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From Real Estate to Results: How Leadership Drives Success · Unstoppable Success Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Unstoppable Success Podcast, where we spotlight visionary leaders who have mastered the art of growth, purpose, and powerful connections.
0:09
SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Jacqueline Schuminger, connector, high performance coach, and creator of the Leap to Your Success Framework in Two Steps DS.
0:18
SPEAKER_01: Each week we dive into bold insights, real conversations, and powerful strategies to fuel your growth, deepen your relationships, and ignite transformational momentum.
0:29
SPEAKER_01: And why?
0:30
SPEAKER_01: Because you were meant to be unstoppable.
0:33
SPEAKER_01: Now let's leap into the podcast.
0:40
SPEAKER_01: Well, hello everybody, and welcome to another amazing episode of the Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight podcast.
0:46
SPEAKER_01: I am your host, Jacqueline Strominger.
0:48
SPEAKER_01: And on this podcast, as you know, we hear from amazing leaders and we get insights into their the things that help them be game changers in their industry and be game-changing in their leadership.
1:02
SPEAKER_01: And today I have the absolute pleasure of introducing you to Joe Kavanaugh.
1:07
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you a little bit about Joe.
1:10
SPEAKER_01: So, first of all, Joe and I met on another podcast.
1:13
SPEAKER_01: And so I was so excited to have him on this one, as you know, so great.
1:17
SPEAKER_01: But with over 40 years in sales and marketing expertise in business, Joe brings a wealth of experience and insight to his business, to his coaching, and his team guides corporations, sales professionals, entrepreneurs, and business owners to refine their approach, improve communication, and drive results.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: The ultimate mission for Joe is to empower you with tools that create meaningful connections, improve conversations, and accelerate business growth.
1:50
SPEAKER_01: And as you all know, those are some of the best characteristics that leaders need to have.
1:55
SPEAKER_01: So welcome, Joe, to Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight Podcast.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jacqueline.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: It's an honor to be on your show, and I appreciate you having me as a guest.
2:06
SPEAKER_01: Oh my God, it's such a pleasure.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: So, Joe, I know we were, we've we've talked before, you started your career, you were in um real estate.
2:15
SPEAKER_01: So I'm really curious, you know, real estate, there's so many different avenues about real estate, but and I look at a real estate professional as somebody who's leading a family or an individual into something that's really big and different.
2:33
SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's like again, you know, buying a property or anything in real estate, it's a huge time in someone's life, business, whatever.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: So I'd love for you to share your insight and how leadership really impacts that real estate process and how it and how it has changed and impacted the way you lead.
2:58
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so that's a loaded question, but I feel like that's a good one.
3:02
SPEAKER_00: It's a good one, and people want to know the answer.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: So put me right on the hot seat.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, in real estate, especially, uh, typically it's the biggest decision people are making in their lives, and it's often the most stressful.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: So, what are the signs of a good leader, a good realtor?
3:22
SPEAKER_00: To me, it's somebody, first of all, you got to have integrity, and you've got to be honest.
3:28
SPEAKER_00: And one of the things I tell people when I first sit down to talk to them about possibly working together, and to me, that's an interview, and not to get too far off track, but they're interviewing me, see if I'm the best agent for them.
3:42
SPEAKER_00: But I'm also interviewing them to see if we're a good fit.
3:46
SPEAKER_00: And I tell them that right up front.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: I say, look, if you don't feel I'm the a good fit for you or the best agent for what you want to accomplish, maybe we have a clash of personalities or something, just tell me, be honest with me.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: I want you to be honest.
4:01
SPEAKER_00: You have my permission to say no.
4:03
SPEAKER_00: That usually drops all the defenses, and people sit back, you can see them relax in their posture, and it puts them at ease because, as again, it's a stressful situation when they're starting out.
4:16
SPEAKER_00: They have so many unknowns, it's incredible.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: And I do tell them this too they said, Look, I'm not going to make decisions for you.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: You have a lot of blanks that you need to fill in before you can come to a good decision.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: I can give you that information so that you can make an informed decision.
