#349: How To Be "Old School" Even Though Nobody Ever Actually Did It Back Then, Either w/ Dean Akers
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Dean Akers is an entrepreneur, CEO of Adjunct CEO, former CEO several times over, an author, has 40+ years of experience hyper growing companies and sales organizations, and broadcasts his podcast Selling and Leadership Ninja show anywhere podcasts live.
Selling and Leadership Ninja show on Apple Podcasts https://apple.co/35JwuKv
Self-talk: Think Like A Child book https://amzn.to/34p9vnh
Adjunct CEO https://deanakers.com
Contact Dean directly at Dean@deanakers.com
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
people podcast dean day company hiring freeze touches sales talk question ceo business baton frickin breakfast girl gordon big put competitive
SPEAKERS
Dean (63%), Law (30%), Speaker 2 (4%), Speaker 4 (<1%)
Law Smith
0:01
sweat equity podcast streaming show. What you got to do, soundboard No, no,
2
Speaker 2
0:07
no, no, you can't just like start the show was expecting me to do the soundboard you
Law Smith
0:12
all take Zach and baby that's how we do it cool Eric Yeah girl get it we've got our homie repeated guest Dean Akers 69 years old. There's fun fact selling and leadership Ninja Show podcast on Apple podcast and anywhere you can find that it's gonna book self talk think like a child Don't overthink shit guys add junk ceo.com and you can email him dean at Dean Akers calm if you want to get some wisdom Hey, we're 2020s best small medium enterprise business advisory podcasting United States we're 2021 Best podcast and streaming entertainment studio eastern United States media innovator awards 2021 hosted by corporate vision magazine and we're What's the last word we got?
2
Speaker 2
0:56
Business podcast of the year from a global side wire.
Law Smith
1:00
Well, Mr. Robot that's how we do listen to us on iTunes, Apple podcasts, Spotify, give us a five star write a review takes 30 seconds you listen to right now. Do it walk on vamping. Do it right now. Wait. I'm finished. Okay,
DA
Dean Akers
1:22
okay. You better have done it.
Law Smith
1:23
It helps us move up. We want to move up those business category rankings. How silly would that be? That would still leave? You know, it's not silly. Learn about the Florida, Florida, the flora and fauna of your gut. Get 70% off biomes gut biome intelligence test in supplements with our link for Health Insights, personalized food recommendations, and precision supplements formulated just look, I want to figure out what I should be eating to optimize this T Rex body to keep it going strong. Like my dad. Let's get it started.
2:02
About my sweat equity. COVID Yeah.
Law Smith
2:27
All right. Well, we'll get into it. We'll try to keep it efficient. Because we had some, we'll probably just come out of a cut that the audience won't even know because we're so professional. Well, yeah,
2:38
I started the show. So it's got
Law Smith
2:40
20 minutes and low tech issues. Dean, anything to plug adjunct CEO. You can get his book self talk things like a child. It's got a podcast selling and leadership ninja on Apple podcasts or anywhere podcasts are found. Those are great for a lot of people that need a 10 minute podcast episode refresher, I would say with video with video
3:08
on the podcast app.
Law Smith
3:10
Ironically, we love you on that. Yeah,
DA
Dean Akers
3:13
totally got back going.
Law Smith
3:15
And then, as you say in your show, if you want to email Dean dean at Dean akers.com. He'll love it. He'll write your romantic love letters back.
DA
Dean Akers
3:27
Exactly.
Law Smith
3:29
See, that's how you Yes. And yeah,
2
Speaker 2
3:32
the Dean was just more of a yes. Well,
Law Smith
3:35
but he could have been like, what the fuck guys, you wasted my time. I like that Dino play along. So we, uh, we had breakfast couple weeks ago. And you kind of left me with a cliffhanger. Because I had to run. And you were telling me a story about someone was saying you're a consultant. And you said, you're not a consultant. And I and I failed. Because you're a teaching. You're teaching kind of Professor of sorts. And when you ask questions and discussion, I think our our win rate is maybe 1%.
