Superfans: From Basement Parties to Business Success with Rick Benton

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Rick Benton's entrepreneur journey.

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Started in high school when he and a

friend started a DJ company dedicated

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to a vision of creating the most

exciting and energetic experiences.

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The business quickly found

successes that extended far

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beyond the local Detroit market.

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Fast forward a few decades and this

multi-state, award-winning company

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provided event planning, entertainment,

AV production services for national

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corporate social and educational clients.

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After successful sale and

exit of the business in: 2018

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Rick has become a teacher, a

coach, and a business consultant.

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His super power is his energy and

passion for learning and growth.

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Always challenging the existing

status quo to find better solutions.

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He personally understands and experienced

the power of E O S and how it offers

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freedom for entrepreneurs to break

through their ceiling, clarifying

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and achieving their vision while

improving their lives of leadership

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teams, employees, and our families.

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Rick is excited to share the EO S power

with you to achieve your vision, gain

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traction, and build healthy, cohesive,

and fun loving leadership team.

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Welcome Rick to the

business superfans podcast.

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How are you this morning?

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Rick Benton: I'm doing fantastic.

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How are you?

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Freddy D: I'm fired up, excited to have

you on as a guest, and I think we've

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got some great things to chat about.

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Tell me, how did you get started and

what led you to where you are today?

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Rick Benton: Oh, wow!, My entrepreneurial

journey started when I was in high school

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and a friend and I started a DJ company.

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Really?

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We were committed to this vision of

creating concert like experiences

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at tiny little, house parties or

homecomings or proms or birthday

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parties, whatever it might be.

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It's the late eighties, amazing bands.

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I would see concerts and I've just been

like, wow, that was the best experience.

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Freddy D: I

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Rick Benton: wanted to

create those experiences.

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for the small events that we went to.

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So we went out with Radio Shack strobes,

and I had a fog machine, and little

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police lights, and we eventually

built it up, and next thing a couple

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of decades later, we're a multi state

audio visual production company with in

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house entertainment, working corporate

event conferences and galas and

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fundraisers and expos, social events.

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We had weddings, bar mitzvahs and sweet

16s and all kinds of, you name the

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parties, as well as a really nice high

school division where we were really cool.

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We weren't just creating

homecomings and proms.

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We were creating concerts and festivals.

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Wow.

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For these schools and I loved it.

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You can you can imagine though,

you build a business that size,

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the levers that I'm pulling.

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We had, just people wise, we had

entertainers and we had admin and

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we had labor, across the gambit.

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Just on the entertainer side, where

I actually flew to other cities, just

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to get entertainers on the plane and

bring them to where they needed to be.

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We had logistics, the trucks, the

equipment, the quality control, the

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breaking of stuff, the investments,

the depreciation, the marketing

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budgets, the salaries, the rent.

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It was driving me crazy, but I loved it.

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Then in 2018, somebody decided

that they loved it more.

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I took the exit.

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This is how I got started

and where I ended up now.

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Since then, I've had some mild successes.

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I've had some utter train wrecks and

you learn a lot more from the train

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wrecks than you do from the successes.

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Oh, absolutely.

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That much I'll tell ya.

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Freddy D: The police lights, I remember,

I still have police lights in my garage.

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Yeah.

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Because in the 80s, I had in my basement,

I set up in a townhouse I had in Chicago

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was a entertainment area, so I would throw

parties and I would have the police lights

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and a DJ and all that stuff back then.

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We're both from Michigan, which is

even more ironic and here we are in

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Arizona, it just interesting how life

takes us through these directions.

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Rick Benton: From basement

parties in Michigan, and God

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knows we did a ton of them.

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Now I'm thinking back, the basement

parties in high school, college

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fraternity parties in the basement at

U of M, or MSU, and, oh geez, then we

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got an opportunity to come out here.

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You look around in January and

you realize you're never going

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to slip and you're never going to

slip and fall in the heat, right?

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You're you never have to scrape the

you're never going to scrape the

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sunshine off of your windshield.

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Freddy D: I don't miss that one bit.

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Not at

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Rick Benton: all.

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You

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Freddy D: bring back memories because

I used to throw what was we dubbed

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ever ready fast Freddy parties.

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Oh, wow.

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The record was I think I had about 75

people in a townhouse and it went from

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three o'clock in the afternoon till

about four o'clock in the morning.

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Oh, wow.

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Yeah, it was it was those

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Rick Benton: were fun times.

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Freddy D: Those were fun

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Rick Benton: times.

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I'm going to put it out there to any

audience members that can send us

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a picture of a fast Freddy party.