4:34
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of these things just again calm them down and they say, Okay, so he's not just a salesman coming in to try to sell me his services.
4:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, and especially in real estate, it happens a lot where an agent will tell the person what they want to hear, just so they can get the paperwork signed.
4:55
SPEAKER_00: For example, let's say your house is truly worth about$500,000 in the market.
5:01
SPEAKER_00: And uh, there we get a lot of sellers who still think they have the best house there is in the neighborhood, best view, best lot, the whole thing.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: Everything's the best, right?
5:10
SPEAKER_00: And honestly, you could be sitting in the worst house in the neighborhood.
5:13
SPEAKER_00: And they will say, Well, we were hoping to get closer to 600,000.
5:17
SPEAKER_00: Now, there are agents out there, and I'm not putting agents down, but unfortunately, it's it's probably like this in any industry.
5:23
SPEAKER_00: They will say, Okay, if you want to go with 6,000, let's do it.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: Here, sign the paperwork, right?
5:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna tell them the truth.
5:30
SPEAKER_00: I'll say, look, here's what the market's showing.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: And if you want to get any more than that, I feel confident enough that I'm the best agent, I'm your best chance of getting that.
5:42
SPEAKER_00: So again, you're leading them, but you're not misleading them.
5:46
SPEAKER_00: Right.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: There's a fine line there.
5:49
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's it's so true.
5:51
SPEAKER_01: There is that fine line.
5:52
SPEAKER_01: And what you're saying, I think, is actually really, you know, there is you know, you're talking about trust and honesty and fit.
5:58
SPEAKER_01: And the one thing that I actually kind of want to bring it back into the corporate world is that those those pieces are so important, so important at a company.
6:10
SPEAKER_01: When somebody is is taking the step to become an employee, become part of the tribe, right?
6:18
SPEAKER_01: At that company, you know, the hiring person, the CEO, the the management has to be honest with the people that are coming into the tribe.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: And you have to be able to also make sure that it's the right fit all around.
6:35
SPEAKER_01: Somebody might want the position and be like, I need them, I need the job, and they they might be good and they might, you know, the company might like them, but they're not the right fit.
6:46
SPEAKER_01: Maybe they don't right, right?
6:48
SPEAKER_01: They don't they don't meet the same, as I call it, the achievement code, right?
6:52
SPEAKER_01: The achievement code's not there, right?
6:55
SPEAKER_01: So I love that you brought up honesty and fit, because I think it is in in all businesses, it has to that has to be there.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: Yes, absolutely.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: And Jack, I'm so glad you you did the transfer over to that or the segue, that was the word I was looking for.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: And because the number one issue, and we do training from anywhere from solopreneurs up to corporations and coaching and training and mentoring, um, the number one problem in any corporation, I don't care how big or small they are.
7:33
SPEAKER_00: What do you think that is?
7:36
SPEAKER_00: It's communication.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I was gonna say, I was gonna say communication and how people actually feel valued or not valued at a company.
7:44
SPEAKER_00: That's beautiful.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: Boy, it's are you sure you didn't uh get my talk?
7:50
SPEAKER_00: Because that's exactly where I was going.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: Here's the thing, and this is one of the courses that we teach is about communication, how to build proper relationships, how to communicate with others by understanding others, not making them coerce to your way of thinking.
8:08
SPEAKER_00: And there are easy methods to do that.
8:11
SPEAKER_00: I can figure out somebody's personality, their value system, and their communic preferred communication style in less than 90 seconds with one of the methods that we employ.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: And once you do that, now I understand.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay, they don't think like me, they think in a different way.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: For example, how many times have you heard this, especially if you're in a corporate world?
8:36
SPEAKER_00: Now I will admit, I've never been in the corporate world.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: Thank God.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: I don't think I could survive a week in that.
8:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm too independent.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: But um, I hear a lot of people that say this, and they'll say, three of us can be sitting in the same conference meeting, and we walk out of there and start talking about what we get out of it.
