Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: S1E71 An Interview with Sreedhar Kaluva and Michael A Forman, Public Speaker

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Networking Unleashed: S1E71 An Interview with Sreedhar Kaluva and Michael A Forman, Public Speaker · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

• 0:17
  to Networking Unleashed, Building Profitable
• 0:20
  Connections. I'm your host, Michael Foreman.
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  Today, we're exploring the powerful crossroads
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  of technology and trust. How small businesses
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  can leverage both to and not to just survive,
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  but thrive. My guest is a business process automation
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  expert who's helped the company's streamlined
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  operations, boost productivity, and turn chaos
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  into clarity. But what sets him apart is this.
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  He understands that the right systems and the
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  right relationships are the real power combo.
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  So if you're a business owner, entrepreneur,
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  or team leader wondering how to get more done,
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  stay competitive, and make better connections
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  in the digital age, this episode is built for
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  you. So we're talking practical automation, strategic
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  networking, and how to make technology work for
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  you, not replace you. So let's get into it. My
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  guest today is Sri Kalu, and I would like to
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  introduce him, have him give you a little bit
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  of his background, and just listen. Welcome to
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  the podcast, and tell us about yourself. Michael,
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  thank you very much for having me on this show.
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  I am honored. As you mentioned, my name is Sri
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  Kaluva. I was born and raised in India, came
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  to the United States as an IT consultant. I started
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  working for a large corporation, but I'm not
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  completing enterprise -level software systems.
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  But then in 2008, it bugged me and taught me
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  that my skill set doesn't make a dent for large
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  companies. make any more happiness to me at all.
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  And my passion and my joy is... So it's primarily
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  because my father... So my heart was with small
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  business. So I started Unique Solutions of Advanced
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  Technologies, which is an IT support and software
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  development company. And we were working with
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  a lot of small businesses all around the US,
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  Canada, everywhere. While I am working with them
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  for the last 15 years or so, then it gave me
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  a hint that they are a company, that they are
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  using custom IT systems. But at the same time,
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  my passion continued on without helping small
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  businesses on putting the IT systems together.
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  I'm not really following my passion. That gave
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  me to invent my work belt. My WorkMelt is a software
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  platform that one or maybe a team of 25 people,
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  30 people, they can write to it. It basically
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  acts as a business operating system, which has
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  multiple modules. This is the concept that came
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  from large corporations. So ever since, I am
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  continuing helping small businesses. My key to
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  success is the triple P formula, B. Positive,
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  be persistent, and certainly you can see the
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  results. Okay, that sounds great. Thank you for
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  giving me your background. Okay, so let's jump
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  right into the questions. You help small businesses
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  use automation to survive and grow. How can strategic
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  networking amplify that impact? So I would not
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  go that route. So I'm talking about purely business
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  networking, right? Now, when you are in the business
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  networking, when you go to a networking event
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  or when you are consistently going to a specific
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  event or go to one of the event for, or sometimes
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  you're going. fund -raising, whatnot. We'll be
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  making, and you will be creating a lot of contacts.
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  And there are two things that you have to observe.
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  The impacts pure that you are creating and developing
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  over the period of time is your power in growing
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  and thriving. Best you can use this. Just simply
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  draw an old -fashioned Rolodex, which I don't
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  believe anybody uses anymore. They don't mean
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  anything, right? So you have to make the advantage,
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  you have to take advantage of the technology,
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  how to harness the power of the network that
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  you are creating. And technology will help you
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  do it. And there are multiple tools that can
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  be applied in order to take advantage. But having
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  a right dialogue with your consultants or whoever
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  the IT or marketing support that you have, of
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  course, it comes together. And if you don't have
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  anybody, by all means, I'll be here to help anybody.
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  Good. What common bottlenecks do small businesses
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  face that automation can solve? And how can networking...
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  the right solutions or partners. See, in small
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  business network, small business community, I
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  noticed the primary bottleneck is the business
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  owner. It may be ouch, but that's the truth,
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  right? But what my experience says, Michael,
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  most of the business owners, they accept it,
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  which I'm actually very happily. when I hear
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  that from my community. But that comes in that
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  they don't take any action after they accepting
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  that they are the bottleneck. So in that case,
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  in order to leave from that bottleneck, your
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  business to grow and to survive and thrive is
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  that business owners have to have an open mind
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  to delegate what they are working on. Now, delegation
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  can be done. You can delegate a task to a person.