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Of course, that's going to open it up

to that they're going to send in some

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old living energy photos of me back in

the day and my emceeing a bar mitzvah.

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Oh gosh.

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Teaching kids how to do an electric slide,

a cha slide, and, oh boy, that's crazy.

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Freddy D: That was fun.

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So I'm sure you built some

superfans from all those events.

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Rick Benton: We did.

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We did.

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One of the things that we

did for that to create fans.

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We actually realized that our business

isn't something that you can advertise

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traditional and at the time print or

it wasn't definitely not the size that

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we could advertise on TV, but what

we did is we actually created events.

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That people can come see us

live, not just at a trade show.

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Oh, we're going to walk by a

booth and meet you guys, but we

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were actually created events.

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So take an example, the bar mitzvah

market, what we did is we created an event

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for fifth, sixth and seventh graders.

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And just for background for audience

members who aren't that familiar with

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it, a bar mitzvah is a really nice party.

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That's thrown for a 13 year

old in the Jewish community.

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It was the coming of age, no different

than a Kim Saniera or communion.

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It's a coming of age.

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Some of them are really nice and they

would have a DJ and lights and dancers

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and they'd invite the entire family

people would come in from out of town

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could be 100, 200 people or more themed

decor, all kinds of video screens and

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the entertainments off the charts.

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You have an entertainment team.

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that bridges the gaps between

grandparents and parents and kids.

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So parents are out there doing the

latest dances and kids are learning

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swing dances and stuff from the now

the seventies, but at the time it was

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more swing and fifties and sixties.

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And sure.

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And these parties became.

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Became a regular thing and if you broke

into that market, it was repetitive.

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So we would throw these

events at various venues.

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We would get the venues donated

because we were showcasing the venue.

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We'd invite every 5th, grader targeted

in the Jewish community, but open to all.

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And we would throw an hour

and a half, two hour party.

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Then we evolved it and we had a parents

lounge so the parents can go by and then

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everybody that contributed the decor

company and the catering company and every

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other vendor would we set up a booth, talk

to the parents can do a little catering

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for the parents do whatever you can we'd

have photo photography and photo booths.

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It was quite a production.

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The kids would come in now they're

fifth grade, they're sixth grade.

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They're getting ready for this event

that happens at 13 in seventh grade.

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And by the time that's actually there,

they're there to make a decision.

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Who do we want to have entertained?

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They've already known us.

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They knew us.

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They liked us.

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They felt confident with us.

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They trusted us that we could

do take care of the party.

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And that's the way we promoted it.

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We created super fans.

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We've later expanded that

to the high school market.

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Doing that just for student government

kids, just for the ones that made

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decisions for who's going to, who they're

going to hire for prom or homecoming.

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We later expanded that for corporate

events, we actually produced trade shows

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and expos for various different markets.

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We were in that would allow us to create

real superfans that, Hey, wait a minute.

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They're not a DJ company.

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They're full service planning.

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They're marketing.

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They are experiential.

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Next thing we were.

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We had quite a machine on our hands.

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It was a lot of fun.

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Freddy D: Now you've got the

superfans actually promoting you.

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They're your brand advocates, but

I call them business superfans.

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So now you've got an army of people that

you've done events for that are telling

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all their friends and those friends are

telling their friends and it starts to

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snowball and the word gets around that

you're to go to organization for these

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type of events, whether it's a bar

mitzvah, whether it's a corporate event,

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whether it's a trade show that a company's

taking place in, you guys did it all

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and your marketing was really, from what

you were saying is really just word of

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mouth marketing, which is all superfans.

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Rick Benton: It was creating

experiences, we created experiences.

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A lot of people in that industry,

they look at it with the advent

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that our existing customers

are going to be our superfans.

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So we looked at it from the standpoint

that anybody that experiences us, whether

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they could afford us or not, whether

they used us or not, we actually looked

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at it and said, some of the people that

couldn't afford us that couldn't use us,

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or they were committed to doing it, or

maybe they weren't even going to, they

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didn't even have a party or they weren't

having an event, but they wanted to.

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We were looking at from the standpoint

that we wanted even the people that

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weren't our clients to be fans.

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God, I wish we could

have an event with them.

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Freddy D: Because then they're gonna

figure a way to make it happen.

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That's really what happens is, you

want something bad enough, you're

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gonna find a way to, to pull it off.

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Rick Benton: If you want something

bad enough in this world, you

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will find a way to create it.

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Absolutely.

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So how did that

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Freddy D: segway into, what you're doing

nowadays, tell us a little bit about that.