8:55
SPEAKER_00: And we could have three different takes that we got, three different messages, like, Oh, I didn't get that, I got this, and whatnot.
9:04
SPEAKER_00: The reason is people receive, they distort and they generalize information according to their personality and their thinking style.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: That's where a lot of this gets missed.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: Because people just give out the book, say, This is how we do things here.
9:22
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna you're gonna conform to it if you want to be part of the company.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: What you really need to do is reverse that.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: And I want if if you're looking to come and work in my corporation, I'm an HR and I'm looking to hire you, I'm gonna ask you what your value system is, what makes you tick.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: And then from there, I can decide: okay, she may not be the best fit in the engineering department, but she would certainly be a good fit in the marketing department.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: How would you like a job in marketing?
9:55
SPEAKER_00: I know you went to school for engineering, but you get a knack for that.
9:59
SPEAKER_00: Hit their hit their talents, hit their strong points.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: And once you can do that and you build a team, as you said, that they're compatible.
10:09
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you what, that engine is gonna hum like a race car.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: It is just gonna be the best team that you can have.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: You see that in uh professional sports teams.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I grew up in Boston, okay.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: So sorry, Yankee fans, but uh Red Sox fan.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: And if you go back to the year 2004, which is a big one for Boston, they hadn't won a pennant in 86 years.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: Finally, oh yeah, and they had a bunch of uh loosey goosey guys that you would not think could win a pennant, and yet they did.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: And what the reason was teamwork, they all meshed personality-wise, and they had each other's backs.
10:52
SPEAKER_00: You can take that same structure into the corporate world.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: So true, so true.
10:58
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it it's interesting that we're that you're so two questions.
11:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm and I'm gonna ask one of them first.
11:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, because obviously, as coaches, we know we're we're not supposed to stack them, but um and I still tend to do it anyway.
11:10
SPEAKER_01: Um but what happens and or and and do you think a lot of people today when you're talking about values and you're asking what makes you tick?
11:24
SPEAKER_01: Would be like what do you mean?
11:30
SPEAKER_01: Like they don't know, they they don't know their values, they don't they haven't pinned them down.
11:36
SPEAKER_01: They don't they don't really know what makes them tick.
11:42
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you what, um I'm gonna disagree with you respectfully on that because subconsciously they do know it.
11:52
SPEAKER_00: The ego, as I've learned, prevents us sometimes for admitting it.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: I I had an experience about a year and a half, it was a year ago, January, in Las Vegas on stage, and I was with a girl, uh lady named Lauren LaHave, who does a lot of National Achiever Conference uh MCing and whatnot, works with Tony Robbins, all that.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: And she had me on stage, and boy, she got to admit me some things that I thought I'd never say in public.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: But they were my true essence, my true inner feelings.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: And when that happened, the shift in the audience was amazing.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: All of a sudden they were receptive, they wanted to know me.
12:34
SPEAKER_00: I had a when I got off the stage, we were breaking for lunch, there were a line of people waiting to hug me and thank me for being so open and honest and sharing that because they felt it or were too afraid to admit it.
12:47
SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
12:48
SPEAKER_01: And I I I I think people know it, but I don't always know if people were if if people know almost sometimes how to articulate what makes them tick, what makes them tick.
13:02
SPEAKER_01: So in an interview situation, like, you know, you know, there's like those lists, and I think it probably wasn't until I don't know how many years ago, but like I looked at a list, it's like, what are the top six characteristics that you like that really resonate you that are that make up you?
13:19
SPEAKER_01: You know, and it's like a list, you know, it's it's whatever list it is, it could be like leadership, authenticity, honesty, whatever.
13:27
SPEAKER_01: But I don't necessarily I and I think it's true, like you have to you we do inherently need to know what those values are that we need to align that to align ourselves with the right company.
13:40
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
13:41
SPEAKER_01: But I sometimes do wonder, like that's why I was I thinking, like, I don't always know if people know how I guess the better question is do you think people know how to articulate it?
13:49
SPEAKER_01: Like without being with without it being pulled from them.
13:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
13:54
SPEAKER_00: I have uh and we teach a methodology, and it's a personality methodology, and um, and they're all there's so many out there, but this one was reverse engineered.
14:04
SPEAKER_00: So, in other words, you take a disc assessment or Myers Briggs and all those, it tells you about you.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: But what if you wanted to meet me and sell me something?
14:13
SPEAKER_00: You want to know what makes me tick, don't you?
14:15
SPEAKER_00: So you can connect.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: And so they do a real estate agent.
14:18
SPEAKER_00: They say when you first get in the house, have them give you a tour of the home so you can look and see what pictures are on the wall, travel the places they've traveled to, uh, diplomas they have, trophies they won, et cetera, et cetera.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: So you get to know the people.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: Well, I use a set of four cards in this methodology, and each of these cards has a set of values on them.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: And there's 12 values on each card.
14:43
SPEAKER_00: And literally, I hand them the cards and I say, do me a favor, take a look at all these four cards and all the values on them.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: And once you do, sort the cards in order of what sounds most like you on top, aggressively down to what's least like you on the bottom.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: And it takes less than 90 seconds.
15:04
SPEAKER_00: 100% of the time people do it.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: There's a scientific reason behind it because the script I just used touches all types of personalities.
15:14
SPEAKER_00: And I always make it a fun thing and say, hey, would I like to do things a little different, have a little fun at the same time.
15:20
SPEAKER_00: Yep for that?
15:21
SPEAKER_00: And who's gonna say no?
15:22
SPEAKER_00: Right?
15:23
SPEAKER_00: So you get them to do it, they look at it, and some people do it in 10, 15 seconds, some people can take a couple of minutes, but afterwards they sort them out and they hand them back to me.
15:32
SPEAKER_00: And once they do, I know what their primary value system is, and I know what isn't important to them by what's on the bottom, and in between that second, what the one they put in the second place, that supports their primary.
15:50
SPEAKER_00: So, in other words, they're basically that first one, but a lot of support from the second one.
15:56
SPEAKER_00: The third one tells me where they go when they're in stress, which is so vital in real estate.
16:05
SPEAKER_00: Oh, right now I didn't create this methodology.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: A lady named Sherry Tree did.
16:09
SPEAKER_00: It's called Bank, it's an acronym for Blueprint Action, Nurturing, and Knowledge.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: We found out about this when we went to a national achievers conference, and I liked it so much that we we signed up to get trained in it, and then we became certified trainers.
16:27
SPEAKER_00: Nowadays, I incorporate it in our coaching program, and it's one of the primary tools we use to understand people.
16:35
SPEAKER_00: What did that work?
16:35
SPEAKER_00: How does that work in in real life?
16:38
SPEAKER_00: Well, before I knew this, I was already a realtor distinction, which is a top 10% of all the agents, and I was closing listing appointments at 37% ratio, and the industry average is around 2022.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: So I already knew I was good, and I didn't know I could get that much better.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: Once I started using that in less than a year, my conversion rate went from 37 to 86.
17:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was shocked.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: The reason being, I do that when I first sit down with somebody.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: You and I sit down to talk about how we're gonna sell your house.
17:14
SPEAKER_00: I find out who you are, and I can speak to your value system.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: That way I can be the best agent possible, instead of just being me and expecting you to understand.
17:27
SPEAKER_00: For example, great, there are certain people that um I typically give examples, like an engineer or an architect, somebody like that.
17:36
SPEAKER_00: They they want a knowledge, they want precision, a scientist or somebody, they've got to know everything, they want to know everything, they want all the data you can give them, and the more you give them, the happier they are, right?
17:49
SPEAKER_00: I'm the opposite of that.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: I'm in what we call an action personality.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: I like spontaneity, fun, flexibility, winning, all that stuff, right?
17:58
SPEAKER_00: So if you come to me to do a presentation and you're gonna start an hour of facts, I'm out of there.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: I mean, after five minutes, I'm like, uh, if this is gonna take too long, I haven't got time for this.
