Episode 139

Business Growth Secrets: How to Scale Your Business with Proven Sales Systems with Doug Brown

In this episode of Biz Bites for Thought Leaders, Anthony Perl interviews Doug C. Brown, host of the CEO Sales Strategies Podcast, about implementing proven sales systems and business growth strategies.

Key points discussed:

- The fundamental difference between businesses that scale and those that plateau

- How to identify and fix the bottlenecks preventing your business growth

- Proven sales systems that generate consistent revenue

- The psychology behind successful business scaling

- Practical steps to implement growth systems in your business today

***

Connect with Doug on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougbrown123/ 

Check out their website here: 

CEO Sales Strategies: https://ceosalesstrategies.com/ 

Vibitno: https://vibitno.com/ 


Check their exciting offer to Biz Bites listeners: https://ceosalesstrategies.com/newsletter  

DON'T FORGET...

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If you would like to be a guest on the program or you have a mentor that you think would be ideal, please reach out to us on LinkedIn so we can connect.

Learn more about all our guests in our easy-to-use directory: https://www.commtogether.com.au/biz-bites/ 

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Transcript
Speaker:

Anthony Perl: Business Growth

Speaker:

Secrets, how to scale your business

Speaker:

with Proven Sale Systems.

Speaker:

Welcome to Biz Bites for Thought Leaders,

Speaker:

the podcast where we deliver actionable

Speaker:

insights to help you grow your business.

Speaker:

I'm your host, Anthony Perl,

Speaker:

from Podcasts Done for You.

Speaker:

In today's episode, I'm joined by Doug

Speaker:

C Brown, who is the host of the CEO

Speaker:

Sales Strategies Podcast, and

Speaker:

he's a business growth expert

Speaker:

who specializes in helping

Speaker:

business owners.

Speaker:

Implement proven sales systems

Speaker:

that drive exceptional growth.

Speaker:

In this episode, you are going to

Speaker:

discover the crucial mistakes that

Speaker:

prevent business growth, how to

Speaker:

build scalable sales systems that work

Speaker:

practical strategies to increase your

Speaker:

revenue without.

Speaker:

Burning out an important

Speaker:

thing there.

Speaker:

There's a lot we're gonna unpack

Speaker:

and some great stories with Doug

Speaker:

who has bought and sold, I believe

Speaker:

37 businesses in his time.

Speaker:

He's clicked over a billion

Speaker:

dollars in sales.

Speaker:

He's someone you want to listen to.

Speaker:

So let's get into this episode of

Speaker:

Biz Bites for Thought Leaders.

Speaker:

Hello everyone, and welcome to another

Speaker:

episode of Biz Bites for Thought Leaders

Speaker:

and continuing our tradition of going

Speaker:

all over the world.

Speaker:

We're hitting over to New Hampshire

Speaker:

and I welcome Doug C Brown

Speaker:

to the program.

Speaker:

Welcome, Doug.

Speaker:

Doug C. Brown: Hey, Anthony,

Speaker:

thanks so much for having me here.

Speaker:

I'm very grateful to be here.

Anthony Perl:

Ah, it's an absolute

Anthony Perl:

pleasure to have you here and I'm gonna

Anthony Perl:

get you to introduce yourself and we are

Anthony Perl:

just having a little bit of a laugh off

Anthony Perl:

air, weren't we, about the fact that

Anthony Perl:

Doug Brown is is not an uncommon name.

Anthony Perl:

So we've got you as Doug c so that

Anthony Perl:

way we make sure you stand out.

Anthony Perl:

Tell us a little bit about you

Anthony Perl:

and your story.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: I I started actually

Anthony Perl:

working at the age of three

Anthony Perl:

from my dad.

Anthony Perl:

In his business.

Anthony Perl:

Wow.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

All my brothers did the same thing.

Anthony Perl:

We all slept not slept.

Anthony Perl:

We swept floors and didn't sleep

Anthony Perl:

Anthony Perl: on them, just

Anthony Perl:

swept them.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: I'm sure maybe

Anthony Perl:

when I got tired I probably did.

Anthony Perl:

I did.

Anthony Perl:

I don't remember.

Anthony Perl:

But.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah, I was sweeping floors at age three.

Anthony Perl:

By the time we were six, they actually

Anthony Perl:

started helping us learn how to sell.

Anthony Perl:

They were putting us in front of

Anthony Perl:

clients and people were helping us out,

Anthony Perl:

with the orders and things like that.

Anthony Perl:

I can only imagine, back then I wish I

Anthony Perl:

had an in a sample of what my order

Anthony Perl:

sheets looked like back then, but.

Anthony Perl:

We were and we worked with my dad

Anthony Perl:

for the most part.

Anthony Perl:

I worked with him until I was

Anthony Perl:

about 19 years old until I went

Anthony Perl:

into the military.

Anthony Perl:

And then I always had side businesses

Anthony Perl:

all the way through his businesses and

Anthony Perl:

through the military and through college

Anthony Perl:

or university, as some people call

Anthony Perl:

it, in the different parts of the world.

Anthony Perl:

Over my life, I've actually built we're

Anthony Perl:

on our 37th business at this point.

Anthony Perl:

Wow.

Anthony Perl:

So not all have succeeded.

Anthony Perl:

Some have some have broken even

Anthony Perl:

some have made some money and some

Anthony Perl:

have made a lot of money and we've

Anthony Perl:

lost a lot of money at times at, too.

Anthony Perl:

Got a fair amount of experience

Anthony Perl:

in doing that type of process.

Anthony Perl:

But that's my, kinda my business life.

Anthony Perl:

And, married, I have two kids and and

Anthony Perl:

it was interesting, lots of Doug Browns.

Anthony Perl:

We talk about Doug Brown,

Anthony Perl:

who's a famous hockey player.

Anthony Perl:

I love hockey and music and a

Anthony Perl:

few other things.

Anthony Perl:

Funny today, ha, I thought I was

Anthony Perl:

talking to a, he was a drummer in a band.

Anthony Perl:

And a kind of a. Famous band here in

Anthony Perl:

the United States and we were talking

Anthony Perl:

about me and he goes, are you Doug

Anthony Perl:

Brown that lives in Gloucester?

Anthony Perl:

And I'm like, no, that's the other

Anthony Perl:

Doug Brown musician.

Anthony Perl:

So that's why I have the C in there.

Anthony Perl:

It differentiates me.

Anthony Perl:

Does the C actually stand

Anthony Perl:

for something or you just liked it?

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: Oh, I always say it's

Anthony Perl:

charming, 'cause people get a little

Anthony Perl:

laugh out of it.

Anthony Perl:

But actually it's Charles,

Anthony Perl:

it's my middle industry, Charles.

Anthony Perl:

My mother was gonna name me Charlie

Anthony Perl:

Brown, not my father wanted to name me

Anthony Perl:

Charles Douglas Brown 'cause he

Anthony Perl:

thought it was distinguished.

Anthony Perl:

But my mother said, I'm not having a son

Anthony Perl:

named Charlie Brown.

Anthony Perl:

There's enough, challenges

Anthony Perl:

in the world.

Anthony Perl:

And I thank her for the best.

Anthony Perl:

Yes.

Anthony Perl:

That would've been a

Anthony Perl:

hard one to have lived up to.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

It's interesting isn't it, because

Anthony Perl:

there are of course, plenty of actors

Anthony Perl:

who famously put an initial there

Anthony Perl:

for similar reasons to you have that

Anthony Perl:

there's already someone with a

Anthony Perl:

similar name and they put it in

Anthony Perl:

there, and that doesn't actually

Anthony Perl:

stand for something.

Anthony Perl:

I, I, if I'm not mistaken, Michael J.

Anthony Perl:

Fox, I don't believe the J actually

Anthony Perl:

stands for anything.

Anthony Perl:

Oh, really?

Anthony Perl:

Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

I didn't know that.

Anthony Perl:

The sound of it.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

So there you go.

Anthony Perl:

A little bit of trivia to

Anthony Perl:

start us off.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: Hey you know what?

Anthony Perl:

We might go on jeopardy someday

Anthony Perl:

and the show here and make some money.

Anthony Perl:

Anthony Perl: Let's hope so.

Anthony Perl:

Let's hope so.

Anthony Perl:

Make some money is good.

Anthony Perl:

Speaking of making some money and as

Anthony Perl:

you said you've had a lot of businesses,

Anthony Perl:

which in of itself is interesting.

