Loyal Customers, Grocery Relationships, Employee Empowerment: Jannie Teitelbaum's Success Recipe

Freddy D: 00:00:00

Welcome to the Business Superfan Show, Jannie.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:03

Thank you.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:03

Thanks for having me.

Freddy D: 00:00:05

So tell us, , how did you get started?

Freddy D: 00:00:06

How did this idea come up with, , Pot Pies?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:10

Well, I was kind of semi retired and very bored.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:15

I wanted to do something with food.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:17

I had other small businesses before, but I had never done anything with food.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:21

So I started making healthy bars, like granola bars, rice, crispy

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:25

bars, like that type of thing.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:27

And people would say to me, that's great, but we need dinner.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:30

So I don't remember honestly how it started, but I started working

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:35

on recipes for chicken pot pie.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:37

I did it on paper for almost a year.

Freddy D: 00:00:40

Really?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:41

And then I finally made one.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:42

Yep.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:42

Just, I don't know why it took me so long, but I finally made one.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:47

And I was in a women's network group at the time, just some women business

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:51

owners who would get together once in a while and we always would bring food.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:00:55

So I made one of these chicken pot pies and one of the ladies

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:00

said, wow, this is really good.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:01

Is this your new business?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:02

And I said, well, I don't know yet.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:04

And she said, well, it is now because I'm buying one.

Freddy D: 00:01:07

Oh, wow.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:07

And that was it.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:08

That was it.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:08

Yep.

Freddy D: 00:01:09

Wow.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:09

And then somebody said, Oh, my husband's gluten free.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:12

My daughter is vegetarian, you know, and anyway, I started coming out

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:16

with all these different recipes.

Freddy D: 00:01:17

Yeah.

Freddy D: 00:01:18

I remember when you and I met, , back at the Panera Bread, , back in Michigan,

Freddy D: 00:01:22

many years ago, and you were just getting this thing off the ground,

Freddy D: 00:01:25

working from your kitchen and stuff.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:27

Yeah.

Freddy D: 00:01:27

And look at you now,, you've been on several, news

Freddy D: 00:01:30

stations, been interviewed by the news and, tell us about that.

Freddy D: 00:01:34

How did that all come about?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:36

We found a good PR guy locally here and he got me

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:41

on the news, and then especially on the local Fox channel here, they

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:45

can't every time somebody canceled, they say, Oh, can Janie do it?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:48

Oh, can Janie do it?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:49

So, of course, I'm never going to say no.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:51

So I've been on their station probably 8 or 10 times already.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:54

But every time I have to come up with something new to do, and then I've

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:01:57

been on the other local stations also and one did a whole story on me, but

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:02:01

now when I'm out and about people say, Oh, you're the Popeye lady.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:02:05

I saw you on the news.

Freddy D: 00:02:07

Wow, that's just amazing.

Freddy D: 00:02:09

That's amazing.

Freddy D: 00:02:10

So how did you go, how did you transition from the kitchen to having a store,

Freddy D: 00:02:16

and expanding that location and to take the store next to you and doubling

Freddy D: 00:02:21

in size more importantly, during a pandemic, which is crazy, but, you

Freddy D: 00:02:25

pulled that off, tell us about that.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:02:27

All right.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:02:28

So I obviously, you know, you're not allowed to cook in your

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:02:31

kitchen food, especially meat, and then sell it to the public.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:02:36

So I found a commercial kitchen.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:02:38

There's a church nearby and they had a beautiful kitchen.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:02:40

And I started hiring some employees.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:02:43

I did that.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:02:44

Gee, I've kind of lost track of time.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:02:46

Maybe like three years I did that.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:02:49

And then in that same town, I started doing the local farmer's market.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:02:53

And that's really what got me off the ground because, you know, that was

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:02:57

hard work, you get getting up at three 30 in the morning packing and all my

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:01

stuff is frozen, how to pack it in coolers, drag it to the farmer's market

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:06

set up, but I have these customers coming back to see me every week.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:10

It was really fantastic.