18:09
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to cut to the chase.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: And you would say, Joe, here's I've got all the data here.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: Basically, we're gonna make get this much for your house and you're gonna make this much money.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: Cool, good deal.
18:20
SPEAKER_00: Done.
18:21
SPEAKER_00: I don't read contracts, things like that.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: There are other people that do.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: So you have to go step by step with them.
18:27
SPEAKER_00: When you do what they want, people work with people they like.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: Right.
18:34
SPEAKER_00: The same thing applies to a corporate team.
18:37
SPEAKER_00: When people understand each other, like I might know that you process things a little bit different than me.
18:43
SPEAKER_00: So let's let's just say, for example, you're one of those high intelligence people that just you can't answer a question until you've analyzed it.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: So I'm not gonna go up to you and say, hey, Jacqueline, this is gonna be great.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna say, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, wait a minute, I gotta have some information here.
18:59
SPEAKER_00: But if I walk up to you and say, Jacqueline, here's some uh data about this program or or chore that we want to do this mission, we want to accomplish, whatever it is.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: And here's what's based, you know, what has happened in other companies and how successful it's been.
19:15
SPEAKER_00: Here's some charts that show the progress they made, or in my case, went from 37, 86 percent, et cetera, et cetera.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna eat that up, and you're gonna and you're gonna look at it and analyze it, you're gonna say, okay, that makes sense.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'll do it.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: Or I need more information, I'll get you the information.
19:33
unknown: Right.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: So different ways of of dealing with people.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: But again, once you understand them and how they think, that's when you can get along.
19:42
SPEAKER_01: You know, and it's so true.
19:44
SPEAKER_01: And you know, it's when you understand people, it's so it's so important to understand them and find.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: And I think one of the biggest tools about this, and I think this is a key takeaway, listeners, is at the crux of the whole thing is to really understand if you need to lead people, or you're a leader of people, or you want to become a better leader, find the best way to get to know them.
20:09
SPEAKER_01: And the bank system is a great way.
20:11
SPEAKER_01: Find something, use some tool that you can do so that the people that are in your tribe, in your fold, as I like to call it, you know, uh, that you're going to get to know them better because then you can lead them better.
20:23
SPEAKER_01: And and that whole point of leadership is to help people, you know.
20:28
SPEAKER_01: As if I'm the leader, I'm here to help rise the entire, my entire tribe.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: You know, if we're in that boat, we're I'm gonna try to make that tie rise.
20:43
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
20:44
SPEAKER_00: And that's the key is to ask open-ended questions.
20:49
SPEAKER_00: That gets people to open up more.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: Instead of saying, uh, do you prefer vanilla ice cream or chocolate?
20:57
SPEAKER_00: That's a good yeah, right.
21:01
SPEAKER_00: Instead, are you an ice cream lover?
21:03
SPEAKER_00: Oh, really?
21:04
SPEAKER_00: What kind do you like?
21:05
SPEAKER_00: What's your favorite?
21:06
SPEAKER_00: And then I I like this kind or that kind.
21:08
SPEAKER_00: Next thing you know, you're bonding.
21:10
SPEAKER_00: Right.
21:11
SPEAKER_00: It makes all the difference.
21:13
SPEAKER_01: And that's such a key thing, too.
21:14
SPEAKER_01: I think also, I you know, I almost would say, leaders, if you've got people in your fold that are that are working with you, help them become better question askers.
21:26
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
21:27
SPEAKER_01: Like that is a huge skill to have.
21:32
SPEAKER_01: And you know, and I was and I and I was you know, asking questions and the other big skill, and I think this is actually the harder one too.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: Oh yes, yes.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: You know if if if I may.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: One of one of the quotes I like to use is when you're in a conversation with somebody, be interested, not interesting.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: They don't want to hear about me.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: People love to talk about themselves, though.