Anthony Perl:

We might come back to that, but

Anthony Perl:

tell me about the current business,

Anthony Perl:

because your focus is really,

Anthony Perl:

and the reason we are talking

Anthony Perl:

today is largely around giving

Anthony Perl:

CEO strategies to succeed and to grow.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

So I mean in that, so I have over a,

Anthony Perl:

I think we're over a billion dollars

Anthony Perl:

now in, in sales.

Anthony Perl:

We just added our next four, 4

Anthony Perl:

million, I think that kicked us

Anthony Perl:

over the billion, which is nice.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

Congratulations.

Anthony Perl:

That's huge.

Anthony Perl:

Oh yeah, thanks.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah, it's and I haven't, I have

Anthony Perl:

another company that we started

Anthony Perl:

just recently.

Anthony Perl:

It's actually the insurance business.

Anthony Perl:

Life insurance and health insurance,

Anthony Perl:

which is.

Anthony Perl:

Super crazy here in the United States.

Anthony Perl:

And I love it.

Anthony Perl:

It's I feel like I've come home

Anthony Perl:

'cause of the, all the accumulation

Anthony Perl:

of everything I've done over the years.

Anthony Perl:

I still have the software business

Anthony Perl:

that's called The Bit No, which is a

Anthony Perl:

automated, proactive follow-up system

Anthony Perl:

and and I still occasionally am

Anthony Perl:

helping mostly.

Anthony Perl:

Consultants and some companies in

Anthony Perl:

the revenue growth aspect of it too.

Anthony Perl:

But I use a lot of that now going into

Anthony Perl:

the new business.

Anthony Perl:

Because we're building agents

Anthony Perl:

and agencies and things like that

Anthony Perl:

within the company.

Anthony Perl:

It's, it's a huge thing

Anthony Perl:

these days to, you talk about,

Anthony Perl:

automations, you talk about getting

Anthony Perl:

in and out of businesses, like

Anthony Perl:

that sort of stuff.

Anthony Perl:

It's almost taken for granted that

Anthony Perl:

people are gonna do that, but it's not

Anthony Perl:

so easy to do that.

Anthony Perl:

And you've clearly had lots

Anthony Perl:

of experience in doing that, that

Anthony Perl:

in of itself is a huge thing.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

And it, the, you can get experience

Anthony Perl:

from reading and listening to others

Anthony Perl:

and, listening to podcasts like we're

Anthony Perl:

doing and those type of things.

Anthony Perl:

And I still do a lot of that and

Anthony Perl:

I know, I have people that I hang

Anthony Perl:

out with that are.

Anthony Perl:

They literally have billions of dollars,

Anthony Perl:

in the bank type people, they're

Anthony Perl:

constantly learning.

Anthony Perl:

But I think the, nothing really,

Anthony Perl:

it, I shouldn't say it this way,

Anthony Perl:

learning a hard lesson and learning

Anthony Perl:

it from YouTube versus learning

Anthony Perl:

it from your own bank account,

Anthony Perl:

being drained out.

Anthony Perl:

It's a lot, it's a nicer play,

Anthony Perl:

sometimes those hard lessons

Anthony Perl:

that we learn are really not.

Anthony Perl:

They're not failures, they're

Anthony Perl:

just hard lessons.

Anthony Perl:

And that's where we as human beings,

Anthony Perl:

we go, oh no.

Anthony Perl:

Anytime I have a GI get into one

Anthony Perl:

of those places.

Anthony Perl:

Andrew, I always remember Ted

Anthony Perl:

Turner, I had a a network over here

Anthony Perl:

called TNT Turner network television.

Anthony Perl:

Yes.

Anthony Perl:

And at one time, he was losing $20

Anthony Perl:

million a day.

Anthony Perl:

Wow.

Anthony Perl:

And I was like, first time I heard

Anthony Perl:

that I was like, all right, I don't

Anthony Perl:

have problems.

Anthony Perl:

We just lost a, half million or whatever.

Anthony Perl:

And I'm like crying over it.

Anthony Perl:

He's losing $20 million a day.

Anthony Perl:

And the thing about business is very

Anthony Perl:

fair, but it's also very very clear

Anthony Perl:

about its rules.

Anthony Perl:

It's money out.

Anthony Perl:

Money in equals loss, break

Anthony Perl:

even profit.

Anthony Perl:

Really that's business when it

Anthony Perl:

comes down to it.

Anthony Perl:

It, yeah it's simple,

Anthony Perl:

but it's complicated of course, isn't it?

Anthony Perl:

That's the thing is that and I'm

Anthony Perl:

fascinated by the fact that you've had

Anthony Perl:

so many different businesses because

Anthony Perl:

the one thing that it does teach you

Anthony Perl:

is you have to be attuned to what

Anthony Perl:

the audience wants.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

I think that's where a lot of businesses

Anthony Perl:

fall over because they go in with an

Anthony Perl:

idea and they go.

Anthony Perl:

I'm going to do this, but they

Anthony Perl:

haven't actually engaged with an

Anthony Perl:

audience to find out if that's what they

Anthony Perl:

want and they're not adapting necessarily

Anthony Perl:

as they go along the way to what

Anthony Perl:

changes may happen and if that's gonna

Anthony Perl:

be a lesson that you would've learn

Anthony Perl:

many times over.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: Yeah, that was a

Anthony Perl:

hard, that is the number one thing

Anthony Perl:

really, when it comes down to when

Anthony Perl:

we're starting a new business.

Anthony Perl:

Anybody listening, if you have not

Anthony Perl:

engaged your audience to find

Anthony Perl:

out, not if they like the idea,

Anthony Perl:

but actually if they'll pay you

Anthony Perl:

ahead of time.

Anthony Perl:

For rolling out your idea.

Anthony Perl:

I think about four times more about

Anthony Perl:

actually rolling that business out

Anthony Perl:

until you can get them to pay for

Anthony Perl:

the actual idea.

Anthony Perl:

And 'cause a lot of people will

Anthony Perl:

tell people, oh, that's a great idea.

Anthony Perl:

And Andrew, Bob, Mary, Josh, whoever.

Anthony Perl:

Diane?

Anthony Perl:

That's an amazing idea.

Anthony Perl:

I love that idea.

Anthony Perl:

And then we as entrepreneurs

Anthony Perl:

think, oh people are saying yes, but

Anthony Perl:

you and I both know Anthony, that if

Anthony Perl:

they don't pay for it, it doesn't mean

Anthony Perl:

that the business is gonna survive.

Anthony Perl:

So that's, it's, I have made this

Anthony Perl:

mistake more times than I care

Anthony Perl:

to count, quite frankly, because

Anthony Perl:

we as entrepreneurs always go, oh, my

Anthony Perl:

idea is amazing.

Anthony Perl:

And.

Anthony Perl:

And I disagree with Steve Jobs.

Anthony Perl:

Just tell him what you're gonna

Anthony Perl:

give him and the market we'll buy.

Anthony Perl:

I think he got lucky, quite

Anthony Perl:

frankly, and had good timing.

Anthony Perl:

You all you jobs people out there,

Anthony Perl:

please don't send hate mail to

Anthony Perl:

myself or Anthony.

Anthony Perl:

But the, my experience in

Anthony Perl:

business is exactly what you're saying.

Anthony Perl:

You wanna figure out whether you have an

Anthony Perl:

audience first and.

Anthony Perl:

'cause there's a lot of amazing products

Anthony Perl:

and services in the entrepreneurial

Anthony Perl:

graveyard because they just

Anthony Perl:

can't sell 'em.

Anthony Perl:

I had a a gentleman I talked to he

Anthony Perl:

was, came to me and his business

Anthony Perl:

was almost on the verge of going

Anthony Perl:

outta business.

Anthony Perl:

And Anthony, he invented a suit that

Anthony Perl:

if a paraplegic put it on, somebody who

Anthony Perl:

couldn't walk hands, legs, didn't move.

Anthony Perl:

They literally got up and could walk

Anthony Perl:

across the room and I was like,

Anthony Perl:

whoa, this is an amazing product.

Anthony Perl:

But couldn't sell it.

Anthony Perl:

He just was way ahead of his time.

Anthony Perl:

He just could not sell this product.

Anthony Perl:

I actually know there's a company

Anthony Perl:

here in the United States.

Anthony Perl:

It's worldwide now.

Anthony Perl:

It's Starbucks.

Anthony Perl:

I actually know somebody who

Anthony Perl:

tried to do the exact model of

Anthony Perl:

Starbucks 11 years prior to Starbucks

Anthony Perl:

being founded and complete.