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  But the other hand is that you can delegate the
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  task, a technology, and have the technology take
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  over and do the task. That's where automation
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  comes in. A combination of human and technology.
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  which is even more powerful. So when you put
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  the systems and software and technology tools
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  together, that complements the dream, you're
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  actually elevating the confidence of the employees,
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  and you're actually helping them to be empowered.
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  Now they are going to work and produce the results
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  that are beyond your expectations, and that will
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  blow your mind. So something like for the growth
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  of any organization is truly with. Okay, great.
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  All right. Let me ask you a question. How does
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  relationship building play a role in implementing
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  technology or selling automation services? create
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  automation process in your organization. The
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  relationship that building these networking activities
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  do play a key role. How do I say that? See, when
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  you want to delete a certain task, that skill
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  set needed within the organization may not be
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  available. two or 20 or so, but you need a specific
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  skill set in order to open the door for you,
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  in order to have a growth in your organization,
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  or in order to create a brand new service or
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  a product together, or in order for you to do
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  some research. That skill set may not be available
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  within the organization, but the relationship
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  that you're creating will have that skill set,
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  most likely, unless you will not create that
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  relationship. advantage of the relationship and
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  couple with the IT system that you're in place
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  and create a completely new avenue for the growth
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  of your organization or to relieve the organization
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  from the party. Is that right? That's right.
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  And very well said, I might tell you. Have you
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  seen any networking strategies that's helped
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  a small business break through the Tech overwhelm
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  and adopt smart systems? The adopting smart technology
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  overwhelming is certainly overwhelming for some
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  people. And some people may shy away from the
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  technology. And some people may embrace it. Depends
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  on the... open mind that they have for any change
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  in the organization. And at the same time, you
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  don't have to. I mean, we all know that. How
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  do you eat an elephant? You just take one bite
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  at a time. And you don't have to make your organization
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  into a technology -driven organization overnight.
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  Fundamentally, business owners, they have to
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  do, what is my business process? Draw that into
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  a flow diagram or just a bunch of blocks or gears,
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  right? Where is a prospect coming in? Who is
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  attending that prospect? How is the sales process
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  going? And once the closing is done, how is that
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  handed over to the operations or then project
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  management, whoever? And how is that project
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  management or operation team is delivering it?
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  And who is supervising all that? So put these
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  all into your proper blocks. And now you pick
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  one of those manually intensified work and look
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  for a technology solution that can complement
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  the person who is doing that. Now, once you succeed
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  in one element of your business, then you're
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  automatically going to put it into the other
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  elements of your business. Once you're comfortable.
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  So that's how you do it. But don't try to do
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  everything at once. Just like anything else.
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  Just like anything else. Okay. Someone is tech
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  savvy, but not people savvy. How can they improve
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  their communication to collaborate better? Oh,
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  that's a wonderful question. Wonderful question,
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  Michael. That actually brings my past into my
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  core front of the memory. See, when I started
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  business back in 2006 and 2007, 2008 meltdown
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  and all that, I was a technician turned business
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  owner, and I quickly realized I am the best in
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  one thing and the worst in a dozen other things,
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  right? There are so many technology -turned -business
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  owners are in the market. It's not uncommon at
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  all. And the most important part for me is that
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  at that time, I have to accept the fact that
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  my communication is more into a technical jargon
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  and less of a human language. Once I accepted
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  it, once I observed it, and it changed, it made
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  a world of difference. Because now I can learn
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  how to change my dialogue, how to suppress some
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  of the technical terms coming out of my mouth.
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  And it's a completely different language, right?
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  Although it's all in English, but you're speaking
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  in a completely different language. with the
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  business people that you're interfacing with.
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  So the first thing is you have to observe how
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  is the other people are reacting to your dialogue.
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  Are they going quiet all of a sudden? Are they
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  smiling, nodding, but no response? That means
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  they're not understanding. Now you can ask them
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  a feedback. Hey, did you understand what I'm
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  saying? Or are you able to follow me? Some sort
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  of a simple words that will say, hey, I get it,
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  I get it. But really, do they? No. That just
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  simply some surface level question doesn't give
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  you enough feedback. But you can be diplomatic
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  enough to ask more questions and have a clarity
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  whether they really understand you or not. That's
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  the foundation for making a change. That's so
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  true because people would either nod or just
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  say yes. Do you understand? Oh, sure. Yes. Yes,
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  I do. They really don't. And in everything you're
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  saying to them, it falls on deaf ears because
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  they weren't listening to you. They were thinking
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  about something else because they don't understand
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  what you're saying. So why not think about something
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  else? So that's very good. Another part is also,
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  Michael, the technical people, they generally
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  don't have a direct eye contact. Not that they're
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  bad people or anything. It's just lack of those.
