It’s NOT About Technology

ASG 067 – It’s NOT About Technology

Chris Davis: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the All Systems Go podcast, the show that teaches you everything you need to know to put your business on autopilot, learn how to deploy automated marketing and sales systems in your business the right way with your host, the professor of automation himself and founder of Automation Bridge, Chris Davis.

Chris Davis: [00:00:31] Welcome to the All Systems Go podcast, I’m your host, Chris Davis, the founder of Automation Bridge, an online publication for small business, marketing and sales automation, where we focus on turning digital marketing professionals into automation service providers in this episode. I want to take I want to do some level setting in expectations, setting around technology. Now, I’ve mentioned this in prior podcasts and they’ll be listed in the resources. But I want to I want to be a little more granular from the perspective of the one recommending the tech as well as the one asking for the recommendations, because there’s just too much to get lost in translation to continue to have these vague conversations around the technology you should be using. There’s also too much premature

Chris Davis: [00:01:21] Focus on the tech as well.

Chris Davis: [00:01:25] So we’re going to discuss this today before I get started, if you’re new to the podcast, first, welcome. Thank you for tuning into the All Systems Go podcast. Listen to this episode in its entirety. I will give you an opportunity on the back side of this episode to leave your five star rating in review and subscribe. If you are a listener and not subscribed, what are you waiting for? Time to subscribe to All Systems. Go podcast is in Apple podcast, Google podcasts. You can subscribe on YouTube. Wherever you get your podcasts, you can subscribe. Make sure you do that so you don’t miss an episode. And while you’re at it, leave a five star rating and review. It would be greatly appreciated. You can do that if you like. Where do I go? I’m not using Apple. What do I do? Go to automationbridge.com/review and you’ll be able

Chris Davis: [00:02:16] To leave a five star rating and review. All right. So on to the topic at hand. Let’s just

Chris Davis: [00:02:22] Everybody, let’s

Chris Davis: [00:02:24] Take a step

Chris Davis: [00:02:25] Back.

Chris Davis: [00:02:26] I that this episode is to just provide more clarity. And I’ve got a lot of new listeners who haven’t made it through the library. And before I continue to bring guests on that talk about their success with automation and what they’ve done, it’s going to be so tempting for you to really start focusing on technology. Both both parties, again, those who are using it daily and love doing it and those who get overwhelmed by

Chris Davis: [00:02:54] It,

Chris Davis: [00:02:54] You’ll equally start to focus on it for the wrong reasons. And as much as I love technology, I’ll be the first to admit your success is not all about technology. Oh, I even cringed a bit when I said it right. Don’t get me wrong, tech does play a critical role in your business

Chris Davis: [00:03:14] Growth and ongoing

Chris Davis: [00:03:16] Success. I mean, I’ve used it strategically to build in scale my business and and I plan to continue to do so at an ever even greater capacity as time goes on. But that’s because I keep technology in its proper context. And the the most frequent

Chris Davis: [00:03:35] Question and

Chris Davis: [00:03:36] Conversation that I engage in, well, I’ll say I don’t engage in I mentally engage in them, but I won’t verbally respond to them anymore is what technology should I

Chris Davis: [00:03:46] Use?

Chris Davis: [00:03:48] Those of you who are listening, when’s the last time you’ve asked that question and when’s the last time you’ve answered that question? If you’re in marketing, I’d be shocked if 24 to 48 hours has gone by before you were asked that question or answered that question. Right. And this is very tempting, it is a very tempting question to answer. Especially if your world is tech and you just love playing with new technology. I had to learn everybody. I had to learn to work through that initial excitement and really scale back and

Chris Davis: [00:04:24] Probe a bit. Right.

Chris Davis: [00:04:25] And it’s equally tempting to ask this very question. With an expectation of a specific answer that will solve a specific problem. You know what this is like? This is like you asking somebody, who should I marry? I am not exaggerating, like there is so much context that’s missing is just kind of like, I don’t know,

Chris Davis: [00:04:47] Pick him,

Chris Davis: [00:04:49] Pick her like do anything. I don’t know anything about you, what you’re trying to do, the life you’re trying to live.

Chris Davis: [00:04:56] I don’t know right

Chris Davis: [00:04:58] Now if somebody first

Chris Davis: [00:05:00] Off, if

Chris Davis: [00:05:01] You asked that question, that would give the person who heard the question good insight on exactly the type of person you are and where you’re at in life. If you just ask away, who should I marry you? It’s safe to say you’re lost. You need some direction.

Chris Davis: [00:05:17] You need a vision.

Chris Davis: [00:05:18] You need to go back to the drawing board. Right. But yet business owners can ask this and they’re immune from such judgment. This is not an innocent question. This is an ignorant question. And I guess I should have warned you all, I’m going to be a bit more direct and aggressive here because this has to

Chris Davis: [00:05:38] Stop

Chris Davis: [00:05:39] Its leading people down the wrong path. OK, these vague what should I use?

Chris Davis: [00:05:46] I don’t

Chris Davis: [00:05:47] Know. Go Google it and pick the first thing that comes up. You asking in

Chris Davis: [00:05:51] A group is

Chris Davis: [00:05:53] No better than you. Just do pick a stranger. Go to go to your local convenience store and just grab somebody, say, hey, was should I used to send email?

Chris Davis: [00:06:02] And just

Chris Davis: [00:06:03] Use what they

Chris Davis: [00:06:03] Say, how could

Chris Davis: [00:06:05] You truly expect a result or advice that’s truly going to move your business forward with such a vague question, with no context? Let alone no understanding of what you’re truly trying to do. So it’s tempting, I get it is tempting on both sides, and that’s what creates this dynamic. And this is why am I have your listeners know this, I’ve said this so many times, I cringe every time I’m in a group and they ask, what’s the best software for blank? And it’s in every group. You know, I won’t say the group, but one of the groups that I highly respect and hold dear to my heart. I wouldn’t if someone asked about email marketing, they were like, what are what are what’s the best tool for email marketing? And I will tell you this, some of the tools people mentioned were so terrible that that the people answering they should have they should have their privileges revoked to ever speak on anything marketing related, not just in

Chris Davis: [00:07:06] That group, like

Chris Davis: [00:07:07] Everywhere. I don’t know if you all saw the movie Pootie Tang, but every time he did something wrong, his dad, his dad and his belt will show up out of nowhere. Right. Like every time he did something. That’s what needs to happen to them every time. I don’t care if it’s in your bedroom talking to a friend. Because of the the terrible advice

Chris Davis: [00:07:29] You gave,

Chris Davis: [00:07:30] Every time you attempt to mention those privileges should be revoked. Somebody should come and just slap slap the answer out at your mouth without it before it comes out. I’m serious because had somebody listen to that, they will be lost.

Chris Davis: [00:07:47] They will

Chris Davis: [00:07:47] Be lost in their

Chris Davis: [00:07:48] Business and

Chris Davis: [00:07:50] They would honestly have no one to blame but themselves.

Chris Davis: [00:07:54] Right, but but look, that’s what a vague question gets you.

Chris Davis: [00:07:58] So the fault is on both sides.

Chris Davis: [00:08:02] Right. So how do we solve it? Where do we go from here?

Chris Davis: [00:08:07] The answer is what it’s always been. Your process. And if you’re tired of hearing that, that just means you haven’t seen the power of it. Every business owner that I know and and this is the ones that don’t operate proficiently with tech, is in some form of constant overwhelm in their business because they keep trying to understand what technology to use.

Chris Davis: [00:08:37] You couple that

Chris Davis: [00:08:38] With an infinite amount of friends and experts in it and access to information. Who loved to give their advice and recommendations on what that business owners should be doing. Read a blog post. Hey, I use this software, read another one. You should really use this. Read another one. If you really want to be successful, do this. Right. And they need a voice of reason, someone someone to filter through

Chris Davis: [00:09:05] It all, steer them the right way, but more

Chris Davis: [00:09:08] So they need as much clarity on their processes and what they’re trying to do as possible. I mentioned and I forget what episode of previous episode how to break free from following the leader. And it focused on the strategy. This this is it, this

Chris Davis: [00:09:28] Is why

Chris Davis: [00:09:30] Because if if I don’t and

Chris Davis: [00:09:32] You know what, I’m not going to

Chris Davis: [00:09:34] Say this anymore. I just made the executive decision. I am not. This will be my last time speaking on this publicly. OK, I’ve got about I’ve got two other podcasts that touch on this topic from a different perspective. Lets those in the show notes. We’ve talked about strategy, the power of strategy, how to not bypass process. All of those things have been covered.