Anthony Perl:

It was like, if you looked at the

Anthony Perl:

business, they were identical, but one

Anthony Perl:

of them tried to start it in the

Anthony Perl:

east coast of the United States,

Anthony Perl:

which failed and one of 'em started

Anthony Perl:

it in the west coast of the United

Anthony Perl:

States, which is today's Starbucks.

Anthony Perl:

That's a great point you bring up.

Anthony Perl:

The second great point is.

Anthony Perl:

You gotta roll with the changes because

Anthony Perl:

if you don't, your audience sometimes

Anthony Perl:

changes, the needs change, technology

Anthony Perl:

changes, inflation, recession, great

Anthony Perl:

economies, real estate up, down,

Anthony Perl:

all kinds of things happen.

Anthony Perl:

And if we don't roll with that and

Anthony Perl:

understand and AI is a good example

Anthony Perl:

of that today.

Anthony Perl:

And if you, if we're not rolling

Anthony Perl:

with AI today.

Anthony Perl:

We are gonna have some challenges

Anthony Perl:

in, in almost every industry.

Anthony Perl:

I don't know about 'em all, but

Anthony Perl:

certainly the many businesses are gonna

Anthony Perl:

be affected by ai.

Anthony Perl:

If you're a, a solo entrepreneur and

Anthony Perl:

you're a freelancer today, and you

Anthony Perl:

and AI can do what you're doing, if

Anthony Perl:

you're a graphics designer, you might

Anthony Perl:

survive it, but your clientele's

Anthony Perl:

gonna change.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

And the way you operate

Anthony Perl:

is definitely going to change.

Anthony Perl:

You just, you were just talking about

Anthony Perl:

the innovation there and it made

Anthony Perl:

me recall a, an old gag from a comedian,

Anthony Perl:

Victor Borger, who you might have

Anthony Perl:

remembered from.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

Long time back.

Anthony Perl:

And he has this little sketch where

Anthony Perl:

he talks about, my uncle invented

Anthony Perl:

the soft drink.

Anthony Perl:

He tried something and he called it

Anthony Perl:

one up, didn't work, tried two

Anthony Perl:

up, didn't work.

Anthony Perl:

3, 4, 5, 6, tried six up.

Anthony Perl:

Didn't work, gave up.

Anthony Perl:

Little did he know how close he came

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: and someone else

Anthony Perl:

invented seven up and here we are.

Anthony Perl:

So it's ex

Anthony Perl:

Anthony Perl: Exactly.

Anthony Perl:

And I think, but that's the truth

Anthony Perl:

is that you have to keep innovating

Anthony Perl:

in business.

Anthony Perl:

And just because there are so many

Anthony Perl:

stories out there of businesses who

Anthony Perl:

had an idea and who.

Anthony Perl:

Failed or didn't get the support.

Anthony Perl:

Famously that's the Walt Disney story

Anthony Perl:

is that I think it was something

Anthony Perl:

like 34 banks or something of that

Anthony Perl:

nature that rejected rejected him before

Anthony Perl:

one said Yes.

Anthony Perl:

And so there's a, there is that's

Anthony Perl:

the hard thing we, we talked about

Anthony Perl:

before, is that you have to be in touch

Anthony Perl:

with your audience and be, and, be

Anthony Perl:

as assured that's, that what you're

Anthony Perl:

gonna provide is something that they

Anthony Perl:

will want and need.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

And then you have to be stubborn enough

Anthony Perl:

to keep pushing and going forward if you

Anthony Perl:

truly believe in it, because sometimes

Anthony Perl:

you're going to get knocked back

Anthony Perl:

and it might happen several times.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: You mentioned Walt

Anthony Perl:

Disney the ATM that we all, we don't

Anthony Perl:

even think about.

Anthony Perl:

We put our card in the machine to get

Anthony Perl:

our money if we want to today, that took

Anthony Perl:

about, I think, 13 or 14 years for it

Anthony Perl:

to actually take hold because people

Anthony Perl:

thought it was gonna steal their

Anthony Perl:

money and eat it.

Anthony Perl:

And there's a lot.

Anthony Perl:

I remember I was born in 1962,

Anthony Perl:

feeling a little old when I say that, but

Anthony Perl:

I was born in 1962 and I remember when

Anthony Perl:

I was a kid, a child they were talking

Anthony Perl:

about electric cars, but people were.

Anthony Perl:

Vehemently opposed to even

Anthony Perl:

talking about it.

Anthony Perl:

So they used to say things like,

Anthony Perl:

I'm not driving a golf cart around.

Anthony Perl:

I'm not doing that.

Anthony Perl:

Here we are in, 2025 and, government

Anthony Perl:

subsidies are being handed out

Anthony Perl:

for people who are buying, and driving.

Anthony Perl:

You got, Tesla is a pretty good

Anthony Perl:

sized company.

Anthony Perl:

You got others out there.

Anthony Perl:

The electric car is, becoming more

Anthony Perl:

of the mainstay at this point.

Anthony Perl:

So certainly hybrid cars are so

Anthony Perl:

everything changes and you don't

Anthony Perl:

wanna be caught, saying I learned

Anthony Perl:

how to repair that steam engine and

Anthony Perl:

I've got a job for life, because that

Anthony Perl:

doesn't always happen and neither

Anthony Perl:

does your business.

Anthony Perl:

There are all kinds of just the

Anthony Perl:

nature of the a, the, the atom, is

Anthony Perl:

constantly changing.

Anthony Perl:

And so we must, as you were saying,

Anthony Perl:

we've gotta be able to change with it.

Anthony Perl:

If we don't, there, there are

Anthony Perl:

plenty of things.

Anthony Perl:

Some of you are probably old

Anthony Perl:

enough to remember the fax machine.

Anthony Perl:

I can tell you I have two daughters

Anthony Perl:

and they were like the heck is a fax

Anthony Perl:

machine, right?

Anthony Perl:

When there are kids who don't remember

Anthony Perl:

a time without a cell phone tethered

Anthony Perl:

to their body.

Anthony Perl:

And or learning.

Anthony Perl:

And if you look at today, you

Anthony Perl:

gotta use apps.

Anthony Perl:

You can, you can't even do business

Anthony Perl:

some with some companies unless

Anthony Perl:

you have an app on your phone.

Anthony Perl:

And when I was growing up,

Anthony Perl:

the phone had a cord and.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

And it's amazing how much it's

Anthony Perl:

changed, just as you were speaking

Anthony Perl:

there, I was just thinking about,

Anthony Perl:

the fax machine.

Anthony Perl:

I remember when it came and I remember

Anthony Perl:

when it left, yeah.

Anthony Perl:

CDs were the same.

Anthony Perl:

There.

Anthony Perl:

There's technology like that, and

Anthony Perl:

you're right, the phone has

Anthony Perl:

changed so much.

Anthony Perl:

I, I used to not leave the house

Anthony Perl:

without a wallet.

Anthony Perl:

I can't remember the last time I had a

Anthony Perl:

wallet in my pocket.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: Yes.

Anthony Perl:

Anthony Perl: Why do I need it?

Anthony Perl:

I've got a phone.

Anthony Perl:

Yes.

Anthony Perl:

It's things change and the, there is

Anthony Perl:

a generations that don't remember what

Anthony Perl:

it was like before.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: That's one of

Anthony Perl:

the reasons that we started the

Anthony Perl:

insurance business, because insurance is

Anthony Perl:

not gonna go away.

Anthony Perl:

It's, it's it might change form, but,

Anthony Perl:

we'll roll with that and, it's a

Anthony Perl:

great long-term business and.

Anthony Perl:

We all, we've all fall pre.

Anthony Perl:

There was a, when the automobile

Anthony Perl:

came in, they didn't think it

Anthony Perl:

was gonna make it.

Anthony Perl:

People didn't think, they didn't think

Anthony Perl:

the horse was ever gonna get replaced.

Anthony Perl:

When television came in, they didn't

Anthony Perl:

think it was ever going to outdo.

Anthony Perl:

Radio television, I think got caught.

Anthony Perl:

They didn't think that streaming

Anthony Perl:

was actually going to take over.

Anthony Perl:

The movie theaters or the, the TV

Anthony Perl:

itself to pay for television,

Anthony Perl:

my goodness.

Anthony Perl:

Like people now are paying

Anthony Perl:

for television.

Anthony Perl:

We never paid for television.

Anthony Perl:

It was free.

Anthony Perl:

So it, it's unless you're

Anthony Perl:

in the uk the UK by the way

Anthony Perl:

have been paying for television forever.

Anthony Perl:

There's always been a tax to, or a levy

Anthony Perl:

that they have to pay every year for

Anthony Perl:

for licensing, for television, for

Anthony Perl:

free to Airtel free to air television.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: Really?