2
Speaker 2
4:14
Yeah, you were talking about we were messing with you Dean. I feel like you mess with us. Anytime you ask a question. You know, law and I are both we wanting to say the answer first for one, we definitely want to get it right. But that never happens.
Law Smith
4:27
We could try to even know the answer sometimes in Tableau. I will say the wrong one anyways, but that's actually how my entrepreneurship teacher was it actually but it sticks with you. So it is a good teaching device. But if you're not a consultant, or why aren't you a consultant, I guess is my first question.
DA
Dean Akers
4:46
I think I've told you before law that that the definition of a consultant is somebody can tell you 50 ways to make love but never got laid. It's great and so everything I share with you Anybody I work with, especially at my age, it's, it's more, I'm not sure anything that I haven't haven't already been punched in the face with. So it's not a, it's not a MBA type thing, theory type thing, anything I could share, I can bring back a story of an actual circumstance that was painful that they can relate to. So it's not just you should try because,
Law Smith
5:27
yeah, i That's why I say I like to absorb any kind of wisdom out of yeah, when we're, we're getting together because you know that wisdom is knowledge times experience. And I like always learning from people been there. People are older, you know, a lot a lot of people in our generation hate on the older generation. They don't know shit. They know shit. They I mean, maybe not how to get on Zoom. Every time. Yeah,
5:54
right. My opinion isn't very high.
Law Smith
5:57
But you know, I remember you. I do remember you saying about sales managers. The reason those guys are the managers of the sales team is because they can't sell. So it's kind of adjacent to that, in a way. Yeah,
DA
Dean Akers
6:12
I've met a lot of sales managers that want to micromanage salespeople. And, you know, they're, they want to have quotas and all that. And I've found the best way to manage a sales force since I was a young man is to manage a sales force by income. Because when they go home, and they tell their wife, he's up my ass because I didn't know a million in sales. The wife goes, well, you just didn't understand doesn't. But when they go home and go, he's up my ass because I didn't make 200 grand, the wife just slapped him upside the head. So I managed Salesforce through through their income is always been one of the things that has been made my sales team successful. And I'm very transparent with the team because I make all the all the Commission's you know, the same, so one guy or girl doesn't get a different deal. And then we teach them how to make a lot of money. And when they make a lot of money, you know, they get to be better salespeople.
2
Speaker 2
7:12
So, Dean, how much of management is managing the spouses?
DA
Dean Akers
7:21
Well, I think I think I think what it is, is I don't know if it's management, it's, it's, it's your your team. Your team is a 24/7 person. In other words, they don't go into a freezer, when they leave your office and frozen into cryogenics. And then unfrozen at seven in the morning and come back. Not really
Law Smith
7:45
yet work exactly. Demolition Man salesman, exactly. Salesman, there's some crazy factory so
DA
Dean Akers
7:53
no matter working on it, I actually had a meeting with the CEO today, and I was telling him what the most impactful things I ever did was I had a guy quit my company years ago, this was back when I was in my 30s. And I was a big freak for personal touches to the house, I'd send the wives you know, a thank you note for everything they do and keep them abreast of how their husbands and and they're cute. I knew everything about them. And I had this one guy quit. And my vice president in the Orlando area, it says, Hey, Gordon quit today. And I went, Oh, my God. I mean, nobody quit our company. They just did. And and so I said, well tell him we wish him the best. He went to work for good year for more money. That's what they told me. That night, my phone rang true story. It was Gordon's wife. And she said to me, the strikers This is Gordon's wife, he came home and told the family that he quit today for more money. And I'm calling you personally on behalf of a family to say, can he stay? I said of course nothing. But that isn't even the story law.