Chris Davis: [00:09:57] So so this is the final this is the

Chris Davis: [00:10:00] Final straw, which

Chris Davis: [00:10:02] Means if

Chris Davis: [00:10:03] You if I if you’re connected with me in any capacity in my trainings, in my communities or anything, and I see you doing

Chris Davis: [00:10:11] This, this

Chris Davis: [00:10:12] Is band worthy,

Chris Davis: [00:10:14] Ok,

Chris Davis: [00:10:15] Let alone will I be participating. And anyone asking me this question. Without providing context,

Chris Davis: [00:10:23] So let me break

Chris Davis: [00:10:25] This down. All right,

Chris Davis: [00:10:27] So again, you

Chris Davis: [00:10:28] Need as much clarity on your processes and what you’re trying to do. My wife and I first off, congratulations to my wife. She just recently lost her business. It was all her, as tempting as it was to jump in and help her build her website and do all of this. I did. And I was hands off. It was all her. And I’m extremely proud of her and happy for her.

Chris Davis: [00:10:48] Right.

Chris Davis: [00:10:49] So she launched her business and found herself in this position, which is what prompted this. Right? I’m like, oh, my gosh, this is still happening. I need to get the word out to even more. Right. But here’s what so

Chris Davis: [00:11:03] So in

Chris Davis: [00:11:05] In the usual Chris Davis slash husband slash marketing automation expert fashion, I was compelled to remove her from the potential path of frustration. She was

Chris Davis: [00:11:15] Headed down.

Chris Davis: [00:11:16] That’s that’s what that’s what this is for. I need to remove you from the path. Everybody, the conversation was like this. Oh, so many choices. This is a random I walked in your office one day. So many choices. Kalanithi acuity. I don’t even know what that is. Right. So that tickled me a little bit. I thought that was cute. Oh it’s cute. Those are the top online scheduling platforms and she’s never heard of them. And you know, it’s just always good to get a gauge where people who are in the tech space. Right. So I thought that was cute until she turns and says, have you heard a fellow desk? Now, I don’t have anything wrong with fellow desk. It’s a software that I would never use as rudimentary. At best, it does some basic things OK, but doesn’t do anything great. Doesn’t doesn’t appeal to me in any capacity, would not fit in any way that I teach people to do anything. But that’s

Chris Davis: [00:12:01] Me. That’s me.

Chris Davis: [00:12:03] How dare I project that on to you without knowing more context?

Chris Davis: [00:12:08] So before I answer, I had

Chris Davis: [00:12:10] To remove my irritation and

Chris Davis: [00:12:11] Frustrated

Chris Davis: [00:12:12] Frustration because the very thing that I’ve been witnessing

Chris Davis: [00:12:16] Online can

Chris Davis: [00:12:18] Take place carelessly has now infiltrated

Chris Davis: [00:12:21] My home.

Chris Davis: [00:12:22] How did you get here? You’re not supposed to be here. What’s going on? Right. So I call myself down.

Chris Davis: [00:12:31] So I could reply

Chris Davis: [00:12:33] And I replied this way, as calm as I could. I said,

Chris Davis: [00:12:37] You don’t need to

Chris Davis: [00:12:38] Worry about technology.

Chris Davis: [00:12:39] And her rebuttal

Chris Davis: [00:12:40] Was quick, yes, I do. I need systems in place. How else am I supposed to know what to use? And this and there lies the rub. I said, you know what? This is innocent. This is an innocent journey on her behalf that could have grave

Chris Davis: [00:12:53] Implications of devastation. Right.

Chris Davis: [00:12:58] I have been teaching systems. I have been telling you, get your systems in place, use technology to automate scale, scale, scale. That’s what people

Chris Davis: [00:13:07] Here.

Chris Davis: [00:13:09] What I’ve really been saying. Is strategy first made sure you go and define your strategy, take the time to plan your marketing before you execute it, identify your metrics, identify your targets so that you know how you’re doing. Don’t be afraid to start manual, how to make later. I’ve been saying that as well. What does what do people hear? Systems, automation scale grow. Don’t do that

Chris Davis: [00:13:37] Automated.

Chris Davis: [00:13:39] And it’s not because of me. I have to trust me. I’m not taking the blame here, everybody. That’s not what this is. I play my part, a small part. But the bigger part is everyone else haphazardly throwing automations and systems to terminology and jargon out there. Funnel this and use this tool.

Chris Davis: [00:13:56] They are the

Chris Davis: [00:13:57] Ones at fault. Right.

Chris Davis: [00:13:59] So.

Chris Davis: [00:14:01] In my mind, I was asking and I’m going to propose these questions to you. Do you really need to know the tools? Right. Or are you unaware of where you really should be focusing on and learning

Chris Davis: [00:14:14] About tools

Chris Davis: [00:14:16] Gives you an easy target? And feeling of accomplishment, even though, is going to overwhelm you and potentially kill all of your momentum in business. That’s what I think is really happening. It’s easier to focus on technology and all the options and the frustration that comes with it, because I’ll be honest with you, everybody, I’m different. I’m different now. I get overwhelmed with Tector. I do as too many options. Listen to me. I am the tech person. I was just yesterday derailed because I ran across a new software that could potentially solve some problems that I’ve been having just collectively in like my community academy courses and all of that. And this was not planned. I did not have time planned to do this. And I’m off for like four hours drive and purchase the thing, tested it out, trying to, you know, see if it fits my considerations. But that was a guided exploration because I’m clear with my considerations of what I needed to do. But still, it’s just another tool. And tomorrow there’ll be another one. And then next week there’ll be four more. Right. So I, too, am overwhelmed, and that’s why I just had to I just felt this is aligned with the market and where we are right now at the time of this recording. And that’s where I had to say, you know what, we we can focus on technology, but it’s not about technology, because if it

Chris Davis: [00:15:54] Was,

Chris Davis: [00:15:55] I would be in a constant state of overwhelm, just like the next business owner who’s not proficient in the technical operations of their business. I would I’m not immune to this, and that’s when I realized being intentional. Intentionally introspective, that’s when I realized, Chris, you feel it.

Chris Davis: [00:16:17] You just don’t

Chris Davis: [00:16:18] Fall subject to it. Right. Like, as soon as the overwhelm comes on, I shut it off and I say, you know what, I’m not going to focus on that is me focusing on that going to impact in any way a a increase in my bank

Chris Davis: [00:16:34] Account today

Chris Davis: [00:16:35] Or tomorrow? And if it can’t, if it won’t, then I don’t. Don’t focus anything on it now, it gets a little interesting when it will impact. Then I use a disciplined approach. And for me, everybody, I have to look at my clock and I say, OK, in 10 minutes I’m giving myself 10 to 15 minutes to do this thing. Whatever wherever I’m at in the at the end of that 10 to 15 minutes, I have to stop, get some real work done and I can revisit this once my work is finished. That is my disciplined approach to technology and I know how to implement it. You don’t know technology and shouldn’t be

Chris Davis: [00:17:18] Implementing it and you’re

Chris Davis: [00:17:20] Trying to figure it out. Right. And many business owners can resonate with this, right, if you don’t focus on the tools and learn the stuff, who will? How will it get done? Right, this is what you’re truly thinking about, and the simple answer is not you. OK, so so I hope that answers it forever, how will I how will I know what tools to use? Who where can I learn the stuff? Who’s who’s going to do it for me? Not you. That is the question. So if you’re not going to do it, you need to now focus on what you can do.

Chris Davis: [00:17:57] Ok, because

Chris Davis: [00:17:59] The truth of the matter is, you’re just not fit to

Chris Davis: [00:18:00] Assess or implement

Chris Davis: [00:18:03] Technology for your

Chris Davis: [00:18:04] Business, although people would treat you like you are right.

Chris Davis: [00:18:07] Just recommending tools to use and things of that. Oh, yeah, you should try this. Oh, it’s easy. Just sign up and, you know, click a few buttons. Oh yeah. Use this. Right. And sometimes, let’s be

Chris Davis: [00:18:22] Honest,

Chris Davis: [00:18:23] It’s as it’s in response to the business owner asking a question. You asked the question, hey, what should I use? Right, and they carelessly respond.