Anthony Perl:

I, that's super.

Anthony Perl:

So they're the ones who started this

Anthony Perl:

paid television.

Anthony Perl:

Absolutely.

Anthony Perl:

They're responsible

Anthony Perl:

Anthony Perl: for it all.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

You, if people don't, no matter

Anthony Perl:

what businesses they're in right

Anthony Perl:

now, if you're in the roofing

Anthony Perl:

business, I can tell you right now

Anthony Perl:

that environmentally friendly shingles

Anthony Perl:

are coming forth.

Anthony Perl:

I have clients that, that, talk

Anthony Perl:

to me about this all the time.

Anthony Perl:

And they're using it as a differentiation

Anthony Perl:

factor to come in because the

Anthony Perl:

old shingles, the asphalt shingles

Anthony Perl:

they can't dispose of them like

Anthony Perl:

they used to.

Anthony Perl:

So there's environmental

Anthony Perl:

factors.

Anthony Perl:

They don't, they just don't decay.

Anthony Perl:

So there's different types of room.

Anthony Perl:

Who heard of a metal roof years ago?

Anthony Perl:

Unless it was on an industrial

Anthony Perl:

building, yeah.

Anthony Perl:

Solar panels, they were a thought.

Anthony Perl:

But now they're mainstay, right?

Anthony Perl:

There's all of these things that, not

Anthony Perl:

just innovations of new products

Anthony Perl:

and services, but within our business.

Anthony Perl:

My, my original college focus was on

Anthony Perl:

the medical field.

Anthony Perl:

My goodness, is that changed?

Anthony Perl:

It's now like crazy changed, with not

Anthony Perl:

just the technology, but in the United

Anthony Perl:

States, it's become way more of a

Anthony Perl:

business versus even healthcare.

Anthony Perl:

And if you were banking that it

Anthony Perl:

was always gonna be what it was 30

Anthony Perl:

years ago, 40 years ago, and you had

Anthony Perl:

planned on being in that business,

Anthony Perl:

your business is very different or

Anthony Perl:

you're no longer in business.

Anthony Perl:

And to your point, Anthony, if they

Anthony Perl:

don't roll with it, and that

Anthony Perl:

includes selling, if people, you know

Anthony Perl:

are still trying to sell like they

Anthony Perl:

were back in the.

Anthony Perl:

The eighties and the nineties, or

Anthony Perl:

the older sales methodology, the

Anthony Perl:

internet completely changed how we sell.

Anthony Perl:

Not because you could just buy

Anthony Perl:

things online, but because you could

Anthony Perl:

find information.

Anthony Perl:

The sales channel used to be the

Anthony Perl:

expertise for people making decisions.

Anthony Perl:

And no longer is that the case

Anthony Perl:

because now.

Anthony Perl:

Pretty easily the potential buyer can

Anthony Perl:

have as much or more information than

Anthony Perl:

the sales channel even has themselves.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah, it's it is, it's

Anthony Perl:

the truth, isn't it?

Anthony Perl:

You walk into, particularly if

Anthony Perl:

you're buying something of

Anthony Perl:

reasonable value, although it still

Anthony Perl:

happens, actually, I had this experience

Anthony Perl:

with my kids recently and they

Anthony Perl:

wanted to buy a book and they're

Anthony Perl:

standing in the.

Anthony Perl:

In the shopping center looking

Anthony Perl:

online at how much it is and they're

Anthony Perl:

going into one shop and then another

Anthony Perl:

going we can get it cheaper over here

Anthony Perl:

so we can save $5 by going to this shop.

Anthony Perl:

And you don't, I mean we, we went

Anthony Perl:

to a shop the other day and we were not

Anthony Perl:

buying, I think we bought a kettle.

Anthony Perl:

That's right.

Anthony Perl:

And it was advertised at a

Anthony Perl:

price that already said discounted.

Anthony Perl:

We actually didn't even look it up.

Anthony Perl:

We went to the counter and said,

Anthony Perl:

is there anything better you can do?

Anthony Perl:

And they knocked $20 off it.

Anthony Perl:

Wow.

Anthony Perl:

They didn't have to, but that's the

Anthony Perl:

but they also know, the reality is that.

Anthony Perl:

Majority of people would have looked

Anthony Perl:

it up and said this same kettle is

Anthony Perl:

$20 cheaper or $15 cheaper over here.

Anthony Perl:

So they not going to get the sale

Anthony Perl:

unless they do that.

Anthony Perl:

So that whole idea that people are

Anthony Perl:

very much armed before they walk

Anthony Perl:

into a store.

Anthony Perl:

You can't have a sale no longer.

Anthony Perl:

Is there the opportunity for

Anthony Perl:

a salespeople to twist your arm with

Anthony Perl:

a few words because you know they know

Anthony Perl:

more than what you know because.

Anthony Perl:

That is not likely.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: No.

Anthony Perl:

And it's it happens as you said, in

Anthony Perl:

the retail aspect or in the stores.

Anthony Perl:

It also happens in the

Anthony Perl:

manufacturing world.

Anthony Perl:

It happens in the software.

Anthony Perl:

I actually happened today.

Anthony Perl:

I a friend of mine introduced me to a

Anthony Perl:

new software company and they're out of

Anthony Perl:

they're in Pakistan.

Anthony Perl:

And I'm like, okay, I'll talk with 'em.

Anthony Perl:

And it turns out that they're 20%

Anthony Perl:

more than my current development team,

Anthony Perl:

which is in a much higher cost area.

Anthony Perl:

And I asked them, I said, you're

Anthony Perl:

in Pakistan.

Anthony Perl:

Correct.

Anthony Perl:

'cause I know what the wages

Anthony Perl:

are in Pakistan.

Anthony Perl:

And they said, yes, absolutely.

Anthony Perl:

I'm like you're five times what you're

Anthony Perl:

supposed to be price wise from Pakistan.

Anthony Perl:

Because, I've worked I've, I had

Anthony Perl:

a company in India, I know the region.

Anthony Perl:

So it's, but it's very easy to look

Anthony Perl:

things up online and know what a

Anthony Perl:

senior developer, for example, makes

Anthony Perl:

in Pakistan and Pakistani money.

Anthony Perl:

Which isn't even close to what they

Anthony Perl:

were telling me.

Anthony Perl:

They wanted to charge us

Anthony Perl:

for the price.

Anthony Perl:

So it's that won't happen

Anthony Perl:

business wise.

Anthony Perl:

I can also find out cultural

Anthony Perl:

differences.

Anthony Perl:

I can find out, if anybody, I had a

Anthony Perl:

company in India, so I can say this.

Anthony Perl:

They take a ton of vacation days.

Anthony Perl:

It's in, compared to the United

Anthony Perl:

States, it's very culturally different

Anthony Perl:

on the time off.

Anthony Perl:

We can factor all these type

Anthony Perl:

of things in.

Anthony Perl:

If we're looking to buy a laser

Anthony Perl:

guided whatever, machine for our

Anthony Perl:

inspecting the bottles and cans for

Anthony Perl:

our manufacturing plant, we can look

Anthony Perl:

up this stuff and there are people

Anthony Perl:

who are proud to put that stuff, that

Anthony Perl:

information out.

Anthony Perl:

And we can find out all kinds of things

Anthony Perl:

before that sales person comes through

Anthony Perl:

the door, or before we even invite

Anthony Perl:

a sales channel.

Anthony Perl:

In.

Anthony Perl:

A lot of times there are meetings

Anthony Perl:

now that happen within companies.

Anthony Perl:

So that whole dynamic shift,

Anthony Perl:

will continue.

Anthony Perl:

Ever changing shift will

Anthony Perl:

always continue.

Anthony Perl:

With AI today, it's taking

Anthony Perl:

another shift.

Anthony Perl:

You can have conversations

Anthony Perl:

with it to elicit responses that

Anthony Perl:

you might have had with meetings

Anthony Perl:

with sales teams.

Anthony Perl:

And so you can have all the, those

Anthony Perl:

conversations ahead of time, so you

Anthony Perl:

can just zero in on these things.

Anthony Perl:

So there, there's, innovation is always

Anthony Perl:

a thing that's going to happen.

Anthony Perl:

Adaptation is the thing that

Anthony Perl:

sort of lags.

Anthony Perl:

I think Anthony, that's been

Anthony Perl:

my experience,

Anthony Perl:

So talk to me, let's

Anthony Perl:

get into this whole sales thing a little

Anthony Perl:

bit more because I know one of the

Anthony Perl:

things that you like to talk about

Anthony Perl:

is the the problems that people have

Anthony Perl:

with unpredictable revenue.