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Rick Benton: As I mentioned, I sold the

business in: 2018

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some train wrecks, and I was working

with a company that was implementing this

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system on how they operate their business.

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And it was called EOS, the

Entrepreneurial Operating System.

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And it's designed.

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For companies that are 10 to 250 people

that are entrepreneurial in nature

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where they need a better way to operate.

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Most of the time, most

entrepreneurs are awesome at a

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skill, at a service, at a product.

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We aren't necessarily the best

business people because we're

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so damn good at what we do.

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We love what we do.

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That doesn't mean we know

how to run a business.

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I was given this book and it

sat on my shelf right here.

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Traction sat on my shelf from 2014.

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Never read it because when you're

running a business, you barely have

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time to read, let alone, you get into

entrepreneurship because you think you're

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going to have freedom of time, you're

going to make a ton of money and you're

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going to have freedom to choose the

people you want to work with and you're

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going to have freedom to have a purpose.

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I'm going to create this value and next

thing you're working 80 hours a week and

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you're like, where's my time, where's

my money and what's my purpose again.

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Freddy D: You got a glorified job.

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If you're working in the

business, it's a glorified job.

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You've got to be working on the

business to actually see those rewards.

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Rick Benton: Absolutely.

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So one of the things that I was

working with this company that was

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implementing this system that's

really described in that book.

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I looked at it and I said, Oh my

gosh, I got to learn more about it.

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I raced back.

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I opened the book.

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I read through it.

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I'm like, Oh my gosh, where was

this sitting on the shelf for years?

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When I was running my business,

this is exactly what I needed.

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I could have avoided so much stress,

so much heartache, so much broken

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glass that I admittedly created.

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It's not me.

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I admittedly created from my inexperience,

from the things that I didn't know.

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It was at that moment I was like, I

got to go all in, burned all my boats.

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Went all in and now I help businesses

avoid that same stress, avoid that

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broken glass, avoid that heartache.

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And I helped them build a system

where they're not working 80 hours

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a week, where they are not, unless

they want to, that's up to them,

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but I strongly don't encourage it.

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I helped them organize the way they

structure and run their business

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so that they get strong in six

key components of their business.

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What

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Freddy D: are those six

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Rick Benton: keys?

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At the top is vision.

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You gotta have a great vision and you

have to know how you're gonna get there.

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If you don't have a good vision,

you're gonna end up somewhere else.

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If you don't know where you're

going to end up somewhere else.

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Second key component is people.

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This mistake I made is that you have to

have the right people for your business.

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It can't just be the

right person for the job.

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It has to be for your business because

many times we see this in sports.

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How many times does our favorite

team, we're going to go out there.

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We're going to poach the

free agent superstar.

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They come over to our

team and they're okay.

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And we paid hundreds of millions

of dollars from, or we recruit a

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rookie who's not doing that well.

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And then he goes to a different

system and suddenly he's an MVP.

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Freddy D: It's all culture

that goes back to culture.

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Culture

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Rick Benton: have to be absolutely.

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That's exactly what are your core values,

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Freddy D: right?

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Rick Benton: Define those core

values and I'll tell you a story

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about core values in a minute.

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So third thing is your data.

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You have to be really strong with

your data and that means getting

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your emotions out of your data.

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We all look at things subjectively.

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We want to get that emotion.

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We want to get that out.

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Don't just run your

business by the numbers.

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The fourth key component is your issues.

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When your vision is clear,

you know where you're going.

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You have the right people for your

company and you know your numbers.

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Without the clouds of ego and

emotions, your business is going

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to be transparent and your issues

are going to rise to the surface.

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Every business has issues.

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Freddy D: Yep,

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Rick Benton: Unavoidable.

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So being strong with your issues means

knowing how you're going to solve them

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at the root cause not solve the symptoms,

but solve them at the root cause and

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make those issues go away forever.

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Fifth key component is your process.

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Every business has a right

way of doing things for them.

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You gotta make sure that everybody on your

team is doing things the way you need to.

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How many times I've worked on sales teams

where it's like, Hey, Joe's doing it

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this way, selling customers this way, and

Jason's selling it this way, and I got my

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own style for selling, and you know what?

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Here's the system that

we're gonna use for selling.

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We're all telling the same story.

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Freddy D: No, it's important.

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It's important.

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A good example that I'm going to put

in there is think of a rowing team,

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you got four people on the boat and

they're all got oars and it's all manual.

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If you're not in sync, you ain't going

no place too fast, you're going nowhere.