Chris Davis: [00:18:36] So what was my reply, I’m not lost.

Chris Davis: [00:18:39] I’m still on track. Remember, her rebuttal was yes, I do. I need systems in place. How is what? I know what to use. Right. What’s my reply? You just need to focus on your processes.

Chris Davis: [00:18:51] That’s it, just focus

Chris Davis: [00:18:53] On that, get as much clarity as possible on those, because that’s going to guide the technology conversation and show you exactly what to look for in a tool

Chris Davis: [00:19:02] Or software.

Chris Davis: [00:19:03] You need to know who to say yes or no to.

Chris Davis: [00:19:06] Now, let’s go back. Who should I marry? Right.

Chris Davis: [00:19:11] You need to sit back and figure out what you

Chris Davis: [00:19:13] Like, which what you want, what your goals are. Right.

Chris Davis: [00:19:19] Like what type of life you’re trying

Chris Davis: [00:19:22] To live kind of

Chris Davis: [00:19:23] Home. You want to establish all of those things. Now, when you ask the question, tell me all of those things and I’ll be able to better guide you. But don’t come asking this very question, what tools should I use

Chris Davis: [00:19:40] And what you’re

Chris Davis: [00:19:41] Doing is you’re

Chris Davis: [00:19:43] Putting the

Chris Davis: [00:19:44] Work that you should have done. To get clear on your considerations, do your from your processes, you’re just putting that Lezley on someone else. Just like I figure it all out, for

Chris Davis: [00:19:56] Me, it’s really what you’re saying.

Chris Davis: [00:19:59] And I cover this in my master class, and again, I’ve spoken on it many times in the podcast, I link those as well, but I need you all to get this for 20, 21 and beyond.

Chris Davis: [00:20:10] We can’t do this, we

Chris Davis: [00:20:13] Cannot the masterclass, it speaks about strategy first I go through all the systems,

Chris Davis: [00:20:19] But this

Chris Davis: [00:20:19] Keeps showing up and this is how it shows up in a real world context. Many of you are still operating as a hospital. You’re still driving the automation ambulance from from injuries suffered

Chris Davis: [00:20:35] By the

Chris Davis: [00:20:36] Business owner from erroneous

Chris Davis: [00:20:38] Tools, most

Chris Davis: [00:20:39] Of which they got recommended by careless advice from people who care about them. Right, they thought they were helping them out. So both sides have good intentions, but one is going to walk away frustrated and wounded. Now you’re acting

Chris Davis: [00:20:59] Desperately. And as you

Chris Davis: [00:21:01] All know, I don’t drive the automation

Chris Davis: [00:21:03] Ambulance and

Chris Davis: [00:21:05] Many of the people who I mentor, they retire there, they’re licensed to drive. Well, I think truck drivers get like CDL licenses or something like this. They they they retired their class A. License to drive the ambulance, and I’m just saying Class A. for ambulance, I don’t know what kind of driver’s license you need for an ambulance, but they retire theirs

Chris Davis: [00:21:29] Because we’re

Chris Davis: [00:21:30] Not we’re not

Chris Davis: [00:21:31] Reactive.

Chris Davis: [00:21:32] Reactive marketing is is is too close to desperate marketing. OK, so we stay away from that, but but again, I get. Both sides have intentions. You’re trying to solve a problem and this technical terrain is just is not navigated easily. I’m sorry. It’s going to cost is going to cost you time and it’s going to cost you resources. And by time, I mean, it’s going to cost you time to get clear on what you need done by resources is going to cost some time to find the people to do it for you. Right, so if you’re a business owner like that that, you know, doesn’t get the tech operations, take tech off the table. It’s important to figure out, but it’s not your most important job,

Chris Davis: [00:22:20] You need

Chris Davis: [00:22:21] To clarify your processes mainly through manual execution. Make the phone

Chris Davis: [00:22:27] Call, send the email, create

Chris Davis: [00:22:30] The invoice. Right. Send the text message, but document it all.

Chris Davis: [00:22:37] Pay attention.

Chris Davis: [00:22:39] Every client will train, every client will give you things that you like about them and don’t like about them. It’s now you’re even you can have a more guided conversation. Right, and start putting parameters and and really clarifying. To the next claim,

Chris Davis: [00:22:55] That’s the work. Right.

Chris Davis: [00:22:59] You need a sales

Chris Davis: [00:23:00] Page, why are you why

Chris Davis: [00:23:04] Are you sitting up here focused on hiring somebody off of work five or a Facebook group, whatever, to build out a sales page when you don’t even know the copy because you don’t know what you’re selling and you don’t know the transformation it provides? Explain it in email sended, see what they say. If they say yes, oh, wait a minute, let me save this email. This is my first draft of a sales page. Guess what? We just removed all technology. And when I say removed all, yes, email is technology, I’m talking about third party marketing and sales technology. Right. You you need to do

Chris Davis: [00:23:49] This so that

Chris Davis: [00:23:51] You’ll be able to have the right conversation with the right

Chris Davis: [00:23:54] Marketer when you find

Chris Davis: [00:23:56] The right marketer

Chris Davis: [00:23:57] To do this for you.

Chris Davis: [00:23:59] Ok, if you’re a digital marketing professional, stop recommending tools out of context. OK, if somebody just as what tools should I use and you’re not

Chris Davis: [00:24:12] Asking and you’re not

Chris Davis: [00:24:14] Probing before you recommend? Shame on you. You need your credentials

Chris Davis: [00:24:20] Revoked if

Chris Davis: [00:24:22] All you do is recommend the best tool that you’re

Chris Davis: [00:24:25] Using, that you’re

Chris Davis: [00:24:27] That you’re using in having success with. Without having the context of their business, their acumen, their team structure, their strategy, how can you. That’s not help.

Chris Davis: [00:24:42] That is not help, that’s

Chris Davis: [00:24:44] Let’s be honest, can we be

Chris Davis: [00:24:45] Honest, that’s showing off, you just want to

Chris Davis: [00:24:49] Be the first to say what you’re using. So people look and say, oh,

Chris Davis: [00:24:52] Wow,

Chris Davis: [00:24:53] To the ignorant I that

Chris Davis: [00:24:54] Works to the trained. I mean, you’re being careless.

Chris Davis: [00:24:59] And I’ll never respect such an

Chris Davis: [00:25:01] Approach to

Chris Davis: [00:25:02] Such an important entity as someone else’s

Chris Davis: [00:25:05] Business. You will lose respect for me forever.

Chris Davis: [00:25:09] It’s an unforgivable

Chris Davis: [00:25:10] Offence because

Chris Davis: [00:25:12] It cost these businesses

Chris Davis: [00:25:13] Too much. It does.

Chris Davis: [00:25:16] Too many of you are skipping over this step of clarifying and getting clear what your considerations clarified, your process of streamlining them as much as possible. Operating low tech. And looking for a technological savior for your business.

Chris Davis: [00:25:33] Tech will help tech,

Chris Davis: [00:25:35] We’ll help you scale and tech will help you operate in a way that is absolutely

Chris Davis: [00:25:42] Just mind blowing. Right.

Chris Davis: [00:25:45] But you have to do the work and learn your processes intimately. Let your needs be the indicator, right, from from manually executing these processes, you start getting your sore points like, man, I wish there was a way to do this right. That’s the indicator

Chris Davis: [00:26:02] Of a potential software.

Chris Davis: [00:26:07] Right, it’s a balance. I recorded this different levels of of business when you’re starting and you know, you’re breaking even, there’s different technologies introduced at each stage. So, yes,

Chris Davis: [00:26:21] You’re

Chris Davis: [00:26:21] Going to use some technology in the beginning, in the middle and the end, but it’s not about the technology. It’s about your process. I can take any process and executed in a variety of tools, every step will look different. And guess what? Each stack can produce results. What’s the difference, Chris? How they operate, how you operate

Chris Davis: [00:26:46] And the level

Chris Davis: [00:26:47] Of freedom they provide

Chris Davis: [00:26:48] You. You see that

Chris Davis: [00:26:51] So based on what you want to do, based on your goals, your vision and how you want to operate in and on your business, that’s going to determine your

Chris Davis: [00:26:59] Stack.