Freddy D: 00:03:12

How did you create those superfans?

Freddy D: 00:03:14

I mean, if they're coming back every week to buy your product, that's a superfan.

Freddy D: 00:03:18

So how did you create that superfan?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:20

Well, back then it was just, I wasn't on social media yet.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:24

I didn't have any of that.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:26

It was just being at the farmer's market.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:28

These people would come every week.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:30

They'd buy the stuff.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:31

They liked it.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:32

We have good quality product and they'd come back and then they

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:35

started telling their friends.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:36

And it just grew and grew and grew.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:38

And then I started doing another farmer's market the same day

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:41

I had somebody else do it.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:43

And that kept me busy.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:45

So this particular farmer's market was indoors.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:48

So it was all year round.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:49

So it really kept me going.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:51

The other one was outdoors.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:52

So it was only, you know, I live in Michigan.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:54

So, you know, it was only for only for a few.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:03:57

Months.

Freddy D: 00:03:58

But you built, but you built those relationships with those people.

Freddy D: 00:04:01

I mean, you, you talked with them.

Freddy D: 00:04:03

It wasn't just a transaction, you had to have built some kind of a rapport

Freddy D: 00:04:07

with them for them to just, start becoming your brand fans in a sense,

Freddy D: 00:04:12

or what I would call business superfans and calling all their friends, right?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:04:15

Well, you know what?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:04:16

We were very friendly.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:04:18

People at the farmer's market tend to be all happy.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:04:21

So.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:04:21

You know, you start to build relationships with these people

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:04:24

coming to see you every week.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:04:26

And it was really just a face to face time that really built those relationships.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:04:31

And then I started making deliveries.

Freddy D: 00:04:33

Okay.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:04:34

So I would deliver to people's homes during the week.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:04:37

And that kept the business going.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:04:39

And not just being at the farmer's market.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:04:42

So then I started growing more from there.

Freddy D: 00:04:44

Right, I remember, that you had posted a video of one of your

Freddy D: 00:04:48

team members doing the chicken dance when someone had spent over a hundred

Freddy D: 00:04:53

dollars, I think it was, in the store.

Freddy D: 00:04:56

And, as a crazy idea that was, that was a brilliant idea because it was

Freddy D: 00:05:01

funny and it attracted more people.

Freddy D: 00:05:03

To, enjoy that and this is a cool, fun place.

Freddy D: 00:05:08

And that was a great attraction marketing strategy.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:05:11

Yeah, that's funny that you remember that

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:05:12

because that was two years ago.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:05:15

Our Thanksgiving and a pie was really a Turkey suit.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:05:18

Okay.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:05:19

Thanksgiving and a pie is 1st.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:05:24

Okay.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:05:24

So I'm going to have to go remind her about that and maybe we'll have

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:05:27

to do that again because I think we all forgot about it for this year.

Freddy D: 00:05:31

But that was great.

Freddy D: 00:05:31

That was brilliant.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:05:32

It was really fun.

Freddy D: 00:05:34

It was really fun, it was off the cuff, and that's the

Freddy D: 00:05:36

things, in my book I talked about doing some kind of that are unique

Freddy D: 00:05:40

that sticks in people's mind.

Freddy D: 00:05:42

And I remember seeing that video on Facebook and I'm going that

Freddy D: 00:05:45

was a really a brilliant thing.

Freddy D: 00:05:47

And I think you guys should resurrect that.

Freddy D: 00:05:50

And maybe, this is a 2023 version of it and make some fun out of it.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:05:56

You know what, she's here today and when we get off I'm gonna

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:06:00

go have her dig out that turkey suit because it was fun and people would

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:06:05

purposely spend enough over the hundred dollars so she would do the turkey dance.

Freddy D: 00:06:10

Well there you go, see that's a brilliant marketing strategy, it's

Freddy D: 00:06:14

what you created superfans from that perspective because if they've came

Freddy D: 00:06:18

in specifically to spend the extra money just to see the dance, I mean

Freddy D: 00:06:22

that's a brilliant marketing approach.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:06:23

Yeah.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:06:25

I hope she still has that outfit.