Law Smith
8:59
But that mean that vulnerability of of that kind of kind of interaction between the marriage is wild to me, but yeah, oh, it Listen now crazier
DA
Dean Akers
9:08
God, six months, and that's that's not the story. Here's where the story lies. This is if you said that they go, Oh, you just have people like your company. I went up six months, eight months later, and I was in Orlando and I had a meeting the next morning I spend the night and that was it wardens location and Gordon said you got time to come by for beer. Because I was staying in a hotel right by its house are right near there. So as a church, so I go by and or it's like 730 at night and walk his wife gives me a hug and she puts me in her, you know, in the little living room in a bark a lot, you know, rooms, chairs, daddy chair, on the coffee table. On the coffee table. You cannot make this crap up on the coffee table was one of my handwritten notes to their family, thanking them for all the support that they gave Gordon, in a frickin frame from six, eight months before. So that was a trophy, we would laugh and say, Oh, that's corny shit thing. We don't underestimate we underestimate how much and how important even today appreciation and engagement is with our team members at whatever level you're at.
Law Smith
10:23
Yeah, you're you're like relationship.
10:28
You don't want to say ninja because he already has the sales ninja? Yeah,
Law Smith
10:30
well, I don't I didn't want to say relationship marketing, because that's kind of not really why you do it necessarily. But it has desired results that are similar. But it's not why you do a lot of these touches, as you call it, you know, in a marketing funnel, you might hear it referred to as touch points. But it's one of those things where I want to ask you about your new secret weapon touch point that you put on your podcast and told me at breakfast, but I find it interesting, but I think what it really is is sincere gratitude on both sides that you're, you're kind of putting out there.
DA
Dean Akers
11:12
Everything I do, by the way, it's very sincere not looking for feedback. But I didn't want I did find as a very, very young man, your family. Again, if you were putting a cryogenic state at the end of the day, and then unfrozen in the morning, this probably wouldn't be true. But you have so much interaction with your family. And I'll hear today, my favorite thing, I actually had a breakfast or lunch with the CEO today and we're coming. He has, you know, he's he's older, not as old as I am. But he goes, people just don't care. You know, they're not as engaged as he were. And I looked at him law. And, and, and I looked at him and I said, You're crazy. And he goes, What do you mean? I go, they're way more. They're way more engaged than we were. And you thought this guy thought I was crazy. And guess how I proved it to him. And when I after I shared it with him. He goes, Oh, my God. I've never looked at it through those lenses. And you're 100% Right? You know what it was?
12:18
Instagram. Facebook farmers
Law Smith
12:21
only blackpeoplemeet.com.
DA
Dean Akers
12:23
So yeah, for that. But kidding aside, I can't Okay, decide seriously. I mean, if it helps, my real answers that alone,
Law Smith
12:32
I was the number one business comedy, comedy business podcast.
DA
Dean Akers
12:39
I mean, at the end of the day, at the end of the day, what really happens to people is they want to be engaged. And what happened with us when I went home at five o'clock when I was in my 20s, and even my 30s when I got in my car, we had a ham radio. FM was couple stations, but not very many. Yet am radio. Yeah, no tea. You had two and a half TV channels in Tampa, Florida. Two and a half. And that's because if the weather was right, you got channel 10. On your TV, there was no such thing as cable. And when you went home at five o'clock gifts you could get ahold of you
Law Smith
13:18
know, buddy, whoever called exactly. I got boom. Nailed it. He's on the
DA
Dean Akers
13:24
floor. Forget it. Stick fucking fork. Yeah, yeah, no button issue. Leader. clubhouse. But But what happens is, is it when you understand that you understand that these, these young folks like even like yourselves, you guys can get we're sitting here talking on a computer at 740 at night. You know, just talking with videos. I mean, this is insane. Back at 740 I'd be hammered drunk or something, you know, when I was in my 20s not because there was anything else to do?
Law Smith
13:57
You think we're silver? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, no, I agree. There's more outlets. And it doesn't mean that the the touches arnt they're this.
2
Speaker 2
14:09
They're different touches. Yeah, they're digital touches. Well, I mean, I when they're real. They're they're more important. They're they mean
Law Smith
14:17
more and this is adjacent to a story you had that? I've heard a few times but you've talked about, you know, I kind of believe older generations are always hate on the younger ones, right? But you don't see millennials the word Millennials as a pejorative. You. You have a podcast episode that's about how there's a lot of positives to this generation. We're older millennials were probably the older range of that. And can you elaborate on this kind of like generational hypocrisy.
