Episode 88: Light a Fire INSIDE Them

Welcome to the Unstoppable Profit Podcast. Wherever you are today, if you're starting with nothing or are well on your way to the success you desire, with the right people, processes and promotions in place, you will be unstoppable. And now I'd like to introduce your host, Mike Stromso.

Greetings friends. This is Mike Stromso coming to you live from the Living Agency Laboratory. I am here with a very special holiday edition of the Unstoppable Profit podcast. And the reason for the season, the reason that every single day, every single week of the entire year is so special in the Living Agency Laboratory is because of team. The definition of team is together, everybody achieves. More so at the end of the day, why is the team so high achieving? Why are they motivated? How are they motivated? And I want to share with you something that we have started within our Living Agency Laboratory that has made all of the difference as far as ongoing motivation, inspiration and what it has really caused to happen. And the result of it is we have lit a fire inside of them, not under them. I learned from very high achieving agent, Mr. Jeff Roy. He told me one time when he is speaking at the Be Unstoppable boot camp a couple of years ago, he said, mike, we need to light a fire inside of people, not under them. I love that thinking. So let's get started on one of our strategies which is consistent. It's been going on for a couple of years, it continues to get better all the time. And I want to share with you in some detail exactly how we do it. And remember this every time that you're thinking about how you can better lead your team. And, and remember, people are silently waiting to be led. So it's up to us to lead them. We've got to have the vision. Vision is the art of seeing things that other people can't see. They're just waiting for us to lead them. And remember, friends, people don't have to stay within your business. They can do whatever they want. So they want to be there. Lead them. They're waiting for you. I learned something that was game changing this week and I want to share it with you. You know, imagine that your team member's name is Susie, so we should be making this happen every time that we interact with one of our team members. What can I do today to help Susie achieve what Susie wants? And I hope you wrote that one down if you didn't pause this so you can get something to write with and something to write on because we've got to be answering this question every single day in every single way. As leaders of organizations, what can I do today to help Susie achieve what Susie wants? Isn't that all we want to do as leaders is help our team get whatever it is that they want? Because, you know, Zig Ziglar said, you can have anything you want in this world as long as you help enough other people get what they want. And one of my first injections of a reminder of this. We started the program, which we affectionately call in our Living Agency Laboratory, Tommy or Tom Teammate of the Month. And we cut out the Teammate of the month and we do the Tom Award every single month. It is game changing, inspiring, motivating, and beyond that. And it helps us as well with our sharing within our communities, both online and offline. Remember, your marketing program or your promotional programs should always include a good mix. Online, offline, online and offline, because that's where you get the greatest reach. Because if you want to reach 100% of the people, you've got to use 100% of the ways. Online, offline, online, offline. I know the digital world. It's so easy to, you know, just send out an email, send out some texts, do a video. And even with SEO action and organic SEO juice, it's going to start to magically happen, my friends. It's more than that. You've got to have that mix. So one of my great reminders of why our Tommy or our Tom Award is so successful within our Living Agency Laboratory was a plane ride that I had a couple of years ago. I was down in Texas, the great state of Texas. Excuse me, because that is what my friends from Texas taught me to say. Actually, it is the great state of Texas. God's country is what they taught me to say. And they also said if they're not there yet, they're on their way. And a lot of people are on their way there. So at the end of the day, I was studying a book called the Nordstrom Way. And if you're watching this on, if you're not watching this on YouTube, head over to our YouTube channel, go to YouTube and just search Unstoppable Profit Podcast. You'll find all of our previous episodes there. You can watch the video live as well, which sometimes people learn better that way. By the way, let me give you another ninja stealth tip, all right? When people hear, they learn. But when people hear and see, they understand. So you want people to bring people to a place of understanding. People don't make buying decisions that they don't Completely understand. Let's get back to our study today. So this is the Nordstrom Way, and I was studying this book called the Nordstrom Way to Customer Experience Excellence. Isn't that what we want, my friends? So I am sitting there, I am listening to the study of the book, and I have got the book in front of me so I can make notes and dog ear and everything else that I do in the book while I listen to it. That is how I learn at the highest level, by the way. That is one of my big secret sauce items, my friends. That is how I learn. I listen to people who know more than I do about anything. I have three coaches, and I study and I study and I study. I am a voracious study. A maniac, if you will. So I am learning on this airplane. And I got to a point in the study where and I had to turn it off, make sure my seat was down so I could write this one down. And the only thing I could find to write on was this boarding pass. There's the boarding pass of the flight that I was on, and I wrote it down on the back of it. And this is something that I teach a lot. And you may have heard me say this before. You see, the reality is, my friends, and if you're watching on the YouTube podcast, people want two things more than sex and money, praise and recognition. People want two things more than sex and money. They want praise and recognition. So we've got to find ways to praise people all of the time, right? So, my friends, at the end of the day, what I did is I took that into my thought process and I went back and I improved the in progress Tommy program, which was going on at the time. And I'm going to share with you some details exactly how we do it, and I strongly recommend doing that. You think about doing something like this in your business. All right, so near the end of the month, I don't do this anymore. I've got other people doing it. I've been here now. Hear me clearly on this. I've empowered them to do it. I've empowered them to do it. I didn't delegate it. It's a different thought process. I've empowered other people to do this. So with that being said, there's an email that goes out towards the end of the month and it says, hey, team, it's that time again. Has a teammate gone above and beyond this last month? Have they helped you out? Did they teach you something new? Have you witnessed them going the extra mile? I want you to stop right now and nominate him or her for Tommy Teammate of the month. The winner receives a $50 gift card, social media post shout outs and a world class certificate to display however they want within their work area. So please send your nomination now and give us some detail on why you feel that this person deserves to be nominated as teammate of the month this month. Please make sure you get this back to us before the end of the last workday at the end of this month. Thank you so much for all you do on behalf of your teammates at sia. And don't forget about our four core values. Make sure if this person is living our core values. Tell us which core value that is. Bam. That's the email that goes out now. If you don't have the core values within your own business, that's okay. Regardless of your past, you have a spotless future. Stop now. Turn the page. You have a blank page. Design your business the way you want it to be designed. Right. So what happens next? All of these emails come back. The person that's been empowered within our living agency laboratory collects all the emails, compiles them by name of the person on a sheet. It's really that simple. And we have a winner. And it is a rare occasion that we have a tie. I'm going to suggest some. This has probably been going on for around three years. In the last three years, I'll bet you there's been one or two ties. So if there is a tie, a we get together as a leadership team and we talk about it and we break the tie somehow. So ultimately at the end of the day, it's rare. So the great thing that happens next is this. We create this certificate in house. We have frames in house. We put it in the frame. Get ready to award at the team meeting. Our team meetings, by the way, are the first Wednesday of every month. First thing in the morning. It happens religiously with no mission. It doesn't matter who's in or out. It happens every single month. And it's the last thing we do in our team meeting at the beginning of the month is award the Tommy Award. And so the person who is empowered to do this within our agency, which is one of our team leaders, says, alright, it's time for the Tommy Award and I want to share with you all of your responses for the people that you nominated. Okay? And then she just goes down and she verbatim reads the responses and they come from the teammates. Okay. And it says, Andrea constantly continues to offer support and encouragement to every One of our team members. That's why I nominate her. It says Erica is always willing to help others and goes out of her way to make sure that everybody is supported in every way. Okay. This person says Katie is always available and always help, answers questions and in detail when is needed. I was looking for a market recently to access a specific program and she helped me in a pinch.