Freddy D: 00:06:29

So,, what'd you guys do for like loyalty and stuff to get customers

Freddy D: 00:06:33

to come back and things like that?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:06:35

Okay.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:06:36

We have a mailing list.

Freddy D: 00:06:38

Okay.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:06:38

And I used to write a whole blurb all the time.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:06:42

I don't do that anymore.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:06:43

Now, my son, Stephen, who, you know, does the marketing and all the social media.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:06:48

Stephen writes newsletters based on we have new products coming out.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:06:53

We almost always, every time he does a newsletter, there's a discount in

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:06:57

there or something special for them.

Freddy D: 00:07:00

Okay.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:00

And we have a point system at the register where

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:03

you square and for every week.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:05

Every hundred wait.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:07

I always get this mixed up.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:08

It's they get 10 points.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:10

I think for every 100.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:12

No, they get 100 points for every 10.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:15

That's what it is.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:17

And when they reach 1000 points to get $5 off.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:20

So we've made it so that the customer can get there very quickly.

Freddy D: 00:07:24

Right,

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:24

That it doesn't take a long time to get there.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:27

So we have customers, they spent, you know, they got 1200 points today when

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:31

they come back in next time, they're getting their $5 off and they like that.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:35

So it does keep them coming back.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:37

They just have to put their phone number in.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:07:39

It's very easy to use square takes track of it keeps track of everything for us.

Freddy D: 00:07:45

And it's what's important there that you just mentioned was that

Freddy D: 00:07:48

it's attainable because there's a lot of businesses that create programs,

Freddy D: 00:07:52

but they're really not attainable.

Freddy D: 00:07:54

And so in turn, it really backfires because people realize I'm

Freddy D: 00:07:58

never going to get this thing.

Freddy D: 00:07:59

And it's just a gimmick where it's retainable.

Freddy D: 00:08:02

Like you just said that.

Freddy D: 00:08:04

Changes the dynamics because, someone comes in and buys a

Freddy D: 00:08:07

couple of things and poof, they're halfway there, right off the bat.

Freddy D: 00:08:11

And I go, yeah, I'm coming back because this is, this works.

Freddy D: 00:08:14

So that's important.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:08:15

And the other thing we do that's really important, is, we greet

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:08:18

every customer that walks in the store.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:08:21

Always say, hi, how are you?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:08:22

We're all smiles.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:08:24

Just, we make.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:08:26

We try to make everybody feel comfortable and when you walk

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:08:28

into our store, it's really fun.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:08:30

It's colorful There's always a lot going on and we make it so that people

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:08:36

want to come in we make it inviting

Freddy D: 00:08:38

And that's really important because it creates an environment you

Freddy D: 00:08:42

know, there's not enough of positivity in the world today, so you guys have

Freddy D: 00:08:47

set up a nice positive environment where people come in and it's all of a

Freddy D: 00:08:51

sudden, it transformed their mindset is like, wow, this is a great place , and,

Freddy D: 00:08:56

they leave feeling, wow,, this was a great experience and it's important.

Freddy D: 00:09:01

The experience is very important in business.

Freddy D: 00:09:04

And I think a lot of businesses, have become a little bit too transactional

Freddy D: 00:09:08

versus spending the extra few moments to build that relationship.

Freddy D: 00:09:15

Even though it might be a two minutes worth of,

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:09:22

mm hmm.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:09:23

We really put effort into, I don't want to call it , old fashioned.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:09:29

But, you know, like that neighborhood store that you would walk into that

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:09:32

everybody knew your name and, you'd see them all the time and you recognize

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:09:36

them, even though our pies can stay in the freezer for a year and a half.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:09:40

We have people who come in every week, and they want to try something

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:09:43

new, some of them keep it in the freezer because it's nice, you know,

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:09:46

rainy day or cold night or something.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:09:48

You don't know what to have for dinner.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:09:49

You can pull it out of the freezer, but we have a lot of them who come in every week.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:09:52

Oh, this week, I'm going to try this.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:09:54

Oh, last week I had this I want to try this and oh we've got you've

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:09:58

got your new taco pie now I want to try that so we try to keep a lot

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:10:02

of varieties going so that there's always something new for them to try.