Anthony Perl:

Pretty common problem in majority

Anthony Perl:

of businesses, and you've been through

Anthony Perl:

plenty of businesses back as a child, and

Anthony Perl:

the businesses that you've owned as, as

Anthony Perl:

well over the years with innovation,

Anthony Perl:

constantly changing.

Anthony Perl:

How do you actually teach?

Anthony Perl:

Sales techniques that are going to

Anthony Perl:

continue to work and adapt, be

Anthony Perl:

because of exactly that problem,

Anthony Perl:

unpredictable revenue and change

Anthony Perl:

that is happening in the areas that,

Anthony Perl:

that we've just been talking about.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: It's a great, that's

Anthony Perl:

a great question, a great point.

Anthony Perl:

So firstly, math never changes.

Anthony Perl:

The outcomes might change based on the

Anthony Perl:

formula change, but the reality is that

Anthony Perl:

selling is really foundationally

Anthony Perl:

grounded in metrics in math.

Anthony Perl:

Revenue growth is f is grounded in

Anthony Perl:

metrics in math.

Anthony Perl:

So the first thing that we wanna do

Anthony Perl:

is always figure out what our true

Anthony Perl:

will goal is.

Anthony Perl:

That's step number one.

Anthony Perl:

And that's the part that people miss.

Anthony Perl:

They like, I'll talk to companies and

Anthony Perl:

I just talked to one, he wants to.

Anthony Perl:

He's 7 million today and he wants to be

Anthony Perl:

12 million within a year, which is

Anthony Perl:

not doubling the business, but it's

Anthony Perl:

good growth for that type of business.

Anthony Perl:

And we got talking and I, it's long

Anthony Perl:

story short, after we got talking,

Anthony Perl:

I'm like, what's the real number?

Anthony Perl:

He's nine, right?

Anthony Perl:

So it's if we design a plan and

Anthony Perl:

mathematically build a plan till

Anthony Perl:

12 and you don't.

Anthony Perl:

Wanna do that type of work or put

Anthony Perl:

the budget in to get that and all

Anthony Perl:

that other stuff, it falls apart.

Anthony Perl:

Frankly, it never gets off the ground.

Anthony Perl:

Most of that.

Anthony Perl:

I had a gentleman one time tell me

Anthony Perl:

he wanted to go from 3 million to

Anthony Perl:

51 million in his first year, and he

Anthony Perl:

had no marketing budget whatsoever.

Anthony Perl:

No sales budget whatsoever.

Anthony Perl:

It's not gonna happen, right?

Anthony Perl:

Yeah he would've needed, at least

Anthony Perl:

in his industry, 5 million.

Anthony Perl:

Just for the marketing

Anthony Perl:

budget alone.

Anthony Perl:

So once we understand what

Anthony Perl:

the truth truthful goal is, then we

Anthony Perl:

can really start objectively looking

Anthony Perl:

at, 'cause we can put math to that

Anthony Perl:

process and then, so no matter what

Anthony Perl:

the economy's doing or what the

Anthony Perl:

markets are doing, that never changes.

Anthony Perl:

It's a standard concept of

Anthony Perl:

and condition.

Anthony Perl:

So now, yes, if the, if the industry

Anthony Perl:

is, wreaking havoc.

Anthony Perl:

On on the business owner, conditions

Anthony Perl:

might change, but the math will

Anthony Perl:

never change.

Anthony Perl:

It's always gonna be the same thing.

Anthony Perl:

We have this to sell at x with

Anthony Perl:

this is our cost of selling it.

Anthony Perl:

These are, soft cost, hard cost,

Anthony Perl:

et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Anthony Perl:

We wanna net this type of profit.

Anthony Perl:

We just figure out the mathematics

Anthony Perl:

at that point.

Anthony Perl:

We've gotta sell this many

Anthony Perl:

things at this and that at this.

Anthony Perl:

Going back to your original point, one

Anthony Perl:

of the, one of the foundational things

Anthony Perl:

that we do is who's the ideal right fit

Anthony Perl:

buyer for those?

Anthony Perl:

Because, most companies, frankly,

Anthony Perl:

are selling a lot of things that if

Anthony Perl:

they just focused on other things that

Anthony Perl:

are already selling, they would sell

Anthony Perl:

more and grow more than, the old Pareto

Anthony Perl:

principle, right?

Anthony Perl:

The 80 20 rule of 2080, 80% of your

Anthony Perl:

revenue comes from 20% of the clients,

Anthony Perl:

and 20% of the revenue comes from

Anthony Perl:

80% of the clients.

Anthony Perl:

I've never found that to be exact,

Anthony Perl:

to be honest, but it, the

Anthony Perl:

proportions aren't really the key.

Anthony Perl:

What is proportion.

Anthony Perl:

What is important is that there is

Anthony Perl:

a percentage of clients who buy

Anthony Perl:

quicker, pay more, are a lot more

Anthony Perl:

fun to work with.

Anthony Perl:

And if we could identify those and

Anthony Perl:

double down on those with, and here's

Anthony Perl:

the key, don't give up the others

Anthony Perl:

because you don't wanna knock off

Anthony Perl:

20% of your revenue just to gain back

Anthony Perl:

if the other thing doesn't work as well

Anthony Perl:

as you want it to.

Anthony Perl:

But when you find out who that ideal

Anthony Perl:

right fit buyer is, your messaging

Anthony Perl:

gets clearer, your targeting is

Anthony Perl:

clearer, everything just falls into

Anthony Perl:

a lot more, of an aligned process.

Anthony Perl:

And from there, once you understand

Anthony Perl:

that, it's okay, now how do we

Anthony Perl:

massively prospect to get these people?

Anthony Perl:

And then once we massively start

Anthony Perl:

to prospect to get these people,

Anthony Perl:

I always like to induce at least

Anthony Perl:

six new ways into a company

Anthony Perl:

that are working.

Anthony Perl:

Within a year to grow a company.

Anthony Perl:

And then how do we automate those

Anthony Perl:

six ways, right?

Anthony Perl:

So we can free up our time

Anthony Perl:

and our monies.

Anthony Perl:

And it's just constant influx

Anthony Perl:

of business coming in at that point.

Anthony Perl:

And so then how do we up our sales

Anthony Perl:

conversations and how do we anchor

Anthony Perl:

all the math to each one of these stages?

Anthony Perl:

And I think one of the more important

Anthony Perl:

ones that people miss are there,

Anthony Perl:

there are two, and this is one

Anthony Perl:

of the reasons I developed the.

Anthony Perl:

Personalized follow-up system

Anthony Perl:

because I literally lost $125,000

Anthony Perl:

sale by going on vacation.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

The vacation cost me $4,000, so now

Anthony Perl:

you can figure out what my vacation

Anthony Perl:

really cost me.

Anthony Perl:

And I was like,

Anthony Perl:

I hope you got a couple of

Anthony Perl:

decent margaritas out of it.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

I actually thought I needed at least

Anthony Perl:

a dozen more margaritas after

Anthony Perl:

I lost that video.

Anthony Perl:

Anthony Perl: Wow, that is

Anthony Perl:

a huge, yeah,

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: so follow up is

Anthony Perl:

super important.

Anthony Perl:

So we follow ups, the glue that holds

Anthony Perl:

everything together.

Anthony Perl:

It's the glue that holds the

Anthony Perl:

relationships together.

Anthony Perl:

And so we built that system.

Anthony Perl:

But I think one of the things that most

Anthony Perl:

people miss out of the whole thing, an

Anthony Perl:

Anthony and growing revenue is we can't

Anthony Perl:

if we just grow the company revenue, but

Anthony Perl:

we as individuals don't grow our mind.

Anthony Perl:

Like shape our mind to accept the new

Anthony Perl:

growth, accept the new challenges,

Anthony Perl:

accept the new responsibilities,

Anthony Perl:

accept the new fact that we are now

Anthony Perl:

doing way better than we were.

Anthony Perl:

If we see ourselves at a, say a seven,

Anthony Perl:

but we grow to a nine, I see this

Anthony Perl:

time and time again, the entrepreneur

Anthony Perl:

will actually start coming back to

Anthony Perl:

who they believe their identity

Anthony Perl:

is and they'll start sabotaging

Anthony Perl:

the growth.

Anthony Perl:

And so a big component is

Anthony Perl:

also conditioning that part of us

Anthony Perl:

because we all have desires, fears,

Anthony Perl:

wants, doubts, confidence levels

Anthony Perl:

at certain levels.