Boom.

Ok. This month my choice is Rowena. She is always helpful and she is always willing to help me learn. And I admire her so much for that. And the next one says this month Maritza gets my vote. She continues to be a great example of an outstanding teammate. She plows through her work. She serves our clients and protects our clients and is always encouraging her teammates. Okay. And then it goes on to give a couple of other accolades for that same person. And then lastly, the winner at the end has multiple accolades, but I'm just going to give you the first one for the winner. And then that person just reads, I mean, there's more to it than that and I'm going to save it for just the sake of time in this particular podcast. But, you know, here's the secret sauce. Let me finish reading from the winner. So the winner. And then she says the winner is. And then she specifically pauses, turns around the plaque and it has the name of the person. So everybody sees it. So in this particular month, it was Jen. Jen is very motivational and supportive. She makes the extra effort to ensure that we're all on track and and supports us in every way to keep us heading in that direction. We are more organized and we appreciate all that she is always doing to encourage us and to help us do more. And there are like four or five other responses supporting the winner. So then we show the plaque and we are all clapping and giving everybody praise. But here is what happens at that particular moment. My friends, everybody that has heard their name, heard something being read about them. How do you think they are feeling? Maya Angelou said, people will forget what you said, they will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel. My friends, the team members are feeling praised and recognized. And bigger than that, they are socially proofed, recognized. They have been praised in front of their entire team. Sorry about that. Isn't that absolutely awesome? My friends, that is part of the secret sauce within our living agency laboratory that keeps people inspired. We are lighting a fire within them, not under them through this particular program. So I hope this helps you. I hope this gives you some juice on everything that you can be doing. So at the end of the day, my friends, what we do is we have the plaque, everybody is clapping, we go around and all that kind of stuff. Then we go out and we take a picture. The teammate of the month is holding up their plaque. They are right in the center. Our entire team is around. So this is the picture that we use to show out in the community. Now here is one of the things that happens with regard to that. If you are looking to recruit a new team member and you show this kind of team support and this type of team activity within your living agency, laboratory or your business have, how do you think those prospective team members feel? How do you think they view your business?

Exactly. My friends, if I had somebody that is recruiting and I was having some trouble closing them, you know what I would do? I would take probably 30 visuals of the teammate of the month and I would put those all in a singular presentation and I would send it to that prospect. Why not you and why not now? What do you have to lose? The only thing they're going to say is no. So we do the photo, it goes out on social media, it goes out in our newsletters, both online and offline. Is that both online and offline effect of things, if you will. So in addition to that, they get the $50 spend however they want and they get the praise for the entire month. And it's just a huge win win for our organization. Friends, I believe if you have the kind of team and the kind of presence to be able to do this, I strongly recommend you think about implementing something like this for the coming months and the coming years. It is an absolute game changer. My friends, this is Mike Somstadt coming to you live from the Living Agencies Laboratory, wishing you and yours safety, health and wealth in everything that you do. And remember, it is all about the three Ps, people, processes and promotion in that order. When implemented properly, you will grow your business, you will create wealth, you will have more freedom to live life on your own terms. That is all we want for you, my friends, is to have all of that and more. And if there is anything more that we can be doing to help you get there, please let us know. And if you enjoy the episodes of the Unstoppable Profit podcast, we would be honored and privileged if you would share the link with anybody you know, send them to our YouTube channel. Go to YouTube and search Unstoppable Profit Podcast. We're on all the podcast stations out there. Just check us out. Unstoppable Profit Podcast and If you haven't yet, make sure that you subscribe@unstoppableprofitpodcast.com so you don't miss any of the episodes. We'll automatically notify you so you never miss the next lesson from the Living Agency Laboratory. My friends, this is Mike Somso wishing you and yours well. Make a difference, Be unstoppable, leave no regrets, and don't forget you are unstoppable. Talk to you soon.

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