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You got to all be rowing in the

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Rick Benton: same direction.

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Freddy D: Got to be rowing in the

same direction at the same time, same

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tempo, everything else and that's

when you've got a team that's rowing.

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And I'm using it as a solid example

because that takes a lot of work

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to be in sync and to win a rowing

championship in one of those rowboats.

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Rick Benton: That leads us

to our last key component.

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Beautifully segued in to traction, which

means that everyday, every quarter, you

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are making progress towards your vision.

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You're all rowing in the same

direction at the same cadence to that

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same point, which is that vision.

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It's crystal clear.

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So the entire team is strong in

these six key components, and what

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was discovered is that entrepreneurs

have so many things just swirling

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around in their head at the same time.

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When you get strong in this,

these six components, everything

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just falls into place.

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If you think about it, our time during

owning a business, all the things that

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: 00:15:47

were swirling around, they will fit

into one of those six key components.

313

: 00:15:51

Freddy D: Oh, always, absolutely, correct.

314

: 00:15:54

Rick Benton: I mentioned the core values

in your culture, and I want to share a

315

: 00:15:56

story that just happened just last week.

316

: 00:15:59

And I was working with a team and they

had their core values and they list them

317

: 00:16:04

off so many other companies, they listed

off the typical things that we put up.

318

: 00:16:09

You could probably guess them, honesty,

integrity, cold customer service,

319

: 00:16:14

The usual

320

: 00:16:15

Freddy D: points.

321

: 00:16:16

Yep.

322

: 00:16:16

Rick Benton: Paint them on a wall.

323

: 00:16:18

You can't really hire to them.

324

: 00:16:20

They're too vague.

325

: 00:16:21

They're too general and let's face it.

326

: 00:16:23

Enron.

327

: 00:16:23

Remember Enron?

328

: 00:16:24

Freddy D: Yep.

329

: 00:16:25

Rick Benton: Worldcom.

330

: 00:16:25

Remember Worldcom?

331

: 00:16:27

Integrity was one of their core values.

332

: 00:16:29

Freddy D: Fail.

333

: 00:16:31

Rick Benton: We went through an

exercise and I am so proud of this team

334

: 00:16:34

because we went through, we spent a

little extra time on it, but wow, the

335

: 00:16:38

results were absolutely amazing and

I'm just going to pull these over here.

336

: 00:16:43

They came from generic.

337

: 00:16:46

One word, typical core values

and they literally came, I took a

338

: 00:16:50

picture of it and it is beautiful.

339

: 00:16:52

I can't wait to hear

their core values speech.

340

: 00:16:55

They came up with four core values.

341

: 00:16:58

We are number one, passionate,

goal driven problem solvers.

342

: 00:17:02

Freddy D: I like that.

343

: 00:17:02

Rick Benton: Number two, we are

trusting and accountable to all

344

: 00:17:05

Like that as well.

345

: 00:17:06

Number three, we are

professional team players.

346

: 00:17:09

Excellent.

347

: 00:17:09

Number four, we are committed to growth.

348

: 00:17:11

Freddy D: Yeah, that has

impact when you say it.

349

: 00:17:13

You can feel it and, the last

part is the important part is you

350

: 00:17:18

know, they're committed to growth.

351

: 00:17:20

You gotta do one, you gotta have one,

two, and three for four to happen.

352

: 00:17:25

That's really cool.

353

: 00:17:26

Rick Benton: There's two

things that came out of that.

354

: 00:17:28

One you read through that

and you just get chills.

355

: 00:17:31

It's wait a minute, I see it.

356

: 00:17:32

We can hire to those core values.

357

: 00:17:35

We can fire to those core values.

358

: 00:17:37

We can reward and we can praise

and we can choose our vendors and

359

: 00:17:43

our partners to those core values.

360

: 00:17:44

It's an identity of who we are.

361

: 00:17:46

Yeah.

362

: 00:17:46

As opposed to just the single words.

363

: 00:17:48

Freddy D: Because what you're

doing there is you're creating

364

: 00:17:50

superfans from the team.

365

: 00:17:52

Now that team has a synergy internally,

the employees, I call 'em team.

366

: 00:17:56

Of course.

367

: 00:17:57

So now that team, they're on the same

page, they love where they're working

368

: 00:18:01

because the culture's excellent.

369

: 00:18:03

So when they're talking to

prospective customers and existing

370

: 00:18:06

customer, that tonality, that energy

comes across and that attracts.

371

: 00:18:13

If you've got the right energy, you've

got the right tonality, everything

372

: 00:18:17

else, you're going to attract.