Chris Davis: [00:27:00] Your technology stack is what I mean when I say stack. OK. And again, you’re going to use some tech to get started, mainly lead

Chris Davis: [00:27:11] Generation, if

Chris Davis: [00:27:13] There’s one thing that I would say every new business needs is is lead generation. You need a landing page and some way to capture information. Period. I didn’t

Chris Davis: [00:27:23] Say a Web site set a landing

Chris Davis: [00:27:25] Page. Every business needs that.

Chris Davis: [00:27:27] I get that. But you

Chris Davis: [00:27:29] Need to use what I call mTOR

Chris Davis: [00:27:32] Minimal tech required.

Chris Davis: [00:27:36] To get you operating in your business and then let that operation define your needs. Right, to let a true expert recommend and implemented. That’s how you’re going to grow your business in 2021 and beyond.

Chris Davis: [00:27:53] Ok, I

Chris Davis: [00:27:54] Need you again. I am not

Chris Davis: [00:27:56] I am

Chris Davis: [00:27:57] Not going to mention this and I’m not going to participate in the what software should I use? It’s different in my community. I have contacts. I know your

Chris Davis: [00:28:07] Business. Right.

Chris Davis: [00:28:08] I know you. You’ve answered questions. I’ve answered, you know, so it’s a safer environment. Because it’s intentional and it’s an intimate space,

Chris Davis: [00:28:19] But out here in the wild, come on, man, why

Chris Davis: [00:28:24] Don’t you just go ask who wants to watch my

Chris Davis: [00:28:26] Children? Would you ask that?

Chris Davis: [00:28:29] That’s how

Chris Davis: [00:28:29] Careless that question

Chris Davis: [00:28:31] Is.

Chris Davis: [00:28:32] So hopefully

Chris Davis: [00:28:34] This stunt enough for you to not ask that question again without providing context

Chris Davis: [00:28:40] And

Chris Davis: [00:28:41] For you to not provide an answer without getting context. Let me say this. The conversation is different if you say, hey, I’m a service based business, I’m a service based business, I generally generate 10 to 20 leads per week and I drive them to a scheduling software. This scheduling software, I would like to ask some questions up front just so I can

Chris Davis: [00:29:12] Know who they

Chris Davis: [00:29:13] Are on the call. Anybody have recommendations on the technology I can use to capture information before they scheduled their appointment? Is that not a different conversation

Chris Davis: [00:29:27] You’re going

Chris Davis: [00:29:28] To get different answers to? Now, if you get even more, I want to be able to conditionally display form fields based on what they input. You’re you’re you’re filtering

Chris Davis: [00:29:43] Down, you know,

Chris Davis: [00:29:45] Through being very specific with what you need, you’re removing all of the overhead because there’s only a few tools that can do that. Right, different conversation. Hey, what should I be using for email? Hey, I sent I do I run a monthly newsletter and what I’m realizing is I’m not segmenting like I need to be. I want to be able to segment based on not just opens and clicks, but website visits. I want to integrate it with my membership platform so I know what courses they’re in and I want to get more dynamic with my segmentation. Is there any technology that you all are using to do that? I would recommend. Different conversation to you right now, MailChimp, I’m going

Chris Davis: [00:30:30] To do that. It’s not going to work flow. That’s not going to work. I mean,

Chris Davis: [00:30:35] You’re eliminating all of them. Through being very clear with what you need done. Now, you may not be able to get to that level of clarity by

Chris Davis: [00:30:45] Yourself, but

Chris Davis: [00:30:47] This is why there are people like myself and all of my mentees and everybody that’s connected with me, this is why we exist to help you have the right conversation and guide you down the right path. So who needed to hear this? Everybody, I’ll tell you who did today. I’m going to make it simple the next time you’re in a in a group and somebody asked this question, hey, what should I use? Say, you know what? I don’t I don’t care if you direct message them. I don’t care if you link is say, hey, listen to this. Most of the time when people get agitated, what they say is Google

Chris Davis: [00:31:25] Is your friend.

Chris Davis: [00:31:27] I think this episode is better than Google.

Chris Davis: [00:31:29] Ok, they need to listen to this and

Chris Davis: [00:31:33] They need they need to get it together

Chris Davis: [00:31:36] The next

Chris Davis: [00:31:36] Time you see somebody on that thread. Oh, use this

Chris Davis: [00:31:40] Use use

Chris Davis: [00:31:42] Mail machine gun light for your email marketing.

Chris Davis: [00:31:45] What?

Chris Davis: [00:31:47] Use use, pink is the best color. Ink for your email marketing, like some of the names that people I would, I can’t even trust a software based on the name,

Chris Davis: [00:31:58] But yet they’re quick to throw it out there again.

Chris Davis: [00:32:01] They want to they want to show off a bit. I know I know what it is if we’re honest. Right, you use those three as a showing off, it ain’t got nothing

Chris Davis: [00:32:10] To do with helping.

Chris Davis: [00:32:11] So the next time you see somebody do that,

Chris Davis: [00:32:13] That humble, that

Chris Davis: [00:32:15] Fake, that fake help, that’s what we’re going to call it. Fake help. Let them know about this episode. Get them in check. I’ve recorded it all, I can

Chris Davis: [00:32:25] Check them for you. You don’t have to say anything. It will not

Chris Davis: [00:32:29] Be an argument because their results

Chris Davis: [00:32:32] Can’t beat mine. I promise you

Chris Davis: [00:32:34] That. So so share it at a minimum with those, but also share with that person who’s just starting their business. They’ve just launched. You see all that momentum that they have,

Chris Davis: [00:32:45] Protect

Chris Davis: [00:32:45] That momentum. They’re going to need it.

Chris Davis: [00:32:48] It should not be spent on technology.

Chris Davis: [00:32:52] All right, so if you found value in today’s episode,

Chris Davis: [00:32:55] Please share, please share.

Chris Davis: [00:32:59] On social, get the word out for those that are my first time listeners. Now is the time to leave that five star rating and review and subscribe. Go ahead. The podcast will still play in the background of your app. Whatever device you’re on, it’s still playing the background. Just go leave that five star rating and review. Here at Automation Bridge, we’re dedicated to training digital marketing professionals to become automation service providers. These are people who don’t commit what I just showed you. They’re going to they know how to probing and get context,

Chris Davis: [00:33:30] Help you get

Chris Davis: [00:33:31] Clear on your strategy and your processes. And then,

Chris Davis: [00:33:35] Mary, that

Chris Davis: [00:33:36] Discovery with the

Chris Davis: [00:33:37] Right tools, OK, to be able to deploy automated

Chris Davis: [00:33:44] Systems in your business for rapid growth. That’s what automation service providers do.

Chris Davis: [00:33:49] Ok, and

Chris Davis: [00:33:51] If if in me saying this, you want to be a part of that movement, I want to help. You’re right. I see it all the time. Chris, give me in the game, coach.

Chris Davis: [00:34:01] I’m ready. Here’s your call, I want you

Chris Davis: [00:34:05] To go to Automationbridge.com/asp To take the next steps to talk to someone on my team to assess if you be a good fit for our program. OK, we’re going to ask you a couple questions, it’s not open to any and everybody. Right, we want to make sure you’re a good fit, but automationbridge.com/asp Where you can do that. The time

Chris Davis: [00:34:30] Is now.

Chris Davis: [00:34:31] The need has never been greater. I’m looking for people who are looking to act urgently. Maybe you still want to go play around some more. And, you know, playing around is not affecting your bottom line and maybe you’re not living off your business income. So.

Chris Davis: [00:34:47] Ok, go ahead. You have fun. But for those of you that know I need to go kill today,

Chris Davis: [00:34:56] What I’m eating tomorrow.

Chris Davis: [00:34:58] Listen, you don’t have time

Chris Davis: [00:35:01] You don’t have time to be playing around, playing these games, going from free course, cheap course to NEC’s,

Chris Davis: [00:35:07] Right.

Chris Davis: [00:35:08] We need a proven framework, you need somebody to walk you through a proven framework to get the systems in place for your business so you can better implement systems for other people’s businesses if you so choose. You may just put the systems in for your business. Hey, look, I like that. This is it, right? So be it. So automation brings dotcom force like a space where you can go for that. All of the show notes and podcasts are accessible. Automationbridge.com/podcast. You can subscribe there and listen to all other episodes at your leisure. So until next time I see you online automate responsibly.