Anthony Perl:

But we've gotta, we've gotta

Anthony Perl:

constantly keep growing that

Anthony Perl:

otherwise we and I've done this to

Anthony Perl:

my own businesses, I've done this,

Anthony Perl:

where I'm like, why am I doing this?

Anthony Perl:

I don't know why I was doing it right.

Anthony Perl:

And then I figured it out and you

Anthony Perl:

gotta keep going in that process

Anthony Perl:

and keep growing.

Anthony Perl:

If you want to continue to grow,

Anthony Perl:

going back to your innovation and

Anthony Perl:

things that are happening, the world

Anthony Perl:

will do this for us.

Anthony Perl:

It'll kick us over and over until we

Anthony Perl:

understand that we're not the center

Anthony Perl:

of the universe.

Anthony Perl:

We're just part of it.

Anthony Perl:

Yes.

Anthony Perl:

It's a and that's.

Anthony Perl:

And that's an important lesson.

Anthony Perl:

It's simple, but it's the, but

Anthony Perl:

it is the truth that we often

Anthony Perl:

forget that there are other people

Anthony Perl:

around that matter.

Anthony Perl:

And it goes back to what we were

Anthony Perl:

saying in the beginning, really,

Anthony Perl:

that businesses need to understand

Anthony Perl:

fundamentally there audience.

Anthony Perl:

And in order to be able to respond

Anthony Perl:

and to grow, and innovation is a

Anthony Perl:

part of it, because that's part of the

Anthony Perl:

process as well, is that now there

Anthony Perl:

are expectations.

Anthony Perl:

We talked about it before, that the

Anthony Perl:

expectations of what people have

Anthony Perl:

are very different to what they were

Anthony Perl:

20 years ago.

Anthony Perl:

And they're going to be different

Anthony Perl:

again in 20 years time from now.

Anthony Perl:

They're probably gonna be different

Anthony Perl:

in a year's time, the way change

Anthony Perl:

is happening.

Anthony Perl:

And, AI's a good example.

Anthony Perl:

AI has come into sales.

Anthony Perl:

I know of a. Company that replaced 80%

Anthony Perl:

of their sales team with AI and they've

Anthony Perl:

had a 60% growth.

Anthony Perl:

And as a result of doing it, now,

Anthony Perl:

it depends what you're selling.

Anthony Perl:

That's a low ticket, a hundred dollars

Anthony Perl:

a month kind of subscription idea

Anthony Perl:

where it's fairly straightforward

Anthony Perl:

for people to understand and

Anthony Perl:

AI can sell that.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah,

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: And so to that point,

Anthony Perl:

Anthony, I think you're bringing

Anthony Perl:

up a very smart cautionary phrase,

Anthony Perl:

which is, it isn't for everyone.

Anthony Perl:

Folks, you're not gonna, probably in

Anthony Perl:

high probability, redu, take

Anthony Perl:

out a. Complex sales situation

Anthony Perl:

with AI today.

Anthony Perl:

It's li unlikely to ha not happen,

Anthony Perl:

I should say.

Anthony Perl:

It's unlikely to happen.

Anthony Perl:

Very likely not to happen.

Anthony Perl:

So before you run out and start

Anthony Perl:

deploying AI and kicking your sales

Anthony Perl:

team off, let's do a thorough

Anthony Perl:

study on that one.

Anthony Perl:

Anthony Perl: Yeah, it's it

Anthony Perl:

is one of those things, isn't it?

Anthony Perl:

And it's cautionary with all of this

Anthony Perl:

sort of stuff, AI is a good example where

Anthony Perl:

some of these things are worth trying.

Anthony Perl:

There are some things that will

Anthony Perl:

take you to a certain point,

Anthony Perl:

but it does depend on the nature

Anthony Perl:

of the industry.

Anthony Perl:

It does depend on the nature of what

Anthony Perl:

you're selling.

Anthony Perl:

And in, in that particular case,

Anthony Perl:

it's a product that.

Anthony Perl:

Doesn't need isn't going to, it's not

Anthony Perl:

gonna be service driven, put it that

Anthony Perl:

way, that it's, you're not going

Anthony Perl:

to actually need to engage with a human.

Anthony Perl:

It's a, it's basically a software

Anthony Perl:

product that they're selling a

Anthony Perl:

subscription to.

Anthony Perl:

So it can make some sense in

Anthony Perl:

that market.

Anthony Perl:

But, I'm in a, in the business of

Anthony Perl:

podcasting, that's not something

Anthony Perl:

that is going to be able to be

Anthony Perl:

replaced by ai.

Anthony Perl:

I know there are ais that can do

Anthony Perl:

certain amounts of things, but.

Anthony Perl:

We traded, we've traded a number of

Anthony Perl:

stories here today, and you can't do

Anthony Perl:

that with an ai.

Anthony Perl:

They're not going be able to do that

Anthony Perl:

in the same way.

Anthony Perl:

And that human element and

Anthony Perl:

how we respond, particularly in

Anthony Perl:

a sales process is also important

Anthony Perl:

because often it is that rapport that

Anthony Perl:

you develop with someone, which has

Anthony Perl:

a big emotional stake in your

Anthony Perl:

ability to be able to connect and sell.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: Yeah, I don't know

Anthony Perl:

what the future.

Anthony Perl:

Brings in that regard.

Anthony Perl:

Maybe in time podcasting does

Anthony Perl:

change, maybe in time, hugs change,

Anthony Perl:

maybe AI can create a hug feeling.

Anthony Perl:

I don't really know, a rapport building.

Anthony Perl:

I don't, we have a need as a human

Anthony Perl:

being to have other human beings

Anthony Perl:

in our lives.

Anthony Perl:

And if we, and I, this is the whole I

Anthony Perl:

would say pet peeve of mine, right?

Anthony Perl:

Where I think people are so far moved

Anthony Perl:

on the technology side that they're

Anthony Perl:

actually getting away from the human

Anthony Perl:

to human side.

Anthony Perl:

And I see it in restaurants.

Anthony Perl:

I watch people in restaurants and

Anthony Perl:

they're on their, they're looking at

Anthony Perl:

their cell phones, like through, three

Anthony Perl:

quarters of the meal and barely talking

Anthony Perl:

to one another.

Anthony Perl:

And I, I think, AI can do that.

Anthony Perl:

But I don't think it will ever

Anthony Perl:

get to that.

Anthony Perl:

I shouldn't say ever.

Anthony Perl:

I don't see it getting to that

Anthony Perl:

place where it replaces what we're

Anthony Perl:

talking about, what you're talking about

Anthony Perl:

right now, Anthony?

Anthony Perl:

I think it'll give it a shot

Anthony Perl:

for sure, because, the video cloning

Anthony Perl:

is so good now.

Anthony Perl:

I can't only imagine where it's gonna

Anthony Perl:

be in another year where, you just feed

Anthony Perl:

it a script and.

Anthony Perl:

To ai, video clones or having a

Anthony Perl:

conversation back and forth, and

Anthony Perl:

it'll be a little more hard difficult

Anthony Perl:

to discern, is it accurately.

Anthony Perl:

AI or not I don't think like you,

Anthony Perl:

I, we just heard a dog in the

Anthony Perl:

background, right?

Anthony Perl:

I'm assuming it's your place because

Anthony Perl:

we don't have a dog.

Anthony Perl:

Yes.

Anthony Perl:

I think

Anthony Perl:

that I think someone's

Anthony Perl:

decided that there's something at the

Anthony Perl:

front door or a package is arriving,

Anthony Perl:

something like that.

Anthony Perl:

So there's a. There's a dog

Anthony Perl:

that's going a little bit nuts in

Anthony Perl:

the background, so apologies for that.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: No that's the greatest

Anthony Perl:

part of AI can't do that, right?

Anthony Perl:

We can't respond.

Anthony Perl:

The AI on this side would not go,

Anthony Perl:

oh, it's a dog.

Anthony Perl:

At this point maybe down the

Anthony Perl:

line it could.

Anthony Perl:

But that's how people, you and

Anthony Perl:

I are both human beings having a

Anthony Perl:

conversation and that's, I don't

Anthony Perl:

think selling ever will get

Anthony Perl:

that far away.

Anthony Perl:

That won't happen.

Anthony Perl:

But I do agree that if you're selling

Anthony Perl:

a moderately low end or commoditized

Anthony Perl:

type process in most cases, AI will do

Anthony Perl:

an amazing job on something like that.