373

: 00:18:18

So perspective customers going to

go, wow this company, these guys are

374

: 00:18:21

energized, versus, the regular yeah.

375

: 00:18:24

I'm just going to help you and then

that trends into, complimentary

376

: 00:18:29

businesses that work together

with that particular organization.

377

: 00:18:33

So that compounds what you just laid out

there from a foundation is it transcends

378

: 00:18:39

across all of the whole business.

379

: 00:18:42

Rick Benton: Think about it.

380

: 00:18:43

If I were to say, Freddie,

I want you to come join us.

381

: 00:18:45

We have a spot on the team, but I

want you to just know, these are, I

382

: 00:18:49

want you to just understand our core

values and we have integrity, we have

383

: 00:18:54

honesty, we treat the customers, right?

384

: 00:18:56

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

385

: 00:18:57

Versus what I just read there.

386

: 00:18:59

Hey, Freddie, I want you to

join our team, but I want you

387

: 00:19:01

to know that when we hire you.

388

: 00:19:04

This is who we are.

389

: 00:19:05

And we are passionate goal

driven problem solvers.

390

: 00:19:08

That means we care deeply about our

goals and reaching them and solving

391

: 00:19:14

the challenges that are in front of us.

392

: 00:19:16

We're not just there to

admire them or to come.

393

: 00:19:18

We want to, we want you to know that we

are going to get to the root cause of

394

: 00:19:22

every challenge and every problem in front

of us, we are trustworthy and accountable

395

: 00:19:26

to all that means you can rely on us.

396

: 00:19:28

We're going to do what

we say we're going to do.

397

: 00:19:30

It's to everybody.

398

: 00:19:31

It doesn't matter if it's a customer,

if it's an employee, if it's a teammate,

399

: 00:19:35

if it's a vendor that we work with, or

just somebody in the community, we are

400

: 00:19:39

trustworthy and accountable to all.

401

: 00:19:41

We are professional team players.

402

: 00:19:43

We are not going to we're

going to dress appropriately.

403

: 00:19:46

We're going to treat people with respect.

404

: 00:19:48

We're going to we're

going to work together.

405

: 00:19:50

We don't want you siloed.

406

: 00:19:52

We are not, we're never going to

leave you off the island by yourself

407

: 00:19:56

and we're committed to growth.

408

: 00:19:57

It means we know we're not perfect yet.

409

: 00:19:59

We know we can get better and we're

going to committed to always improving.

410

: 00:20:03

I'm just making that up, reading these.

411

: 00:20:05

Freddy D: Yeah, Rick, you're right on

the money there because someone is a

412

: 00:20:09

prospective customer feels the energy

that transcends from the way the team

413

: 00:20:14

members are communicating, that's

going to help collapse the sales cycle.

414

: 00:20:19

People like to do business with

people that they like and trust.

415

: 00:20:22

Rick Benton: Absolutely.

416

: 00:20:23

Freddy D: With that mission, that's

attractive and attraction attracts more.

417

: 00:20:29

Rick Benton: It's uplifting.

418

: 00:20:30

Correct.

419

: 00:20:31

We want to associate with

that and it's not just sales.

420

: 00:20:34

It's you know, if you think about it in

the HR department when they're looking

421

: 00:20:37

for hiring, I mean hiring every new

hire That's a sale for the HR team.

422

: 00:20:42

If you want to look at it that way,

there's a sales product that is,

423

: 00:20:46

we're going to attract the right

people to our team and we're going

424

: 00:20:50

to repel the wrong people from our

team based on those core values.

425

: 00:20:54

I am so proud of that team.

426

: 00:20:55

Obviously I'm sharing that.

427

: 00:20:57

I'm beaming because that's

the stuff I get to do now.

428

: 00:20:59

That's the stuff I get to

help companies figure out.

429

: 00:21:02

That's

430

: 00:21:02

Freddy D: really cool,

because companies need that.

431

: 00:21:05

Over the years, I've seen a lot

of different things, a lot of good

432

: 00:21:07

managers, a lot of bad managers, a

lot of good teams, a lot of bad teams.

433

: 00:21:12

The teams that I remembered

that I was part of, and I'm

434

: 00:21:14

talking about, my experience.

435

: 00:21:16

I remember back in the 80s when I was in

the computer industry we were prepping

436

: 00:21:20

for a demo and, the demo was the next day.

437

: 00:21:23

We were working late at night and

getting ready cause the demo was in

438

: 00:21:28

the morning and we were about midnight.

439

: 00:21:31

Our manager walks in

and we're going, what?

