Latest / Buying Local Podcast / Building Community Through Sales with Matthew Knoth | Buying Local S3E58

Transcript

Building Community Through Sales with Matthew Knoth | Buying Local S3E58 · Buying Local Podcast

• 0:00
  All right, welcome everyone to Buying Local.
• 0:02
  I'm your host, Mike Nelson from 5 Towers Media, joined today by
• 0:06
  the one the only, Matthew Noves. And you got to make sure you say
• 0:11
  it right 'cause I said it the wrong way for like 3 months and
• 0:14
  Matt never corrected me. But it's it's, it's not Nov.
• 0:17
  It's Nov. Yeah.
• 0:19
  What's up buddy? How are you?
• 0:21
  Hello. Yeah, thank you.
• 0:22
  And I appreciate you saying that.
• 0:24
  Cause like, like you said, three months, I mean, I didn't really
• 0:28
  mind growing up. Everybody really got the last
• 0:31
  name wrong. So it was kind of just that
• 0:33
  second, second nature. But I appreciate it and yeah,
• 0:37
  happy to be here. Yeah, excited, excited.
• 0:40
  So you know, one of the things that we're talking about today
• 0:42
  everybody is the fact that Matt is going to be working in to
• 0:47
  buying local the podcast here, doing some interviews, bringing
• 0:49
  people on the show. But before we get to that, let's
• 0:53
  back up and let's kinda introduce Matt to the audience
• 0:57
  for the people that don't see you out at networking events.
• 1:00
  And I mean, you're, you're kind of everywhere these days.
• 1:03
  So, Matt, you know, tell us who you are, man.
• 1:07
  Yeah, yeah. So again, thank you.
• 1:10
  My name is Matt Noth I I'm originally not from here.
• 1:14
  So when I'm talking with people and they're saying all these
• 1:17
  areas, I'm still learning, but with that I'm out and about.
• 1:22
  So I'm constantly everyday talking to new members in the
• 1:25
  community and learning the insurance and outs to this
• 1:29
  vibrant community. So yeah, like I'm a new face
• 1:32
  here, but it's been nothing short of great.
• 1:36
  So, yeah, I, I mean, we're, we're in a pretty friendly area
• 1:38
  at Warren, Washington, Saratoga County.
• 1:40
  You know, I've been stomping around this business community
• 1:43
  and, and community at large for the better part of 25 years now.
• 1:47
  And, and having gone to other markets as well and spent some
• 1:51
  time in them, I can tell you that the people here are, are
• 1:54
  pretty great. So Matt, where, where are you
• 1:58
  originally from anyway? Where'd you grow up?
• 2:00
  Yeah, a couple, I want to say an hour away, New Hartford, New
• 2:04
  Hartford, NY Don't get it confused with New Hartford, not
• 2:08
  Connecticut. A lot of people think when when
• 2:11
  they hear the Hartford, they think Connecticut.
• 2:13
  But Utica area, I like to tell people who don't know the New
• 2:18
  Hartford scheme, grew up there, still have family, they're
• 2:21
  actually going to be there for Christmas.
• 2:23
  So going to be shooting to New Hartford.
• 2:26
  Shooting New Hartford. Yeah, I, it's funny because I
• 2:30
  many a long, many decades ago, I used to stomp around the Utica
• 2:34
  market and, and New Hartford particularly actually.
• 2:39
  And so I'm pretty familiar with the area and we, we actually
• 2:41
  have a client now that's over in New Hartford.
• 2:43
  We just did some work for him. But what?
• 2:48
  Tell us how you ended up here. Yeah, so while I was in college,
• 2:52
  I'm fresh, I'm 22, fresh and graduated, went to school.
• 2:57
  Yeah, I was going to say, where did you go to?
• 2:59
  The compliment? Yeah, in Rochester again.
• 3:02
  All over the place. It seems like I've been in every
• 3:05
  inch of New York. But yeah, spent four years
• 3:08
  playing lacrosse, studying business, sports management
• 3:13
  actually was my degree in college again.
• 3:16
  Yeah, I played lacrosse there, met tons of friends through day
• 3:20
  one. I was met with all my team
• 3:22
  mates. So it was great, that
• 3:24
  transition. But yeah, coming out here while
• 3:27
  I was at in Rochester at school, my mother and stepfather moved
• 3:32
  back out here. So then when I graduated, didn't
• 3:35
  really know what to do, but knowing that this community was
• 3:39
  up and coming and a lot of people were hard working out
• 3:43
  here. And so it just kind of
• 3:46
  simultaneously, you know, with the goals I wanted, just made
• 3:50
  sense. Yeah, yeah.
• 3:52
  And you guys are. You guys are what Gansburg?
• 3:55
  Yeah, Gansburg, Wilton, whatever.