DA
Dean Akers
14:54
You know it first off, we have more noise than ever. You know, we have noise You know, you have 24/7 news channels, news channels, plural, you have the, you know, you have podcasts or I mean, look at Joe Rogan, he's getting roasted by, by some music artists that I guarantee or when they were in their 20s were stoned out of their mind, you know, being crazy and everything else now they're roasting him. You know, it's just there's so much noise nowadays, before you didn't have any of this noise. And the noise is still the minority. It's still the minority. And I work with so many young people. And I can tell you, I haven't met a young person yet. That sits back and goes, you know, I really want to figure out how to be a loser. I mean, I really have, right. And and what happens is, is when you understand how they work and think they are so a they're smart. my iPhone, my iPhone has more storage, and more computing power than the entire computer system. I had running my statewide tire company in the early 80s. My phone? I mean, you guys, it's hard to
16:14
imagine the movie with less processing power. They got to the moon with less processing power.
DA
Dean Akers
16:20
Yeah, yeah, totally. So I mean, I'm so excited about all the potentials. You know, I love the other thing I do. And this is really, I can get some people pouring up about this. I think I told you that my two young kids dropped out of college that share that with you guys. I don't think so. They dropped out of college. And I was like, what, you can't drop out of college, you got to go to college. And it was all paid for, by the way. So it wasn't like they had loans and shit. Plus, I paid their expenses. So what do I they had to work a job or anything. And one day I was down in Boca and they I was having dinner when they said dad was quitting school. And I go, why you can't quit. And they cited their three older brothers and they go, none of them user college. You know, they're all doing something that says nothing to do with their college. And then they blamed the most profound thing on me. It was like hitting me in the face with a brick and they were spot on. They look at me and go dad. We can learn anything we want on YouTube.
2
Speaker 2
17:23
Yeah, I am 110% with them.
Law Smith
17:26
We really learned a lot of our professional skills, despite straightening it out.
2
Speaker 2
17:31
It won't be long before college is seen as a scam. Where it's it
DA
Dean Akers
17:35
makes you look at these kids that go to college and have hundreds of 1000s of dollars worth of debt.
Law Smith
17:42
Right. Yeah. And no, and no real marketable skill.
2
Speaker 2
17:46
Yeah, and the skills that that job providers want to see are done for free online as an assessment on LinkedIn. Like that's what they want to see. They want to see that you can actually do a job that they have, you know, not that you got that you finished college that you went showed up to all the classes and
Law Smith
18:04
underwater TIG welder makes 130 an hour.
DA
Dean Akers
18:07
Yeah. Now, here's another thing. The other thing about about getting work, I'll have people they go, Well, you know, I can't get a job there. You know, they're not calling me back. And I get well, you're sending resumes through indeed and all these different places. Everybody, this is a big bold statement. Anybody I've helped when they told me where they wanted to go to work. First, I gave them a box of business cards. You know, many people do not have a box of business cards. Most. Yeah, I get him a box of business cards that costs 10 bucks on got print or this visit any of those places.
Law Smith
18:43
I get that counts. I got a question. That was not the actual answer, though. Yes, yes. I got it. Right.
DA
Dean Akers
18:49
Yes. So I get them a business card and I go, you go to the office, and you ask to meet the frequency. And when the person at the desk goes mad, tell them why you're here. They say, this is the company I'm working for. And I want to introduce myself. If they say go to HR, forget it. Don't even talk to you want to talk to the head guy. He probably isn't going to talk to you. I had one of my guys go to Raymond James. And he couldn't get he wanted to meet Tom James. And the secretary came down they go Mr. J is blah, blah, blah. And he says, this is the company I want to go to work for. He wrote Tom James, a secretary of note back wrote Mr. James a note back saying this. I'm so excited to meet these two people by name. And I'm so excited to work for the company. One week later, he got a call from the CIO the company that hired him not interviewing hired him six figure job
Law Smith
19:46
gumption and putting yourself out there and separate separating your manifest destiny. Well, yeah, it is all those things, right. It's, you know, you've kind of have been a good teacher for us about reminding us of some of these things that were old school for a reason. And people used to do them for a reason. And now we should go back to them because it differentiates yourself.