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  When you are communicating with somebody, have
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  a direct eye contact with them. What does it
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  do? It really creates a bond. And that bond of
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  clear communication paves the path for clarity
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  in the dialogue. And that also makes the other
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  person comfortable to say, hey, tell me one more
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  time. I don't understand what you're talking
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  about. That's so true because that's one of the
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  things that I speak about. It's the eye contact.
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  You know, when you go up and you shake somebody's
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  hand, you don't shake it like a dead fish, right?
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  You shake your hand firmly. And when you talk
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  to them, you're not talking to them with your
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  body as like a skew with them. You have to be
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  dead on with them and look them in the eye, talk
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  to them, but more than not, enunciate and speak
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  slow enough, not too slow because they'll think
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  you're a little slow, but speak slow enough.
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  where you'll have a conversation. Yeah, don't
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  just tell them in a whole paragraph. Just stop.
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  Say, okay, how about this? So that's very important.
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  The eye contact is the beginning of everything
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  else. Yeah, so you're so right. Thank you. Can
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  you share an example of a time when a strong
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  business connection directly led you to a successful
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  automation project or breakthrough? Oh, that's
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  actually very common in my life, actually, because
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  I do a lot of business networking. And when I
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  did the business networking, you interface with
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  business owners and then you turn it into a problem
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  discussion. And once you identify, OK, this is
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  the problem, then it is easy to put an automation
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  together. One of my customers, like my good friend,
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  Shari. And she is the vice president of a local
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  beverage distributing firm. And when we were
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  having just a friendly dialogue and thinking,
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  hey, how is your business going? What's going
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  on? And she said, Sri, we are sending our trucks
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  to distribute our product, but we really don't
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  know how effective and how efficient it is. And
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  there is always room for improvement in any.
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  operation but unless you measure it you don't
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  have a clue where you can improve it upon so
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  we understood we took the data of the distributing
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  activities that they are going through and then
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  we immediately realized they are using telematics
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  and the telematics is giving you the data how
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  is the distribution is going on and then we put
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  the automation together to make it effective
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  and efficient in this Boom. Within three months
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  of a period after we implemented it, 30 % of
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  their time back into their pocket. Instead of
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  going three times a week, you only go two times
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  a week to distribute your product. Now one trip
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  to that customer is back into your product. Once
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  it's back into your pocket, you have room for
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  increasing your business. So with the same equipment,
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  same number of people. Now they are able to add
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  30 % more business. So that is the growth that
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  is already in your hands. That's the power of
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  automation. All right. And I can see it. And
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  there are many people that are in logistics and
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  everything else that this AI or the platform
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  that you're bringing forth brings it all together.
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  And you can very easily find out, where they're
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  making money, where they're spilling out money,
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  and where they can save. So after you're finished
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  with them, with the customer, you can actually
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  streamline their product so that if they use
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  the same amount of, in this case, the trucks
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  and everything else, using the same information,
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  they can expend on it without having to pay for
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  anything. Exactly. That 30 % increase in their
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  business is pure profit. That's incredible. Because
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  if you told a business owner, listen, I can increase
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  your profits by 30 % without you spending any
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  money, he would jump in. Okay. So that's what
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  your service is so invaluable. Thank you. Yes.
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  What advice would you give to a small business
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  owner who is hesitant to digitize their business
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  because of cost, complexity, or even trust? That's
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  a great question. This is very common. This challenge
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  is very common. But my suggestion to those business
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  users, those business owners, look at their personal
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  life. And if they have moved from flip phone
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  to a smartphone in their life, they have already
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  made a huge leap of faith on technology. And
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  if they have continued on using the smartphone
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  opposed to the old flip phones, it means they
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  already embraced the technology and they've already
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  accepted the advantages that technology is bringing
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  into their personal life. Now, then they can
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  just simply ask the question back themselves
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  standing in front of the mirror. Why can't I
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  do the same thing in my business and embrace
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  the technology? Now, at the same time, we go
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  back to the previous point. Changing the entire
• 20:58
  business into a digital transformation overnight
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  is going to be a very huge risk. However, consistently
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  take one task at a time or one step of the business
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  at a time and turn that into an automation or
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  apply information technology systems will help
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  them to grow. Furthermore, and importantly, you
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  also have to recognize that if you're wanting
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  to exit and if your business is a dinosaur, do
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  you think anybody will buy it? First of all,
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  you did not make your business a desirable business.