• 3:57
  Well, yeah, that that that weird little area where it could be
• 4:00
  either or, depending on which side of the street you're on.
• 4:03
  Yeah, it it's weird too, because all my family members or
• 4:07
  friends, when they come out here, it's it's since it's a new
• 4:11
  like development where we're in the postal code isn't really
• 4:15
  like in the system yet. So when you type it up, it comes
• 4:19
  in as Ganzler or Wilton or the other one, but it'll send you
• 4:22
  halfway across town. Yeah, yeah, GPSI actually have a
• 4:25
  similar thing at my house because we live on, well, I
• 4:28
  won't say what Rd. we live on in case anybody doesn't like me,
• 4:30
  but the road we live on though has a Ganzervert side to it and
• 4:35
  it has a Greenfield center side to it.
• 4:37
  And so when I give people my address, they often end up on
• 4:41
  the wrong side if they don't put in the Township in it.
• 4:43
  So that's, I don't know if that happens around the country, but
• 4:46
  I know it happens a few different markets.
• 4:48
  They seem to all be connected to Ganzervert.
• 4:50
  I don't know why that but so and you went to the what college did
• 4:57
  you go do again? Nazareth University at it
• 5:02
  started out actually my first two years was a college and then
• 5:06
  last two it switched to university.
• 5:08
  So you'll you'll hear Nazareth College, but I think it's a
• 5:12
  university now. Yeah, I don't know.
• 5:14
  How they make that differentiation.
• 5:16
  But yeah, it is what it is. So.
• 5:19
  So you've been working with us, Scott.
• 5:21
  How long you been with us now, Matt?
• 5:23
  Yeah, I want to say July I started.
• 5:26
  July, OK. Yeah, just after the 4th.
• 5:31
  So 6-6 months roughly speaking. Yeah, from November, December.
• 5:35
  Yeah. You're, you're completing your
• 5:36
  6th month right now. Yeah.
• 5:38
  And what kind of things have you been doing with five towers so
• 5:41
  people can understand kind of your role?
• 5:44
  Yeah. Well, First off, a new edition
• 5:46
  of sales sales specialists is my title here.
• 5:50
  Like you said, the six months I came in, you know, fresh out of
• 5:54
  college, so everything was new. But you know, in that time I was
• 5:59
  a sponge. I was ready to learn anything.
• 6:01
  I was willing to work as hard as I can be mentored by you.
• 6:05
  Obviously having that aspect it, it really, I feel put me, put me
• 6:12
  ahead of my other peers. I was immensely from the start
• 6:16
  put into meetings, stepping outside my comfort zone, giving
• 6:21
  my commercials, giving pitches. It's something I really didn't
• 6:25
  learn in school. You know, you learn the concepts
• 6:28
  of sales, how business kind of works.
• 6:31
  But then I was, I was fortunate enough to actually be from day
• 6:35
  one, get thrown in into it and just be immersed around other
• 6:40
  like minded business owners get to hear their struggles and kind
• 6:44
  of how they built a business from scratch.
• 6:48
  So yeah, I mean my title sales, but I I really encompass a lot
• 6:54
  whether it's just hearing people's struggles, giving them
• 6:58
  ways to get through a marketing support wise.
• 7:02
  Yeah. But at the end of the day, it's
• 7:03
  it's really cool just to get to talk to people and build my
• 7:07
  network that way. Yeah, yeah, I know.
• 7:09
  We, if we're anything here at 5 Towers, we are really good at
• 7:14
  throwing people right into the fire.
• 7:16
  And yeah, learn by doing for sure.
• 7:19
  But I will say, you know, I, I feel that you've really embraced
• 7:23
  the challenge and have been coming along pretty well.
• 7:26
  And I get nothing but good reports from you, Matt.
• 7:28
  Whenever I talk to people that are senior networking events and
• 7:33
  other kinds of networking organizations that you go to,
• 7:36
  you know, everybody says that you represent pretty well.
• 7:39
  So, you know, we're pretty happy so far with that, with bringing
• 7:43
  you on. I, you know, Matt, I'm curious.
• 7:46
  I you know what people don't. So you had reached, we're just
• 7:52
  about to start hiring a salesperson.
• 7:54
  We weren't quite there yet. And honestly, when we ended up
• 7:59
  hiring you, I had to kind of like work, work some extra hours
• 8:02
  to get things ready for you just because we weren't quite ready
• 8:05
  yet. But you reached out to us
• 8:09
  specifically asking about sales. And I'm, I'm curious as to and I
• 8:13
  think it'd be, you know, good for the audience to understand
• 8:16
  why it is that you want to go into sales.