DA
Dean Akers
20:13
You're not can I make another comment? Yeah, guys, my age would say old school sales school. When I was in my 20s. Nobody did that.
Law Smith
20:22
Oh, really. Because in my head, I imagined a madman era of just people. You know, just like,
2
Speaker 2
20:30
Honey, I got tons of thank you cards to write. I can't talk right now.
Law Smith
20:33
I walked around and try to get a job all day. Right?
DA
Dean Akers
20:36
Know what they did my era, what they would do is they go to an office, and the Secretary would hand you an application. And you'd fill it out sitting in the lobby. There was a company I was CEO, this is a perfect example. We had a hiring freeze, a hiring freeze in a recession, a hiring freeze. People would come in and get an apple whatever. The year, we had a hiring freeze. We hired 150 People with a hiring freeze. So if you had come to our front desk and said, You're Hired, guess what our receptionist would have said yes. to 50 people. No, no, she would say you have a hiring freeze. You're welcome to fill an application out. But we don't mean by now we're in a hiring freeze. The flip side of it is we'd have we would sit there we meet some sharp person at a trade show or something. We go, you want to you want to have some fun, get to work for a great company. And they go Yeah, I said, we're hiring you now. We had a hiring freeze, but we hired 150 people, the year we had a hiring freeze. And then we would have friends call it and they go or that one of our associates would say we have a real stud that you guys need to interview. Because and they didn't tell HR. They'd say, Dean, this guy's or this girl's really sharp. So I go have lunch with him. And guess what? They were really sharp? In how many times I hired him every time
Law Smith
22:09
is it because the opportunity of real talent or driven people is too good to pass up.
DA
Dean Akers
22:20
It's probably that it's maybe D it would be all the things about when you hyper grow a company. You grow it through people, and people don't a lot of CEOs, these little mom and pop or CEOs think it's competitive. And all that other nonsense. They're their biggest problem. And that, you know, if you've listened my podcast, I ran on this all the time.
Law Smith
22:40
Yeah, I was. Wait. I've got a question about that.
2
Speaker 2
22:42
One's competitive Dean. What part of it is competitive that you're talking about?
DA
Dean Akers
22:48
Well, everybody thinks their business is competitive. You know, like the competition
Law Smith
22:53
and just big versus small
2
Speaker 2
22:54
guy. Hiring of trying to find good.
DA
Dean Akers
22:58
All the above. Can you tell the biggest the biggest problem for small entrepreneurs is themselves.
Law Smith
23:04
Right? Yeah, I agree with and they're not reassessing, right. If you can regale us with the hardware store owner, friend of yours. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's a good class. Yeah.
DA
Dean Akers
23:17
Yeah. I was at a hardware store one day and he was this guy. I knew him because he was right where we live. And he was bitching about Home Depot and Lowe's that was just getting ready to open in South Tampa. And he goes, those guys are too cheap to put us out of business and everything. And I said, No, they're not you're going to put yourself out of business. He has. No they have price, check, treat. Cheap. So I went and I took Tim SKUs we walked around hardware stores to get a screwdriver. It was like a Stanley so it was a name brand. And I took the prices in and I went to Lowe's and Home Depot. Every item he was substantially cheaper than those two. So who was putting who out of business? He was putting himself out of business. Yeah, he didn't.
24:03
That's why he wrote a book called self talk.
Law Smith
24:06
Oh, get it? Oh, yeah. Amazon, get round. Get rid of that radio noise. Nice, smooth.