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  Second of all, even if somebody takes it, they
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  will know. They can implement the technology
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  and they can embrace the technology and take
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  it into the new heights. But are they going to
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  pay you dollar to dollar? They're going to show
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  that disadvantage as a risk and they're going
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  to ask for a 50 cents. So you're losing a lot
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  of money on the table. Yes, you are. Yes, you
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  are. Very well put. Thank you. Okay. How can
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  networking help business owners? Choose the right
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  automation tools and avoid being sold the wrong
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  ones. When you are doing the networking, you
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  are building the relationship. And what does
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  that mean? You are developing a trusted advisory
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  board. You may not be calling that as a trusted
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  advisory board, but these are all your trusted
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  people, right? Now, when you ask somebody, demonstrate
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  a problem, and they will bring certain solution.
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  And take a second opinion. Not that you are mistrusting
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  the trusted advisor you have, but taking a second
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  opinion will open the mind to have a different
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  perspective about that solution. And then you
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  go back to the same person who is suggesting
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  a solution, and, hey, how about this? What do
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  you think of this perspective? And allow them
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  to explain it because you trust them. If you
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  trust them, it means you'll be able to have a
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  direct, open, honest communication. If you're
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  not making the direct, open, honest communication,
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  it means you're not trusting them. So you might
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  as well not do business with them. There is a
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  mantra for networking. If they know you, if they
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  like you and trust you, they'll do business with
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  you. Now, know you, well, everybody's going to
• 23:46
  know you're a nice guy. Now, know you, like you,
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  that kind of narrows down the field just a little
• 23:53
  bit because everybody isn't going to like you.
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  But trust you, that's the crucial factor. Once
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  you gain somebody's trust, that's gold because
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  nobody's going to buy from you if they don't
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  trust you. That's correct. You always have to
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  remember, people love to buy, but they hate to
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  be sold to. You always have to remember that.
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  Okay. All right. So let's see. What are some
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  underrated ways business owners can use technology
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  to build relationships, not just automate tasks?
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  Building relationships is, as you just mentioned,
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  How do you trust somebody? You trust somebody
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  when somebody gives you or demonstrate a selfless
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  act, right? Now, you may say that, okay, I may
• 24:49
  be giving them a book or I may be giving them
• 24:52
  an advice or I may be doing something. But one
• 24:56
  of the simple techniques that I have used is
• 25:00
  creating a valuable content. No marketing. No
• 25:06
  sales, no fluff. Pure, valuable content. An example,
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  in my work belt, we created business tips. And
• 25:17
  each week, we send a business tip to our circle
• 25:22
  of friends. When they read those tips, they will
• 25:28
  be clearly... articulated in a way that the reader
• 25:32
  can take advantage of it and apply it in their
• 25:35
  business. Not necessarily that, hey, we are selling
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  you this and you use it at the end. No. It's
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  a purely educational media. Now, many people,
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  they embrace it. Why? There is no selling. But
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  that improves the trust. Because you're not trying
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  to push them around to give you a dollar. You
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  are purely trying to educate them. And some of
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  those, they may use it, they may not use it,
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  but you have to be okay with it. And you are
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  coming with a pure heart for educating the other
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  person, which naturally builds trust. That is
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  one technique that I use, right? But it can be
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  many. If you wanted to build trust with somebody,
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  you can give them... value -added advices to
• 26:30
  them. Or you can invite them for having a one
• 26:34
  -on -one meetings with you. And then most importantly,
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  be aware who they are, what they are, where they
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  come from, and what is their family, and what
• 26:44
  is their interest beyond giving you a dollar
• 26:47
  as a business transaction. And now you're creating
• 26:51
  a trusted relationship with them. And that happens
• 26:55
  automatically. You're speaking... like a successful
• 26:58
  business owner. So we must have come through
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  all the years. What was your biggest mistake
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  you made and how did you overcome it? The biggest
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  mistake in the business, early on in the business
• 27:15
  I made, is committing something without clarity.