• 8:18
  Yeah. So, well, the first reason why I
• 8:23
  kind of was introduced to you was, you know, my mother already
• 8:27
  being out here while like I said, I was still in college,
• 8:30
  she was kind of already getting her feet under her and working
• 8:33
  and you know, knowing more people out here.
• 8:35
  So she was she was kind of my wing man during that time.
• 8:38
  And you know, if she heard any tips that people were hiring or
• 8:43
  what not. But yeah, so how I kind of fell
• 8:46
  into this was a friend of my mother's tip me to come and talk
• 8:50
  to you guys. But yeah, for the aspect of
• 8:53
  sales, it was it was more something I I knew I wanted to
• 8:57
  be immersed in business. I knew I wanted to do that
• 9:01
  public relations in the sense of, you know, not really sitting
• 9:05
  behind of computer. So that's when my thought was
• 9:09
  going to sales where's where's something that I can combine
• 9:13
  talking to people, building relations, but also giving
• 9:16
  measurable outcomes and also helping a business grow.
• 9:20
  That's when speaking with you and, you know, learning the
• 9:24
  values, the vision you have for the company.
• 9:27
  It really it really just felt like I I it fell into my lap.
• 9:32
  You know, it was it was something that, you know,
• 9:34
  obviously took some thought and you know, stepping into a sales.
• 9:38
  It's it's hard that that was that was a big part of our
• 9:41
  hiring process was, you know, every day is going to be it's
• 9:45
  going to be challenge, but that that that's kind of what drew
• 9:48
  me, you know, kind of push me more to it.
• 9:51
  I like the challenge. I knew it would, you know,
• 9:55
  conceptual strength, just boost my personality, give me a lot of
• 10:00
  skills that, you know, you wouldn't really learn elsewhere
• 10:03
  if it wasn't for sales. Yeah.
• 10:06
  Yeah, yeah, Sales are a tough role, man.
• 10:08
  I, I, you know, we, there's always this joke in sales is
• 10:12
  that when you, you know, find yourself without any skills or
• 10:16
  any experience or training, you go into sales, right.
• 10:19
  And it's. But at the end of the day, that
• 10:22
  is a joke because sales is such a hard component.
• 10:27
  I happen to think that it's one of the best professions because
• 10:31
  you, you do, you literally like you get paid to have coffee with
• 10:35
  people and, and learn about them and their business and what
• 10:37
  they're doing and the challenges.
• 10:39
  And then you're given an opportunity to help them
• 10:41
  overcome some of those challenges.
• 10:43
  And it, it can be very fulfilling, even though it has
• 10:48
  like, that bad stigma attached to it.
• 10:51
  Like, oh, he's a sales guy. Like, you know, which
• 10:54
  automatically, for whatever reason, makes you dishonest and
• 10:58
  a bad person. But realistically, at least I
• 11:00
  think the way that we sell and the way that we approach it, it
• 11:04
  really is done with people's best interests at heart.
• 11:09
  And yes, we happen to get paid for doing these things.
• 11:12
  You know, like, like, yeah, we're definitely going to get
• 11:14
  paid for it. However, like our approach to
• 11:16
  sales is we don't sell based on what, how much money we're going
• 11:20
  to make or we're, we're trying to, you know, hit a quota for
• 11:23
  the month like just doesn't. Work out.
• 11:26
  So, yeah, I I also want to touch on that too, because that was a
• 11:29
  that was a big thing at the start during the hiring process.
• 11:32
  You kept hammering just we're not used car salesman.
• 11:35
  We don't sell, sell like that. We don't do we're we're not
• 11:39
  trying to manipulate, you know, buyers and just just buying our
• 11:44
  products. It's we, we can help them if
• 11:46
  they need a need a solution to that.
• 11:49
  And that that really resonated with me because it's like, yeah,
• 11:52
  kind of kind of having that stigma, stigmatism of Oh yeah,
• 11:56
  you're just sales, EO, the sales, you know, that stereotype
• 11:59
  around it. So yeah, you really, you really
• 12:02
  honed in being like, that's not what we do around here.
• 12:05
  It's we don't, we don't like to manipulate.
• 12:08
  We go for no a lot of the times too.
• 12:11
  And yeah, we, we, we like to help our community at the end of
• 12:14
  the day. Yeah, it really is about helping
• 12:16
  the community at the end of the day, right.
• 12:19
  You know, for people that that haven't heard me say it before,
• 12:21
  I, I feel like I'm a broken record sometimes.
• 12:23
  But our, our, you know, my belief, which then comes through
• 12:27
  in the way that we do business, is that there, you know, the
• 12:31
  truest path to freedom for an individual is by owning a
• 12:34
  business or being an entrepreneur.