440

: 00:21:35

He comes in, he's got, two boxes of pizza.

441

: 00:21:37

He's got a 12 pack of beer and

he sits down with us and we have

442

: 00:21:41

some beers and some, some pizza.

443

: 00:21:43

He hangs out for an hour, then as he

leaves goes, All right, guys, don't

444

: 00:21:47

stay up too late, but, appreciate it.

445

: 00:21:49

We had such a great culture because

we wanted to work and we worked

446

: 00:21:52

till five o'clock in the morning

getting ready, some of us slept at

447

: 00:21:56

the office and just, did a bathroom

fresh up because game time was 9 a.

448

: 00:22:00

m.

449

: 00:22:01

When we got done with the demo,

we killed it, and he came back

450

: 00:22:04

and said, hey guys, it's Thursday

afternoon, get the heck out of here.

451

: 00:22:08

I'll see you guys on Monday.

452

: 00:22:11

I'm still friends with a couple of guys

from that crew that we had, and I call

453

: 00:22:15

them a crew because we were a crew.

454

: 00:22:18

Rick Benton: One of the, one of the

best lines that I've ever read, where it

455

: 00:22:22

came from, what you described there is a

manager who understands your humanity, who

456

: 00:22:27

understands your people, who understands

that you need to be treated with respect.

457

: 00:22:30

You're, are not just a cog in a wheel.

458

: 00:22:34

Hey, food, beer, and pizza.

459

: 00:22:36

They go a long way when people

are working really hard.

460

: 00:22:39

The guy's name was Keith Cunningham.

461

: 00:22:40

The book is the robust stupid and

he said that culture is nothing more

462

: 00:22:45

than the way we treat each other.

463

: 00:22:47

Freddy D: Oh, absolutely correct.

464

: 00:22:48

In my book, one of my quotes is

people will crawl through broken glass

465

: 00:22:52

for appreciation and recognition.

466

: 00:22:55

What that manager did,

his first name was Tom.

467

: 00:22:57

He, appreciated us.

468

: 00:22:59

Recognize us for putting

all the extra effort.

469

: 00:23:03

Anytime Tom ever asked us to do

something, we were no problem.

470

: 00:23:08

Rick Benton: Your quote reminds me of

a napoleon one and he would just marvel

471

: 00:23:13

at the amazing things that soldiers

would do for a tiny piece of ribbon.

472

: 00:23:17

Freddy D: Yeap

473

: 00:23:18

Rick Benton: Know just to get the

badge to get the piece of ribbon, the

474

: 00:23:22

unbelievable things people would do.

475

: 00:23:24

More so than money, recognition,

respect, appreciation

476

: 00:23:30

Freddy D: or gold.

477

: 00:23:30

That's how you create

superfans, right there.

478

: 00:23:33

Absolutely.

479

: 00:23:33

Those three things.

480

: 00:23:34

That's how you create superfans

that will go out and go out of

481

: 00:23:38

their way and become champions of

your business, your organization.

482

: 00:23:44

Look at fandom, where people create

groups, they're a superfans on steroids

483

: 00:23:52

and they create these fan groups they've

got meetups and all these things.

484

: 00:23:56

You look back at Star Trek, for

example, you got all the Trekkies,

485

: 00:24:00

that's an example of superfans.

486

: 00:24:02

Those guys are diehard superfans that have

created groups and meetups and everything

487

: 00:24:07

else to promote Star Trek as an example.

488

: 00:24:10

It's, superfandom.

489

: 00:24:12

If you know how to harness it

and more importantly, how to

490

: 00:24:17

grow it to become that monster.

491

: 00:24:21

Absolutely.

492

: 00:24:22

Rick Benton: I've been an Apple

geek since long before Steve

493

: 00:24:25

Jobs came back to the company.

494

: 00:24:27

Didn't hold on to enough shares from

that I purchased back in those days.

495

: 00:24:30

Yeah, I wish I would have kept my 1985

496

: 00:24:32

Freddy D: Mac.

497

: 00:24:34

Rick Benton: Exactly.

498

: 00:24:35

But there's some great documentation

on the evangelical side of what Apple

499

: 00:24:41

was creating that got them through the

nineties for sure, because they just had

500

: 00:24:46

raving fans who loved the counterculture.

501

: 00:24:50

Apple's always had a super worthy rival.

502

: 00:24:52

Initially it was IBM, then it became

Microsoft, then it became Samsung.

503

: 00:24:57

And now they're such a behemoth that

they're just trying to outdo themselves.

