YouTube interview between Eric Deeran (Master Filmmaker) and client Randall about how Randall closed a $100K+ project after using Eric’s sales program. Randall describes his background (former naval officer, commercial real estate, bought a video company), the challenges of adopting modern marketing technology, benefits of the program’s turnkey sales process and CRM, and practical advice encouraging serious business owners to invest and do the work. The conversation highlights immediate, usable sales tactics and a CRM change that accelerated operations.
Chapters
What's going on, guys? I'm here with one of our clients, Randall, and today we're going to talk about how he closed a 100k plus project. Randall, how's it going?
Great. Enjoying the program. Looking forward to getting it finished and actually getting some of it running.
Absolutely, man. I guess for anybody who doesn't know you, do you mind just giving us a little bit of background on you, kind of your backstory and how you started this company? Because I know. I think you bought this company and that's how this started, but do you mind just giving us a little bit of background on kind of your story and how you got started here?
Yeah, I was a former naval officer and I wound up in New York and I was working in commercial real estate development for a long time, and I wound up, you know, doing photo and video for our properties because I wasn't getting what I wanted. And so it became a side hustle. And then during COVID I moved down here to Georgia and happy to be back in the south again. By the way, I'm originally from Texas, so it's. It's about time to get back south.
Northeast is tough sometimes, man, with the weather, you know.
Damn Yankees. But anyway, I. I bought this company for my friend who was retiring because he has some health conditions and couldn't keep working, and he sort of farmed out all the business. But I got all the equipment and some name recognition and, you know, some. A good call list of crew members and stuff like that, and just. Basically just went to work, you know, building it. Building it a new way. So that. That was about three years ago, and I've been working, you know, been changing around to be less of a freelancer model, more of a business model, operating more like a studio with some crews and. And doing a more cinematic approach to. Than just a straight videography approach.
Absolutely. And I guess what was kind of the biggest problem you had jumping into the program, because obviously you're still going through the program. We're still working through things. Right. But I guess what was kind of that biggest problem coming in?
Well, it might. So for me, you know, the hurdle that I had faces is one that nobody can tell just by looking at us, and that's that I'm a little bit older than the average video guy, you know, in your program. I know that's a real surprise to everybody. And so some of the. Some of the ways we're doing things like the Facebook ads and getting all this technology, working together, you know, with each other and talking to each other and all that. You know, these are new concepts to me. Yeah. I did my MBA back in the 90s. Right. My business career was all before this big Internet revolution. So I'm kind of navigating that at the same time, I'm helping my clients work within that. So I'd say that's the biggest hurdle is just getting it all put together and running.
Right.
But on the other hand, the thing that I like the best about it was the approach you take. You know, you have the sales conversation kind of all laid out in ways of. Ways of doing things that are specific to the video market. And so I found that really helpful even before I got through the program. You know, the first thing I did after watching that was started using those things in conversations that I was already having with clients and prospects. Yeah. So as we're piecing the machine together, I'm already using the sales process.
Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot of low hanging fruit you can use to then, you know, switch small things within the process that obviously make big results. And I always say it's like it's always the small hinges that swing those big doors as opposed to just the. It's not always a complete overhaul right off the bat. It's those little things that can make a big difference. Obviously in your situation with the. The 100k plus. And I guess, like, was there any reason maybe you chose this program over maybe some of the other programs? Because obviously, obviously there's other programs out there, but is there any reason maybe you chose this one over other ones? Maybe there wasn't a reason at all.
I think for me it was the fact that your system was turnkey so I could go to one place and do everything instead of having to piece it all together. And that your, your promotions that I was seeing were speaking business language and not hype. I'm not. I don't respond well to sizzle. I really want to see the meat.
Yeah, absolutely. As. As I think most people would, you know, and I guess, like, is there any, any part of the program outside of just the sales that's been particularly helpful for you in this process?
Well, I'm really liking the new CRM as I get going on it. The one I was using before does not do some of the things I want it to do. Sure. This one does. It looks like it's going to be very effective for us and so I'm real excited about that part too.
I love it. What were you using before, if you don't mind me asking?
I was using a product called Thrive.
Okay, yeah, yeah.
It's just general small business, right. What it doesn't do is let you set up that. That Kanban board look and move.
Move opportunities from piece to piece of.
The client life, right? Like from project to project. And that's what I really wanted, so that I could do things, you know, at this point and then move them into a new category and track the project. And. Yeah, it doesn't have that capability.
Makes sense. And kind of a weird question, but I guess, like, where do you feel like you might have been if you hadn't taken action? Because obviously it's a scary jump to invest, to. To make a change, to implement a new system, right? It's a big jump for a lot of people, I guess. Where do you feel like you might have been if you hadn't taken that jump and you hadn't make it, like, made that bet on yourself in the company?
I think I'd still be struggling to put all these pieces together myself, you know, on a much longer time frame and much more frustrating scenario. Right. I mean, if I'm having to guess about all this technology and integrate it myself and figure out what to use and then how it works and then how to use it, you know, you guys have kind of come up with a lot of that already. So all I really have to do is customize my own information within it. So I think that's a big accelerator, you know, otherwise I'd still be going through all that and trying to figure it out one little piece at a time for sure.
Absolutely. And last question, Randall. I guess if anybody is maybe watching this, maybe they're just on the fence about even just booking a call, speaking with the team. I guess.
What.
What advice would you give them, knowing what you know now?
So actually that happened. A guy messaged me on LinkedIn, and so I took his contact and then he said, hey, I was looking at these guys, you know, and I didn't know if it was a scam or if it's a real deal, you know, what do you think? And so I'll tell you what I told him. I said, yeah, it's definitely a real deal. I was able to put the information to good use before I even finished the program. I'm liking the improvements we're making, both in our process and in our sales. And so I told him. I told him I closed a big project before I even had the machine up and running. And I, you know, I just said. I said, I think it's worth doing if you can, if you can afford it. If you're a serious business person and you've got the, you got the market presence to be able to afford something like this, it looks to me like it's going to supercharge growth. And if that's what you're after, then you should, you should do it right. You can't be afraid to invest in yourself.
And I think, I think a key thing there is, is it takes work. It takes work on your end. Takes work on our end. Right. It's not a magic pill. Just, you know, I always like to.
Say that it takes work.
It does. Absolutely. Well, Randall, I appreciate your time, man. Congrats on the 100k deal. I'm excited to help you scale even further and, and close even more deals and appreciate your time.
