Marketing domination in 90 days, but start with this first; with Gary Geiman

Hello and welcome to this special episode of The Unnoticed Entrepreneur. Today we're going all the way to Greater Cincinnati where we've got Gary Guymon, who's the founder and CEO of a company called Dominate, which is a marketing agency. We're going to talk about the impact of core values and how you must have those in place in order to grow your business. Gary, welcome to the show.

Thanks for having me, Jim. Appreciate it. Thanks for taking the time to speak to me.

Oh, I'm absolutely delighted because I know that you've got over 30 years experience and you're helping companies, especially in the home services category, in the sort of 7-figure-plus size range. I know about core values and you're able to take a long vacation because you've articulated core values so well that your team now can run the business without you necessarily being there day to day. Tell us, Gary, Core values. Why are they important for a company and an entrepreneur to scale?

Yeah, Jim, great question. I think, uh, we miss that value piece of it, right? And we want to acquire customers in certain ways, and we want those customers to do business with us. And it's hard for customers to understand about you and your company if they don't understand what you're about. So at Dominate Partners, we're very specific on our core values. And how we want those values to be portrayed to our clients. Real quickly, I'll tell them to you. I only have 4. And the reason for that is if you have 20 core values, it's hard for everyone to be, you know, plugging into what those core values are. So you need to be very specific. So for instance, we don't talk about integrity and honesty because that's a given, right? We are going to do everything with the highest of integrity and we're going to be nothing but honest. Those don't need to be core values. Core values need to be specific. To how you interact. So for one, we make digital easy. Anyone that looks at digital marketing, whether it's social media or search or website management, whatever that is, if you don't have a thorough understanding, you can start to get really confused quickly. And our job at Dominate Partners is to make that as easy as possible. And we don't burden our clients with doing things that maybe they're not used to doing. One thing is copywriting. If someone has a business and they're not a big copywriter and you say, hey, I need 2,000 words of copy, that might take weeks. To where I have individuals on staff that we can pump that out in a couple of hours and then provide them with that copy, provide the customer with that copy to proofread and get back to us. As you know, in writing a book, the proofread is easier than the write. And that's the way copy is. We respond same day. Communication to me is critical. And we respond same day being a core value is very important. And in fact, that core value is based solely on the fact that that's how I want to be communicated to with companies that I spend money with. Doesn't mean that we're going to give you an answer the same day or solve the problem. It means that we're going to recognize the communication. And in fact, in our meetings, I go a step further and I require we respond same hour. Because it really is annoying when you communicate with a company and it takes them forever to respond to you. And so I want to respond same day. In fact, we get emails from our clients constantly thanking us for the fact that we communicate with them quickly and we don't let things just sit out there. We have a very hard, hard focus on our 3rd core value, which is production over Perfection. Production over perfection is something that I believe gets lost because you're listening to me and you're saying, well, why wouldn't you care about being perfect? And we do care about being perfect. The thing is this, I would rather produce something and push it out than to worry about everything being correct. The every T is crossed, every I is dotted. And when you're focused on just that, you can really fall into analysis analysis paralysis instead of just pushing the information out and getting information in front of people. We get to the starting line of pushing out marketing programs faster than most companies can just onboard a client because we focus on producing and getting the information to that starting point. And then our 4th core value is we solve problems. If a, if a problem is presented to us by a customer, we don't try to place blame. We don't try to figure out who did it or who did it wrong. We solve the problem. We take ownership of the problem. We solve the problem. And again, that goes back to my personal way that I want to be dealt with. And I know that most people don't care who created the problem. What they care about is that the problem got solved. Now, don't get me wrong. We want to make sure that the problem doesn't happen again. So we will troubleshoot and figure that out. But the whole method is to solve the problem. And so my team focuses on seeing the problem, solving the problem. And then in meetings we can discuss how do we make sure that problem doesn't happen again? If it was something we did, it was something somebody else did. Okay. How do we make that streamlined so that doesn't happen? And we'll focus on improving. But when a customer comes with a problem or there's an issue at hand, we solve it. And Those 4 core values is what holds our team in place to go to market and to take care of customers in a very consistent way. We have 11 team members, I believe, and they are all focused on those 4 core values. And then our standard operating procedures are put in place based on those core values and based upon what it is that needs to be done to complete the different processes. And Jim, you mentioned I'm able to go on vacation, but The biggest miss that a lot of business owners make is they don't understand the foundation of what their business is. And, uh, you're probably listening to this podcast right now going, how's this get me noticed? You know, you're listening to the unnoticed and how gets you noticed? Well, if you're communicating your value or giving the customers consistency in your work and performance, you're communicating to them and you're going to get noticed. Our biggest pipeline of leads coming in that want to work with us is from referrals. Even though we do a lot of different things to get out there in the marketplace, referrals are our biggest generation of leads. And those referrals come from customers who work with us that obviously get results, but in working with us, they know what our values are and they communicate those values to others. And they, I want to talk to this individual. I want to talk to this company. Because that's the kind of company I want to work with.

