Transforming Clients into Raving Advocates for Your IT Services Company, with Stuart Selbst.

Freddy D: 00:00:00

Stuart Selbst known as Stu serves as a director of client

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experience at Nothing But Net,

where he plays a crucial role in

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overseeing the sales team and ensuring

the success of all of our clients.

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With over three decades of

experience in the it industry

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Stu has an impressive background.

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He has worked in both corporate it and has

also successfully managed his own it firm.

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His experienced extends

beyond national borders.

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As is provided consultancy services to it.

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Firms and software companies, worldwide

stews career highlights include serving

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as COO of a thriving software company.

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Stu is not only a seasoned it

professional, but also a dedicated

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business leader with a genuine passion

for helping others achieve success.

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In addition to his professional

commitments, your organizes, a

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popular monthly networking event,

named the Business and Brews.

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Which fosters connections among local

businesses at nearby craft breweries.

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Residing in Mesa, Arizona Stu

shares his home with his wife,

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Loree, and their cherished feline

companions, Cliff and Chloe.

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And enthusiastic sports fan, Stu

enjoys embracing life and immersing

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himself in the world around him.

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His love for adventure extends to

travel, where he seeks to experience

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all that the world has to offer.

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Stu takes great pleasure in

treating his friends and family to

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mouthwatering barbecue creations.

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Welcome Stuart, or as you'd like

to be called, Stu Selbis, to

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the Business Superfans Podcast.

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How are you this morning?

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Stuart Selbst: I'm good, Freddie.

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I'm good.

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Yeah.

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It's a Friday morning,

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Freddy D: it is a Friday morning.

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It's an exciting Friday morning.

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We're ready for the weekend.

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Stuart Selbst: It is.

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Yeah.

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I'm ready for the weekend.

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I need some downtime.

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This has been a crazy work week,

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Freddy D: Yeah, I can I can relate.

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I can totally relate.

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Share with our audience your story

of how you got to where you are right

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now, which is Director of Customer

Experience for an IT company called

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Nothing But Net, which is a cool name.

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Stuart Selbst: Thanks.

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I'm quite proud of the name.

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So I've been in the IT industry a

long time from working in corporate

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IT in my early 20s to having my

own IT company in the early: 2000

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and selling it and then consulting.

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And when I decided that it was no

longer time for me to be my own boss.

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I bounced around a couple of

companies and I actually saw a

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position open with nothing but that.

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And I know the owner Bob Cox, who's

been a friend of mine for 16 or

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17 years throughout the industry.

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Cause when I was speaking and

consulting in the industry,

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we would run into each other.

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And obviously both being from the

Phoenix area, we would talk about things

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going on and just had a nice rapport.

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So I told him years ago, I said,

someday I'm going to come work with you.

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And so he was advertising on LinkedIn

for a director of sales position,

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and I applied and I called him up

and I said, Hey, Bob, I applied for

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this director of sales position.

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And he's Stu, come on in.

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And so I came in and we

sat down and we talked.

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I'm like, Hey, I really don't think

that we should ever use the title

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director of sales because it comes

across salesy, very old school.

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And I do believe that the the client

experience starts with the sale.

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So I want to direct the client experience.

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So the title is director

of client experience.

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I run sales, marketing customer

success, things along those lines.

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So that's how I really

came into this position.

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But what really drives me here is as

I was interviewing, there were these

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wooden letters, PLJ up on the wall.

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And I asked Bob, I'm like, what's PLJ?

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He's you don't know.

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I said, no.

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He says we've done each other a long time.

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You don't know what PLJ is.

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He says, PLJ is our corporate identity.

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PLJ information systems incorporated

doing business as Nothing But Net.

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So it was PLJ stand for

says peace, love, and joy.

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And I was sold.

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Because that's the concept

of what we're about.

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We're not just an IT service provider.

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We are a service company that does IT

services and we're very engaged in taking

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care of our clients and we want to do

it with peace, love, and joy, right?

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Have a happy day, have a happy world.

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We know things, you're gonna hit speed

bumps along the way, but you know what?

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If we can have a good attitude

about it and, Freddie D,

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you've known me long enough.

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Freddy D: Oh, yeah, we met back

a long time ago, early: 2000

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Stuart Selbst: So my whole philosophy

in life is, be nice to people, I've

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had my ups and downs in life and,

we all have had our ups and downs in

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relationships and whatever, but, the

whole concept of Nothing But Net of the

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peace, joy, and love and having that

literally on the wall of the office

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every single day where you have to see

it makes it ingrained in your thoughts.

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Freddy D: That's an important

thing that you said right there

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is having it up on the wall.

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I think companies, regardless of the

industry, should have a mission statement

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or their whole aspect of what they're

about, so that you see it, because,

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like you just said, it gets ingrained in

your head, and your whole culture, your

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mindset, your belief, it's a game changer.

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Stuart Selbst: Absolutely.

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It goes back to one of the

philosophies that I strongly

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believe in, and EOS, right?

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Traction?

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As, and I'm not a, I'm not an EOS

consultant or whatever, but I do believe

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in it and having been a chief operation

officer and understanding operations.

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But a big part of that is have

your mission up on the wall, right?

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Freddy D: Everybody is on the same page.

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Stuart Selbst: Right, becomes culture,

it becomes embedded, it becomes a second

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nature and, I believe leading by example.