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  So what I mean by that? is when you agree to
• 27:29
  do something or when you agree to deliver something,
• 27:34
  you should not be quick to commit. You have to
• 27:39
  ask meaningful questions and you have to define
• 27:44
  the set expectations. A simple example, Michael,
• 27:48
  you and I, we talked previously and we both agreed
• 27:53
  that we are going to meet on so -and -so date.
• 27:56
  and time and we're going to get onto the zoom
• 27:59
  call we're going to record this right now if
• 28:03
  we didn't have a clarity on that communication
• 28:06
  what is the date what is the time and on what
• 28:09
  platform we are meeting we will have failed to
• 28:13
  do what we are doing today right now once we
• 28:17
  have the clarity then deliverable becomes easy
• 28:21
  and there is no misunderstanding And the experience
• 28:25
  on both parties will become more memorable than
• 28:29
  anything else. And early on, when I started the
• 28:33
  business, I didn't have an understanding of clear
• 28:36
  expectations, setting up a clear expectations
• 28:38
  between both parties. And I made mistakes. And
• 28:42
  once I made mistakes and I learned, I actually
• 28:45
  went back to the customer. I said, hey, where
• 28:48
  did I mess it up? I didn't have any intention.
• 28:53
  give you something wrong, but then the feedback
• 28:58
  that I've gathered is that it's not that I did
• 29:01
  something wrong, it's the fact that I did not
• 29:05
  know what I was committing for, or the other
• 29:09
  party did not know what I'm delivering. The clarity
• 29:13
  is missing. So from there on is that have a clear
• 29:19
  expectations set between both parties. before
• 29:23
  you say you are going to deliver. Fantastic.
• 29:25
  And you're really talking about under -promising,
• 29:29
  but over -delivering, right? So whatever you're
• 29:33
  promising, you want to deliver just that much
• 29:36
  more. Be clear in all of the expectations, but
• 29:41
  you always want to give that much more. And that
• 29:43
  will always say... You think that different way,
• 29:45
  Michael. You don't need to over -deliver. Nobody
• 29:49
  expects you to over -deliver. No, nobody does.
• 29:52
  It's a business environment. When you over -deliver
• 29:56
  it, you're actually creating a wow factor, which
• 30:01
  is great for your business. But certainly, what
• 30:05
  you're committing needs to be clear. At least
• 30:08
  you deliver what you're committing with the clarity.
• 30:11
  Now, if you go one mile more, great. But there
• 30:15
  are times that we may not be able to go a mile
• 30:17
  more. Absolutely. Nothing wrong with it. No,
• 30:20
  no, but that's... I have seen some of the business
• 30:24
  owners, they kill themselves because they couldn't
• 30:27
  go a mile more. You have to forgive yourself.
• 30:33
  Right? Not necessarily going a mile more will
• 30:38
  be practical all the time. Okay. Understood,
• 30:45
  understood. But I always try to do that, go that
• 30:48
  extra mile. I always try to over -deliver because
• 30:51
  in my business, I always do more than what they
• 30:56
  ask me. Always, just without even thinking. I'm
• 31:00
  not dismissing that. I'm not discouraging anybody
• 31:02
  to do it. But be aware in doing so, don't lose
• 31:06
  your shirt. Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay, let's
• 31:11
  bring this podcast full circle. And looking ahead,
• 31:14
  how do you see the intersection of human connection?
• 31:18
  and automation evolving in small businesses over
• 31:22
  the next five to 10 years? Oh, this is going
• 31:27
  to be a beautiful era for interconnection between
• 31:32
  human beings and technology. We are in the infancy
• 31:37
  stage of artificial intelligence. I know it's
• 31:41
  a buzzword these days in the market. But trust
• 31:44
  me, being in the information technology industry
• 31:46
  for over 20 years, nearly 25 years, I've seen,
• 31:51
  done, been there, done that. Only part that I'm
• 31:55
  concerned is some of the small businesses, they
• 32:01
  have inertia in embracing the change coming in.
• 32:06
  Now, if the business owners, if they are... I
• 32:11
  hope I'm not coming across as a discriminatory,
• 32:14
  but younger generation, they are born with the
• 32:17
  technology in their hand and they are comfortable
• 32:20
  with it. But those who are one generation before
• 32:24
  that have a kind of a shyness or kind of a challenge
• 32:30
  to accept delegating their tasks to the technology.