Freddy D: 00:10:06

Yeah, so basically, those repeat customers are your superfans because

Freddy D: 00:10:11

they're coming back and buying more of the product, but more importantly,

Freddy D: 00:10:15

they're telling their friends about your pies and what they're getting because

Freddy D: 00:10:20

of the fact that they love the product.

Freddy D: 00:10:22

They love the company, and you can't buy that kind of PR.

Freddy D: 00:10:27

You've built that relationship with those customers that they're out

Freddy D: 00:10:31

there on your behalf your store.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:10:33

So we also have a frames out on the street.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:10:36

So for instance, our thanksgiving pie is available now So we have

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:10:39

big signs out on the street today thanksgiving and a pie And then

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:10:42

there's another one that says taco pie and they'll come in and say oh, wow.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:10:47

I want to try What's a taco pie?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:10:48

You know, I want to try that.

Freddy D: 00:10:50

Right.

Freddy D: 00:10:50

This is clever names.

Freddy D: 00:10:52

I mean, the Thanksgiving and the pie, that's great marketing.

Freddy D: 00:10:56

That's really good marketing.

Freddy D: 00:10:57

What do you do for employees and keep them and turning them

Freddy D: 00:11:02

into superfans for the business?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:11:04

Okay.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:11:05

So we do have a reward system.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:11:07

I try to do bonuses today.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:11:09

We had a, we just got picked up by a distributor.

Freddy D: 00:11:12

Okay.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:11:13

This week was our first week doing production for them.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:11:16

It was a really, really busy week.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:11:18

Everybody worked very hard.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:11:20

I just bought them lunch and did a little spiel at the beginning.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:11:24

We do a lot of that.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:11:25

Also, we make a really, really big deal out of everybody's birthdays,

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:11:29

you know, they get the lunch they want, the cake, you know, all that.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:11:33

What else do we do?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:11:34

I just try to, it's a lot of rewards.

Freddy D: 00:11:37

I think that's important for business owners to really think

Freddy D: 00:11:40

about that because really, your employees basically, I call them team

Freddy D: 00:11:44

members, they're the business, they're the front lines to the business.

Freddy D: 00:11:49

And , you've got a disgruntled individual that, that becomes a

Freddy D: 00:11:53

problem, , versus, having a cohesive.

Freddy D: 00:11:57

Team that's happy to work together.

Freddy D: 00:12:00

They're having fun and, in my book I talk about people will crawl through broken

Freddy D: 00:12:04

glass for appreciation and recognition.

Freddy D: 00:12:08

And you're doing that you're appreciating them.

Freddy D: 00:12:11

You're giving them and you're recognizing them on their birthdays and things

Freddy D: 00:12:15

like that and that's huge and a lot of businesses don't have that mindset.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:12:19

Mm hmm I think another thing that we do is

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:12:22

everybody seems really happy here.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:12:24

You can come in and not have a good day.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:12:26

People have stuff going on at home, but we all in general, people

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:12:30

come in here and they say, wow, your employees are always smiling.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:12:33

Everybody seems so happy.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:12:34

It looks like a really nice place to work.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:12:37

And we try to have that atmosphere here.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:12:39

If somebody needs to go to a doctor's appointment, I never say no, or,

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:12:43

they have something they need to do, we'll work it out in the schedule.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:12:46

I never say no, you can't have that day.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:12:48

off.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:12:49

No, you can't go and do that on that day.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:12:51

We all work together to make it easy for everybody.

Freddy D: 00:12:55

That's a really profound statement there because you're a

Freddy D: 00:12:59

team and everybody's got everybody's back and we all have a life.

