4 Parts to Building a Great Team

What do we need to do as CEO? Right? We're a leader. Part of that leadership is giving the team what they need. One of the things that shifted for me, that was huge. That, like, you guys know, I don't even have to. The frustration of, like, they're not doing this shit. I'm telling them, and I'm telling them they're just not doing it right. Why can't they just get it? Then one day I said, you know what? What if it's not? What do I need from them? What do I need them to do? I need you to do this, I need you to do that. I need you to do this. What do they need from me? What do they need from me? What does your team need from you? We forget that you've got to be able to step up and give your team what they need. There's no reason for you to go through years of struggling like I did. And if you've already gone through it enough, okay? But part of that is saying, you know what? I need to step up to a different level of what's expected of me in my position. And what is your role? Your role is to create the vision for where the company's going, the strategy on how to get there, and then lead your team to execute. That's it. That's it. We want to get you to a place where, as the owner, you're out of the day to day. You're not part of the operating system anymore. You might not even be running the operating system. You're just watching it. You're looking at your numbers, you're meeting with people, you're deciding what to do next. You're casting a new vision for the future, developing a new strategy, maybe with your people, and then you're leading them and giving them the tools they need to execute. Right? Who wants to be out of the day to day as an owner who wants to be out of the day to day of the business? Okay? Now let me ask you this. As an employee who wants the owner out of the business, he probably won't see many hands, but who wants them out? I hear from owners so many times, they're like, you know what? My team actually likes it better when I'm gone. Things run better when I'm gone. It's less they admit. I come in, I create the stress, I create the stuff. So when your team's empowered to do the things when your team's empowered to do the things that they need to do, they don't want you there. Right? They'll be happy to see you go. If they've been with you for a while, if they've seen you struggle, they've seen you stress, they've seen you pull your hair out, they'll be happy for you to go on vacation with your family. They'll be happy for you to stop coming in first thing in the morning and being the last one to leave. They'll be happy for you to take the weekend's off. Because you know what? As part of a rewarding and winning culture, it needs to be a rewarding and winning culture for you, too. So what do we need to do as CEO? Right? We're a leader. Part of that leadership is giving the team what they need. One of the things that shifted for me that was huge, that like, I, I you to get, you guys know, I don't even have to the frustration of like, they're not doing this. I'm telling them and I'm telling them they're just not doing it right. You guys know what I'm talking about. I explain why. How many times do I have to tell this guy? How many times do I have to tell her? Why? Why can't, why can't they just get it, that frustration? I don't know if that way, like, I don't know where all. It was part of the stress, right? Where did the stress come from? Then one day I said, you know what, what if I. What if it's not? What do I need from them? What do I need them to do? I need you to do this, I need you to do that. I need you to do this. What do they need from me? What do they need from me? What does your team need from you? We forget that. We forget that. I didn't even know that until I kind of just shifted, right? Just a lot of the journaling and a lot of I think through problems that way. And I was just like, what do they need from me? So let's talk about what your team needs from you. Because we all need to be reminded, even if you know this, even if you're like, lewis, I'm going to lead my team. I'm doing a great job. And just so you know, guys, I know there's some people I'm looking and I know there's people that are absolutely crushing it. And that does not necessarily mean you're at eight figures. Like, I'm seeing someone there. I'm seeing somebody there that I happen to know. There's probably some few more people that I don't know that are already beyond that. It just means that wherever level you're at, you're doing the things necessary to get to that next level. And if you're not, it's okay. You just didn't know what the steps were. That's okay. You know, you can't head out into the woods and just figure you're going to get to your destination if you don't have the map. So today I'm just looking to give you the map of where to go. So, like, never feel bad about where you're at. But you've got to be able to step up and give your team what they need. I've got three or I've got four companies I see right now, independents doing eight figures. People that I work with, so it's possible. Guys, like, don't think it's not. But let's talk about what you need to give the team. Number one, skills. Skills. Training. Bringing them here, training them how to do their job. It's amazing to me when I go into companies and they're like, they're not doing what they're supposed to do. Okay, show me what they're supposed to do. Where's their training? One of the best things you could do to start systematizing your business and start to build an operating system is start to create your training programs. Simple. Doesn't have to be fancy. I literally, guys, I start all my thought processes in with a pen and paper writing it out. Okay, you don't have to get fancy, but you've got to decide what's the order? What do they need to know? What are the things I need to teach them for them to be able