal or like everyone else so yeah we don't have
Jame Schramko:mantras and stuff and vision statements and all of this stuff really if we were
Jame Schramko:to go to if we're going to put it down to a word or two words we have a lifetime
Jame Schramko:customer focus that is what our business.
Jame Schramko:Does because we recognize it's way easier it's a lot more enjoyable it's
Jame Schramko:extremely profitable and like we don't have to wonder about what we should do the
Jame Schramko:customers tell us because we asked them and they tell us and then we say thank
Jame Schramko:you so even with the on the race course strategy that i deploy it's so driven by.
Jame Schramko:Customer comments and emails like the classic episode where i gave people a
Jame Schramko:sort of a studio tour of my gear and that guy said hey you know you should stop
Jame Schramko:wearing cheap t shirts and you should shave and then i put out a response video
Jame Schramko:should i shave and that had over three hundred comments and it just polarized
Jame Schramko:my audience like we don't care what you wear james you're awesome or you know
Jame Schramko:when i first saw you i thought you're a bit scruffy but now i know your materials
Jame Schramko:good as soon as you open your mouth so i stuck with you so recognize that.
Jame Schramko:If i just shave more often and maybe wear a polo shirt i'm gonna get a
Jame Schramko:broader audience so it's customer driven i wear the polo shirt and i'll
Jame Schramko:shave for the customer not for me but it's not too much of a compromise out
Jame Schramko:of my standard i'm gonna put a t shirt on anyway does it matter to me if
Jame Schramko:it's got a little color and a button.
Jame Schramko:Not really.
Jame Schramko:It's fun.
Jame Schramko:And sometimes I just stir people up too.
Jame Schramko:I wore a pink one to take the piss out of them and turns out they loved it as well.
Jame Schramko:So I've got a pink and a purple polo shirt and it's customer led it's customer
Jame Schramko:driven and I'm doing it because I respect them and I can be a little less selfish
Jame Schramko:if it helps them receive my content and help them with their business.
Jame Schramko:Yeah.
Jake Hower:That's excellent.
Jake Hower:I like the purple
Jame Schramko:Polo as well.
Jame Schramko:You like the purple one?
Jame Schramko:I like the aqua and the blue and the gray.
Jame Schramko:I like the gray one.
Jame Schramko:That's more my speed and the Ferrari one's good if I really
Jame Schramko:want to grab people's attention because I'm leveraging a big brand.
Jake Hower:All right, James, so let's give our listeners some key takeaways.
Jake Hower:Now how can they implement some of the strategies we've talked
Jake Hower:about in this episode in their own content marketing efforts?
Jame Schramko:Okay so the first thing is how easy or difficult is it for your
Jame Schramko:customers to contact you do you have a system or a way that is obvious for
Jame Schramko:them that they could get a hold of you to let you know your websites down or to
Jame Schramko:let you know that they would have bought this if you just change that or do you
Jame Schramko:have such and such so make it easy for people to contact you even if you have
Jame Schramko:a support team I mean in my business I'm the only one who does phone support.
Jame Schramko:There's no one else in my business stay or they're all text based support and
Jame Schramko:that's for a specific reason it's just way better second action step would
Jame Schramko:be what percentage of your customers are coming back and buying again do
Jame Schramko:you have recurring products because you can put a much heavier investment
Jame Schramko:in finding those customers and really looking after them if they are rewarding
Jame Schramko:if your average customer value is twelve or fifteen hundred dollars.
Jame Schramko:Then you're not going to be a tight ass when it comes to giving them good content
Jame Schramko:because you're getting paid well for it.
Jame Schramko:And if you do have a team, just have a talk to the team about what
Jame Schramko:it means to work in your business.
Jame Schramko:So we have a values based business.
Jame Schramko:And for us, communication is definitely one of our core values.
Jame Schramko:And that means that.
Jame Schramko:We communicate with our customers very effectively like rapid response
Jame Schramko:times and elevating something to the person that can solve the person's
Jame Schramko:problem as quickly as possible.
Jame Schramko:So if it happens to be me, they will find me and draw me to the
Jame Schramko:ticket where I can solve it.
Jame Schramko:So just have this approach where you actually focus your efforts around
Jame Schramko:solving customers challenges rather than your own personal financial
Jame Schramko:needs and the rest will flow.