Freddy D: 00:13:03

We all have like you just said we've got things going on in our lives.

Freddy D: 00:13:06

We got health challenges.

Freddy D: 00:13:08

We've got you know financial things we've got family members that have things come

Freddy D: 00:13:14

up and it's important to accommodate and recognize that because that in turn

Freddy D: 00:13:19

builds a loyal team member that's going to say, this company really appreciates

Freddy D: 00:13:24

me , and I'm grateful for their approach.

Freddy D: 00:13:28

And so now, that team member has got gratitude , for

Freddy D: 00:13:32

what you're doing for them.

Freddy D: 00:13:33

And that's, now it's all coming together.

Freddy D: 00:13:36

As a really a cohesive, energized, team and that's why, you're exploding.

Freddy D: 00:13:42

I mean you opened up a store, like I said earlier, in a pandemic and then,

Freddy D: 00:13:47

you moved into the store next to you, which is, most people would never even

Freddy D: 00:13:53

think of doing that, but actually it's a brilliant time to move it because you

Freddy D: 00:13:56

probably got a heck of a deal on making all that stuff happen during that time.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:01

Well, I can tell you, I would have had to move

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:04

because there's no way we could have stayed in the original story.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:07

I grew up very fast.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:09

We opened the store April 20th 2020 right in the middle of the pandemic.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:15

The one good thing I had going for me was I had frozen food and I was still

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:19

doing the farmer's market nearby.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:21

So I would tell the people there, Oh, I opened my store.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:25

So they would start coming and then people in the neighborhood started coming.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:28

I put signs that on the street, we're open and it was a tough time.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:33

Everybody had to wear masks, we had the mask police come in to make sure

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:38

that we were all wearing our masks properly and handling our food.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:42

I mean, it was not a fun time, but then all of a sudden there was a hair

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:45

salon next to me and they went out and we were already crowded in my store.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:50

I think I was working on a little table myself.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:53

There was no room for everybody to work.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:14:56

So we did that lease, put a big hole in the wall, and now I've

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:15:01

got my production facility.

Freddy D: 00:15:03

Wow, just an amazing story.

Freddy D: 00:15:06

So, tell us a little bit about your management style and, how

Freddy D: 00:15:10

do you manage all that aspect of the growing the business.

Freddy D: 00:15:13

I mean, going from the kitchen in the house and to, creating that concept to,

Freddy D: 00:15:18

now a multi location distributing your products and grocery stores throughout

Freddy D: 00:15:23

the state of Michigan and beyond,?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:15:25

It's not easy.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:15:27

I've always been in sales.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:15:28

I originally was a stockbroker.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:15:31

I don't know if you knew that.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:15:32

So I've always been in sales and I like watching the business grow and

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:15:37

every little business that I've had.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:15:39

I like that.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:15:41

You know, you like to see, wow, I'm growing, I made more sales this month.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:15:45

So to me, it was natural that I would keep going and I kept looking

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:15:49

for different avenues of income.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:15:51

So we started doing catering every week.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:15:53

I had the farmers markets going, I had my store and I just kept it going.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:15:58

What, where am I going to go next?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:00

What's going to bring income in for me?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:02

How many people do I need to work for me to get to that point?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:05

How much food do I need to buy?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:07

It is not easy.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:08

I was not in the food business before.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:11

So it was a learn as you go process and I've learned a lot.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:15

And now, like I said, we have a distributor, they do all of

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:20

Michigan and a lot of Ohio.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:22

We chose not to go with a distributor that was in many more states because

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:27

that could put me out of business if I wasn't prepared for it.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:31

Business has changed.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:32

So now it's not really that little, little business anymore.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:35

It's bigger now.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:36

I cannot do it alone anymore.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:39

I get a lot of help from the people that work with me.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:42

We have somebody who, my son, who specializes in all of our

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:45

social media and marketing.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:47

He does a lot of my financial work for me.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:49

I've got another son who does some sales for me.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:52

I'm working now with distributor.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:16:55

Plus I'm the contact for 42 stores that we're in, and we just keep going.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:17:01

It's hard.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:17:02

I won't lie.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:17:03

And it is not easy.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:17:04

I'm no spring chicken anymore.

