Alane Boyd of BGBO Co.

[00:00:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Hello ladies and gentlemen, I hope of course for our US facing folks.

[00:00:07] [SPEAKER_00]: So you enjoyed your Labor Day weekend.

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_00]: The beach is behind you.

[00:00:11] [SPEAKER_00]: The unofficial summer and has come in gone.

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_00]: It's back to school and if you're not worried about back to school, it's back

[00:00:17] [SPEAKER_00]: to football because then a fell starting Thursday and Friday this week for all of you sports

[00:00:22] [SPEAKER_00]: junkies and no, I did not travel down the Brazil to watch my Eagles play your packers.

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_00]: That's okay.

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll watch it on TV like every one else.

[00:00:32] [SPEAKER_00]: So before we get too deep into this, we get through some housekeeping at beginning

[00:00:35] [SPEAKER_00]: all these sessions because you know, lot to say and a lot to do and a little time.

[00:00:40] [SPEAKER_00]: So MSP initiative.com here on this website, you will find a copy of recording from this

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_00]: session, which we're literally doing right now live on September 3rd by the way.

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_00]: And you'll find it in video podcast, audio, video format, like subscribe down

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_00]: to the chair.

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_00]: You know what to do?

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_00]: It's all there.

[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I think I made all that rhyme.

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Then we have MSP community mods.

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: So we have our next one coming up in Denver.

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_00]: It's alive and in person educational event, September 25th, 26th in Denver.

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And so why would you come to this while check it out?

[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_00]: We have a ton of content.

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_00]: All not content that you're going to swipe your credit card at the end of it.

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Two full days with MSP panelists and expert workshop delivery people.

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And so if you don't walk away with something net new from this, you're asleep.

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_00]: So by the way, cause you absolutely nothing to register and join us as an MSP.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_00]: There's no 399 999 999 1299 registration fee.

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, you do have to spend a little bit of time out of your normal day and get there, which

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_00]: obviously will take a little bit of time a little bit of money.

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_00]: But we're not charging you for the people and the space and the education and the

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_00]: nighttime activities.

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_00]: All just part of this for you as our way to get back to the community.

[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_00]: So check it out MSP community mods, which will find on MSPNyship.com.

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Then this is probably what everybody actually knows is for are the MSP community block

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_00]: party.

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_00]: So we had our international Australia just a few, not even a few, but we can have for

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_00]: them.

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's behind us.

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: We have four more for the rest of the year, one, pack safe beyond in Germany.

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00]: So if you want to check out Berlin, that's right, the one where there used to be a wall

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_00]: back way back when.

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_00]: But we are going to Berlin with our French and Paxaewer, you know, in the Denver event

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_00]: with Paxaewer this year, this is our European event and looking to have a good time there

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_00]: as well for the folks that are either from that part of the world or flying across.

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Then we have a data con in Miami.

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_00]: So this is going to be a fountain blue.

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Our party is literally on site at Live, a nightclub, which is literally in the lobby.

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_00]: You make a right hand there and then the fountain blue and you're right there.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_00]: It's built right into the venue.

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_00]: No buses, no uvers, you like walk along and you'll find it.

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_00]: So if you had it to that, I'll cotton my amy join us.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Then we have the big one which we should do every year at IT Nation Connect in Orlando.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: So we will be announcing our special guest entertainment.

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Two years ago is our American Regeux last year was better than as a sugar ray in Tonic this

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_00]: year.

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_00]: It has been booked letting you know there is an artist.

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I will announce that in a little while so stay tuned and then we close our year at

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Data Con in Sydney the week after IT Nation in Orlando.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_00]: So yes, we here at MSP Initiative, Love Collecting Airlines Miles.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I still argue I prefer Chick-fil-A points but teach their own.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Then we have the MSP Community Calendar and deals and offers from vendors from around the

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_00]: sandbox that you may or may not take advantage of if you could do awesome.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I hope they help you and how keeping is now officially done MSP initiative.com.

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't know how to spell initiative just do what I do.

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Go to Google type in the word, they'll spell check you and the rest is copy and paste.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright.

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Today we bring a first time on the show, first time ever so a little letter give

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_00]: us some backgrounds to everybody can get a little bit of understanding why but Elaine

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Boyd from BGBL will be joining us also in Denver on the 25th, 26th.

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And we'll talk about that too.

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm not going to tell your story, Elaine.

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to let you tell yours a little bit of background will be awesome so people

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_00]: can understand why you are good at what you do.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_02]: Perfect.

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, thanks for having me George.

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_02]: I liked that housekeeping that you did too.

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_02]: So lots of cool things.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_02]: So my background has been in tech and software for the last two decades and sold my company

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_02]: at an agency and two software platforms sold it in 2018 and just thought, what do I want

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_02]: to do next?

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_02]: Because I got really bored within about four months and I really love the operations.

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_02]: The scene what tech can do at companies, how believe eating burden on people, working with

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_02]: cybersecurity and just making sure that things are all tidy and cleaned up and especially

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_02]: for our company that wants to exit.