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I think that's the way my boss,

Bob, does that because he is always

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about the peace, love and joy.

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He's always about taking

the higher road and.

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Being the better person and

sometimes, every now and again you'll

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lose the battle, but win the war

because you take the higher road.

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I'm okay with that, I'm okay

getting beat up a little bit, but

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I'm not going to get destroyed.

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Freddy D: Sure.

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It's, think of a rowing team.

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Okay, and everybody's

got to be on the boat.

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Everybody's got to be rowing at the exact

same time and going in the same direction.

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By having that mission statement, up

there where everybody sees it daily.

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It gets everybody in tune on the same page

or basically go back to the rowing boat.

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They're on the rowing boat and they're

all rowing at the exact same time

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going in one direction, now they're

efficient and that's really important.

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Stuart Selbst: Again like you don't

become super efficient in rowing

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or anything, hockey, whatever,

baseball without practicing, and

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it's practicing all the time.

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I use the PLJI the peace,

love, and joy a lot.

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And sometimes.

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Ever so often, I lose my cherub

like demeanor, and I lose the peace,

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love, and joy, and it frustrates me.

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But then I snap back

into why I'm here, okay?

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I'm here to do a job, but the mission of

the organization, is bigger than the job.

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It's bigger than the one person.

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It's bigger than anything that we can do.

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I think that's the reason that we're

a successful organization, and one

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of the reasons that I am here, is

to bring that customer focused,

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consultative approach of technology and

business to the masses, especially the

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businesses in Arizona, and it doesn't

matter the size of the organization.

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But, to consult and just have it

have a sit down with somebody,

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they don't have to become a client.

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Sometimes it's not a good play.

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It's not a good fit.

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Freddy D: But here's a cool thing that

I one of the other individual that I had

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on a previous podcast, Rick Benton talked

about the fact that even though they were

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not a good fit for his previous business.

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He still wanted them to become a

superfan of his organization, because

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even though they didn't do business,

or in your case, you didn't do business

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with some XYZ company, the fact that

they appreciated who you are, they're

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still going to tell other people, and

they're going to be your, your brand

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advocates, or I call superfans, that

are going to be promoting you anyway.

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Stuart Selbst: Absolutely.

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So it's funny you say that because a

couple of months ago I was meeting with

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a company, a nonprofit actually, cause

we do a lot of work in the nonprofit

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space and as I was sitting down with

them and learning about their business

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and their infrastructure and whatnot,

and they're a Mac mostly Macs and

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no servers, no real infrastructure.

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It wasn't a good fit.

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However, the conversations have

been still going on, Hey, Stu,

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we want to do this and this.

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Okay.

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Now fast forward six months later,

I was having a conversation with

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one of their leaders I thought

about what you said six months ago

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and we've really be considering it.

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I don't want to replace all our

computers, but is there a way that we

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could have that same level of security?

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I said, yes.

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We can put everything, everybody

into a remote desktop and we can have

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the servers in the domain and da.

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So now the conversation is now

going to, alright, we want to

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put that into our 2025 budget.

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I went and consulted and had a meeting

with somebody and where it wasn't a

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good fit, they're still a fan of what

we do and wanted to find a way to work

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with us because they had talked to

five other IT companies and they all

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told them the same thing, we don't

work with Macs, we don't do this.

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But they knew to come to me or come

to nothing but net and They'll, will

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come up with a solution that will work.

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So, you're right.

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It's a superfan.

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And it takes a while to build superfans.

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People will be advocates, right?

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Freddy D: Yep.

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Stuart Selbst: But there's a difference

between an advocate and a superfan.

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Freddy D: Yeah.

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Superfan is advocates on steroids.

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Stuart Selbst: Yeah,

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Freddy D: Think of the sports team, and

you've got, the fans, and there's the

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fans, and then there's the superfans,

and the superfans, as you can see

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in my background, got the faces

painted, got the jerseys, got the

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banners, got the hats, got the bumper

sticker, and they're promoting the

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team and are spending their own money

buying the gear, promoting the team.

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Stuart Selbst: So years ago, I did

a presentation in the IT industry

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called Selling IT Services, How Not To

Suck At It, and I did it at different

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conferences and everyone loved it, and

it went on for three or four years.

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Hey, Stu, can you refresh

your presentation?

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But as I was putting it together,

I thought about superfans, right?

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I thought about advocacy for businesses

and there's one company out there that

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has the biggest superfans in the world

where their fans are so dedicated.

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They will tattoo that company's brand on

their body, and that's Harley Davidson.

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Freddy D: Absolutely correct.

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Yep.

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Stuart Selbst: They will brand themselves.

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With that logo, I don't see

anybody putting the nothing

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but net logo on their bodies.

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I would be really happy if someone

ripped off their shirt and said,

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Hey, look at nothing, but net.

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But when you think about that,

how long did it take Harley

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Davidson be to get to that level?

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It was probably 50, 60, 70 years, but

they kept at it from the time they

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started to the time they sold to AMC

and then they bought themselves back.

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You just look at it, but

they're at it every single day.

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One of the things we need to do as small

businesses or leaders is we need to be

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at it every single day talking to our

clients and we always have an excuse.

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All right.

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And one of the things I'm just trying to

shake off is, I manage the sales team and

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whatnot here, but I still need to go and

do some door knocking with my clients.