DA
Dean Akers
24:12
No, but I appreciate the plug. But that's exactly it. These. These are. I had another entrepreneur the other night, this got me all tore up for a podcast. She was in a meeting, we were all standing up or they were speed. We're standing up. I was more as a observer. And she stands out and she's bragging about our company. And then she says, we're 30% cheaper than our competitors so we could really drive value to our customers. The minute she said that the hair on the back of my neck went straight up. Then they asked her her biggest challenge and now I could have almost tackled her beat her up over this. She goes, she goes, our biggest challenges is all these big companies. They're paying people more and they can't get employees because they pay more. And I want to say just shut up if you're 30% cheaper. And now you're bitching that you can't be competitive if I took 100% of your sales and added 30% to how much more could you have paid in payroll and have the same net shitty net net you have now? You could hire frickin rockstars
2
Speaker 2
25:16
and make a 15%. Yeah, with no beat,
Law Smith
25:19
apply strategy apply the same like vim and vigor to what you do to stay competitive on pricing towards finding human capital.
DA
Dean Akers
25:28
Well, you know, my Louis Vuitton store?
Law Smith
25:31
No, but we know you're a fancy dandy.
DA
Dean Akers
25:35
No, what happened was Louie Vuitton I went into a company. All kidding aside law, I went to a company, and they were everybody was talking about price. Everybody was talking about how competitive it was. So I finally said, I'm gonna make you guys a deal. I'm gonna let you decide whether it's competitive. So I had these women and I asked him Have you ever heard I went around the table and I had him describe the persons they at that meeting that day. And so one had a coach. No one had something like that. And the third lady out this is there's five of them there. She had a brown Louis Vuitton. Are y'all familiar with brown leave batons? what the cost is a lot like black people Twitter, they're like $2,700 Yeah. Then the other girl, you can't make the shit out. The girl sit next to her. And this was totally random that day, because the girls were always bitching about price of our competition. The girl sitting next to her had a white Louis Vuitton. And at the time, that was $4,200. So they're bitching and I said, Okay, here's you girls gonna make a decision for our company not me because I trust I had an insert from the paper this back when there still was a paper and the insert was from Walmart. And in the insert they had a full leather purse 3995 So the purses I looked at all the girls I said so purses utility item, you guys told me that? So here's my question. Do you think that the CEO and all the salespeople at Louis Vuitton are freaking out now that the largest retailer on the planet, which was Walmart at the time and 500 billion in sales is coming right after him with a $39.95 cent purse which by the way, all say carry the same cell phone? Same wallet, everything that your frickin Mouffetard you think the Louis Vuitton people are freaking out? Fuck no, exactly. Guess what happened? So I went around the table. I looked at every woman and I said Who the fuck do you want to be? Here with this? Yeah, this is a true story.
Law Smith
27:53
You need to Catch Me If You Can bio pic about your life. All these stories
2
Speaker 2
27:59
Tom Hanks, but yeah, HR rep trying to catch on to the next job. I'll get them at that. Sir. Sir,
DA
Dean Akers
28:03
sir. Yeah, here's what happened. They all I went each one made him look at me said you want to be Walmart or Mouffetard. First girl says, Louis, the top. Second girl says Louis the time, obviously next to St. Louis the time they had Louie Vuitton purses. And then the first girl said, Louis the time. I said, then I leaned up on the table. I didn't say do you want to fucking be Luigia baton? I said do you want to be Which one do you want to be? I let them choose. I leaned up on our conference table and lean forward and I said then start fucking acting like it. Here's what happened. Our closing ratio from that day forward double doubled and our average sale price doubled. And oh by the way, that became the culture of our company and we had a nine figure exit
Law Smith
28:57
it and you just improv this kind of motivational almost pivot to get them going. You know as you're teaching them kind of what what's going on there?
DA
Dean Akers
29:11
Well know what I let him do it was maybe yeah, it was sort of improv but but I want him to make a choice. If they want to be Walmart then let's fucking act like them. Okay. But if you want to be Louis baton, the lever Tom people if somebody walked in and go if somebody walked in and leave baton against you know Walmart's got a $39 per sale. Tell them to get the fuck out. Goodbye. Right y'all price
29:34
match?