• 32:35
  And those who embrace that. And using the technology
• 32:42
  will shine and thrive. Next five years is going
• 32:47
  to be a very joyful ride. And if any small business
• 32:50
  owners are not looking into that, I would highly
• 32:55
  recommend them to look into it. And we are actually,
• 32:59
  interestingly, we are actually developing a software
• 33:02
  product for one of our customers right now. It's
• 33:05
  called AI Receptionist. Sure. So the artificial
• 33:10
  intelligence will pick up your call, and it will
• 33:14
  speak in your voice, and the other party don't
• 33:18
  feel bad I'm talking to a machine or anything.
• 33:21
  So your voice is mimicked in the artificial intelligence
• 33:25
  system. And when they pick up the call, hey,
• 33:28
  I wanted to talk to Michael in artificial intelligence.
• 33:32
  Okay, thank you very much, and let me put you
• 33:34
  to Michael. Simple. And then the call will be
• 33:37
  forwarded to Michael. They will pick up and talk
• 33:39
  to whatever the way you want. Just simply you
• 33:42
  are removing that human interface, but replacing
• 33:47
  that with technology, it gives you a great deal
• 33:50
  of advantage. Now you have a 24 by 7 receptionist
• 33:54
  opposed to receptionist only 9 to 5. Think about
• 33:58
  how advantageous is it. I'm just giving that
• 34:02
  as a one simple example, but there is numerous
• 34:04
  business cases out there. that small businesses
• 34:07
  need to be open -minded to embrace the technology
• 34:10
  coming into the market. They do. And Sri, I've
• 34:14
  got to tell you, we can probably go on for two
• 34:16
  more hours talking about this. Okay, but time
• 34:20
  constraints. Listen, if somebody would like to
• 34:24
  contact you, how could they do it? Either to
• 34:26
  be coached by your platform or what have you,
• 34:32
  how can they get hold of you? The simple thing
• 34:35
  that they can do is go into myworkbelt .com and
• 34:40
  we have all the information to contact me. There's
• 34:44
  an email address, there's a phone number, and
• 34:46
  they can fill up the contact form anywhere. And
• 34:49
  if they can look for Sri Kaluva or Sridhar Kaluva
• 34:52
  on LinkedIn, they will find me everywhere. So
• 34:55
  I'm not hiding in the bushes. As long as they
• 34:57
  know my name, it's very easy for them to reach
• 34:59
  me. And I'm more than happy to mentor them. I'm
• 35:02
  more than happy to give them my expert advice
• 35:04
  that they can take it. I expect no business in
• 35:08
  return. And I sincerely mean it. And I'm happy
• 35:12
  to help them. I quit corporate job to help the
• 35:15
  small businesses. Great. That's great. Sreej,
• 35:18
  thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
• 35:21
  You made this a great podcast. Michael, I'm so
• 35:25
  glad to be on this. And thank you very much for
• 35:28
  giving me opportunity to share my thoughts with
• 35:30
  your community. And it's been a pleasure experience.
• 35:34
  Great. All right. Bye -bye. Bye -bye, Michael.
• 35:38
  Well, hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere. Let
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  me just read a few of our sponsors that we have.
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  to revvedupkids .org. That's R -E -V -V -E -D
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  -U -P -K -I -D -S .org. Well, that's a wrap,
• 36:58
  folks. A huge thank you to our special guests
• 37:01
  for sharing such incredible insights today. And
• 37:04
  of course, a big shout out to you, our amazing
• 37:08
  listeners, for tuning in and spending your time
• 37:10
  with us. Remember, networking isn't about being
• 37:14
  perfect. It's about being present. So take what
• 37:18
  you've learned today, get out there, and make
• 37:20
  some meaningful connections. If you enjoyed this
• 37:23
  episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave us
• 37:26
  a review, and share it with someone who could
• 37:29
  use a little networking inspiration. Let's keep
• 37:32
  the conversation going. You can find me on Apple,
• 37:36
  Spotify, YouTube, or my website, Michael. Remember.
• 37:41
  Until next time, keep practicing, keep connecting,
• 37:44
  and keep building those relationships. This is
• 37:48
  Michael signing off. Take care and happy networking.