ASG 067 – It’s NOT About Technology

Chris Davis: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the All Systems Go podcast, the show that teaches you everything you need to know to put your business on autopilot, learn how to deploy automated marketing and sales systems in your business the right way with your host, the professor of automation himself and founder of Automation Bridge, Chris Davis.

Chris Davis: [00:00:31] Welcome to the All Systems Go podcast, I’m your host, Chris Davis, the founder of Automation Bridge, an online publication for small business, marketing and sales automation, where we focus on turning digital marketing professionals into automation service providers in this episode. I want to take I want to do some level setting in expectations, setting around technology. Now, I’ve mentioned this in prior podcasts and they’ll be listed in the resources. But I want to I want to be a little more granular from the perspective of the one recommending the tech as well as the one asking for the recommendations, because there’s just too much to get lost in translation to continue to have these vague conversations around the technology you should be using. There’s also too much premature

Chris Davis: [00:01:21] Focus on the tech as well.

Chris Davis: [00:01:25] So we’re going to discuss this today before I get started, if you’re new to the podcast, first, welcome. Thank you for tuning into the All Systems Go podcast. Listen to this episode in its entirety. I will give you an opportunity on the back side of this episode to leave your five star rating in review and subscribe. If you are a listener and not subscribed, what are you waiting for? Time to subscribe to All Systems. Go podcast is in Apple podcast, Google podcasts. You can subscribe on YouTube. Wherever you get your podcasts, you can subscribe. Make sure you do that so you don’t miss an episode. And while you’re at it, leave a five star rating and review. It would be greatly appreciated. You can do that if you like. Where do I go? I’m not using Apple. What do I do? Go to automationbridge.com/review and you’ll be able

Chris Davis: [00:02:16] To leave a five star rating and review. All right. So on to the topic at hand. Let’s just

Chris Davis: [00:02:22] Everybody, let’s

Chris Davis: [00:02:24] Take a step

Chris Davis: [00:02:25] Back.

Chris Davis: [00:02:26] I that this episode is to just provide more clarity. And I’ve got a lot of new listeners who haven’t made it through the library. And before I continue to bring guests on that talk about their success with automation and what they’ve done, it’s going to be so tempting for you to really start focusing on technology. Both both parties, again, those who are using it daily and love doing it and those who get overwhelmed by

Chris Davis: [00:02:54] It,

Chris Davis: [00:02:54] You’ll equally start to focus on it for the wrong reasons. And as much as I love technology, I’ll be the first to admit your success is not all about technology. Oh, I even cringed a bit when I said it right. Don’t get me wrong, tech does play a critical role in your business

Chris Davis: [00:03:14] Growth and ongoing

Chris Davis: [00:03:16] Success. I mean, I’ve used it strategically to build in scale my business and and I plan to continue to do so at an ever even greater capacity as time goes on. But that’s because I keep technology in its proper context. And the the most frequent

Chris Davis: [00:03:35] Question and

Chris Davis: [00:03:36] Conversation that I engage in, well, I’ll say I don’t engage in I mentally engage in them, but I won’t verbally respond to them anymore is what technology should I

Chris Davis: [00:03:46] Use?

Chris Davis: [00:03:48] Those of you who are listening, when’s the last time you’ve asked that question and when’s the last time you’ve answered that question? If you’re in marketing, I’d be shocked if 24 to 48 hours has gone by before you were asked that question or answered that question. Right. And this is very tempting, it is a very tempting question to answer. Especially if your world is tech and you just love playing with new technology. I had to learn everybody. I had to learn to work through that initial excitement and really scale back and

Chris Davis: [00:04:24] Probe a bit. Right.

Chris Davis: [00:04:25] And it’s equally tempting to ask this very question. With an expectation of a specific answer that will solve a specific problem. You know what this is like? This is like you asking somebody, who should I marry? I am not exaggerating, like there is so much context that’s missing is just kind of like, I don’t know,

Chris Davis: [00:04:47] Pick him,

Chris Davis: [00:04:49] Pick her like do anything. I don’t know anything about you, what you’re trying to do, the life you’re trying to live.

Chris Davis: [00:04:56] I don’t know right

Chris Davis: [00:04:58] Now if somebody first

Chris Davis: [00:05:00] Off, if

Chris Davis: [00:05:01] You asked that question, that would give the person who heard the question good insight on exactly the type of person you are and where you’re at in life. If you just ask away, who should I marry you? It’s safe to say you’re lost. You need some direction.

Chris Davis: [00:05:17] You need a vision.

Chris Davis: [00:05:18] You need to go back to the drawing board. Right. But yet business owners can ask this and they’re immune from such judgment. This is not an innocent question. This is an ignorant question. And I guess I should have warned you all, I’m going to be a bit more direct and aggressive here because this has to

Chris Davis: [00:05:38] Stop

Chris Davis: [00:05:39] Its leading people down the wrong path. OK, these vague what should I use?

Chris Davis: [00:05:46] I don’t

Chris Davis: [00:05:47] Know. Go Google it and pick the first thing that comes up. You asking in

Chris Davis: [00:05:51] A group is

Chris Davis: [00:05:53] No better than you. Just do pick a stranger. Go to go to your local convenience store and just grab somebody, say, hey, was should I used to send email?

Chris Davis: [00:06:02] And just

Chris Davis: [00:06:03] Use what they

Chris Davis: [00:06:03] Say, how could

Chris Davis: [00:06:05] You truly expect a result or advice that’s truly going to move your business forward with such a vague question, with no context? Let alone no understanding of what you’re truly trying to do. So it’s tempting, I get it is tempting on both sides, and that’s what creates this dynamic. And this is why am I have your listeners know this, I’ve said this so many times, I cringe every time I’m in a group and they ask, what’s the best software for blank? And it’s in every group. You know, I won’t say the group, but one of the groups that I highly respect and hold dear to my heart. I wouldn’t if someone asked about email marketing, they were like, what are what are what’s the best tool for email marketing? And I will tell you this, some of the tools people mentioned were so terrible that that the people answering they should have they should have their privileges revoked to ever speak on anything marketing related, not just in

Chris Davis: [00:07:06] That group, like

Chris Davis: [00:07:07] Everywhere. I don’t know if you all saw the movie Pootie Tang, but every time he did something wrong, his dad, his dad and his belt will show up out of nowhere. Right. Like every time he did something. That’s what needs to happen to them every time. I don’t care if it’s in your bedroom talking to a friend. Because of the the terrible advice

Chris Davis: [00:07:29] You gave,

Chris Davis: [00:07:30] Every time you attempt to mention those privileges should be revoked. Somebody should come and just slap slap the answer out at your mouth without it before it comes out. I’m serious because had somebody listen to that, they will be lost.

Chris Davis: [00:07:47] They will

Chris Davis: [00:07:47] Be lost in their

Chris Davis: [00:07:48] Business and

Chris Davis: [00:07:50] They would honestly have no one to blame but themselves.

Chris Davis: [00:07:54] Right, but but look, that’s what a vague question gets you.

Chris Davis: [00:07:58] So the fault is on both sides.

Chris Davis: [00:08:02] Right. So how do we solve it? Where do we go from here?

Chris Davis: [00:08:07] The answer is what it’s always been. Your process. And if you’re tired of hearing that, that just means you haven’t seen the power of it. Every business owner that I know and and this is the ones that don’t operate proficiently with tech, is in some form of constant overwhelm in their business because they keep trying to understand what technology to use.

Chris Davis: [00:08:37] You couple that

Chris Davis: [00:08:38] With an infinite amount of friends and experts in it and access to information. Who loved to give their advice and recommendations on what that business owners should be doing. Read a blog post. Hey, I use this software, read another one. You should really use this. Read another one. If you really want to be successful, do this. Right. And they need a voice of reason, someone someone to filter through

Chris Davis: [00:09:05] It all, steer them the right way, but more

Chris Davis: [00:09:08] So they need as much clarity on their processes and what they’re trying to do as possible. I mentioned and I forget what episode of previous episode how to break free from following the leader. And it focused on the strategy. This this is it, this

Chris Davis: [00:09:28] Is why

Chris Davis: [00:09:30] Because if if I don’t and

Chris Davis: [00:09:32] You know what, I’m not going to

Chris Davis: [00:09:34] Say this anymore. I just made the executive decision. I am not. This will be my last time speaking on this publicly. OK, I’ve got about I’ve got two other podcasts that touch on this topic from a different perspective. Lets those in the show notes. We’ve talked about strategy, the power of strategy, how to not bypass process. All of those things have been covered.