Anthony Perl:

If you're buying a I don't know,

Anthony Perl:

just pick anything a a. A piano for

Anthony Perl:

your kids, and you're like, what?

Anthony Perl:

Piano sounds great.

Anthony Perl:

And the AI can work out these

Anthony Perl:

things and tell you differences in these

Anthony Perl:

type of things.

Anthony Perl:

And you could probably make a

Anthony Perl:

decision to buy a piano, right?

Anthony Perl:

But if you are a concert pianist

Anthony Perl:

who is, playing at a high level, high

Anthony Perl:

end, you're probably not ever gonna get

Anthony Perl:

AI to be able to get you to buy a piano.

Anthony Perl:

You're gonna want to go into a piano.

Anthony Perl:

Store or shop that's been established

Anthony Perl:

for a long time was, has Steinway or

Anthony Perl:

Yamaha or a whatever brand you're

Anthony Perl:

looking for, and you're gonna wanna

Anthony Perl:

talk to people.

Anthony Perl:

So I think that, I don't think that's

Anthony Perl:

ever gonna go away.

Anthony Perl:

Personally.

Anthony Perl:

Yeah, and it's fascinating

Anthony Perl:

you say that because when my daughter

Anthony Perl:

was 12 and she had an opportunity,

Anthony Perl:

she got given some money and collected

Anthony Perl:

some over a period of time and wanted

Anthony Perl:

to buy a piano.

Anthony Perl:

She only had a certain budget

Anthony Perl:

to it, but she was very strict.

Anthony Perl:

She had to play those pianos and

Anthony Perl:

wasn't what anyone was selling her.

Anthony Perl:

It was sitting down and actually.

Anthony Perl:

Enjoying it and appreciating

Anthony Perl:

the sound and going through

Anthony Perl:

her own process.

Anthony Perl:

And it wasn't something that

Anthony Perl:

you could have done online.

Anthony Perl:

No.

Anthony Perl:

And it does make it, it does make

Anthony Perl:

a difference.

Anthony Perl:

And sometimes that, touching and

Anthony Perl:

feeling the product or service is an

Anthony Perl:

important aspect of of how we go

Anthony Perl:

about all of this.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: Yeah.

Anthony Perl:

And I think there's a place

Anthony Perl:

for AI to do that.

Anthony Perl:

And I think there's a place

Anthony Perl:

for AI not to be able to do that.

Anthony Perl:

And, I use AI every day of my life

Anthony Perl:

and it's great for the things

Anthony Perl:

that I use it for.

Anthony Perl:

I just, again, those complex or

Anthony Perl:

those it's really hard to f. I don't

Anthony Perl:

even know if it's impossible, but it's

Anthony Perl:

certainly hard, I think, to emulate

Anthony Perl:

or replace what you're talking about

Anthony Perl:

with your daughter.

Anthony Perl:

And if you're sitting into a piano

Anthony Perl:

and you're feeling the weight of the

Anthony Perl:

keys and the touch and the feel and all

Anthony Perl:

of that, when she's pressing down the

Anthony Perl:

notes, she's gonna feel a little better

Anthony Perl:

playing a certain type of keyboard

Anthony Perl:

than another one.

Anthony Perl:

And they're all different.

Anthony Perl:

And so I, I know this 'cause I'm a

Anthony Perl:

musician and I play piano and those

Anthony Perl:

type of things.

Anthony Perl:

It's the same thing for, a vocalist

Anthony Perl:

in a microphone.

Anthony Perl:

I don't think,

Anthony Perl:

I think AI can make recommendations,

Anthony Perl:

but I don't believe it's gonna

Anthony Perl:

be able to pick the microphone

Anthony Perl:

for you until

Anthony Perl:

Anthony Perl: you hear it.

Anthony Perl:

Exactly.

Anthony Perl:

There's so many more things that we

Anthony Perl:

could have touched on and talked about

Anthony Perl:

and we do have to wrap things up, but

Anthony Perl:

I do want to ask you two final things.

Anthony Perl:

One thing I wanted to ask about and

Anthony Perl:

we are only just going to touch

Anthony Perl:

on it, you talked at the beginning

Anthony Perl:

about an incredible background.

Anthony Perl:

I wouldn't say slave labor at three years

Anthony Perl:

old, but starting work at three years

Anthony Perl:

old with your dad and I understand

Anthony Perl:

that, and that would've been an

Anthony Perl:

amazing experience.

Anthony Perl:

And watching those businesses that he

Anthony Perl:

was involved with, going through the

Anthony Perl:

military, having many of your own

Anthony Perl:

businesses, what are the big lessons

Anthony Perl:

that you've learned from all of that,

Anthony Perl:

that you impart then in as part of

Anthony Perl:

the strategies that you give the people

Anthony Perl:

you work with?

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: So I had A mentor's name

Anthony Perl:

was Richard Menino.

Anthony Perl:

Richard has passed on.

Anthony Perl:

I have no idea why he even mentored me.

Anthony Perl:

He was very wealthy guy.

Anthony Perl:

I think I reminded him of a young

Anthony Perl:

hymn, when he was going through and

Anthony Perl:

he said something to me one day.

Anthony Perl:

And I think this encompasses what

Anthony Perl:

I learned in the military and

Anthony Perl:

throughout life.

Anthony Perl:

And as I get a little more

Anthony Perl:

seasoned in my years, I still.

Anthony Perl:

I learned, I come back to this lesson,

Anthony Perl:

he said to me, son, 'cause I asked

Anthony Perl:

him, I said why do people not get what

Anthony Perl:

they want in life?

Anthony Perl:

Why do people like just not get it?

Anthony Perl:

Anything is pretty much achievable.

Anthony Perl:

I can't imagine a male would have

Anthony Perl:

a, a baby unless it was a seahorse

Anthony Perl:

or something.

Anthony Perl:

But, for most normal things, you

Anthony Perl:

can get what you want in life and

Anthony Perl:

if you're willing to, and he said to

Anthony Perl:

me, he said, son, here's the thing.

Anthony Perl:

When you're going for a goal,

Anthony Perl:

the only thing you can do is point

Anthony Perl:

your nose in that direction and take

Anthony Perl:

one step a day.

Anthony Perl:

He said, you just keep pointing

Anthony Perl:

your nose in the direction you know

Anthony Perl:

you want to go.

Anthony Perl:

And I promise you two things, one.

Anthony Perl:

It will take you two to three

Anthony Perl:

times longer than you figured.

Anthony Perl:

And two, it'll cost you two to

Anthony Perl:

three times more than you figured.

Anthony Perl:

But if you keep going, you will

Anthony Perl:

get your goal.

Anthony Perl:

And he said, oh, I didn't answer

Anthony Perl:

your question.

Anthony Perl:

The number one reason people

Anthony Perl:

don't get what they want is they quit.

Anthony Perl:

Yep.

Anthony Perl:

And I learned in the military you

Anthony Perl:

can sustain, all kinds of things for

Anthony Perl:

a period of time.

Anthony Perl:

I'm freezing cold and, combat,

Anthony Perl:

all kinds of things like that.

Anthony Perl:

I learned from my dad's business,

Anthony Perl:

you're always gonna have ups and downs.

Anthony Perl:

When he was I was 16 and he had a heart

Anthony Perl:

attack, and my dad was the center of

Anthony Perl:

the business, and all of a sudden,

Anthony Perl:

I'm 16, I gotta run the business.

Anthony Perl:

So created a lot of confusion in my

Anthony Perl:

life at that moment.

Anthony Perl:

But, I made it through, I just

Anthony Perl:

kept going.

Anthony Perl:

And then my dad, when he got better,

Anthony Perl:

he came back and the business grew again.

Anthony Perl:

And we did that as you're always

Anthony Perl:

gonna run up against things

Anthony Perl:

that are always gonna challenge us.

Anthony Perl:

And the question is, how clear, and

Anthony Perl:

this is the reason I start people with

Anthony Perl:

a truthful goal and why they want it.

Anthony Perl:

Because how clear are we?

Anthony Perl:

On that truthful goal and what we

Anthony Perl:

want, and if we are committed to it,

Anthony Perl:

we will get there.

Anthony Perl:

In most cases, I'm sure there are

Anthony Perl:

people who have not, but I know

Anthony Perl:

even in my life that's been a very

Anthony Perl:

helpful thing.

Anthony Perl:

It's not fun when you know there's

Anthony Perl:

an old song, frank Sinatra

Anthony Perl:

made it famous.

Anthony Perl:

It was called, that's life,

Anthony Perl:

you're riding high in April and

Anthony Perl:

shot down in May.