to do their job right? Training. Salespeople need training. They need to know how to estimate the move. They need to know how to close the deal. They need to know what your policies are around, follow up and what you could do. Discounts and not discounts. They need to understand all of that. Your movers, they need to be trained. You know, most people think that the movers need to be trained just how to move furniture. There's so much more besides that. I think that's the least important thing. I know people argue with me on that one. They need to be trained on, like, what are your policies and procedures? What do they. What are the steps they need to do when they get to a move? How do they resolve any conflict that might happen on the move? Right. How do they show the customer that they care? We got to give people the skills. I don't. I know. I Don't have to tell this group because you guys are here. Right. So this is part of that. But you've got to just whenever you're having problems, Right. Just think about training. And whenever you think about training, just think about process. Right. I need to train them how to do something. Okay, well, what's our process for doing it? I don't know. All right, how do I want it done? Sit down, write it out. Okay. Might not be perfect, but at least they have a way. Otherwise they're out there just doing this. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I see it so much. Don't feel bad if that's you, but let's go start training your people. This is the responsibility of owning a company. The gift and the curse. A lot of responsibility, but a huge upside and a huge gift if you could pull it off. But you need your people, they need the skills. Second one is tools. Tools. This could be as simple as actual tools for movers. Like guys give them the stuff that they need to do the job. Drives me nuts when I hear an owner say, ah, well, you know what? They lose everything anyways. I'm not buying more pads. I'm not buying more dollars. You guys go work with what you've got. Really? You're going to send them out there with 35 pads, one dolly and two straps? Who do you think suffering them or your customer? Right. Where's the problem? The problem is not in the movers. The problem is in the process. The problem is in the inventory or lack of inventory control and process. But don't punish the customers for it. I get it. You know you don't. Yes. We don't want to keep spending money on equipment. I've been there. I know what it's like to go to New Haven or Victory or CDS or any of these companies. I need more pads. Oh, did you get more trucks? No more dollies. You get more trucks? No, just need more pads. Need more dollies. Right. But you don't fix the problem by under supplying your people and not giving them the tools. Right. But you also give the software. Most of you know I'm co founder of smart moving software. Who's got. Let me know in the chat who's in Smart move and just put a SM in there. Let me know who's in there. I see you guys. Oh, man, I love it. I love it. Awesome. We literally built that to give you and your team the tools to execute all of this. You know, my first few years of doing this and doing seminars, you know, people are like, well, how do you do this? I'm like, well, I'd be on stage like, well, you need this system and then this system and this system and this system and this system to tie them all together. And then you're going to need a special person to help tie all that stuff together. And I finally just got sick of doing that, and I knew there needed to be something better out there. So I love it. I thank you guys for, you know, trusting and jumping in there, and I hope it's really helping you. Tools. Processes is a tool. Written documentations. Sop. That's a tool. That's a tool, right? Like, you want to equip somebody to go out and do what they need to do. What do they need? What they need? Those are the tools, right? That. The tangible things. They need the scripts. Your sales team needs scripts. They need rebuttals to objections. Customer says your price is too high. Customer sales reps like, okay, all right, well, thanks. Not, no. They need to know exactly what to say to help the customer make sense of the service, make sense of why you charge more. Help the customer understand that. Look, when you go shop for a tv, you could go to Best Buy and you could go to Walmart and see which one it's cheaper at. And you could buy it. You could go to one dealership for a car or another dealership for a car, see which one's cheaper. But when it comes to hiring professional movers, it's not comparing apples to apples. Okay? Because in order for us to send you highly trained quality professionals, we need to pay them a little bit more, Right? We need to make sure that you've got the equipment on the truck that's going to safely transport your stuff from where you are to where you want to go. I know there's some cheaper companies out there, but the question is, are you looking for the cheapest price or do you actually want a quality move? Well, I really want both. Okay, great. Well, right. They need to know what to say. I didn't rattle that off because I'm a great salesman. I rattled that off because that's been documented for probably 17 years, right? Great salespeople, again, are some of them born okay, maybe. But what makes great salespeople is that those people just know what to say and when to say it. Right? They've got their script. They know what to say. The customer takes them off track, no problem. They know right where to come back. To they don't miss any points. You know, customer. I wasn't told about the travel time because the sales reps just winging it. Right? So give them the tools that they need. What other tools? What else could make it more streamlined in your business? Right? You got to utilize technology these days. Next, we've got to give