That's really, really interesting, Gary. And what you're illustrating so nicely is that the core values kind of transcend all other behaviors, don't they? That you've been able to get the team to live those values and that manifests itself as a certain kind of behavior, right? How do you do that with the team? Let's talk about that first. How do you share with the team the values? Because it's easy to write them on a On a board, isn't it? Or even on a website, but how do you make people buy into them? Or not even make people, but have people want to? And that's part of the point about core values, isn't it? You don't ask people to have them. They kind of arrive with them and buy into them. How do you do that?

Yeah, it's, you know, it's a great question. I think it's a combination of continuous communication and consistency about talking about them. But it's also when we have meetings to discuss accounts or to have, you know, updates on certain things, core values lead the conversation, right? If we have an issue to where a customer didn't get communicated in a certain period of time, somebody may ask the person that was supposed to communicate, why didn't we respond same day? It's not always me. Now that only started because Every meeting, core values. Every communication about clients, core values. Getting everyone on that same page of seeing, okay, this is how we're going to treat clients and be consistent in doing it. Now, you made a great point of, you know, making versus want. A good leader is going to get buy-in over taking a stick and beating somebody over the head. And so the whole idea behind that was Focusing on the why, not the what. So why do we respond same day? And I use a lot of illustrations where I ask my employees, name me a time when you spent money doing something, the result really irritated you and you had to get your money back. Tell me about that process. And we'll do this in meetings and they'll communicate that. I'm saying, so what was the biggest problem behind that? Well, They didn't respond to me. Okay. And so that's why we respond same day. And we do that continuously. Like, it's not one of those things where I'm like, hey, we all know our core values now. We don't need to talk about it. No, they are the value of what it is we do. They're the reason why we are here. So it has to be continually communicated.

Okay. I love that. And then how do you let your customers know about your core values as well? Because You know, if you have a website that just says, these are our core values and we'll respond real quick. And we're thinking about production over perfection. There's a danger, isn't there, that people may say, well, you're going to get back to me quickly, but then you're going to rush the result and I'm not going to be happy. So how do you reconcile that, you know, speed versus quality versus service dilemma then, Gary?

Yeah. So, you know, except for the sales process, when we do talk about core values, We don't really say what our core values are to customers. We just do it. We react and we follow those core values. So it's not a matter of, hey customer, we focus on production over perfection. So that's why we're able to get to the finish line quicker. We just do it. Now in the sales process, we do talk about those core values and we help them understand why, you know, what production over perfection actually means. It doesn't mean creating sloppy work. Means getting to the finish line first and fixing things as we see them and helping them kind of understand like what each one of them is going to mean to them and what and how each one of them is going to look. And that goes back to my point about not having, you know, a very large number of core values where you can focus on, okay, this is the core value. This is how it's going to look to you. And that's really what we do during The sales process. And then during our communication and our work, we just live those. You know, I haven't had anyone come back to me and say, hey, you're not following your core value. In fact, we get the opposite to where we get responses, communications telling us they appreciate us. And it's because of one of those 4 core values of why they appreciate us.

Okay. That's really nice. And are you doing any sort of signage? Internally, for example, or when people are remote, which they have been, especially during COVID times, how have you been able to retain the bond of core values over distances?

Yeah. So we definitely have some individuals that still work remotely. In our office, we have large metal printed signs with 4 values, as well as some other action-type words of how we work. But in terms of remote employees, you know, I'll be honest with you, I'm still figuring out that whole manage someone remotely at the optimal level. And so for me, it's just continuous consistency around the communication. And at the same time, I look at it this way, they're my customer, so I have to treat them in a way around those same core values. You know, we had a situation, we changed payroll providers recently. And the payroll schedule got jacked up. And I knew 2 days before payroll that payroll wasn't going to get delivered till the day after they were supposed to get paid. And my number one job as someone who has employees is to make sure they get paid. And so I let everyone know, hey, here's what's happening. And I can either cut you a check the day you're supposed to have it, and then you'll get your pay stub. Blah, blah, blah, you know, like you normally should, or you can choose to have it direct deposited on the day after. Totally up to you. You decide. Everybody decided. Everyone appreciated the communication. I could have not communicated it, waited until everybody found out the day of payroll that they weren't having payroll in their account, which would have been very bad. But we respond, like I respond as soon as I know something and I'm going to communicate that. You know, the production over perfection of that was we changed payroll providers so our people can have greater access to changing benefits, PTO requests. Like I wanted that in their hands because it gave them better access to managing all the things being an employee of Dominate gave them. And in doing so created an issue. So production over perfection, I'm going to fix the problem midstream. So it's not a continuous issue. And there wasn't a bump for anybody that anybody had to deal with negatively because I followed 2 of the core values and that consistently communicating and treating them with those 4 core values drives those things home.