• 12:36
  And you know, our mission is to give unwavering support to those
• 12:39
  folks in the way that we can support them, which is through
• 12:43
  marketing and communications. And, you know, but it's, and
• 12:48
  it's funny that you say too about, you know, going for no
• 12:51
  and, and about how much I hammered on it through the
• 12:53
  interview process because it, I almost feel like I was selling
• 12:56
  you against taking the job in some of our conversations
• 12:59
  through the because I just want you to understand like, hey, if
• 13:02
  this is your idea of what sales is like, this is not how we do
• 13:06
  it. This is not, you know, if
• 13:07
  you're, if you're coming in to try to manipulate people into
• 13:11
  saying yes, like that's just not, that's not what, who we are
• 13:14
  as an organization. We certainly don't want to bring
• 13:16
  those people on so and I actually did just order you or
• 13:21
  ordered you the book Go for no by the way too.
• 13:23
  It's going to be here on the 29th.
• 13:26
  So I'm excited for you to read that book.
• 13:29
  And for those of you that are in sales and aren't familiar with
• 13:31
  the book, go for no. Essentially, what the book is
• 13:35
  about is learning strategies to make it easy for people to say
• 13:39
  no and sometimes leading people down the path of no to help them
• 13:45
  figure out on their own if they really want to work with you or
• 13:47
  not. Right.
• 13:48
  And that's kind of the, you know, the strategy or tactic
• 13:51
  behind it. It's not about manipulating
• 13:53
  people in to say yes and convincing them that this is
• 13:55
  good for you. It's more about identifying all
• 13:58
  the reasons why it may not be good for you as well as the
• 14:01
  reasons of why it may help you. And then letting them come to
• 14:04
  that decision on their own, though, without feeling like
• 14:06
  they've been pushed into something they don't need just
• 14:09
  because some Shmurmi sales guy, you know, wants, wants to make a
• 14:13
  commitment. So you're six months in, you
• 14:18
  know, I know you're doing a ton of networking.
• 14:22
  What can you say? And I know that you spend a lot
• 14:24
  of time like, you know, obviously we're big fans of the
• 14:26
  Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce.
• 14:28
  We've got a great relationship with those guys, really love
• 14:31
  what they do for the business community.
• 14:33
  And you're going to all the events and doing all the things
• 14:36
  ribbon cuttings and mixers and chamber one O ones.
• 14:40
  What can you tell us about what you're seeing out there?
• 14:43
  Because that that is a strategy that I recommend for any, anyone
• 14:47
  and everyone in the business community to be a member of that
• 14:50
  chamber. Can you give us kind of a
• 14:52
  rundown on on what that has been like for you?
• 14:55
  Yeah, yeah. Like you said, big component on
• 14:59
  throwing us right into the fire. I remember within week one I was
• 15:04
  going to one of the chambers. Felt a little intimidating at
• 15:08
  first. What, you know, you're walking
• 15:11
  into a room, tons of, you know, professionals who are wanting to
• 15:16
  network and you know, you don't really, really know what to
• 15:19
  expect the first time. But by the by the end of me
• 15:23
  walking out, I already had, you know, 10 plus connections who
• 15:27
  were looking to get coffees after.
• 15:30
  And this was day one of me meeting these individuals.
• 15:33
  Some of them I still talked to to this day from that first
• 15:36
  networking event. And then, yeah, just through
• 15:40
  that you, you build on to your connections through the chamber.
• 15:44
  Everyone in those chambers, especially that or on act they,
• 15:48
  they, it's a, it's a community who wants to help each other.
• 15:52
  So they see a new face like me. And you know, you have 10 people
• 15:55
  running to you wanting to know your background, who you are,
• 15:58
  where, who you work for. It's, it's really, it's
• 16:01
  something that, you know, I I've never felt before, along with
• 16:05
  the ribbon cuttings, a lot of them.
• 16:07
  I'm, I'm going to you know, I'm, I'm new to the area.
• 16:10
  So a lot of these businesses I you know, this is my first
• 16:14
  contact with. But again, it's it's I see
• 16:17
  people that I've seen throughout other mixers or the chamber one
• 16:20
  O 1's. It's it's it was a friendly face
• 16:22
  after that. And with that, just a lot of
• 16:26
  people want to help each other. So big component on building
• 16:30
  support. You know, it's I don't really
• 16:32
  want to just take, I want to also give to these communities
• 16:37
  or to the people in the chamber as well, because at the end of
• 16:41
  the day, they're the ones who fill this community.
• 16:43
  There are shops to our left and right and yeah, it's just they,
• 16:48
  they, they help me just as much as they help us, you know?
• 16:53
  Yeah, absolutely. What what do you think the
• 16:58
  hardest part of the networking scene that you've been doing
• 17:00
  over the last six months is? Just it's, I guess through my
• 17:06
  personality at the start, I was wanting to talk to everybody and
• 17:11
  everyone a little bit at the start, I was falling back on the
• 17:15
  people I knew already. You know, it's just easy to find
• 17:19
  that friendly face. But to get out, get what you
• 17:24
  want out of the networking events, you kind of have to step
• 17:28
  further out of your bubble. And, you know, it's good to say
• 17:31
  hi to the to the ones that you already know, but the purpose of
• 17:35
  that is to keep expanding your network.