Freddy D: 00:17:06

I can appreciate that.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:17:07

It's, a lot of work, but I really like it.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:17:10

I look forward to coming to work every day and all these people who are having

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:17:14

all these problems with employees.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:17:16

I have not lost anybody except one who retired and one who moved

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:17:21

up North Michigan, and that's it.

Freddy D: 00:17:24

That's a profound statement because not many

Freddy D: 00:17:27

companies retain people that long.

Freddy D: 00:17:31

I mean,, since you've started having, one, basically one retire

Freddy D: 00:17:35

and then one moving up north, that's unheard of in today's business.

Freddy D: 00:17:40

Because unfortunately there's businesses that have a mindset

Freddy D: 00:17:44

that, I'm giving you a job.

Freddy D: 00:17:46

You should be grateful that I'm giving you the job.

Freddy D: 00:17:48

And unfortunately, that's the wrong mindset because no team I look at

Freddy D: 00:17:53

it as no team members, no business.

Freddy D: 00:17:55

There's no way you could conduct a business in a level that

Freddy D: 00:17:58

you're at without a solid team.

Freddy D: 00:18:01

That's all on the same page, working towards the same goal.

Freddy D: 00:18:06

And that's huge.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:18:08

So I can hear them behind me, making pies and

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:18:11

hand pies and all this stuff, and if they're not motivated to do that,

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:18:16

I'm going to be out of business.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:18:18

Because I can't do it myself.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:18:19

I hear them talking, they're laughing and stuff, but I know

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:18:22

what's getting done back there.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:18:23

And I know they're reaching their goals of what they need to

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:18:26

get them by the end of the day.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:18:28

Everybody here benefits from that.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:18:30

I make sure.

Freddy D: 00:18:31

And that's right there is an important aspect is they're doing their

Freddy D: 00:18:35

job, but you're not micromanaging them.

Freddy D: 00:18:37

It's really what it boils down to.

Freddy D: 00:18:38

You're not saying, hey, quit yapping and get to work.

Freddy D: 00:18:42

You're giving them ownership of what they're supposed to do.

Freddy D: 00:18:47

And you're empowering them to do what they're supposed to do.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:18:50

Right, exactly.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:18:51

If they don't, I do say something once in a while, but it's all in the presentation.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:18:56

I'm very polite about it.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:19:00

It's all I learned that a long time ago, how you say something to somebody.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:19:04

Even your children, it's everything.

Freddy D: 00:19:06

It's everything.

Freddy D: 00:19:07

Absolutely correct.

Freddy D: 00:19:08

Cause I've seen, people just say, Hey, you did this wrong and you did that wrong.

Freddy D: 00:19:13

And so now the person feels, and more importantly, if you do it in

Freddy D: 00:19:16

front of an audience and now they're belittled and now all of a sudden they

Freddy D: 00:19:20

start feeling, geez, I got to come to work and I got to face everybody

Freddy D: 00:19:23

again and I don't want to do that.

Freddy D: 00:19:26

And then they start to have anxiety issues and everything else.

Freddy D: 00:19:30

So the next thing, you know, they quit.

Freddy D: 00:19:32

And so , you've completely done a hundred percent the opposite of that

Freddy D: 00:19:37

is, you handle it in a very, proper, way that in turns transforms them into

Freddy D: 00:19:44

doing what you need them to be doing without belittling them or embarrassing

Freddy D: 00:19:49

them in front of everybody else.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:19:51

Yeah.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:19:51

And whenever I need to say something to somebody, I always do it in private.

Freddy D: 00:19:55

Yeah, that's very important right there.

Freddy D: 00:19:57

Cause again, we just said, you do it in front of the crowd.