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I'm just trying to get that

on my schedule right now.

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I look at my calendar and it's

filled with other stuff and I'm

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just going to start canceling crap.

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Freddy D: You're right, but

that's what I'm creating this

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business superfan movement.

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And I like, I'm calling it a

movement because really we need to

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blend all old school ways of doing

things and incorporate new ways

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of doing things and blend the two.

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Now you really got the best of the best

because you're leveraging technology,

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but then you got the old fashioned,

in person touch, in person phone call.

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It's not automated as we are today,

but it's still differentiate.

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It's like sending somebody

a thank you card through the

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mail versus a thank you text.

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Stuart Selbst: But here's the thing

Freddy, and this is something that

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I'm struggling with and people in

our age group probably also struggle

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with this because we're, In the

twilight of our career, right?

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We're not our customer anymore.

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We're not the demographic of our customer.

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Our customers are millennials now.

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People that are making the buying

decisions for it services or consulting

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services or whatever services,

whatever they're millennials.

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The way that we did business and our

parents did business and our grandparents

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did business of the handshake and going

seeing people and bringing the gift and

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the thank you card and things like that.

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I'm not sure that's still valid,

even though in my mind, a nice touch.

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Freddy D: I think it's still

valid because I've gotten people

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that would text me, I'd send them

something, and they would go wow.

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That was really nice.

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I appreciate that it,

because it's different.

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They're not used to it, they're used to

the instant text, and everything else.

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Again, I say you got to blend the

two and that's why I wrote the book,

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Creating Business Superfans and I've set

up, the Business Superfans Accelerator

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community is really to blend old school

with new school, because it works.

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Stuart Selbst: I'm sure it is.

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Freddy D: A multi pronged approach.

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You can send a text, but at the same

time, all of a sudden, they get a

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real card in the mail, for example.

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Or you you send a recorded video

and you send it over to somebody

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to wish them happy birthday.

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And you just click a quick

video and you send it to them.

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Big difference.

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Stuart Selbst: It's that

personal touch, right?

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Because, it goes to

personal feelings, right?

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And Again, this goes way back, and we've

talked about this for years, you and I.

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People do business with people

they like and trust, okay?

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Freddy D: People will also

forget what you said, but they'll

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remember how you made them feel.

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Stuart Selbst: Always remember

how you made them feel.

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So yeah, that's my philosophy.

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I'm with you on that.

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I think building superfans is great.

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I think if using the Harley Davidson

analogy again, I mean we need to all

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find more Harley Davidson kind of people

that are willing to tattoo nothing

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but net on their bodies, or at least

promote them or even wear our barbecue

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aprons that we're giving out the summer.

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Yeah, that's our summer swag,

barbecue aprons with barbecue

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tools, and me and my barbecue.

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Freddy D: So lemme ask a question.

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Stuart Selbst: Yeah.

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Go ahead.

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Freddy D: We're talking about this stuff.

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What do you think IT companies in

general are overlooking in doing to

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creating superfans with their customers?

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Stuart Selbst: It's a good question.

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I can tell you what we do, but

let me make it more broad, because

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I think it's a broader question.

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You're asking IT companies in

general, we're a boutique firm,

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we're very customer focused.

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I think the problem, and I'm

going to call it a problem, maybe

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even a pandemic, so to speak.

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But technology companies are so focused

on the technology, and not the results,

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not the solution, not the people.

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So I think when you lose touch of

who you're serving, and you think

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you're a technology company, like

managed service providers like us,

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we typically do not invent anything.

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Okay, we're not building software.

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We're not creating the

next microprocessor.

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We work with companies like

Microsoft and Intel and.

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Lenovo and Cisco, they're the

ones that are building stuff.

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We're an integrator.

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We're a, we're the service provider.

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We're a reseller.

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Okay.

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What we do as technologists, we're

still going to call us technologists.

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Typically, the industry focuses

too much on the what, not the why,

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You know me, I'm a big Simon Sinek fan.

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So I'll talk about that

golden circle, right?

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The golden , and we try to focus on

our why, like just recently, I went

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through a exercise of breaking down our

unique value prop, our UVP and put in a

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presentation to my boss and my sales team.

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: 00:16:13

This is what we're about.

310

: 00:16:15

You guys, we broke it down.

311

: 00:16:16

We got granular.

312

: 00:16:17

You should see the whiteboard

in the conference room.

313

: 00:16:19

We got really granular what we did.

314

: 00:16:21

Dude, I even took it to the next level and

did a SWOT analysis for my internal team.

315

: 00:16:25

I wanted to know what everyone thought

about our strengths, our weaknesses,

316

: 00:16:29

our threats, and our opportunities.

317

: 00:16:31

So I did a SWOT analysis with our

team, and I think that's what IT

318

: 00:16:34

companies are missing as a whole.

319

: 00:16:36

You have an advocate for the

customer, which was, let's call it me.

320

: 00:16:39

Okay.

321

: 00:16:40

But then you have 20 technicians that

are just, they want to do the work.

322

: 00:16:44

Freddy D: You made me think of something.

323

: 00:16:45

Yesterday, I was working with one of

my customers and they brought in a

324

: 00:16:50

monitor as I needed an extra monitor.