• 17:37
  So, you know, kind of getting out of your comfort zone in that
• 17:41
  way. And, you know, shaking a hand
• 17:43
  and staring someone in the face, that's the best way to introduce
• 17:47
  yourself and meet more people. So yeah, just just getting away
• 17:51
  from the friendly faces, I would say was is the biggest
• 17:54
  challenge. Yeah, it's that whole, you know,
• 17:57
  you grow up getting told not to talk to strangers, and then you
• 18:00
  get out there networking. And that's what it is right now.
• 18:03
  Really. Yeah.
• 18:03
  It can be very uncomfortable. And would you say that, you
• 18:11
  know, obviously. Well, actually let's back up a
• 18:13
  little bit before we go into that is I know that I made you
• 18:16
  do some cold calling in the beginning.
• 18:18
  So for the for the new sales folks out there, the people that
• 18:22
  are being asked the cold call, what, what are your thoughts on
• 18:25
  cold calling as a salesperson? It's, well, what do we say with
• 18:30
  that? It's when you're cold call,
• 18:31
  you're going to half of the time that they don't want to talk to
• 18:36
  you. Other times they're just letting
• 18:37
  you go easily. It's again with the conceptual
• 18:42
  strength. You're constantly getting
• 18:44
  rejected left and right. You know, I grew a lot from, you
• 18:50
  know, stumbling over my words and my commercials to, you know,
• 18:53
  that first 2030 seconds is the biggest impression.
• 18:57
  And you know, when I'm tripping over my words, you got to learn
• 19:00
  through that. It's, it's very fast-paced too.
• 19:04
  You'll hear a different question, a different scenario
• 19:07
  from the first call compared to the second.
• 19:11
  You it really, it really challenges you and teaches you
• 19:14
  to stay on your toes. But you know, that was the
• 19:18
  biggest thing of why we were doing the cold calls, the
• 19:21
  rejection piece, people constantly telling you no, you
• 19:24
  know, you're not really face to face with someone.
• 19:26
  So it's harder to get that, you know, human connection.
• 19:30
  Then when you do get in front of someone, you're quick on your
• 19:33
  feet. Those random scenarios, you've
• 19:36
  heard those questions over and over that to where it just seems
• 19:41
  seamless. When you're actually sitting
• 19:42
  down to make a sale and you know, the other person actually
• 19:46
  wants to hear you, it it sounds it feels a little bit better
• 19:49
  too. So yeah, it's, I recommend a lot
• 19:52
  of people if, if you want to get out of your bubble, if you want
• 19:55
  to work on communication skills, just go in, look up, you know,
• 20:01
  Saratoga businesses and go top to bottom.
• 20:04
  Just call them, chat with them. It's, it's, it's really cool to
• 20:07
  hear how they do it. And you know, at the end of the
• 20:10
  day, you're just, you're talking to another person, so.
• 20:14
  Yeah, and I know I always you refer to it as getting your
• 20:18
  teeth kicked down your throat in our conversations because that's
• 20:22
  how cold calling can feel a lot of the time as you're just
• 20:26
  getting completely beat up by people that you're calling.
• 20:30
  And you know, it's obviously not all all sunshines and rainbows,
• 20:34
  right? Like it's it can beat you up
• 20:38
  mentally. And I think, you know, you're
• 20:39
  you mentioned conceptual strength.
• 20:41
  That's a term that we refer to as like doing cold calls, even
• 20:46
  if you're not setting appointments helps to build
• 20:48
  conceptual strength, right? It's that ability to hear no
• 20:52
  over and over and over and still pick up the phone because you
• 20:56
  got to make another call, right? Or to still go back tomorrow and
• 21:00
  make 25 more more cold calls. And how would you say that that
• 21:05
  I know that you mentioned that it does that, but like can you
• 21:08
  kind of expand on that, maybe unpack it a little bit more?
• 21:11
  Yeah, I mean, yeah, like you said, it's, it's the rejection.
• 21:14
  You know, most of your day, if you're not doing cold call,
• 21:18
  you're not, you're not facing 20-30 people telling you no, no,
• 21:23
  no, I don't want to hear you. It changes something in you.
• 21:26
  I I don't know. It's, it's once you do start to
• 21:30
  talk to people who want to hear you and you know who who hear
• 21:33
  you hear those pain struggles and they, they need a solution
• 21:37
  to that. It's that that's where you start
• 21:40
  transitioning from hearing the no to hearing the yes.