Freddy D: 00:20:00

It's an issue that person's going to be embarrassed.

Freddy D: 00:20:03

They're not going to want to come into the office and it just creates a spiral.

Freddy D: 00:20:09

What about these, multiple stores, I'll call them business alliance

Freddy D: 00:20:12

partners in a sense, that you've got these grocery stores now, how are you

Freddy D: 00:20:16

maintaining those relationships and turning them into fans of your product?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:20:22

Okay.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:20:23

So I send certain people out to visit the stores, including myself, the ones that we

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:20:29

can, there's some that are hours away and it's hard for us to get there, but I call

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:20:33

them we have a lot of contact with them.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:20:36

What's selling?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:20:37

Oh, it's not selling well.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:20:38

Can we put a little sign?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:20:40

We also do a little, we do demos.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:20:42

We'll do a demo at a store.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:20:44

We try to every month and a half or so, especially the ones that are close.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:20:47

You know, like when you're at the grocery store and they give out little samples

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:20:51

of chips and stuff so you can try.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:20:53

We do that, and we set up a nice table with our signage.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:20:57

It's always one of my employees.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:20:59

We have a little apron on and the whole thing.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:21:02

And that the store will put an order in before the demo.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:21:07

They sell a bunch at the demo, so then after the demo, they have to order again.

Freddy D: 00:21:12

Oh, that's a brilliant idea, because they buy stock basically for

Freddy D: 00:21:16

the demo, it sells out, so it proves that it's sellable, and so now they buy

Freddy D: 00:21:22

more, and they've already got customers that like it, and wanting to buy more

Freddy D: 00:21:27

products, so it's a brilliant strategy.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:21:29

Yeah.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:21:30

That's worked really well for us.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:21:32

And it also shows the stores that we're paying attention to them

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:21:34

because I've had some store owners and managers say to me, we get a

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:21:38

small business, we buy their product.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:21:40

They're selling in our store.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:21:41

We never hear from them again.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:21:43

It's only, they want us to reorder.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:21:44

But we call, I send people in just to say, Hey, how are you doing?

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:21:49

We have these little signs that they can put up, let's say, Michigan

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:21:51

made homemade chicken pot pie, and they put it up on our shelf.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:21:56

We do a lot of stuff like that.

Freddy D: 00:21:57

Well, those are the things, I talk about in the book.

Freddy D: 00:21:59

It's relationships, you're building relationship with your customers,

Freddy D: 00:22:03

you're building relationships with your employees, team members, you're building

Freddy D: 00:22:07

relationships with your business partners.

Freddy D: 00:22:11

We mentioned earlier, a lot of people look at it from a transaction

Freddy D: 00:22:15

standpoint, but the reality is to really grow the way you're growing.

Freddy D: 00:22:19

It's really goes down to relationships.

Freddy D: 00:22:23

People buy from people that they like.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:22:25

Right.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:22:26

And whenever we do a demo, we always have a picture taken of the person who's there.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:22:30

And we posted on social media that day that also gets people to go to the store.

Freddy D: 00:22:36

Yeah.

Freddy D: 00:22:36

Because again, you're building the relationship, you're edifying

Freddy D: 00:22:40

that, employee that's out there.

Freddy D: 00:22:42

So they feel, look at me.

Freddy D: 00:22:43

Did you see the picture of me posted at the store and stuff?

Freddy D: 00:22:47

So they're telling their friends.

Freddy D: 00:22:48

So you've got your employees as your superfans are telling their friends, Hey,

Freddy D: 00:22:52

look at the picture and stuff like that.

Freddy D: 00:22:54

And you've created a business superfans that are telling

Freddy D: 00:22:57

other people about the business.

Freddy D: 00:22:59

On your Facebook page, I've seen it grow from, 20 some people to, thousands now.

Freddy D: 00:23:04

And you've done that all organically.

Freddy D: 00:23:06

It's just amazing.