325

: 00:16:52

So the guy shows up, with his

companionette, okay, to deliver a monitor,

326

: 00:17:00

hooks it up, it's dusty, it's dirty, and

everything else, and he goes I'm sorry,

327

: 00:17:06

it's a dusty monitor, but, the company

got a really good deal on this thing.

328

: 00:17:10

I didn't say a word, I just thought

to myself, That was just absolutely

329

: 00:17:17

horrible experience, because it showed

that he didn't care, zero customer

330

: 00:17:24

service, and totally indifferent.

331

: 00:17:27

Stuart Selbst: So something like that

would never ever happen in our world.

332

: 00:17:32

Okay.

333

: 00:17:33

Even if we had a used monitor that

we were giving to a client, right?

334

: 00:17:36

My team would clean it up, polish

it, put it in a box or at least a bag

335

: 00:17:40

to keep it dust free, lay it down,

test it, make sure it all worked.

336

: 00:17:44

That's the difference, that's the

PLJ,, that's the peace, love, and joy,

337

: 00:17:47

That's how our clients know that we

care, and again, like I said earlier.

338

: 00:17:53

There's going to be times that we

trip over our shoelaces, right?

339

: 00:17:56

They're going to hit a speed bump.

340

: 00:17:57

We're going to screw something

up because we are human, right?

341

: 00:18:01

Just like you described,, you guys,

go above and beyond, my perception

342

: 00:18:04

is the guy really didn't give a crap.

343

: 00:18:06

He was just there to just,

here's the, here's your monitor.

344

: 00:18:10

Bye.

345

: 00:18:11

A couple of squirts of Windex

and a paper towel go a long way.

346

: 00:18:14

But you know what?

347

: 00:18:15

A lot of IT type people do not think

about that, and the funny thing is,

348

: 00:18:21

we're looking at a marketing firm right

now, and I asked for some references.

349

: 00:18:25

I want to check everybody out.

350

: 00:18:26

So they gave me one I talked

to, and it's a very small

351

: 00:18:29

firm in Maine that I spoke to.

352

: 00:18:31

One person, managed service

provider in the state of Maine.

353

: 00:18:35

We're having a conversation.

354

: 00:18:36

She's very happy with

this marketing company.

355

: 00:18:38

But the thing that disappoints me a

little bit is the marketing vendor

356

: 00:18:44

gave me a company that doesn't

even come to our demographic.

357

: 00:18:49

We're a 19 person organization

in Phoenix, seventh largest

358

: 00:18:53

city in, oh, we're actually in

Chandler, but Phoenix metro area.

359

: 00:18:57

We're the seventh largest

city in, in the U.

360

: 00:18:59

S.

361

: 00:19:00

Why don't you give me somebody

who's closer to our size in

362

: 00:19:03

a larger city like Denver?

363

: 00:19:05

Or Chicago or something like that to

talk to because they're experiencing

364

: 00:19:10

some of the same issues that we are.

365

: 00:19:13

We're in Phoenix, there's

a lot of competition.

366

: 00:19:15

I want this marketing company

to help me differentiate myself.

367

: 00:19:17

I can tell people we create superfans,

that we do things better, but until

368

: 00:19:22

they know, until they experience the

nothing but net way, they don't know.

369

: 00:19:29

They can just assume and I never

want people to assume something.

370

: 00:19:33

Okay, and I never want to be

salesy even though that's my job.

371

: 00:19:37

I want people to believe in our message.

372

: 00:19:40

I want people to understand that

we are here to serve our community.

373

: 00:19:45

We are here to help our clients

and our prospects and I reached

374

: 00:19:50

out to a prospect today that we're

supposed to meet late next month.

375

: 00:19:54

I asked him, can we meet a little earlier?

376

: 00:19:56

I really want to get to know your

business better and talk about

377

: 00:19:59

the collaborative partnership.

378

: 00:20:01

Not about, hey, can I

sell you IT services?

379

: 00:20:04

Can I sell you some IT stuff.

380

: 00:20:05

No, I want to know more about them.

381

: 00:20:08

Because if I know more about them,

what they do, what their mission is,

382

: 00:20:12

what their passion is, In the back

of my head, because you know me.

383

: 00:20:16

I'm going to try to find a way

to help increase their business.

384

: 00:20:20

I'm going to not only come up with good

solutions from a technology perspective

385

: 00:20:24

of where we should take them, but also

who do I know that can utilize them?

386

: 00:20:29

Who do I know, cause givers gain.

387

: 00:20:32

Freddy D: That goes back when I

was selling manufacturing software.

388

: 00:20:34

You made me think of my old selling

days, and I would never get into the

389

: 00:20:41

features and functions of the software.

390

: 00:20:44

I would be talking to the head guy, the

owner of the company or the president

391

: 00:20:48

of the company, and I'd flat out tell

him, Our product does the job, the other

392

: 00:20:52

product that you're going to look at does

the job, and the other product that you're

393

: 00:20:56

going to look at, they all do the job.

394

: 00:20:58

I ask where do you want

to be in five years?

395

: 00:21:00

What's your strategy?

396

: 00:21:02

What's your vision?

397

: 00:21:03

And we got out of the conversation

of does it turn right?

398

: 00:21:07

Does it turn left?

399

: 00:21:08

Is it blue?

400

: 00:21:08

Is it green?

401

: 00:21:09

Stuart Selbst: Where's it

going to take your business?

402

: 00:21:11

Freddy D: We're looking at how

can I help you grow your business?