22:05
SPEAKER_00: So when one of my things I like to say, if if you say, you know, I don't like chocolate or vanilla ice cream, I'm more of a caramel swirl type lady or some name I never heard of, says, Really fascinating.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: Tell me more.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: That one line right there is a bonding line, and it gets people to open up and share things with you that maybe they wouldn't have.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: And you get to know each other.
22:32
SPEAKER_01: Right.
22:32
SPEAKER_01: It is so true.
22:33
SPEAKER_01: And that, you know, you know, it is so it is so important.
22:37
SPEAKER_01: And I was, I shared this the other day uh with a colleague, and we were talking about this whole thing about getting to know people and opening up.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: And and I said, you know, it's amazing to me how different I think my own experience would have been in corporate, if in fact the people that were leading got to know me.
23:02
SPEAKER_01: And so that's actually again, that's one of the biggest reasons why we are here helping leaders be good leaders, be better leaders, be unstoppable leaders, because we want people to be wanting to be and stay at companies versus running away from them.
23:19
SPEAKER_01: And most people leave companies because, again, as we just shared a few minutes ago, too, they don't feel heard, they don't feel valued, they don't feel appreciated.
23:28
SPEAKER_01: And by asking people questions about themselves so you get to know them, you're already being a better leader.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: Be interested.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: Yes, interested.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: It's telling that person, hey, I want to know you.
23:46
SPEAKER_00: This isn't just a job where you know I dictate orders to you or whatnot or deadlines.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I want to understand you.
23:55
SPEAKER_00: Who wants to go to work?
23:56
SPEAKER_00: Well, this is why I don't work for anybody else, because who wants to go to work and just take orders and be told what to do and when to do it, and you know what time you gotta be there, what time you can go home, all that stuff.
24:07
SPEAKER_00: Um doesn't work for me.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: But if you want to connect with me and and say, hey, let's see if we can work together on this, what what would you like to see happen here?
24:19
SPEAKER_00: Get their input.
24:22
SPEAKER_01: And it's so true.
24:23
SPEAKER_01: So many companies are more rigid and they're more tellers versus being inquiry, like it's right.
24:33
SPEAKER_00: Top down, top-down layers.
24:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: You can't jump up three layers and talk to somebody else.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: Actually, you can't.
24:43
SPEAKER_00: It's just the belief is given that you can't.
24:47
SPEAKER_01: Right.
24:48
SPEAKER_01: Or that there might be some backlash if you do.
24:53
SPEAKER_01: Potentially.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, and yeah, in many situations, you're right.
25:00
SPEAKER_01: Right, like you know, like you've always heard that saying, it's like, don't go over their head, right?
25:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, don't go over your boss's head, because there's gotta be like you don't go over them, because that's gonna have some I I gotta admit, I'm a bit stubborn.
25:17
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm a thick-headed Irishman.
25:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I can say that I was born in Ireland, so I have the legal right to make fun of me.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: Um I don't have that accent because I was six months old and they kicked me out.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: But uh, they had too many hoodlums already that year.
25:33
SPEAKER_00: But but that's the thing.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: I have uh you call tech support for something, or just call up someplace you need information and you need something changed.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: Hey, can I you charge me something on my credit card that I you really shouldn't have?
25:47
SPEAKER_00: Can you cancel that?
25:48
SPEAKER_00: Oh no, I don't have the authority to do that.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: Well, let me talk to your supervisor.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: Well, I can't do that.
25:53
SPEAKER_00: It's why not?
25:54
SPEAKER_00: It's well, they're not available.
25:56
SPEAKER_00: So, well, what kind of company do you work for if the supervisor isn't available?
25:59
SPEAKER_00: And if you put up enough of a fuss, you'll get the supervisor.
26:02
SPEAKER_00: And I've literally done this before, I've gone through two or three layers.
26:06
SPEAKER_00: But when I was younger, here's what I used to do before I got wise.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: And it actually worked for me when I had my own appraisal company.
26:15
SPEAKER_00: I would call up a bank and it's something I didn't like, some uh uh guideline they came up with or whatever.
26:21
SPEAKER_00: And I'd say, I need to talk to the owner of the bank.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: Well, you can't do that.