Law Smith
29:35
I didn't know they let the valley in here.
DA
Dean Akers
29:37
T price match. Exactly.
Law Smith
29:41
Yeah. I want to touch on one. One thing and then we'll do a closing question. We'll close it out. I gotta return to the beginning. Your new secret weapon touchpoint. You mentioned this on the first episode of your podcast this year. You talk to me about it at breakfast. You already do snail mail handwritten, happy birthday cards. So if you look at Dean's iCal, there's like 10 different birthdays every day, right? And he habitually writes it post postmarks it on that day sends it out. And then you're already a thank you card writer after you know, an event of some sort. You're showing me the new one you were doing with photos? Can you talk?
DA
Dean Akers
30:33
Yeah. So on Facebook people show photos. And I wish we had video right now, because I have some just that are completed. And any rate I wish I had my video and working but here's I take I make a four by six photograph. I just take the Facebook picture of them have their wedding or their kid like I just sent one today. I sent one to one of my folks that that their kids just once a big event Nashville, their two daughters won this huge national event of on Facebook. So I made a four to six picture put in a five to seven frame matted, wrote on the mat. Boy, you must be proud dean. And they went in the mail today till they're gonna get that frame picture. It'll stay with them forever. What prompted me to bring it back? Is I did that back when I was a young man. And I was in a CEOs office who was not a CEO when I met him and did this. Every picture I had ever seen him was on the frickin wall of his of his office in downtown St. Pete. today.
Law Smith
31:45
Yeah, it shows you took effort. Yeah, for sure. And really thought about them for at least five minutes to knock that out. Let me ask you this. Has anybody sent you one back? No. And that's that's kind of the surest thing. That's kind of the the philosophy of it, you're not, you're not expecting to get that in return. It's not a quid pro quo kind of thing.
DA
Dean Akers
32:13
No, I'm not expecting a thank you. Right? Not expecting anything,
Law Smith
32:17
right. But you, you do get an overwhelming amount of people that will hit you up after they get it and go, this is the one of the nicest things, anybody's like sent me. Right that and
DA
Dean Akers
32:29
then like I have a particular client right now that is spent almost 300 grand with me recently, and which is a decent amount of money. And this client came from a touch I sent her friend and her friend, I'd sent it a week before. And all of a sudden, this person randomly calls me out of the blue a year and a half, two over two years ago. And she goes so and so said, you were the person I should talk to now he had not seen that other person for years. There's no way that there's a coincidence that the thing I said that was special, like that wasn't like a conversation while they were having lunch or breakfast. You know, in other words, she didn't say Who should I call and that prompt. And then I have an audio which I, you know, I can play but I have an audio of the guy where I sent something to him. And he calls me because, wow, that was so cool. And here's what he said, makes me laugh. He goes, You know, I was thinking about you the other day. What are the chances that sumbitch was thinking about me? Not
33:34
I think every day
DA
Dean Akers
33:36
was 00. And so all of a sudden this guy calls me and he says he goes in his voicemail? Yes. I really need some help. Now. So when I go to meet that guy, you think that's a price sale? Do you think that's Oh, can you bid this? Now that's a frickin stick a fork in it, it's done. You know that that one's going to the house. And all of it was on. I got ideal image on an honor note. Because I said a guy No. And he said, Can we have lunch? He bought me lunch or the note was worth 20 bucks worth of lunch? And he said, Can you help these two chiropractors because I was retired. And I went, Nate, we started talking next thing you know, that was a seven figure net for me.
Law Smith
34:20
Yeah, I mean, actually putting effort not just getting the robot hand to sign a thank you card for you and send it out as a handwritten note read the whole
2
Speaker 2
34:32
thing has to be handwritten. Right? You doing it up and then signing it. You
Law Smith
34:36
know? Why that matters?
DA
Dean Akers
34:40
Yeah, people send Christmas cards out that are already pre printed and pre addressed. Why don't they just throw them in the trash?