• 21:43
  It's OK. I've already, I'm, I'm trying to
• 21:47
  sell to someone who's telling me no.
• 21:51
  Compared to when someone's saying yes, it just seems so
• 21:54
  much more seamless. And it's like, oh, I've been
• 21:56
  here. They they want to hear about it.
• 21:58
  And yeah, it's, it's, it's, it just builds that you know that,
• 22:03
  that I don't know in your head, you, you get past the point of
• 22:06
  rejection. Yeah, or at least where it
• 22:08
  doesn't like isn't soul crushing anymore, right.
• 22:12
  I I know if I can, if I can throw you under the bus a little
• 22:14
  bit. We've we've definitely had
• 22:17
  coaching calls where you were just like, man, it is all it's
• 22:21
  getting to me today and it can it you know that here and no
• 22:25
  over and over and over again, or I mean, anyone that's cold
• 22:29
  called will tell you that people are mean.
• 22:32
  Oh yeah. Like, people, they yell at you,
• 22:36
  they slam the phone down in your ear, and all you're doing is
• 22:39
  saying like, hey, you know, like this is who I am and where I'm
• 22:41
  from and would you be talking about what we do?
• 22:44
  And people get really upset. I know, but the biggest tip that
• 22:50
  you did give me was throwing in the the ear pods and just
• 22:54
  constantly having music to where like when you pick up a phone
• 22:58
  call, the music just stops. And then it's like when, when
• 23:01
  they hang up, you hang up, the music just keeps playing.
• 23:04
  So it just it keeps, it takes the emotions out of it.
• 23:07
  You know, you, like you said, people could be rude, people
• 23:10
  could be, you know, having a bad day or whatnot.
• 23:12
  But if you kind of lean back on that music to, you know, you
• 23:15
  just go back into your groove. It's, it's all right, Maybe
• 23:18
  they're having a bad day. It's it's not me at the end of
• 23:21
  the day, you know, And then just just keep pushing forward.
• 23:24
  So the music, it's a good tip. I know, right, Like I, I
• 23:29
  definitely, I, you know, got it must have been almost 20 years
• 23:34
  ago now that I, that I did that when I was cold calling and it
• 23:37
  was just, it just made it easier, you know, you put on
• 23:41
  some, some good music and it, it kind of transitions you and I
• 23:46
  don't know. Yeah, it softens it like that
• 23:47
  song comes back up. You're like, all right, cool.
• 23:49
  I'm just I guess I'm putting in the next number and.
• 23:52
  Just move forward. So you've been doing a lot of
• 23:57
  networking, you've been doing calls, you've been you've been
• 23:59
  having meetings. What do you think from a sales
• 24:03
  standpoint, Matt has been the hardest thing for you?
• 24:07
  Just the, you know, keeping, keeping track.
• 24:13
  I mean, I'd like to say I'm pretty good with time
• 24:15
  management. It's, but it's still just, you
• 24:18
  know, you have a deadline, someone comes to you, maybe
• 24:22
  you're, you're honed in on that one client, you're working
• 24:26
  through them well all week. Then something comes up there.
• 24:31
  It kind of delays the sales process in that aspects.
• 24:35
  It just a lot of ruffles in the road compared to just a linear,
• 24:39
  you know, sales process. But then with that too, it's say
• 24:43
  you have three clients this week.
• 24:45
  They're all different needs. You have to make sure the
• 24:48
  deadlines are getting set, they're having questions,
• 24:51
  they're coming to, you have to deliver on all those.
• 24:55
  So it, it was more that it wasn't overwhelming.
• 24:58
  It was just that transition to OK, I, I have responsibilities.
• 25:04
  My clients have, you know, something that they're, we were
• 25:08
  promising that they're, you know, expecting to do the best
• 25:13
  work put forth and also in a timely manner.
• 25:16
  So you can't really let anything slip through the cracks because
• 25:20
  at the end of the day, what we're working on is their baby,
• 25:23
  their business. So, and you know, a lot of, and
• 25:27
  nobody, nobody wants anything wrong to go with that.
• 25:30
  So you always need to make sure you're timely.
• 25:33
  You're, you have everything done right and at the end of the day
• 25:38
  professionally and, you know, putting our best work forward.
• 25:41
  Yeah, Yeah, No, I, I love what you're saying that it's, I mean,
• 25:46
  we talk about it all the time, right?
• 25:47
  Like people that come to us as clients, like they're really
• 25:51
  counting on us being able to do what they need us to do, right?
• 25:55
  And that it's their business, like you said, is their baby.
• 25:58
  And, and we need to be able to perform and, and get them what
• 26:01
  they're asking. And we're not perfect by any
• 26:03
  means, right? Like we're still people and
• 26:06
  people make mistakes and, you know, sometimes we fall down on
• 26:10
  that stuff, but being able to get back up and and do right by
• 26:14
  the customer and make it right, I think is huge and and try to
• 26:17
  get them get them where they want to be on that.