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Those things are very important.

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_02]: And so now I go in and help companies put in systems, processes, do automation, work with

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_02]: MSPs, either as a managed package service that they can provide and we work as a partner

[00:05:22] [SPEAKER_02]: or for their own internal company because a lot of MSPs I see working from spreadsheets.

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_00]: That's very interesting.

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: So number one, one of the events, your background is a little bit in a second but like

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: your story is familiar with MSP pitches to their customer.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: It's okay, you know, we're going to what we do.

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Technology's like a necessary evil, like don't fight it, make it work for you, let's

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_00]: automate it.

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Although this word has been abused and used for a long time, this word automate because

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_00]: it's in every marketing I've seen for 20 years, probably long and I'm not sure we actually

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: get to the actual outcome of automation, the idea of automation is there and the window marketing

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_00]: looks really nice and like I hope that we get there.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_00]: But like for some reason we spend a lot of money, we don't ever really see actual automation

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_00]: and then the SaaS company sit back, collect their money and then life goes on.

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_00]: So a lot of money has been made off of that word for whatever it's worth, especially

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_00]: in MSP I team land.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Now rewinding for a second because you said you've built two companies, software companies

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_00]: and you've exit which, you know, MSP on one side of the aisle, software company that sells

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00]: MSP in the same conversation just on the other side.

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: So we see a lot of that, right?

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And there's a lot of software companies that are well known in MSP land that came from

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_00]: an MSP that were like went out to the world and tried to find it didn't exist but

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_00]: decided to build their own and then we made it into a company, right?

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Yes.

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: That's pretty common story.

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_00]: MylageBarris, mileage definitely varies because for some reason, you know, back right

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_00]: about the time that you sold, it seems like 2017, 1819, like the world of investment

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: money showed up in our world and there's mixed feelings about it, right?

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Like as an owner founder, if I want money, I could get it.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Like I don't have to go very far to find someone with their checkbook out.

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Now comes with a lot of strings which I want to touch on in a second.

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: On the other side, it's hey, like as the customer of software company when this happens,

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: this event happens where money comes in from outside.

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_00]: You should have stopped to turn out well for us for some reason.

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_00]: So like why should I be happy about that?

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm just drawing those out there because every time this conversation about, hey,

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I started software company, I exit it.

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_00]: These are the topics that always come up every single time whether at the bar you're on

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_00]: this.

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_00]: So just curious about your feelings about those, those topics.

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, you know, one of the things that I get very uncomfortable with is taking outside

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_02]: money and raising investment because you now have a new boss.

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_02]: And it's very challenging.

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_02]: And so I brought on in my other company, I brought in an early investor, a seed round.

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_02]: I was bootstrapped before that.

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_02]: I had an agency saw a need built the software for it.

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_02]: So I had already been building and you get to a point where you're like, should I raise

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_02]: money so I can get out there faster?

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_02]: And so I did.

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_02]: I raised an early round brought on an investor and it was absolutely terrible.

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_02]: And I eventually about 18 months or so later, I bought a mouth.

[00:08:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Hmm.

[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And once you had that off,

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_02]: we did.

[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_02]: My business partner and I did some creative financing and we're able to

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_02]: raise some of the money ourselves just with personal income and with friends and family,

[00:09:04] [SPEAKER_02]: bought them out.

[00:09:04] [SPEAKER_02]: And then we just did a loan and paid off the rest of the people.

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_02]: So I could see where, you know, people, they get shy and there are multiple ways to do

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_02]: this.

[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_02]: And investment is is just bringing on a VC or somebody doesn't have to be everybody's

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_02]: outlit on making it work.

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_02]: And it wasn't mine.

[00:09:28] [SPEAKER_02]: I found out, luckily early on that I didn't like that and I like running things the

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_02]: way I want to run it.

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_02]: And I still had an exit.

[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean number one, you and me, we haven't even talked before this.

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_00]: We're meeting for the first time on this session.

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Anyone who thinks that we prepare these, we don't.

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_00]: But you sound like me, right?

[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I'm just like, hey, listen,

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I have no lack of phone calls and emails and letters hitting me.

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Trust me.

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Every day, okay?

[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_00]: But everything comes with a string.

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, everything.

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_00]: When I'm in this lane, if there's no non-string option, right?

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And oh, fence, those strings are worse now than they were back in 2018, where like,

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_00]: let's say you agree to an amount.

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_00]: You're not getting that amount on one shot.

[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_00]: There's like these things that you have to hit before that, um, locks.

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes.

[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_00]: There's also a lot of protection on the back end for the money giver.

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and just, you know, there's so many stories too where one that doesn't mean

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_02]: you're going to be successful just because you raised money.

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_02]: Most companies still fail.

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_02]: It's worse than restaurants as the as the percentage of success.

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_02]: So it doesn't guarantee that you're going to make make it to the end.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_02]: And then too, whether if they hadn't raised money,

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_02]: they would have, they still made the same amount in their exit with,

[00:10:47] [SPEAKER_02]: because they probably, a lot of times what happens is maybe you got an early offer and

[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_02]: you're going, okay, if I got this off from, I'm going to raise more money.