Chris Davis: [00:09:57] So so this is the final this is the

Chris Davis: [00:10:00] Final straw, which

Chris Davis: [00:10:02] Means if

Chris Davis: [00:10:03] You if I if you’re connected with me in any capacity in my trainings, in my communities or anything, and I see you doing

Chris Davis: [00:10:11] This, this

Chris Davis: [00:10:12] Is band worthy,

Chris Davis: [00:10:14] Ok,

Chris Davis: [00:10:15] Let alone will I be participating. And anyone asking me this question. Without providing context,

Chris Davis: [00:10:23] So let me break

Chris Davis: [00:10:25] This down. All right,

Chris Davis: [00:10:27] So again, you

Chris Davis: [00:10:28] Need as much clarity on your processes and what you’re trying to do. My wife and I first off, congratulations to my wife. She just recently lost her business. It was all her, as tempting as it was to jump in and help her build her website and do all of this. I did. And I was hands off. It was all her. And I’m extremely proud of her and happy for her.

Chris Davis: [00:10:48] Right.

Chris Davis: [00:10:49] So she launched her business and found herself in this position, which is what prompted this. Right? I’m like, oh, my gosh, this is still happening. I need to get the word out to even more. Right. But here’s what so

Chris Davis: [00:11:03] So in

Chris Davis: [00:11:05] In the usual Chris Davis slash husband slash marketing automation expert fashion, I was compelled to remove her from the potential path of frustration. She was

Chris Davis: [00:11:15] Headed down.

Chris Davis: [00:11:16] That’s that’s what that’s what this is for. I need to remove you from the path. Everybody, the conversation was like this. Oh, so many choices. This is a random I walked in your office one day. So many choices. Kalanithi acuity. I don’t even know what that is. Right. So that tickled me a little bit. I thought that was cute. Oh it’s cute. Those are the top online scheduling platforms and she’s never heard of them. And you know, it’s just always good to get a gauge where people who are in the tech space. Right. So I thought that was cute until she turns and says, have you heard a fellow desk? Now, I don’t have anything wrong with fellow desk. It’s a software that I would never use as rudimentary. At best, it does some basic things OK, but doesn’t do anything great. Doesn’t doesn’t appeal to me in any capacity, would not fit in any way that I teach people to do anything. But that’s

Chris Davis: [00:12:01] Me. That’s me.

Chris Davis: [00:12:03] How dare I project that on to you without knowing more context?

Chris Davis: [00:12:08] So before I answer, I had

Chris Davis: [00:12:10] To remove my irritation and

Chris Davis: [00:12:11] Frustrated

Chris Davis: [00:12:12] Frustration because the very thing that I’ve been witnessing

Chris Davis: [00:12:16] Online can

Chris Davis: [00:12:18] Take place carelessly has now infiltrated

Chris Davis: [00:12:21] My home.

Chris Davis: [00:12:22] How did you get here? You’re not supposed to be here. What’s going on? Right. So I call myself down.

Chris Davis: [00:12:31] So I could reply

Chris Davis: [00:12:33] And I replied this way, as calm as I could. I said,

Chris Davis: [00:12:37] You don’t need to

Chris Davis: [00:12:38] Worry about technology.

Chris Davis: [00:12:39] And her rebuttal

Chris Davis: [00:12:40] Was quick, yes, I do. I need systems in place. How else am I supposed to know what to use? And this and there lies the rub. I said, you know what? This is innocent. This is an innocent journey on her behalf that could have grave

Chris Davis: [00:12:53] Implications of devastation. Right.

Chris Davis: [00:12:58] I have been teaching systems. I have been telling you, get your systems in place, use technology to automate scale, scale, scale. That’s what people

Chris Davis: [00:13:07] Here.

Chris Davis: [00:13:09] What I’ve really been saying. Is strategy first made sure you go and define your strategy, take the time to plan your marketing before you execute it, identify your metrics, identify your targets so that you know how you’re doing. Don’t be afraid to start manual, how to make later. I’ve been saying that as well. What does what do people hear? Systems, automation scale grow. Don’t do that

Chris Davis: [00:13:37] Automated.

Chris Davis: [00:13:39] And it’s not because of me. I have to trust me. I’m not taking the blame here, everybody. That’s not what this is. I play my part, a small part. But the bigger part is everyone else haphazardly throwing automations and systems to terminology and jargon out there. Funnel this and use this tool.

Chris Davis: [00:13:56] They are the

Chris Davis: [00:13:57] Ones at fault. Right.

Chris Davis: [00:13:59] So.

Chris Davis: [00:14:01] In my mind, I was asking and I’m going to propose these questions to you. Do you really need to know the tools? Right. Or are you unaware of where you really should be focusing on and learning

Chris Davis: [00:14:14] About tools

Chris Davis: [00:14:16] Gives you an easy target? And feeling of accomplishment, even though, is going to overwhelm you and potentially kill all of your momentum in business. That’s what I think is really happening. It’s easier to focus on technology and all the options and the frustration that comes with it, because I’ll be honest with you, everybody, I’m different. I’m different now. I get overwhelmed with Tector. I do as too many options. Listen to me. I am the tech person. I was just yesterday derailed because I ran across a new software that could potentially solve some problems that I’ve been having just collectively in like my community academy courses and all of that. And this was not planned. I did not have time planned to do this. And I’m off for like four hours drive and purchase the thing, tested it out, trying to, you know, see if it fits my considerations. But that was a guided exploration because I’m clear with my considerations of what I needed to do. But still, it’s just another tool. And tomorrow there’ll be another one. And then next week there’ll be four more. Right. So I, too, am overwhelmed, and that’s why I just had to I just felt this is aligned with the market and where we are right now at the time of this recording. And that’s where I had to say, you know what, we we can focus on technology, but it’s not about technology, because if it

Chris Davis: [00:15:54] Was,

Chris Davis: [00:15:55] I would be in a constant state of overwhelm, just like the next business owner who’s not proficient in the technical operations of their business. I would I’m not immune to this, and that’s when I realized being intentional. Intentionally introspective, that’s when I realized, Chris, you feel it.

Chris Davis: [00:16:17] You just don’t

Chris Davis: [00:16:18] Fall subject to it. Right. Like, as soon as the overwhelm comes on, I shut it off and I say, you know what, I’m not going to focus on that is me focusing on that going to impact in any way a a increase in my bank

Chris Davis: [00:16:34] Account today

Chris Davis: [00:16:35] Or tomorrow? And if it can’t, if it won’t, then I don’t. Don’t focus anything on it now, it gets a little interesting when it will impact. Then I use a disciplined approach. And for me, everybody, I have to look at my clock and I say, OK, in 10 minutes I’m giving myself 10 to 15 minutes to do this thing. Whatever wherever I’m at in the at the end of that 10 to 15 minutes, I have to stop, get some real work done and I can revisit this once my work is finished. That is my disciplined approach to technology and I know how to implement it. You don’t know technology and shouldn’t be

Chris Davis: [00:17:18] Implementing it and you’re

Chris Davis: [00:17:20] Trying to figure it out. Right. And many business owners can resonate with this, right, if you don’t focus on the tools and learn the stuff, who will? How will it get done? Right, this is what you’re truly thinking about, and the simple answer is not you. OK, so so I hope that answers it forever, how will I how will I know what tools to use? Who where can I learn the stuff? Who’s who’s going to do it for me? Not you. That is the question. So if you’re not going to do it, you need to now focus on what you can do.

Chris Davis: [00:17:57] Ok, because

Chris Davis: [00:17:59] The truth of the matter is, you’re just not fit to

Chris Davis: [00:18:00] Assess or implement

Chris Davis: [00:18:03] Technology for your

Chris Davis: [00:18:04] Business, although people would treat you like you are right.

Chris Davis: [00:18:07] Just recommending tools to use and things of that. Oh, yeah, you should try this. Oh, it’s easy. Just sign up and, you know, click a few buttons. Oh yeah. Use this. Right. And sometimes, let’s be

Chris Davis: [00:18:22] Honest,

Chris Davis: [00:18:23] It’s as it’s in response to the business owner asking a question. You asked the question, hey, what should I use? Right, and they carelessly respond.