403

: 00:21:16

What's your strategy and

what's your timeline?

404

: 00:21:19

How can we help accomplish that goal?

405

: 00:21:21

Then really the sale becomes backwards

because, okay, to reach your goal,

406

: 00:21:26

Stu, that you just told me that

you want to do in three years, you

407

: 00:21:29

want to increase, by 2 million.

408

: 00:21:32

We need to back this up.

409

: 00:21:33

Because you got training, you got to

run systems simultaneously, you can't

410

: 00:21:36

just shut one off, you got to run two

systems temporarily, make sure everything

411

: 00:21:40

is going, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

412

: 00:21:42

Based upon your timeline you

just gave me, Stu, you need to

413

: 00:21:46

issue that PO to me tomorrow.

414

: 00:21:48

Stuart Selbst: Yesterday.

415

: 00:21:49

Yeah.

416

: 00:21:50

No I'm with you.

417

: 00:21:50

A thousand percent.

418

: 00:21:51

Freddy D: Yeah.

419

: 00:21:51

It's a lot of fun because you leave

everybody else behind because they're

420

: 00:21:56

all busy talking about this turns blue

and it does that, and it flips this

421

: 00:22:01

and we're so wonderful about that.

422

: 00:22:03

Stuart Selbst: You don't

talk about features.

423

: 00:22:04

You talk about how it's going to benefit.

424

: 00:22:06

I got two stories that I want to share.

425

: 00:22:08

They're both current clients, just

a fantastic construction company.

426

: 00:22:10

And they've grown so much.

427

: 00:22:12

They've outgrown QuickBooks, right?

428

: 00:22:14

So they're talking to me and

cause they know I come from that

429

: 00:22:17

ERP world and stuff like that.

430

: 00:22:18

I said we can go a

couple of different ways.

431

: 00:22:20

We can go to a Sage cause Sage is really

designed for the construction business.

432

: 00:22:25

However, let's really look to the future.

433

: 00:22:29

Let's look five, seven,

10 years out there.

434

: 00:22:31

I said, let's look at a true ERP system.

435

: 00:22:34

Let's look at NetSuite.

436

: 00:22:35

I'm a big fan of NetSuite.

437

: 00:22:36

We're actually a referral partner to them.

438

: 00:22:38

That's all we do is refer the business.

439

: 00:22:40

He says, okay so we've been working

with NetSuite and them a little bit, and

440

: 00:22:43

he's pretty impressed, but we're going

to evaluate a couple of other things.

441

: 00:22:46

But for him to come to me and

say, Stu, this is where we're at.

442

: 00:22:50

I said, okay let's look at

these different solutions.

443

: 00:22:53

Now we don't sell them, but we have that

trust and they understand that we are

444

: 00:22:58

going to look at how it affects the user

community within the organization, how

445

: 00:23:03

it can from a technological standpoint.

446

: 00:23:06

How it can take their business to

the next level, and what other things

447

: 00:23:10

are they going to need, whether

it's bandwidth or infrastructure,

448

: 00:23:12

whatever, to run these systems.

449

: 00:23:15

Okay.

450

: 00:23:15

So we can plan accordingly.

451

: 00:23:17

That's what I try to get

across to every client.

452

: 00:23:19

Freddy D: You know what?

453

: 00:23:20

That's the unexpected.

454

: 00:23:21

I'll call that the unexpected extra

because you're not getting paid for this,

455

: 00:23:26

but you're helping that business go to

the next level, which in turn is going

456

: 00:23:30

to transform them into your superfan.

457

: 00:23:33

Because the owner of that company knows

other owners of other companies, and

458

: 00:23:37

they're going to be having beers or

conversation or coffee or whatever.

459

: 00:23:41

And that's going to come up and go, Oh

man, you got to talk to my buddy, Stu.

460

: 00:23:45

He'll hook you up.

461

: 00:23:46

Stuart Selbst: And that's

how that came about.

462

: 00:23:48

So a good friend of mine is the

guy's business coach, and he was

463

: 00:23:52

having problems with his IT company.

464

: 00:23:53

He's Oh, you got to talk to Stu.

465

: 00:23:55

With, he didn't miss a beat.

466

: 00:23:57

You got to talk to Stu.

467

: 00:23:58

And we met the next day

and signed on with us.

468

: 00:24:00

The other client that I want to talk

about, he goes, I want to go to the cloud.

469

: 00:24:04

Okay.

470

: 00:24:05

What do you want to put in the cloud?

471

: 00:24:07

I want to put everything in the cloud.

472

: 00:24:07

Okay.

473

: 00:24:08

So we start talking about these things.

474

: 00:24:10

He's got some products with big

databases and stuff like that.

475

: 00:24:13

So we're looking at Azure and I'm like,

you're going to spend 25, 000 a month.

476

: 00:24:17

Now, I don't want to go to the cloud.,

Then we start to narrow it down.

477

: 00:24:20

He just wants to move his file and

print to like SharePoint stuff.

478

: 00:24:23

Okay.

479

: 00:24:24

So he's trying to do it himself

and so it's just funny that

480

: 00:24:29

they know, they have a vision.

481

: 00:24:31

The owners have a vision

of what they want.

482

: 00:24:34

But I try to tell people,

stay in your lane.

483

: 00:24:38

You do what you do best.