Okay. That's absolutely fantastic, Gary. And I love the simplicity. And I don't mean that in a patronizing way, but by just having 4 rather than a long list, which can sometimes be a bit of a vanity project, can't it? You have all these core values, but no one can actually keep up with them or Now you've been an entrepreneur as well, Garen. You're helping many companies, especially in the home services industry. You run a marketing services agency, but how do you get your own agency Dominate and Salvo recognized?

Yeah. So the biggest problem for any business is to find customers. I always say it's a hobby until you get paid. Number one thing that I've done is making sure that I'm present anywhere and everywhere that individuals exist that might hire me. So Facebook, I focus. Heavily on content video. I believe in video through and through because people get to hear and see you, but in doing so, providing value on those stages. So if I'm speaking somewhere, if I'm doing a podcast, if I'm on social media, providing value-based items that can help them in their business growth or operation or sales and marketing so that. Hey, Gary Guymon knows this. And at some point they may need that and reach out to us. You know, I talk a lot about that funnel of know, like, and trust. I try to get as many people in that know part through those things, speaking on stages, podcasting, social media. And then we work a lot because we're a digital marketing agency. We work a lot on being found online. So locations, you know, our market is primarily the US. So we focus on when a home service or a service professional is looking for certain services that we offer. I want to be found on Google. And so we work on doing those things. I look at 2 key things or 2 marks that we use, and I tell my customers to use, and that is to be present and to be found. If you're working on being present and being found in those areas where your services are being looked for or viewed. You're going to dominate your market. And that is the premise of our marketing as well as what we help our clients do.

Right. Interesting. So what's the difference between being present and being found? Because that's an interesting distinction, Gary, that you've raised there.

Yeah. So being present or in all those areas where it's an awareness type stage, awareness means people aren't looking for your service, but you're letting them know what you do. So if you're You know, old awareness was billboards on the highway. Now we have social media, we have podcasts, you know, YouTube. I speak at a lot of events. Those are all awareness. Who is this Dominate Partners? Who is this Gary Geiman? What do they do? That's being present. And then being found is related to search. So when someone is searching for the services that you provide, you want your company to come up as a result and as high as possible for those services or those things that you provide. So present social media primarily found is search.

Right. I love that distinction. Thank you. Because often they're kind of lumped into SEO as being one thing, right? But actually they're quite distinct content strategies and keyword optimization, for example, for your website. Now you also wrote a book, Gary. Just briefly tell us what has been the impact of putting together a book. Has it been worth it? Because some people say you need to have a book, some not. Has it been a good exercise for you?

You know, Jim, I wrote the book not for my purpose, more for the customer purpose or the business owner purpose of helping them have a process. So the name of the book is Dominate Your Market in 90 Days. It's a daily guide to success. So I get asked all the time, what should I be doing in my business on a daily basis to find customers to market? And so what I did was I created a book that teaches you the skills that you need and then tells you day 1, 2, 3, all the way through 90, exactly what you should be doing each day. Things like writing and what you should write about, things like posting and when to post and what to post and where to post, and gives you an exact game plan of how to grow your business. I owned a home service business in the past, and in fact, it's the same plan that I used on a daily basis to grow our business. And so I put that into a book format to give to people as a way to know what to do when they're unsure.

Well, Gary, you're adding a huge amount of value on so many levels, and I've really enjoyed it. If people would like to find out more about you, Gary Gaiman, where can they come?

Yeah. So the best place to find me is Facebook. I'm pretty active on Facebook. So facebook.com/GaryGuymon. You can also find me on LinkedIn and then our website, which is salvonow.com, which I believe will be in the show notes. You can reach out through that as well. But I spend a lot of time on Facebook. I'm one of those Gen Xers and we're not as, you know, TikTok or Snapchat hip. So I'm still on the Facebook. But, uh, you'll see all about me and my family, my business, because I kind of do it. All together and then learn more about me there.

Gary, that's wonderful. By the way, that's Guymon, G-E-Y-M-O-N, in terms of the spelling, prolific Gary. But as always, thank you to Gary, my guest today on The Unnoticed Entrepreneur Show. It's been a pleasure. Thank you, Gary.

Thanks, Jim.

And you've been listening to me, Jim James, your host here in the UK, talking to Gary in Greater Cincinnati. And as always, thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode of The Unnoticed Entrepreneur. If you've enjoyed it, do please share it with a fellow entrepreneur and follow us and even rate us on your listening platform. Thank you so much for listening, and until we meet again, I just pray that you keep on communicating.