Law Smith
34:48
So we do. That's what we do. We we prefer being a Jewish household. The exactly what we try to you know, when we came on the first time, we asked our Standard first time, or Virgin guest question of what advice would you give your 13 year old self? I wanted to have more stock closer questions for repeated guests, like yourself outside of your parents who was or is the most influential person in your life?
DA
Dean Akers
35:20
I would say there were there were a couple, dentists Fontane. He was man in my tech group, which is what's this ditch today? Larry Morgan. When he bought our tire company, I learned tons from him. But I'd say Dennis Fontane and Michael Kass. He's an attorney here in the Tampa Bay area. But he is he if you go have breakfast with Michael Kass and just filter out everything he tells you. He's a genius on growing businesses, and taught me all that stuff.
Law Smith
35:57
Interesting. Um, I might actually do that and just be weird. I'm curious to take you out to lunch. Have him on the podcast? Maybe not to weirdo? Well, Dean Avenue, check your mail at your office next couple days, cuz you got some frames coming. But
36:14
Haha, you know, I love both.
DA
Dean Akers
36:17
I love both you guys put
Law Smith
36:18
them in the mail. Oh, they're
36:20
in the mail. Okay, they're in there.
Law Smith
36:21
They're coming to Dean because I knew no one has sent you one before and you probably sent 100 out.
DA
Dean Akers
36:28
But I think you guys, you know, both of you guys are entrepreneurial. You know, it's fun doing podcasts, like you say, I've got my podcast, the sales leadership ninja. And I've got hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of 1000s of downloads. And, you know, it's been heard all over the world. I get emails every week. And, you know, I've got sales companies that actually use that podcast for their sales meetings. So I'm really
Law Smith
36:54
nothing beats the planning fundamentals you put out there, you know, and you hammer home because you've been there.
2
Speaker 2
37:01
There's so many managers who want that sort of organic type of just points sort of thing that is Six Sigma. Yeah, for the day, something to get you going. Just a little tidbit. Perfect. Can
DA
Dean Akers
37:14
I share one more thing? Yeah, of course. One of the things that that has gotten to be a total mission for me now, I've gotten so crazy about it, is teaching people how to monetize their passion. Because we're all told to go get a J, OB. And I've got all these young people, when they come clean with their passion, which is hard to get them to come clean, because they'll sit there and go, Well, you know, I like working, I can bullshit. What's your passion? And then when they finally come clean, and it could be anything from I'm working with some people that love music, but but they're working in a bank? Are you freaking kidding me? I've got I've got one guy that his passion was skateboarding I think I've shared that with you law is passion was skateboarding. And I got him to monetize skateboarding in a big way. And and you know, there's so many opportunities today to monetize that were not available when I was your age, because he just went and got a jlb the fact that we can have a show, you can do a show and put it out across the world on all these different platforms and get if you get somewhat you know, legs with it, suddenly you're rockin
Law Smith
38:29
it's a mitzvah you're right it we should be looking like that. Because I'm throwing some yet a shot there. It's a it's really should be a way that means we should be grateful for the these things that we have, like you're talking about and utilize it, you know, you're only on this blue marble so long. So use all the time you got.
DA
Dean Akers
38:53
Well, you know, here's the thing that's really cool. And I don't want this to be top taken as a derogatory statement just happens to be a fact. In the business world and in the world of success. We're, by and large, you're running with slow people. So you know that old story about the two people sitting in the jungle and out jumps a huge Bengal tiger in the one guy reaches overstocked slices tennis shoes, and he goes, Hey, you cannot run a Bengal tiger. He looks at me. I don't have to just have to outrun you.
Law Smith
39:28
I like it. Yeah, that's a good way to close this out. Thanks for coming back on. We'll get breakfast.
DA
Dean Akers
39:37
Yeah, sorry about the technical we'll. We'll figure this out. Maybe do one again sometime.
4
Speaker 4
39:41
Absolutely good for sure. Talk to you soon. See around really love you guys. Bye bye.