484

: 00:24:40

Let us console you.

485

: 00:24:42

You know what?

486

: 00:24:43

Have what I call diarrhea in the mouth.

487

: 00:24:46

Just throw it all up and tell me

what you want to accomplish, and

488

: 00:24:49

then I'll put the pieces together.

489

: 00:24:51

It's like a game of Tetris.

490

: 00:24:52

That's what technology, that's

what being an MSP is about.

491

: 00:24:55

You take the client's vision and

you put the pieces together to

492

: 00:25:00

make it work for their company.

493

: 00:25:02

Yes, there's a cost to that, but if

they try to piecemeal it together.

494

: 00:25:07

Without a complete system or a

complete plan, then they're going

495

: 00:25:13

to trip over their shoelaces, they're

going to fall flat on their face, and

496

: 00:25:16

then it's going to cost them more.

497

: 00:25:18

So that's what I recommend to people,

when you're talking to your technology

498

: 00:25:21

company, if they're engaged in your

business, the way we get engaged with

499

: 00:25:25

our clients, sit down and talk to them,

tell them what they, tell them what

500

: 00:25:30

you need, tell them what you want.

501

: 00:25:32

And it's not just the salesperson,

but, most IT companies should

502

: 00:25:35

have a customer success manager

who's more consultative, right?

503

: 00:25:39

Freddy D: Back to what we were talking

about earlier is what's the company's

504

: 00:25:42

vision, and you're just a component of

helping them accomplish that vision.

505

: 00:25:48

You're just a one piece.

506

: 00:25:50

You're one piece of the puzzle.

507

: 00:25:51

Stuart Selbst: Yep.

508

: 00:25:52

We also have a seat at the table.

509

: 00:25:53

We have a seat at the big boys table.

510

: 00:25:55

We're not sitting on the kiddie

table We're helping them, strategize

511

: 00:25:58

and build process and budget.

512

: 00:26:00

I'm sitting in those meetings with

our clients, or Bob is, and we're

513

: 00:26:04

having those budgetary meetings,

we're doing those quarterly business

514

: 00:26:08

reviews, we're engaging with the

client from a business perspective,

515

: 00:26:11

not just helping them find the AnyKey

or, get their Microsoft Word to print.

516

: 00:26:16

Freddy D: It's really what's

the vision and how can we

517

: 00:26:19

help you get to your vision?

518

: 00:26:21

Stuart Selbst: Absolutely.

519

: 00:26:22

Freddy D: That's, superfan.

520

: 00:26:23

So what's the one thing that

just about every IT company could

521

: 00:26:27

do better to foster superfans?

522

: 00:26:30

Stuart Selbst: This is something

that I'm also working on because

523

: 00:26:32

this is one of our failures.

524

: 00:26:33

We need to Instead of

looking for new business.

525

: 00:26:37

We need to cultivate the

business we have right?

526

: 00:26:41

I don't think IT companies and

I'm gonna blame myself for this.

527

: 00:26:44

I don't think even though we do a

good job of working with our clients,

528

: 00:26:50

I don't think we're engaged enough.

529

: 00:26:54

I call it tripping over my shoelaces

and I just finished off my first

530

: 00:26:57

year here at Nothing But Net.

531

: 00:26:58

I'm coming to a realization that

I've taken the first year to learn

532

: 00:27:00

our systems and learn some of

our clients and things like that.

533

: 00:27:03

Now I really want to step

it up a notch, right?

534

: 00:27:06

I think in the IT business, we're

so focused either on the technology.

535

: 00:27:11

Or finding that new logo to put

up on the wall, the new client or

536

: 00:27:14

the new vendor or whatever, that

we forgot where we came from.

537

: 00:27:17

We forgot the people that I wouldn't

say forget, but I'm going to use

538

: 00:27:20

that word just because it's the one

that came to my mind we're forgetting

539

: 00:27:24

the people that got us there.

540

: 00:27:25

Freddy D: The gold is in

your existing customers.

541

: 00:27:29

That's your base.

542

: 00:27:29

Stuart Selbst: My low hanging fruit.

543

: 00:27:31

That is, those are my superfans.

544

: 00:27:33

Those are the people that

I need to engage with.

545

: 00:27:35

I'll give you an example.

546

: 00:27:36

So we have some very large clients,

and we do a lot of work for them

547

: 00:27:39

and we do some sponsorships of

their events and things like that.

548

: 00:27:43

And they know that we're engaged.

549

: 00:27:45

So one of the things I've worked on for my

: 2024

550

: 00:27:51

Create a loyalty program for our

clients that renew or send referrals

551

: 00:27:55

or whatever it happens to be.

552

: 00:27:56

And so I'm putting the

final touches on it.

553

: 00:27:58

But I think it's a really good plan to

reward our clients for being our clients.

554

: 00:28:04

Freddy D: Yeah, I talk about it

in the book or loyalty program.

555

: 00:28:07

Stuart Selbst: Never read your book.

556

: 00:28:08

I just can read your mind.

557

: 00:28:09

But one of the things I

put in there is a budget.

558

: 00:28:12

For sponsoring their events, right?

559

: 00:28:15

So clients have events, they have open

houses, they have golf tournaments,

560

: 00:28:19

they have things like that.