• 26:21
  So let's talk about buying local by you coming in and becoming
• 26:27
  the host of the show here. We're going to be working in
• 26:29
  over in January and with the idea that you're going to take
• 26:33
  over fully of of the podcast here.
• 26:39
  I What is your biggest fear? Probably this, you know, but no,
• 26:47
  I mean, it's, it's just, you know, change at the end of the
• 26:50
  day, just stepping into new things.
• 26:52
  It's anybody will have that, you know, butterfly feeling.
• 26:57
  But again, like I said, I'm a sponge soaking up everything I
• 27:00
  can, saying yes to anything I can.
• 27:04
  So yeah, I know the butterflies will be there, but they'll
• 27:07
  slowly diminish and I know I'll have, you know, a lot of fun
• 27:10
  doing it. So looking forward to it a lot.
• 27:13
  Podcasts are fun for sure. You know, you get to talk, you
• 27:17
  really get to talk about whatever you want and you try
• 27:20
  to, you know, make sure the episode is, is helpful to the
• 27:23
  person we're interviewing and and helpful and impactful to
• 27:26
  their business. But at the end of the day, I
• 27:27
  mean, you talk about whatever. Do you do you have any
• 27:33
  interviews that you're thinking about doing or people that
• 27:34
  you're asking about coming on the show?
• 27:36
  We'll we'll put them on the spot right now by mentioning.
• 27:39
  Yeah. Well, that's the thing.
• 27:41
  It's I'm doing a lot of these networking events.
• 27:45
  So since we've been talking about it, I've been throwing in
• 27:48
  my commercials that I've been, you know, going to be filling my
• 27:52
  schedule with hosts. So yes, I do have some lined up.
• 27:57
  I could throw someone under the bus.
• 28:00
  I guess. Alicia with Downtown Dogs just
• 28:03
  currently had a ribbon cutting on Glenn St. so looking forward
• 28:08
  to that. I know we've done some work with
• 28:10
  her in the past, but yeah, she's very happy to get on.
• 28:14
  I know I have some others waiting to get on that express
• 28:18
  that they want to get on so won't throw their names under
• 28:21
  the bus just yet, but stay tuned to see them on.
• 28:25
  Very nice. And the downtown dogs, they're
• 28:29
  the the boutique, right? They do like, yeah, and and that
• 28:33
  kind of fun stuff. Oh, it's awesome.
• 28:35
  Well, yeah, like I said, just stopped over there for the
• 28:38
  ribbon cutting. It's has two sides, beautiful
• 28:41
  space in there. One side's, you know, the
• 28:43
  grooming, then the other side's the boutique where you can buy,
• 28:46
  you know, they had beer for dogs or something.
• 28:52
  Everyone checking that out and, you know, little treats and cool
• 28:56
  collars and toys. And so, yeah, it's definitely
• 28:59
  it's, it's going to be a popping spot over there once all that
• 29:02
  construction finishes up. Yeah, well, where is where on
• 29:06
  Glenn St. are they? I just.
• 29:10
  I know you're still. I know you're still.
• 29:13
  On the right side, I don't know, like just just before the stop
• 29:21
  light there where you, where you're turning out, they're on
• 29:24
  that right side the. Like right downtown, Like where
• 29:29
  you're turning on the South St. Yeah, Glen St., right, that
• 29:32
  little where where on Brian Stidd's office is.
• 29:36
  Yeah, yeah. OK.
• 29:36
  Yeah. So the stop light there, Glen
• 29:38
  St., you're going to take the right turn on the South Street
• 29:41
  or take the turn on the Bay St. Yeah, I think OK.
• 29:44
  Yeah, maybe it is South St. Yeah, yeah.
• 29:46
  Brian's office is on South St. in the Empire Theater there.
• 29:50
  Yeah. So yeah, she's just passed
• 29:51
  there. Are you?
• 29:53
  I guess it used to be a I, I don't know the name but everyone
• 29:57
  was like oh back in the day this used to be a pop and bar or
• 30:01
  whatnot. Trying to think if it's right at
• 30:08
  the light. Just before it.
• 30:11
  Which way are you traveling? Are you traveling away from
• 30:13
  downtown or towards downtown? Away.
• 30:18
  Away just before the light on the left or on the right.
• 30:21
  On the right, same side as Brian Stead's.
• 30:26
  You just keep walking down a little.
• 30:28
  Oh, so it's on South St. Yes.
• 30:31
  Oh, not on Glen St. No.
• 30:33
  Yes. South St.