them the mindset. Okay? The mindset. You can't give somebody a mindset, but you can influence them, lead them on how to think about things. You know, whenever I see somebody that's struggling, oh, how do you get employees to do stuff? They're not listening, right? Okay. When I see an employee that's not listening, because I've actually. I've had companies bring me in, they're like, look, I need you to, you know, coach my team too. And when I see somebody that's not listening, I need to understand where they're coming from. First of all, right? Why is it that they're not listening? Why is it that they're not doing what they're supposed to do? And then I need to try to enroll them in my view of things, in the company's view of things. Enroll them, get them to buy into the core values of the company, the company's mission, what you're after. You know, one of the most powerful things you could do as a leader is help people to think about things differently, change the perspective. If they're looking at it this way and that's not serving them, how could you help them look at it this way? You know how many light bulbs go off for people by helping them do that, by helping to shift their mindset. It's not manipulating people, right? It's helping to shift their perspective and their way of thinking about it. Our worldview, the way we see things determines all that we experience in our life. All that we experience in our life experience is dependent on how we look at things, what we're focusing on, the meaning we give to it. So when they're looking at their job and they're looking at the things that you need them to do, how could you help shift their perspective? Not force it. You can't force it. You could introduce an idea and say, well, what if you looked at it like this? What if you tried it like this? Or I understand. I understand where you're coming from, but what if I was able to do this? Would that help you do this? Right. The way they think about it is everything. You know, you want people with a better attitude. You've got to be able to step up and Help guide their mindset, be a leader. You know, I take pride in personally helping to mentor people in my companies, you know, and just help them. And not even in work, but just they're having struggles outside. I try to just help give them a different perspective, a different way of looking at it. And then we've got to give them growth opportunities. Growth opportunities. People need to see that there's a path for them to grow, that they're not in a dead end job. Okay. Even if their family and friends and everybody else is. Like, you work at a moving company, right? You know, people laughed at me when I said I was starting a moving company. You know, how many people didn't believe in me? Family members, friends didn't believe in me. And now I'm. Because I did it and I went all in. Like, I'm good, believe me. Like, I don't need to, you know, ticket admission prices. Like, you know, I just don't want people, like, I need people to, like, commit a little bit to get in the room. Otherwise, you're not the people I want in the room. But there needs to be growth opportunities. And there are. There's so many. Let me see the hands again. How many people want to open another location or franchise their business? Okay. And that's not the only path. You know, you could become a hometown dominator, right? Where you've got your one location and you're just crushing it in one spot. But how do people grow? Okay, this could be something as small as, you know, showing movers. Hey, look, as a helper, this is how much you get per hour. As a driver, this is how much you get per hour. You could get a 50 cent raise or a dollar raise or a $2 raise. But by taking this training or implementing this or doing these things, like what are the steps for them to get more. Oh, you want to make your way off the truck and into the office. Well, here's the possibilities and here's the things you would need to do and things you would need to demonstrate. Oh, you want to own an office one day? You want to be a partner with me one day? Okay, well, here's the path. I need you to, you know, own your role as dispatcher. Then if you do these things, we'll lay out what the success factors look like for that. All right? And after a year, we'll move you to operations manager. If you could do operations manager, then we'll partner. Or you can take a franchise or you can go be the district manager or whatever the case may be. But there's so many growth opportunities in this business, you know, and so like, you need to look at each one of your people. And as an owner, guys, if you're, if you're an employee right now, I need you to realize, like, owners aren't bad people, you know, and if they're stressed out and they're not giving you the leadership you need and they seem like they're making your job harder, they're, they're trying. You know, we're all trying. I failed my team this week. I failed my team. It happens as you grow and you try to do more and you push yourself against that, that, that comfort zone wall, you take on more, sometimes you can't necessarily handle it, right? But when those growth opportunities come, you've got to not shrink from them either. You've got to say, you know what? I believe in myself and I believe I could step up and create those growth opportunities. Because guess what? Growth opportunities aren't one way street. A true growth opportunity has got to be a two way street, right? Meaning the company profits from it. Any team member, employee, partner, whatever they become, they profit from it. And it helps the quality of life for everybody involved and helps the customers. Hey, my friend, before you go, you've got to hurry and watch these next few videos over here. They will absolutely help you take your moving company to the next level. Go watch them now and I'll see you over there.