Anthony Perl:

That was one of the lines I found

Anthony Perl:

that to be the way it is in business.

Anthony Perl:

It's the way it is in selling.

Anthony Perl:

You have a great day and you're like,

Anthony Perl:

oh my gosh, I just sold five outta

Anthony Perl:

six, and then all of a sudden, like

Anthony Perl:

four days in a row, no one's buying.

Anthony Perl:

And it can beat up on your mental

Anthony Perl:

and emotional.

Anthony Perl:

Desire to say, you know what, I'm going

Anthony Perl:

to the beach, or I'm gonna go, I'm gonna

Anthony Perl:

go to the pub, or I'm gonna, whatever.

Anthony Perl:

I'm gonna watch te tell you, but the

Anthony Perl:

reality is you just gotta keep focused.

Anthony Perl:

And this is the second thing I

Anthony Perl:

learned, Chet Holmes, when I was

Anthony Perl:

the president sales for Tony Robbins

Anthony Perl:

and Chet Holmes.

Anthony Perl:

Chet used to talk about pigheaded

Anthony Perl:

discipline and determination, which

Anthony Perl:

means you just keep going like Dick.

Anthony Perl:

Menino said, and Tony always talked

Anthony Perl:

about can I constant and ever, never

Anthony Perl:

ending improvement.

Anthony Perl:

If we take those two concepts with

Anthony Perl:

what Dick Mino said, that's how

Anthony Perl:

you get your goal.

Anthony Perl:

And that goes back to what we were

Anthony Perl:

talking about, where you gotta

Anthony Perl:

innovate and you gotta be fluid and

Anthony Perl:

you gotta be able to move through

Anthony Perl:

the process because it is not always

Anthony Perl:

a linear line.

Anthony Perl:

So much great advice

Anthony Perl:

in that there.

Anthony Perl:

And it'd be remiss of me not to point

Anthony Perl:

out to everyone listening in and

Anthony Perl:

we'll include some details in

Anthony Perl:

the show notes.

Anthony Perl:

There is a regular newsletter that

Anthony Perl:

you produce that people can sign up

Anthony Perl:

for and get lots of information

Anthony Perl:

on a regular basis about that.

Anthony Perl:

So we'll include the details of.

Anthony Perl:

In the show notes for everyone.

Anthony Perl:

Just a final question for this

Anthony Perl:

time, because I think there, there

Anthony Perl:

has to be more in the future.

Anthony Perl:

As I've enjoyed this conversation, I hope

Anthony Perl:

everyone listening in has as well.

Anthony Perl:

What is the big aha moment that

Anthony Perl:

people have when they come to work

Anthony Perl:

with you that you wish more people

Anthony Perl:

knew they would have in advance?

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: Wow, that's an

Anthony Perl:

awesome question.

Anthony Perl:

I've never been asked that question.

Anthony Perl:

I've done hundreds of these and

Anthony Perl:

never been asked that question.

Anthony Perl:

The big aha moment that I see is,

Anthony Perl:

there's two things.

Anthony Perl:

Number one, there's rapid growth that

Anthony Perl:

can happen, and rapid growth,

Anthony Perl:

everybody has it on their own level.

Anthony Perl:

Anthony, right?

Anthony Perl:

So I. I love working with

Anthony Perl:

solo consultants.

Anthony Perl:

I, it was one of those things that

Anthony Perl:

it was originally it was like they

Anthony Perl:

don't pay enough.

Anthony Perl:

But, I'm at a place now where it's

Anthony Perl:

I take clients when I wanna

Anthony Perl:

work with them.

Anthony Perl:

'cause I got the other businesses,

Anthony Perl:

supporting everything else.

Anthony Perl:

I'll give you a couple of examples

Anthony Perl:

and then, a larger company, I had a

Anthony Perl:

gentleman, his that I worked with, his

Anthony Perl:

name's Jonathan.

Anthony Perl:

And Jonathan was an interesting man.

Anthony Perl:

He's super smart.

Anthony Perl:

He's a consultant.

Anthony Perl:

He was doing 700,000 a year and he went

Anthony Perl:

from 700,000 to $945,000 in six

Anthony Perl:

weeks in revenue.

Anthony Perl:

But we attacked.

Anthony Perl:

Not just the business side of it.

Anthony Perl:

And I don't, when I say attack, I don't

Anthony Perl:

mean blitz Creek.

Anthony Perl:

We attacked the things that

Anthony Perl:

needed to happen.

Anthony Perl:

But what he did was a great job was also

Anthony Perl:

attacking the mental side of the business

Anthony Perl:

because that's what was holding him up.

Anthony Perl:

So when we can free that up, the metrics

Anthony Perl:

and the math and the application of that.

Anthony Perl:

It can work very rapidly.

Anthony Perl:

I just was working, this just happened

Anthony Perl:

literally last week.

Anthony Perl:

Sam, he's a, also a consultant and

Anthony Perl:

Sam we got a 20 x increase in product

Anthony Perl:

in production of outbound activity

Anthony Perl:

happening for two weeks in his

Anthony Perl:

business, and he's already set.

Anthony Perl:

From the previous numbers, $450,000 in

Anthony Perl:

new business that's expected to come

Anthony Perl:

through the door from this activity

Anthony Perl:

based on our close rate, right?

Anthony Perl:

So you can have massive

Anthony Perl:

growth quickly.

Anthony Perl:

I have done this with large

Anthony Perl:

companies.

Anthony Perl:

Intuit, for example, which many people

Anthony Perl:

know the QuickBooks company, they do

Anthony Perl:

Rocket mortgage and a bunch of

Anthony Perl:

other stuff.

Anthony Perl:

They went from a $10 million loss to

Anthony Perl:

a $7 million gain in under a year, so

Anthony Perl:

in, in one division.

Anthony Perl:

So these things can happen quickly.

Anthony Perl:

So I think that's probably, maybe

Anthony Perl:

the shock and awe of it, Anthony.

Anthony Perl:

But what I really see happen with

Anthony Perl:

people is when these things happened.

Anthony Perl:

Is there, not only does their business

Anthony Perl:

life get better, but their personal

Anthony Perl:

life gets really better too because

Anthony Perl:

they, the skill sets they're learning

Anthony Perl:

to grow that business and get

Anthony Perl:

that rapid growth directly impacts

Anthony Perl:

their personal life where they

Anthony Perl:

have better family relationships,

Anthony Perl:

better friendships more life

Anthony Perl:

satisfaction, all kinds of things.

Anthony Perl:

So that's what I would say.

Anthony Perl:

Anthony Perl: Fantastic.

Anthony Perl:

So much great wisdom and I

Anthony Perl:

really appreciate everything that

Anthony Perl:

you've given us, and I think we've

Anthony Perl:

just touched the tip of the iceberg

Anthony Perl:

as it were in, in what we could

Anthony Perl:

discuss and go into.

Anthony Perl:

Doug c Brown, thank you so much for

Anthony Perl:

being an incredible guest on the Biz

Anthony Perl:

Bites for Thought Leaders Program.

Anthony Perl:

Doug C. Brown: Oh, Anthony, thanks

Anthony Perl:

for having me.

Anthony Perl:

Again, I'm very grateful to be here.

Anthony Perl:

And to everyone listening

Anthony Perl:

in, of course, don't forget that

Anthony Perl:

all the details how to get in touch

Anthony Perl:

with Doug are going to be included in

Anthony Perl:

the show notes.

Anthony Perl:

We look forward to your company

Anthony Perl:

next time.

Anthony Perl:

On the next episode of Biz Bys, four

Anthony Perl:

Ford leaders.

Anthony Perl:

Hey, thanks for listening

Anthony Perl:

to Biz Bites.

Anthony Perl:

We hope you enjoyed the program.

Anthony Perl:

Don't forget to hit subscribe

Anthony Perl:

so you never miss an episode.

Anthony Perl:

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Anthony Perl:

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Anthony Perl:

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Anthony Perl:

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Anthony Perl:

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Anthony Perl:

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Anthony Perl:

details in the show notes.

Anthony Perl:

We look forward to your company

Anthony Perl:

next time on biz.

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About your host

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Anthony Perl

Anthony is an engagement specialist, building a great catalogue of podcasts of his own and helping others get it done for them. Anthony has spent more than 30 years building brands and growing audiences. His experience includes working in the media (2UE, 2GB, Channel Ten, among others) to working in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors, and for the last 13 years as a small business owner with CommTogether. The business covers branding to websites - all things strategic around marketing. Now podcasts have become central to his business, finding a niche in helping people publish their own, making it easy.