• 30:34
  Oh OK, Trying to think of what the bar that used to be over
• 30:38
  there was. Because yeah, even during the
• 30:40
  ribbon cutting, everyone was like, Oh yeah, this spa used to
• 30:43
  be be fun back in the day. I'm trying to think like as a,
• 30:47
  as I think about Glenn's Falls downtown back in back in the day
• 30:52
  to have like Tilly's was downtown.
• 30:56
  That's where the theater is now, roughly speaking.
• 31:02
  And then across the street we had there was a a bar E Gillis
• 31:06
  and then changed names to Soho's and then back to E Gillis.
• 31:09
  I'm trying to think about on South St. about what bars there
• 31:13
  was Sandy's. Yeah, I don't know.
• 31:17
  Is it? I wonder if it's in the
• 31:18
  building, the old Sandy's building or the old Hotshots
• 31:21
  building. I Hotshots, that does sound
• 31:24
  familiar. Ah, OK.
• 31:26
  I think because everyone was like, this was the spot back in
• 31:29
  the day or. Hotshots and before that it was
• 31:31
  pictures if you go back even further.
• 31:33
  But that's funny. Yeah, I got to go down there and
• 31:35
  check it out. All right, So I know we're
• 31:40
  getting short on time here, Matt, but you know one more
• 31:43
  question. As you as you're looking over
• 31:45
  coming into the new year 2026, you're you're continuing your
• 31:50
  role as a sales specialist with five towers, you're taking over
• 31:54
  buying local, the podcast and getting more into that aspect of
• 31:58
  things. What do you think you're looking
• 32:00
  forward to the most for 2026? Just at the start here was, you
• 32:07
  know, building those relationships, you know, not
• 32:10
  being that new face in each room I kind of walked into.
• 32:15
  Now I'm looking to expand on those current relationships, but
• 32:20
  then also expand my network into the relationships that I've been
• 32:24
  fostering throughout, you know, whether that means referrals
• 32:29
  from them or just a quick introduction from their network.
• 32:35
  Yeah. Just really looking forward to
• 32:38
  maintaining and growing those relationships that I have.
• 32:42
  Again, like we've been talking about this whole podcast this,
• 32:48
  the community is very vibrant. Everybody likes to help each
• 32:51
  other. And I just feel like I've really
• 32:54
  been solidifying myself and, you know, being a piece within that,
• 32:59
  that people know my name, people can trust me, but I can also
• 33:03
  build support and help their businesses too.
• 33:07
  Love it. Yeah.
• 33:09
  Matt, if people want to learn more about you, they want to
• 33:12
  talk to you about the stuff that Five Towers does to help small
• 33:15
  businesses, or they're interested in coming on the
• 33:17
  podcast and they want to talk to you about that, how do they get
• 33:19
  a hold of you? Yeah, we made it simple.
• 33:22
  My work e-mail is Matthew at 5 Towers dot US.
• 33:27
  You could just shoot me a quick e-mail.
• 33:28
  That way we can we can figure out how to get you on here.
• 33:32
  Also, if people are familiar with our newspapers, our names
• 33:36
  are all over there with my number and e-mail as well
• 33:41
  believe on the front pages. So yeah, it's the.
• 33:45
  Local newspaper, everybody, if you see our monthly publication
• 33:49
  in the different places around Warren, Washington, Saratoga
• 33:52
  County, cool. Love it, love it.
• 33:56
  I did you know, obviously, you know, we talk all the time.
• 33:59
  I'm I'm grateful to have you on board and appreciate how you
• 34:02
  represent us as a company and who we are as a human and
• 34:06
  looking forward to more growth in 2026.
• 34:08
  So thanks for coming on today, Matt.
• 34:10
  Really appreciate it. Yeah, thank you.
• 34:12
  This was awesome. Yeah.
• 34:13
  And I'm looking forward to getting more my own, my own
• 34:16
  clients, my own hope. Yeah, man, love it.
• 34:19
  And of course, thanks everybody for listening.
• 34:21
  You know, we've got a great lineup coming up here in 2026
• 34:25
  with a lot of great businesses that, you know, maybe you've
• 34:27
  heard of, maybe you haven't. And that's one of the things
• 34:30
  that we really, really try to make sure that we're doing that
• 34:33
  we're we're telling stories and giving coverage to people that
• 34:35
  aren't necessarily getting out there in other publications.
• 34:38
  And, you know, kind of the being champions of the, the little guy
• 34:42
  and girl that are out there. So stay tuned.
• 34:45
  And of course, you can find us buying local dot US is our media
• 34:49
  site, 5 towers dot US is our marketing services and website
• 34:54
  development company. And then of course, you can find
• 34:57
  this podcast on YouTube, Rumble, Spotify and Apple.
• 35:01
  Thanks everybody for listening and you'll hear from us next
• 35:03
  week.