Chris Davis: [00:18:36] So what was my reply, I’m not lost.

Chris Davis: [00:18:39] I’m still on track. Remember, her rebuttal was yes, I do. I need systems in place. How is what? I know what to use. Right. What’s my reply? You just need to focus on your processes.

Chris Davis: [00:18:51] That’s it, just focus

Chris Davis: [00:18:53] On that, get as much clarity as possible on those, because that’s going to guide the technology conversation and show you exactly what to look for in a tool

Chris Davis: [00:19:02] Or software.

Chris Davis: [00:19:03] You need to know who to say yes or no to.

Chris Davis: [00:19:06] Now, let’s go back. Who should I marry? Right.

Chris Davis: [00:19:11] You need to sit back and figure out what you

Chris Davis: [00:19:13] Like, which what you want, what your goals are. Right.

Chris Davis: [00:19:19] Like what type of life you’re trying

Chris Davis: [00:19:22] To live kind of

Chris Davis: [00:19:23] Home. You want to establish all of those things. Now, when you ask the question, tell me all of those things and I’ll be able to better guide you. But don’t come asking this very question, what tools should I use

Chris Davis: [00:19:40] And what you’re

Chris Davis: [00:19:41] Doing is you’re

Chris Davis: [00:19:43] Putting the

Chris Davis: [00:19:44] Work that you should have done. To get clear on your considerations, do your from your processes, you’re just putting that Lezley on someone else. Just like I figure it all out, for

Chris Davis: [00:19:56] Me, it’s really what you’re saying.

Chris Davis: [00:19:59] And I cover this in my master class, and again, I’ve spoken on it many times in the podcast, I link those as well, but I need you all to get this for 20, 21 and beyond.

Chris Davis: [00:20:10] We can’t do this, we

Chris Davis: [00:20:13] Cannot the masterclass, it speaks about strategy first I go through all the systems,

Chris Davis: [00:20:19] But this

Chris Davis: [00:20:19] Keeps showing up and this is how it shows up in a real world context. Many of you are still operating as a hospital. You’re still driving the automation ambulance from from injuries suffered

Chris Davis: [00:20:35] By the

Chris Davis: [00:20:36] Business owner from erroneous

Chris Davis: [00:20:38] Tools, most

Chris Davis: [00:20:39] Of which they got recommended by careless advice from people who care about them. Right, they thought they were helping them out. So both sides have good intentions, but one is going to walk away frustrated and wounded. Now you’re acting

Chris Davis: [00:20:59] Desperately. And as you

Chris Davis: [00:21:01] All know, I don’t drive the automation

Chris Davis: [00:21:03] Ambulance and

Chris Davis: [00:21:05] Many of the people who I mentor, they retire there, they’re licensed to drive. Well, I think truck drivers get like CDL licenses or something like this. They they they retired their class A. License to drive the ambulance, and I’m just saying Class A. for ambulance, I don’t know what kind of driver’s license you need for an ambulance, but they retire theirs

Chris Davis: [00:21:29] Because we’re

Chris Davis: [00:21:30] Not we’re not

Chris Davis: [00:21:31] Reactive.

Chris Davis: [00:21:32] Reactive marketing is is is too close to desperate marketing. OK, so we stay away from that, but but again, I get. Both sides have intentions. You’re trying to solve a problem and this technical terrain is just is not navigated easily. I’m sorry. It’s going to cost is going to cost you time and it’s going to cost you resources. And by time, I mean, it’s going to cost you time to get clear on what you need done by resources is going to cost some time to find the people to do it for you. Right, so if you’re a business owner like that that, you know, doesn’t get the tech operations, take tech off the table. It’s important to figure out, but it’s not your most important job,

Chris Davis: [00:22:20] You need

Chris Davis: [00:22:21] To clarify your processes mainly through manual execution. Make the phone

Chris Davis: [00:22:27] Call, send the email, create

Chris Davis: [00:22:30] The invoice. Right. Send the text message, but document it all.

Chris Davis: [00:22:37] Pay attention.

Chris Davis: [00:22:39] Every client will train, every client will give you things that you like about them and don’t like about them. It’s now you’re even you can have a more guided conversation. Right, and start putting parameters and and really clarifying. To the next claim,

Chris Davis: [00:22:55] That’s the work. Right.

Chris Davis: [00:22:59] You need a sales

Chris Davis: [00:23:00] Page, why are you why

Chris Davis: [00:23:04] Are you sitting up here focused on hiring somebody off of work five or a Facebook group, whatever, to build out a sales page when you don’t even know the copy because you don’t know what you’re selling and you don’t know the transformation it provides? Explain it in email sended, see what they say. If they say yes, oh, wait a minute, let me save this email. This is my first draft of a sales page. Guess what? We just removed all technology. And when I say removed all, yes, email is technology, I’m talking about third party marketing and sales technology. Right. You you need to do

Chris Davis: [00:23:49] This so that

Chris Davis: [00:23:51] You’ll be able to have the right conversation with the right

Chris Davis: [00:23:54] Marketer when you find

Chris Davis: [00:23:56] The right marketer

Chris Davis: [00:23:57] To do this for you.

Chris Davis: [00:23:59] Ok, if you’re a digital marketing professional, stop recommending tools out of context. OK, if somebody just as what tools should I use and you’re not

Chris Davis: [00:24:12] Asking and you’re not

Chris Davis: [00:24:14] Probing before you recommend? Shame on you. You need your credentials

Chris Davis: [00:24:20] Revoked if

Chris Davis: [00:24:22] All you do is recommend the best tool that you’re

Chris Davis: [00:24:25] Using, that you’re

Chris Davis: [00:24:27] That you’re using in having success with. Without having the context of their business, their acumen, their team structure, their strategy, how can you. That’s not help.

Chris Davis: [00:24:42] That is not help, that’s

Chris Davis: [00:24:44] Let’s be honest, can we be

Chris Davis: [00:24:45] Honest, that’s showing off, you just want to

Chris Davis: [00:24:49] Be the first to say what you’re using. So people look and say, oh,

Chris Davis: [00:24:52] Wow,

Chris Davis: [00:24:53] To the ignorant I that

Chris Davis: [00:24:54] Works to the trained. I mean, you’re being careless.

Chris Davis: [00:24:59] And I’ll never respect such an

Chris Davis: [00:25:01] Approach to

Chris Davis: [00:25:02] Such an important entity as someone else’s

Chris Davis: [00:25:05] Business. You will lose respect for me forever.

Chris Davis: [00:25:09] It’s an unforgivable

Chris Davis: [00:25:10] Offence because

Chris Davis: [00:25:12] It cost these businesses

Chris Davis: [00:25:13] Too much. It does.

Chris Davis: [00:25:16] Too many of you are skipping over this step of clarifying and getting clear what your considerations clarified, your process of streamlining them as much as possible. Operating low tech. And looking for a technological savior for your business.

Chris Davis: [00:25:33] Tech will help tech,

Chris Davis: [00:25:35] We’ll help you scale and tech will help you operate in a way that is absolutely

Chris Davis: [00:25:42] Just mind blowing. Right.

Chris Davis: [00:25:45] But you have to do the work and learn your processes intimately. Let your needs be the indicator, right, from from manually executing these processes, you start getting your sore points like, man, I wish there was a way to do this right. That’s the indicator

Chris Davis: [00:26:02] Of a potential software.

Chris Davis: [00:26:07] Right, it’s a balance. I recorded this different levels of of business when you’re starting and you know, you’re breaking even, there’s different technologies introduced at each stage. So, yes,

Chris Davis: [00:26:21] You’re

Chris Davis: [00:26:21] Going to use some technology in the beginning, in the middle and the end, but it’s not about the technology. It’s about your process. I can take any process and executed in a variety of tools, every step will look different. And guess what? Each stack can produce results. What’s the difference, Chris? How they operate, how you operate

Chris Davis: [00:26:46] And the level

Chris Davis: [00:26:47] Of freedom they provide

Chris Davis: [00:26:48] You. You see that

Chris Davis: [00:26:51] So based on what you want to do, based on your goals, your vision and how you want to operate in and on your business, that’s going to determine your

Chris Davis: [00:26:59] Stack.