Freddy D: 00:23:07

I don't know remember the number, but I know it's more north of 4,000 followers.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:23:12

Yeah, I think we're up to eight.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:23:13

Oh, wow.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:23:14

Okay.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:23:14

8,000 followers.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:23:15

I think so.

Freddy D: 00:23:16

And it's all organic, that's just amazing..

Freddy D: 00:23:18

That's a lesson to be learned for other businesses, that's how you build superfan

Freddy D: 00:23:23

all organically by building those relationships, by recognizing, people

Freddy D: 00:23:28

and what you're doing with your team and what you're doing your business partners.

Freddy D: 00:23:32

It's fantastic.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:23:33

Oh, thank you.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:23:34

You know, we do also pay for some Facebook advertising and we target certain markets

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:23:40

and that's worked very well for us.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:23:43

Every single day, somebody comes into the store and says,

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:23:46

I keep seeing you on Facebook.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:23:47

I finally had to come in.

Freddy D: 00:23:49

It works.

Freddy D: 00:23:50

It does work, every day, half of our customers are new.

Freddy D: 00:23:54

Wow.

Freddy D: 00:23:54

That's amazing.

Freddy D: 00:23:55

But, you know, both of us having a sales background, the reality

Freddy D: 00:23:59

is you don't make the sale on the first, second, or third contact.

Freddy D: 00:24:03

Usually it's the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth contact, right?

Freddy D: 00:24:09

But unfortunately people give up, one or two or three and they, oh,

Freddy D: 00:24:13

okay, they're never going to buy.

Freddy D: 00:24:14

And they don't put in the extra effort to get to the eighth,

Freddy D: 00:24:19

ninth contact of that individual.

Freddy D: 00:24:22

Mm-hmm.

Freddy D: 00:24:22

. And, and that's when the transaction happens.

Freddy D: 00:24:24

You just, you proved it right there.

Freddy D: 00:24:26

Mm-hmm.

Freddy D: 00:24:26

, it works.

Freddy D: 00:24:27

And that's worked very well for us,

Freddy D: 00:24:29

So excellent.

Freddy D: 00:24:31

So how can people find you?

Freddy D: 00:24:33

Well, we're www.greatlakespotpies.com com.

Freddy D: 00:24:41

We are in Clawson, Michigan, if you Google us, under Great Lakes Pot Pies.

Freddy D: 00:24:45

And on Facebook and Instagram, it's at Great Lakes Pot Pies.

Freddy D: 00:24:50

Okay.

Freddy D: 00:24:51

Excellent.

Freddy D: 00:24:52

And do you have anything that you want to offer our listeners to taste one

Freddy D: 00:24:58

of your delicious because I've had a couple of them and they're the fab.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:25:01

Thank you.

Freddy D: 00:25:02

That could entice them to try out a great lakes pot pie.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:25:07

If you get on our mailing list, you'll get right

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:25:09

away, you get 10 percent off.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:25:12

We ship all over the country.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:25:14

You get it in one or two days, depending on where you are.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:25:18

And sometimes we have to be very careful because I know you,

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:25:22

Frederick, you're in Arizona and it's been really, really hot there,

Freddy D: 00:25:25

Yes, it has, but last night it rained, like we needed

Freddy D: 00:25:28

rain and finally we got a dump truck worth of rain, so it was good.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:25:31

Oh, good for you.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:25:33

So, the shipping goes a little better in the cooler.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:25:36

Four months, but we do ship all over the country.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:25:38

We have shipping bundles.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:25:40

So if you go on our website, you can find a whole variety

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:25:43

of pies that you can order.

Freddy D: 00:25:45

Excellent.

Freddy D: 00:25:46

Well, Jennie, thank you very much for being on the

Freddy D: 00:25:48

business superfan podcast show.

Freddy D: 00:25:49

Really appreciate your time.

Freddy D: 00:25:51

And, we will look forward to having you as a guest in the near future.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:25:56

Oh, thank you.

Jannie Teitelbaum: 00:25:56

Thanks for having me.