504

: 00:25:01

But it's always recognizable that

they always had that worthy rival.

505

: 00:25:05

They always had that person, that

company that pushed them to be

506

: 00:25:08

better, that they built on each other.

507

: 00:25:11

Microsoft did this, so Apple had to come

up here and that counterculture of people

508

: 00:25:14

that would be like, okay we pick sides.

509

: 00:25:17

Remember that, that Mac versus

PC commercial with Justin Long

510

: 00:25:21

and and I forgot the other guys.

511

: 00:25:23

It was funny.

512

: 00:25:23

It

513

: 00:25:23

Freddy D: was

514

: 00:25:24

Rick Benton: hilarious.

515

: 00:25:24

They were funny, but they were pitting

each other against each other, but

516

: 00:25:27

also both making each other better.

517

: 00:25:29

We all pick sides.

518

: 00:25:32

Everybody had a side.

519

: 00:25:33

I remember just, Hey, I'm a Mac guy.

520

: 00:25:35

I had think that when I taught for a

year, I had think different posters in my

521

: 00:25:41

classroom that I had bought from a app.

522

: 00:25:43

I love that campaign.

523

: 00:25:45

I had Einstein, I had Jim

Henson and Kermit the Frog.

524

: 00:25:49

I had the Jackie Robinson.

525

: 00:25:52

I had the Bob Dylan poster and

the Miles Davis were over on

526

: 00:25:55

the other side, bad commentary.

527

: 00:25:58

My athletic director did not

recognize Jackie Robinson.

528

: 00:26:01

He's who is that?

529

: 00:26:02

I'm like, really?

530

: 00:26:03

But that's another story.

531

: 00:26:05

Apple was always one of my corporate

heroes because of their ability to do

532

: 00:26:08

that to create those fans myself included.

533

: 00:26:11

Freddy D: Yeah myself as well.

534

: 00:26:12

I'm an Apple geek as well.

535

: 00:26:14

I like I said, 86 was my first year

in sales, and I had a Mac, I had a

536

: 00:26:17

portable Mac and I created in Excel

a return on investment spreadsheet.

537

: 00:26:24

I would come in and selling manufacturing

software and I would sit down and

538

: 00:26:28

I'd say, okay, Rick, let's look

at what's your hourly burden rate.

539

: 00:26:31

How long does it take you to design

a job manually or do this kind of

540

: 00:26:36

stuff and emotionally, I involved

you into creating the ROI for the

541

: 00:26:41

software I was trying to sell you.

542

: 00:26:44

But I wasn't trying to sell you.

543

: 00:26:45

You were buying it because you created the

ROI yourself and you turned around, went

544

: 00:26:50

up to upper management and says look, it's

gonna cost us 150 grand, but in 24 months,

545

: 00:26:58

we're going to be a positive 150 grand.

546

: 00:27:00

What was cool was they were amazed I

plopped this Mac and I would actually,

547

: 00:27:06

sometimes I had a modem, that you carried

around and I would dial up their fax

548

: 00:27:14

machine and fax out the quote that you

and I sat together and put together.

549

: 00:27:19

Oh, wow.

550

: 00:27:20

Yeah, it was cool,

and it was a slam dunk.

551

: 00:27:22

the sale was done because

you and I put it together.

552

: 00:27:24

I printed it out on your fax machine,

used your phone line and it was a blast.

553

: 00:27:30

Rick Benton: If you remember

Simon Sinek's, Start With Why,

554

: 00:27:33

and he used Apple as an example.

555

: 00:27:36

That they go with why

they do what they do.

556

: 00:27:38

We help you solve issues.

557

: 00:27:40

We happen to make great computers.

558

: 00:27:41

Want to buy one, as opposed

to, we make great computers.

559

: 00:27:43

They can help you solve your problem.

560

: 00:27:45

It's just that people will

buy why you do something.

561

: 00:27:50

Freddy D: Yep.

562

: 00:27:50

Rick Benton: Not what you do, and in this

sense, I shared with you the core values.

563

: 00:27:55

I help people avoid that

entrepreneurial stress.

564

: 00:27:58

We get them to a point where we say,

you are living the EOS life and the

565

: 00:28:03

EOS life for any entrepreneur, I

think is just it's so attractive the

566

: 00:28:08

way that it's marketed, it's sold,

and it's simply this five things.

567

: 00:28:12

We get entrepreneurs and anybody on that

team to first, we're doing what we love.

568

: 00:28:18

Yep.

569

: 00:28:18

We're doing it with people that we love.

570

: 00:28:20

Yep.