26:25
SPEAKER_00: Well, why not?
26:27
SPEAKER_00: Well, because they're just not available.
26:29
SPEAKER_00: I said, Of course they are, they're available, they're running a bank.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: You know they're available.
26:34
SPEAKER_00: Well, we don't have an actual owner.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: Well, who makes the decisions?
26:37
SPEAKER_00: You have a president and a CEO, right?
26:39
SPEAKER_00: I want to talk to them.
26:41
SPEAKER_00: You may not get to that person, but you're certainly going to get up to somebody that's on the board.
26:47
SPEAKER_00: So I like I call it the top-down uh complaint method.
26:51
SPEAKER_00: We just, hey, let me talk to the owner.
26:55
SPEAKER_00: And you will that's it, yeah.
26:56
SPEAKER_01: Right.
26:57
SPEAKER_00: They they they just feel those people that answer the phone just feel oh, he must be pretty important if he thinks he can talk to the owner.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: You kind of put a psychological thing in their head, and they're like, Well, I better move them up the ladder pretty quick here.
27:10
SPEAKER_01: So that just actually gave me an idea.
27:14
SPEAKER_01: I know I need to make sure that that uh we actually had a funny incident the other day um with a company and a a price issue with a product, and just exactly what you just said, which is my husband called and asked for supervisor, asked for supervisor, got the supervisor, and guess what happened?
27:33
SPEAKER_01: The supervisor hung up on him.
27:36
SPEAKER_00: I have heard that a lot.
27:38
SPEAKER_00: They need our they need yours in my training for sure.
27:43
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, wow, that is just unheard of.
27:52
SPEAKER_00: And today, I guess this is what I do if they don't want to cooperate with me.
27:58
SPEAKER_00: Well, I really hate to go on social media about this, but that is my last resort.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: You'd be surprised how quickly you get an answer then.
28:08
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's very true.
28:10
SPEAKER_01: Um I have used social media for that same, you know, like if there's an issue, it is amazing what happens and what response you get back.
28:21
SPEAKER_01: But it is, you know, and here's the key thing, and here's if you haven't caught this as an insight, folks, as you're listening to this, your customers are really important.
28:33
SPEAKER_01: And the insight is to help your people, let your team have the authority to make it right for the people that are calling in, and and and be a good company that's listening.
28:50
SPEAKER_01: The last thing you want is to have somebody that's so angry that they will just because companies can get destroyed in a just a few minutes with bad publicity.
29:05
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
29:07
SPEAKER_01: Make it so that people want to meet people that your customer service and that the you the way that you treat your customers is so extraordinarily off-the-charts good that people are going to share on social media about how amazing it is.
29:27
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
29:28
SPEAKER_00: And I want to bring up a point.
29:30
SPEAKER_00: You reminded me of this, and this actually happened.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: I had an experience with this company where they had a problem with their their uh what do you want to call it, the connections with the public.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: But why have words are skipping me today?
29:45
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, their uh marketing image, if you if you want to say that.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: And I found out what's the reason that you hang up on people?
29:53
SPEAKER_00: Why don't you want the supervisor to talk to them?
29:56
SPEAKER_00: And invariably I find out because they're just gonna yell at us, so it's no point in doing it, they're not gonna listen to us.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: After they go through some training, and you teach them what we just talked about, basically, be interested, show some compassion, so show some interest in them, show some agreement with them.
30:16
SPEAKER_00: I understand how you feel.
30:18
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I I would feel the same way, but just starting that process and listening, people will calm down, they're stressed.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: And that's what I call it when we work with our magic here is basically talking them off the ledge, they're stressed out, they're ready to just uh do something drastic.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: It's like, okay, let's calm down.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: You don't say it that way, obviously, but that's your your your process.
30:46
SPEAKER_00: Get them to calm down, get them back to their natural, relaxed personality, then make that connection.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: And you say, okay, let's see if we can work together to work this out.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: Now you're saying this, you know we can't do this, it's just impossible.