Chris Davis: [00:27:00] Your technology stack is what I mean when I say stack. OK. And again, you’re going to use some tech to get started, mainly lead

Chris Davis: [00:27:11] Generation, if

Chris Davis: [00:27:13] There’s one thing that I would say every new business needs is is lead generation. You need a landing page and some way to capture information. Period. I didn’t

Chris Davis: [00:27:23] Say a Web site set a landing

Chris Davis: [00:27:25] Page. Every business needs that.

Chris Davis: [00:27:27] I get that. But you

Chris Davis: [00:27:29] Need to use what I call mTOR

Chris Davis: [00:27:32] Minimal tech required.

Chris Davis: [00:27:36] To get you operating in your business and then let that operation define your needs. Right, to let a true expert recommend and implemented. That’s how you’re going to grow your business in 2021 and beyond.

Chris Davis: [00:27:53] Ok, I

Chris Davis: [00:27:54] Need you again. I am not

Chris Davis: [00:27:56] I am

Chris Davis: [00:27:57] Not going to mention this and I’m not going to participate in the what software should I use? It’s different in my community. I have contacts. I know your

Chris Davis: [00:28:07] Business. Right.

Chris Davis: [00:28:08] I know you. You’ve answered questions. I’ve answered, you know, so it’s a safer environment. Because it’s intentional and it’s an intimate space,

Chris Davis: [00:28:19] But out here in the wild, come on, man, why

Chris Davis: [00:28:24] Don’t you just go ask who wants to watch my

Chris Davis: [00:28:26] Children? Would you ask that?

Chris Davis: [00:28:29] That’s how

Chris Davis: [00:28:29] Careless that question

Chris Davis: [00:28:31] Is.

Chris Davis: [00:28:32] So hopefully

Chris Davis: [00:28:34] This stunt enough for you to not ask that question again without providing context

Chris Davis: [00:28:40] And

Chris Davis: [00:28:41] For you to not provide an answer without getting context. Let me say this. The conversation is different if you say, hey, I’m a service based business, I’m a service based business, I generally generate 10 to 20 leads per week and I drive them to a scheduling software. This scheduling software, I would like to ask some questions up front just so I can

Chris Davis: [00:29:12] Know who they

Chris Davis: [00:29:13] Are on the call. Anybody have recommendations on the technology I can use to capture information before they scheduled their appointment? Is that not a different conversation

Chris Davis: [00:29:27] You’re going

Chris Davis: [00:29:28] To get different answers to? Now, if you get even more, I want to be able to conditionally display form fields based on what they input. You’re you’re you’re filtering

Chris Davis: [00:29:43] Down, you know,

Chris Davis: [00:29:45] Through being very specific with what you need, you’re removing all of the overhead because there’s only a few tools that can do that. Right, different conversation. Hey, what should I be using for email? Hey, I sent I do I run a monthly newsletter and what I’m realizing is I’m not segmenting like I need to be. I want to be able to segment based on not just opens and clicks, but website visits. I want to integrate it with my membership platform so I know what courses they’re in and I want to get more dynamic with my segmentation. Is there any technology that you all are using to do that? I would recommend. Different conversation to you right now, MailChimp, I’m going

Chris Davis: [00:30:30] To do that. It’s not going to work flow. That’s not going to work. I mean,

Chris Davis: [00:30:35] You’re eliminating all of them. Through being very clear with what you need done. Now, you may not be able to get to that level of clarity by

Chris Davis: [00:30:45] Yourself, but

Chris Davis: [00:30:47] This is why there are people like myself and all of my mentees and everybody that’s connected with me, this is why we exist to help you have the right conversation and guide you down the right path. So who needed to hear this? Everybody, I’ll tell you who did today. I’m going to make it simple the next time you’re in a in a group and somebody asked this question, hey, what should I use? Say, you know what? I don’t I don’t care if you direct message them. I don’t care if you link is say, hey, listen to this. Most of the time when people get agitated, what they say is Google

Chris Davis: [00:31:25] Is your friend.

Chris Davis: [00:31:27] I think this episode is better than Google.

Chris Davis: [00:31:29] Ok, they need to listen to this and

Chris Davis: [00:31:33] They need they need to get it together

Chris Davis: [00:31:36] The next

Chris Davis: [00:31:36] Time you see somebody on that thread. Oh, use this

Chris Davis: [00:31:40] Use use

Chris Davis: [00:31:42] Mail machine gun light for your email marketing.

Chris Davis: [00:31:45] What?

Chris Davis: [00:31:47] Use use, pink is the best color. Ink for your email marketing, like some of the names that people I would, I can’t even trust a software based on the name,

Chris Davis: [00:31:58] But yet they’re quick to throw it out there again.

Chris Davis: [00:32:01] They want to they want to show off a bit. I know I know what it is if we’re honest. Right, you use those three as a showing off, it ain’t got nothing

Chris Davis: [00:32:10] To do with helping.

Chris Davis: [00:32:11] So the next time you see somebody do that,

Chris Davis: [00:32:13] That humble, that

Chris Davis: [00:32:15] Fake, that fake help, that’s what we’re going to call it. Fake help. Let them know about this episode. Get them in check. I’ve recorded it all, I can

Chris Davis: [00:32:25] Check them for you. You don’t have to say anything. It will not

Chris Davis: [00:32:29] Be an argument because their results

Chris Davis: [00:32:32] Can’t beat mine. I promise you

Chris Davis: [00:32:34] That. So so share it at a minimum with those, but also share with that person who’s just starting their business. They’ve just launched. You see all that momentum that they have,

Chris Davis: [00:32:45] Protect

Chris Davis: [00:32:45] That momentum. They’re going to need it.

Chris Davis: [00:32:48] It should not be spent on technology.

Chris Davis: [00:32:52] All right, so if you found value in today’s episode,

Chris Davis: [00:32:55] Please share, please share.

Chris Davis: [00:32:59] On social, get the word out for those that are my first time listeners. Now is the time to leave that five star rating and review and subscribe. Go ahead. The podcast will still play in the background of your app. Whatever device you’re on, it’s still playing the background. Just go leave that five star rating and review. Here at Automation Bridge, we’re dedicated to training digital marketing professionals to become automation service providers. These are people who don’t commit what I just showed you. They’re going to they know how to probing and get context,

Chris Davis: [00:33:30] Help you get

Chris Davis: [00:33:31] Clear on your strategy and your processes. And then,

Chris Davis: [00:33:35] Mary, that

Chris Davis: [00:33:36] Discovery with the

Chris Davis: [00:33:37] Right tools, OK, to be able to deploy automated

Chris Davis: [00:33:44] Systems in your business for rapid growth. That’s what automation service providers do.

Chris Davis: [00:33:49] Ok, and

Chris Davis: [00:33:51] If if in me saying this, you want to be a part of that movement, I want to help. You’re right. I see it all the time. Chris, give me in the game, coach.

Chris Davis: [00:34:01] I’m ready. Here’s your call, I want you

Chris Davis: [00:34:05] To go to Automationbridge.com/asp To take the next steps to talk to someone on my team to assess if you be a good fit for our program. OK, we’re going to ask you a couple questions, it’s not open to any and everybody. Right, we want to make sure you’re a good fit, but automationbridge.com/asp Where you can do that. The time

Chris Davis: [00:34:30] Is now.

Chris Davis: [00:34:31] The need has never been greater. I’m looking for people who are looking to act urgently. Maybe you still want to go play around some more. And, you know, playing around is not affecting your bottom line and maybe you’re not living off your business income. So.

Chris Davis: [00:34:47] Ok, go ahead. You have fun. But for those of you that know I need to go kill today,

Chris Davis: [00:34:56] What I’m eating tomorrow.

Chris Davis: [00:34:58] Listen, you don’t have time

Chris Davis: [00:35:01] You don’t have time to be playing around, playing these games, going from free course, cheap course to NEC’s,

Chris Davis: [00:35:07] Right.

Chris Davis: [00:35:08] We need a proven framework, you need somebody to walk you through a proven framework to get the systems in place for your business so you can better implement systems for other people’s businesses if you so choose. You may just put the systems in for your business. Hey, look, I like that. This is it, right? So be it. So automation brings dotcom force like a space where you can go for that. All of the show notes and podcasts are accessible. Automationbridge.com/podcast. You can subscribe there and listen to all other episodes at your leisure. So until next time I see you online automate responsibly.