561

: 00:28:20

And we're asked all the time, and I've got

to go and ask and get permission to, for a

562

: 00:28:25

couple hundred bucks or a couple thousand

dollars or whatever it happens to be.

563

: 00:28:28

This way with my loyalty program, I've

got money I'm setting aside, right?

564

: 00:28:34

MDF funds for helping the clients.

565

: 00:28:37

So I don't have to go and ask permission.

566

: 00:28:40

Client says, Hey, Stu, would you

sponsor our golf tournament for 500?

567

: 00:28:45

Let me look at what you spent.

568

: 00:28:46

Let me look at my kitty.

569

: 00:28:47

You know what?

570

: 00:28:48

500 is outside of the budget based

on your spend, but I can do 250.

571

: 00:28:52

Can you give me a hole sponsor

or something like that for that?

572

: 00:28:54

It's just those kind of

conversations where I'm putting

573

: 00:28:57

the, money where my mouth is.

574

: 00:28:59

When I say I want Superfans, I

want to support our clients, I'm

575

: 00:29:03

putting the money where my mouth is

because, they spend money with me.

576

: 00:29:07

I want to give part of it back

to them to do their events.

577

: 00:29:10

And you know what?

578

: 00:29:11

We're building out a referral program.

579

: 00:29:13

Mary Jane, the receptionist at one

of our clients, she wants to refer

580

: 00:29:17

her dad's business to us or whatever.

581

: 00:29:19

You know what?

582

: 00:29:20

We'll give her a cash reward of up to

a thousand dollars, for the referral.

583

: 00:29:24

And Mary Jane, who probably makes

20 bucks an hour, a nice thousand

584

: 00:29:27

dollar bonus, from nothing but

net, Visa gift card or cash wired.

585

: 00:29:31

Freddy D: Could be a ticket to a,

to see the D backs or whatever.

586

: 00:29:34

Stuart Selbst: Yeah.

587

: 00:29:35

Freddy D: Yeah.

588

: 00:29:35

Baseball team football, hockey, whatever.

589

: 00:29:38

Stuart Selbst: Yeah, so

that's just one of the things.

590

: 00:29:40

And so we also have another thing

for gift cards and stuff like

591

: 00:29:42

that, that I'm putting together.

592

: 00:29:43

It's rewarding people for being our fans.

593

: 00:29:46

And I'm not trying to buy their love.

594

: 00:29:48

My wife would call it buying their love.

595

: 00:29:50

No, it's if you think of me, if you think

highly enough of me, that you're going

596

: 00:29:56

to tell somebody to come meet with me.

597

: 00:29:57

Because you trust me.

598

: 00:29:59

I want to do something nice for you.

599

: 00:30:00

I want to do something, I

want to thank you for that.

600

: 00:30:02

So for the referral that gets a meeting.

601

: 00:30:04

Hey, here's a gift card if we get the

business Here's something a little extra

602

: 00:30:09

because you played a part in our success

603

: 00:30:12

Freddy D: One of the one of my quotes in

the book is people crawl through broken

604

: 00:30:16

glass For appreciation and recognition.

605

: 00:30:20

So what you're doing right there

is you're appreciating them

606

: 00:30:24

for the referral number one.

607

: 00:30:26

And once it converts into a

customer, you're recognizing them

608

: 00:30:30

from that perspective as well.

609

: 00:30:32

So now you've just transformed them

into a superfan, they're going to

610

: 00:30:36

go , wow, he really appreciated

what I gave him and I feel special.

611

: 00:30:41

I want to do this again.

612

: 00:30:42

When we do get those referrals and

stuff like that, I'm going to have one

613

: 00:30:45

of those giant checks printed up, the

whiteboard checks and present it and

614

: 00:30:49

take pictures and social it out because

that way people know that, Hey, Mary

615

: 00:30:54

Jane or Freddie D gave us a referral.

616

: 00:30:57

We got the business because Freddy D

trusts Stu, or nothing but net, and hey

617

: 00:31:03

we're people of our word where we say,

hey, we're going to get, give you a check.

618

: 00:31:07

And even when I had my consulting

company, I got a referral from someone

619

: 00:31:10

and I had a referral program, I actually

wound up cutting them a check for 500.

620

: 00:31:14

Yeah.

621

: 00:31:14

Stuart Selbst: It was, I got the

check, I took a picture of it.

622

: 00:31:16

Freddy D: You hit a point there, it's

sharing it, because if I turn around

623

: 00:31:19

and say, Hey, Stu, really appreciate

that referral, thank you so much,

624

: 00:31:23

okay, you feel wonderful and you got

your little gift and all that stuff,

625

: 00:31:26

but if I turn around and say, Hey,

everybody, I want to take a moment

626

: 00:31:31

to recognize Stu for giving us this

referral and really appreciate him.

627

: 00:31:37

Now, all of a sudden, you feel

like a rock star, because now

628

: 00:31:40

you got edified in public.

629

: 00:31:43

Stuart Selbst: Or in a

newsletter or whatever.

630

: 00:31:45

Yeah.

631

: 00:31:45

Freddy D: Night and day difference,

because now you feel important.

632

: 00:31:48

Stuart Selbst: You feel important.

633

: 00:31:49

You're on top of the world.

634

: 00:31:50

It's like you're wearing a tuxedo.

635

: 00:31:52

Freddy D: So that's how

you create superfans.

636

: 00:31:54

Yeah.