31:01
SPEAKER_00: But what we could do is and you negotiate an agreement till everybody's happy.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: But you can't negotiate an agreement when somebody is so wound up they can't see straight, they see red.
31:13
SPEAKER_01: Right.
31:14
SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's being a solution finder and a problem solver and making people feel good about it.
31:20
SPEAKER_01: But yes, you cannot have a have a discussion or a conference or a dialogue or anything when one person is just deming because they're not going to hear properly.
31:31
SPEAKER_01: And it's so true that you said that.
31:33
SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: And for the people that like to hear, okay, that all sounds good, but what kind of results does that get?
31:39
SPEAKER_00: One company we worked with, their conversion rate jumped from 30 percent 32 percent to 62 percent, and year over year, their revenue increased by 50 million dollars.
31:50
SPEAKER_00: There's a company with 42 people.
31:53
SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's awesome.
31:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: All by listening instead of talking.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
32:02
SPEAKER_01: So, Joe, I could talk to you for hours.
32:04
SPEAKER_01: I love the program that you're offering.
32:07
SPEAKER_01: How can people get in touch with you, learn more about you, learn more about the programs that you offer?
32:12
SPEAKER_00: Yep, I'm not a techie guy, so I don't have all these websites and everything, but I am on LinkedIn as Joe Kavanaugh.
32:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, of course I'm I'm on Facebook, I have an Instagram account, and I don't do TikTok.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: Um, just don't have time for that.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, uh, that's probably the easiest way to get me, and I don't mind sharing my phone number, if that's okay.
32:32
SPEAKER_00: It's 843-345-8506, and that is my direct line, my mobile number.
32:42
SPEAKER_00: So it's not you're not going to get an answering service or anything like that, because I believe in human connection.
32:48
SPEAKER_00: Um, you're gonna get me to talk to, and we can jump on a call, have a 15 to 30 minute discovery call, get to know each other a little bit, see if we can help each other.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: And if we can't, hey, at least now we know each other.
33:01
SPEAKER_01: That's great.
33:02
SPEAKER_01: I absolutely love it.
33:03
SPEAKER_01: So, listeners, please do me a favor.
33:05
SPEAKER_01: Make sure that you connect with Joe, get that free 20-minute call and connect with him.
33:11
SPEAKER_01: You know, connect with him on all the social socials, and please do me a favor.
33:15
SPEAKER_01: I know you're sure you've gotten value out of this because I know I have.
33:18
SPEAKER_01: Click subscribe and share this episode with your friends and colleagues because if we can impact and make one leader a little bit better, we are doing something good.
33:32
SPEAKER_01: So this is the Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight Podcast.
33:34
SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Jacqueline Strawminger.
33:36
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening, and thank you, Joe, for being an amazing guest.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you.
33:40
SPEAKER_00: And again, it's been an honor.
33:41
SPEAKER_00: And I will say this yes, do click and like because after we met at that networking event, I clicked and liked you and I started looking at your podcast, and I have learned quite a bit.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: So, and if I may leave with one tagline, I'd say listen to relate, not respond.
34:00
SPEAKER_01: That's great.
34:01
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
34:01
SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much for that, Joe.
34:03
SPEAKER_01: And thank you again, listeners.
34:05
SPEAKER_01: And uh again, keep on listening again and hit subscribe and share, please.
34:09
SPEAKER_01: Thanks.
34:12
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for joining me on the Unstoppable Success Podcast, where we don't just talk about growth, we leap toward it.
34:19
SPEAKER_01: If something today lit a fire within you, sparked a new idea, or gave you the extra push forward, please don't keep it to yourself.
34:27
SPEAKER_01: Share this episode and podcast with a friend, colleague, or fellow hype her.
34:32
SPEAKER_01: Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review, and most importantly, connect with me, Jackie, at least toyoursuccess.com.
34:44
SPEAKER_01: Coaching community in your net.
34:48
SPEAKER_01: Keep leading with intention, keep building your network with purpose, and most of all leaping because you are meant to be unstoppable.