Jake Hower:Yeah, that's awesome.
Jake Hower:I guess I can see that a common chain or a common resistance to doing
Jake Hower:this is that well, I'm too busy.
Jake Hower:I'm doing too much already.
Jake Hower:I don't I can't I don't have the time to be looking after my customers.
Jake Hower:And I think really, you're then one focus right now is to build a system
Jake Hower:or a team to give you that freedom of time to be able to provide this sort of
Jame Schramko:support.
Jame Schramko:There's nothing more important than the customers.
Jame Schramko:I have a internet business coaching community and I log in every day.
Jame Schramko:And I've consistently logged in every day, even to the prior one for about five years
Jame Schramko:now and done something like 16, 000 posts.
Jame Schramko:I think in the two combined, you can't get that in many places.
Jame Schramko:I don't know anywhere where you can go and be in contact with someone.
Jame Schramko:Every day if you need to be consistently for five years, not many
Jame Schramko:people are prepared to roll up the sleeves and put in the sweat equity.
Jame Schramko:Now I've set the framework around my frequency schedule and what I'm able
Jame Schramko:to commit to and it works out great.
Jame Schramko:So there will actually be some effort involved.
Jame Schramko:Sorry to alert people to that.
Jame Schramko:You might have to talk to someone.
Jame Schramko:You might have to handle a hot call every now and then we still get some crazy
Jame Schramko:people come into the business, but to give it the right context, I was born
Jame Schramko:to do this in my career, having been a debt collector, having phoned up people
Jame Schramko:and ask them for money on the phone, I realized something really important.
Jame Schramko:And I'll share this with.
Jame Schramko:The customer cannot punch you in the face over the phone.
Jame Schramko:Okay, so there's no need to be scared of the telephone.
Jame Schramko:If you have a resistance to speaking to people on the phone or communicating
Jame Schramko:with them, just remember they can't punch you in the face over the phone.
Jame Schramko:And that helped me a lot with my debt collection.
Jame Schramko:And it's probably, I doubt people have ever heard that quote before, but once you
Jame Schramko:realize that it's, you're just so unlikely to die as a result of a phone call.
Jame Schramko:That you know just stop being scared of it and reach out to people in fact a great
Jame Schramko:experiment for your listeners would be to change their signature line in their
Jame Schramko:email today and put a little PS and say PS i reply to emails personally and just see
Jame Schramko:what happens to your business because you will get the best research data you can
Jame Schramko:possibly get you will sell more stuff you will get to know your customers better.
Jame Schramko:You'll separate yourself from all of the faceless marketers who don't
Jame Schramko:really care about their customers.
Jake Hower:Yeah, that's tremendous, James.
Jake Hower:I guess you've peeled some of the layers back behind how you do it and
Jake Hower:you're bringing millions of dollars.
Jake Hower:So our listeners should take note of a lot of that and see where they can
Jake Hower:implement it in their own business.
Jake Hower:Where can our listeners find out more about
Jame Schramko:you, James?
Jame Schramko:Superfastbusiness.
Jame Schramko:com is where you'll see all of this in play.
Jake Hower:Yeah, absolutely.
Jake Hower:And if you are struggling with time and you need to implement systems,
Jake Hower:I also recommend heading across to FastWeb Formula, where I'm a member,
Jake Hower:and this is obviously James's private community, but I learned how to
Jake Hower:build a system in this community.
Jake Hower:So I can assure you that you'd be able to do the same.
Jame Schramko:Oh thanks for the endorsement, Jake.
Jame Schramko:You're a classic example of someone who gets more value out than what you invest.
Jame Schramko:That's the fundamental driver for me, for I want every single member
Jame Schramko:of that community to be able to get their monthly bill and say, if I was
Jame Schramko:to stop this subscription, I would miss it and I would feel sad that I'm not
Jame Schramko:there and I, and, and they renew again.
Jame Schramko:And that's why so many people.
Jame Schramko:Stay on board, but it's, I have to earn it.
Jame Schramko:I have to work hard for that and I'm prepared to do it.
Jake Hower:Yeah, absolutely.
Jake Hower:All right, James.
Jake Hower:Thanks very much for coming on this episode listeners.
Jake Hower:Thank you very much for tuning in and we'll speak to you again very soon.