637

: 00:31:54

Exactly the way.

638

: 00:31:56

Cool.

639

: 00:31:57

Stu, it's been a pleasure.

640

: 00:31:58

How can people find you, and

what's the free offer that

641

: 00:32:02

you have for our listeners?

642

: 00:32:04

Stuart Selbst: Nothing's free.

643

: 00:32:06

First of all, they can find

this at NothingButNet.com.

644

: 00:32:09

You can check us out there.

645

: 00:32:10

You can find us on LinkedIn, on

Facebook Twitter or X or whatever.

646

: 00:32:15

So the free offer is anyone who's

listening to this that would like

647

: 00:32:19

for us to give them a second set of

eyes on their network, on their cyber

648

: 00:32:24

security, I will make that offer to them.

649

: 00:32:26

It's typically a 1, 500 evaluation,

but we can run some tools on their

650

: 00:32:31

network just to give them a second look

on things and see where they're at.

651

: 00:32:36

If any of their email addresses are on

the dark web, things along those lines.

652

: 00:32:39

So I would love to do that and

people can get ahold of me directly.

653

: 00:32:43

My direct line to my office

: 6604

654

: 00:32:50

is SSelbst@ NothingButNet.Com

and feel free to reach out.

655

: 00:33:00

Again, you can find me on LinkedIn or on

Twitter or on Facebook and just reach out.

656

: 00:33:06

Again, go to our website, nothingbutnet.

657

: 00:33:08

com.

658

: 00:33:08

You can call us and get ahold of us

and just, ask questions, we're here to

659

: 00:33:13

help, and like I said earlier, not every

business is a perfect fit, at the end of

660

: 00:33:18

the day, we want to help people and we

want to be friends with people and we want

661

: 00:33:22

to build more superfans and I'm willing

to go to the ends of the earth for people.

662

: 00:33:26

At some point, it's going to

have to be a two way street.

663

: 00:33:29

Let me be a superfan of yours, as

well as you being a superfan of mine.

664

: 00:33:32

Freddy D: Yeah, great point.

665

: 00:33:34

And one of the things I tell

people is that, I'll just

666

: 00:33:37

use you and me as an example.

667

: 00:33:39

We may never do business, but if

we don't take the time to learn a

668

: 00:33:43

little bit about each other, we'll

never know the opportunities that

669

: 00:33:49

could potentially happen because you

and I may not do business together,

670

: 00:33:54

but you may know somebody, or I may

know somebody that could use your

671

: 00:33:58

services or, somebody that could use

my services four months from now.

672

: 00:34:03

Stuart Selbst: Absolutely.

673

: 00:34:04

Absolutely.

674

: 00:34:05

And everybody has it and everybody knows

about it and everybody, and sometimes you

675

: 00:34:10

just need a coach, sometimes you just need

someone to push you to that next level.

676

: 00:34:16

I was a business coach for eight years

and people would do really well in

677

: 00:34:19

business and they would get stuck.

678

: 00:34:21

It's almost like having, a coach doesn't

have all the have all the answers, right?

679

: 00:34:25

And if you look at some

professional sports, yeah, look

680

: 00:34:28

at the Chicago Cubs, right?

681

: 00:34:29

Great team, but they're

in the cellar right now.

682

: 00:34:31

Okay.

683

: 00:34:32

And it's not always the coach's fault.

684

: 00:34:34

It's how the coach, is leading and

how the people are responding to it.

685

: 00:34:38

So with you being an author, a

podcaster, a speaker, an advisor, a

686

: 00:34:43

coach, you can't do the work for them.

687

: 00:34:46

You can just advise and

help them build a place.

688

: 00:34:49

And just like in IT, we

do business consulting.

689

: 00:34:52

But sometimes there's no money

in the budget to do something,

690

: 00:34:55

or something along those lines.

691

: 00:34:57

Freddy D: At this point in time, it

could be tomorrow, but if you don't

692

: 00:35:00

stay in contact with them, and that's

why I created the Business Superfan

693

: 00:35:04

Accelerator, which is an online community,

is because exactly what you just said.

694

: 00:35:10

Trying to solve it by yourself, and you

got nobody to talk to, to brainstorm,

695

: 00:35:16

you're not going anywhere, you're going

around in a circle, your blood pressure is

696

: 00:35:20

going up, your stress level is going up,

because you go, I can't figure this out.

697

: 00:35:25

Where if you went into a community,

where you can say, hey, I've got this

698

: 00:35:29

question, does anybody know anybody

that can help with me on this stuff?

699

: 00:35:33

It's a game changer.

700

: 00:35:34

Stuart Selbst: Yeap,Absolutely.

701

: 00:35:35

So it takes a village, right?

702

: 00:35:37

It takes a village to raise kids.

703

: 00:35:38

It takes a village to run a business.

704

: 00:35:41

And I used to say, it's easy to start

a business, but difficult to run it.

705

: 00:35:46

There's so many moving parts and I

don't know, and I was a single solo

706

: 00:35:51

practitioner for a long time back in

the day, and I don't know how I did it.

707

: 00:35:55

I just don't know.

708

: 00:35:56

And I couldn't do it today.

709

: 00:35:58

I couldn't be a solo practitioner today.

710

: 00:35:59

Great.

711

: 00:35:59

Thank you for having me on.

712

: 00:36:00

Appreciate it.