571

: 00:28:20

We're making a difference in the world.

572

: 00:28:23

Yep.

573

: 00:28:24

Everybody's getting

compensated appropriately.

574

: 00:28:27

Yep.

575

: 00:28:28

We have time for other passions.

576

: 00:28:29

When I saw that, I said that

right there, I am a raving fan

577

: 00:28:33

of EOS because that's the goal.

578

: 00:28:35

That's the outcome.

579

: 00:28:36

That's the vision of the life we

want to live that I want to live.

580

: 00:28:41

I want to do what I love working

with people that I love making

581

: 00:28:45

a big difference in the world,

getting compensated appropriately

582

: 00:28:49

with time for other passions.

583

: 00:28:51

How many people, whether entrepreneurs

or they're just in a job, they don't

584

: 00:28:55

have that time for other passions.

585

: 00:28:57

Yeah.

586

: 00:28:57

That's how you create raving fans.

587

: 00:28:59

Freddy D: Yep.

588

: 00:29:00

Rick Benton: Get something

that resonates with somebody

589

: 00:29:02

that hits them at their core.

590

: 00:29:04

Sure,

591

: 00:29:05

Freddy D: so Rick, how can

people get ahold of you?

592

: 00:29:08

Rick Benton: Pretty simply rick.

593

: 00:29:10

benton at EOS worldwide.

594

: 00:29:12

com.

595

: 00:29:12

It's easy email, but cell

phone number works as well.

596

: 00:29:17

248 867 9550 best bet.

597

: 00:29:19

Just reach out LinkedIn,

Facebook, any of them.

598

: 00:29:23

I still have that 248 number.

599

: 00:29:24

You can take the boy out of Detroit, but

can't take the Detroit out of the boy.

600

: 00:29:28

Freddy D: Hey, my woman's still

got a 248 number as well.

601

: 00:29:31

I took her out of Detroit as well,

but still a Detroiter and so am I.

602

: 00:29:35

Rick Benton: Not as often, still

go for a Coney dog every so often,

603

: 00:29:38

can't can't turn those down.

604

: 00:29:41

I could turn them down

more often than not now.

605

: 00:29:43

If it's getting strong in those six

key components is something that you're

606

: 00:29:46

interested in, or just learning about

more about how this model works, by

607

: 00:29:51

all means, give me a call, reach out.

608

: 00:29:53

Freddy D: Do you offer

a free consultation?

609

: 00:29:55

Rick Benton: Yeah.

610

: 00:29:55

We'll give you a full free session.

611

: 00:29:58

A 90 minute session about how this

can work in your business, what your

612

: 00:30:02

business would look like running on

EOS and how I work with companies.

613

: 00:30:08

I don't want, I don't want a company

that's out there for a seminar.

614

: 00:30:12

I want a company that is looking to really

transform the way that they do business,

615

: 00:30:17

the way they work with their employees,

and they're in it for the journey.

616

: 00:30:22

Is a journey,

617

: 00:30:23

We are changing habits of

how you run businesses.

618

: 00:30:26

We are letting, we are allowing

CEOs and visionaries and founders.

619

: 00:30:32

We call it letting go of the vine where

you're hanging on for dear life, but

620

: 00:30:37

you look around, you have a team that

you've hired, they're the right people,

621

: 00:30:41

they're sitting in the right seats

and you can let go of those things.

622

: 00:30:44

Without fear that they're not going

to get done, that they're going to

623

: 00:30:48

get done correctly, and that your team

is going to support you so you can

624

: 00:30:52

actually start to dial down the number

of hours that you're working and you

625

: 00:30:57

can have time for other passions too.

626

: 00:30:59

And you're going to find that your

business is going to soar when you

627

: 00:31:02

let the right people do their job.

628

: 00:31:05

Freddy D: Yep.

629

: 00:31:06

Sir Richard Branson says it the best.

630

: 00:31:07

If you take care of your team,

they'll take care of everything else.

631

: 00:31:12

Yeah,

632

: 00:31:12

That's the bottom line.

633

: 00:31:13

So Rick, it's been a pleasure having

you on the business superfan podcast.

634

: 00:31:17

I thank

635

: 00:31:18

Rick Benton: you Enjoy being here

636

: 00:31:20

Freddy D: and we will definitely

have you on another one to

637

: 00:31:23

continue the conversation, buddy

638

: 00:31:25

Rick Benton: I look forward to it.

639

: 00:31:26

Thank you very much.

640

: 00:31:27

Freddy D: Thank you.

641

: 00:31:28

Rick Benton: Take care.