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_02]: And then I'm going to get an even bigger offer and you end up making the same amount

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_02]: because you're so diluted.

[00:11:00] [SPEAKER_00]: So for all those people who like to watch Shark Tank,

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_00]: yeah, myself included, right?

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Like we always were like, well, I mean, that's a good chance.

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_00]: It's going to go here.

[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Uh, yeah, and then Mr. Wonderful comes out as being countering.

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_00]: He was like, well, I don't know why you're asking for this amount.

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Um, yeah, I, you know, imagine you went through all the extra effort of trying to make

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_00]: somebody else happy with the strings to end up in the same place.

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_00]: You would have ended up with not taking anything.

[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_00]: That would be, you know, in like the Monday morning, 2020, hindsight, quarterback thing,

[00:11:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I would be very frustrated about situation.

[00:11:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, me too.

[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_00]: So you had to do like that here.

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_00]: You saw if we're companies are one.

[00:11:39] [SPEAKER_02]: That had to suffer platforms in the same company.

[00:11:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Why they did two different things, but one, the second one spawned out of the first one

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_02]: when I saw a huge need in the market and thought, you know what?

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_02]: This is a different niche.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_02]: And I'm going to do a separate platform.

[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_02]: And it was, it was so much learning going through doing those things

[00:12:00] [SPEAKER_02]: and really finding who your niche customer is and just building for that.

[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_02]: And it worked out fantastic.

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_02]: And also what it really means to build an MVP, your minimal viable product.

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_02]: And that's, luckily I did it because I was bootstrapped and I had to.

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_02]: But when you do it that way, then you're really building for a core set of pain points

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_02]: and learning how to do it on such a slim budget that you have to do an MVP.

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_02]: And then that's when that's how I was able to do what I was able to do because I really

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_02]: had an MVP.

[00:12:34] [SPEAKER_02]: So my first product became my MVP for my second one.

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Very interesting.

[00:12:39] [SPEAKER_00]: So like the interesting part of all of this is these topics, even though they're very common

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER_00]: to any software, like not specific to the IT or managed services,

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_00]: like you could be running software for the restaurant business,

[00:12:50] [SPEAKER_00]: soon it's.

[00:12:52] [SPEAKER_00]: But these topics now apply to the MSP business because they're also now being

[00:12:57] [SPEAKER_00]: sorted by outside investors and rolling up using a V-set.

[00:13:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I can sell it in a month.

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And Jen don't not Mr. Wonderful is investing a lot.

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no, I got Dave Scott of LinkedIn.

[00:13:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Of course, Dave Scott.

[00:13:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Not an economist or one.

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just saying.

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER_00]: He's a shirt.

[00:13:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Dave, he's a shirt negotiator.

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_00]: He's a shirt negotiator.

[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Like I would want to be like super prepared going into that one or he's got to

[00:13:23] [SPEAKER_00]: run you over.

[00:13:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And yes, yes.

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_00]: But MSPs have to ask the same questions.

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_00]: The difference with the MSP businesses, even though they resell a lot of software

[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_00]: and subscription based services that they don't own any of that, right?

[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_00]: They're effectively like almost like a mini distributor to say,

[00:13:40] [SPEAKER_00]: if I had to put a categorization to it, their businesses are valued a lot differently.

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And like most service based businesses, professional services,

[00:13:49] [SPEAKER_00]: accountants, lawyers, architects, I think consultants.

[00:13:54] [SPEAKER_00]: You're valued on your net, not your gross, right?

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so like much more rigorous conversation

[00:14:01] [SPEAKER_00]: of how you get to your math before we talk about what your business is worth.

[00:14:04] [SPEAKER_00]: But I digress.

[00:14:06] [SPEAKER_00]: There's lessons that apply across the board here.

[00:14:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Let me ask you one more question for me, move on.

[00:14:13] [SPEAKER_00]: After you sold your business, did you have any of your customers come back and say

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_00]: that the guy, you know, the people who did buy it,

[00:14:21] [SPEAKER_00]: did better worse the same?

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Like how did that, what was the feedback after the transact?

[00:14:26] [SPEAKER_02]: It was really painful.

[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_02]: Very, very painful.

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, it's hard because you built a company with your culture and you brought on clients

[00:14:38] [SPEAKER_02]: that identify with you and your business.

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_02]: And then when you exit, it is a bit of a challenge.

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_02]: And I would say the clients were a little ruffled,

[00:14:50] [SPEAKER_02]: but they really did a good job of maintaining what we built.

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_02]: And they actually were trying to improve their operations to match what we were doing

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_02]: for the rest of the company.

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_02]: So our clients didn't see as much change,

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_02]: but the employees had it much harder.

[00:15:07] [SPEAKER_02]: And you know, they've been with the,

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_02]: our employees just stuck around.

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_02]: They were there for a long time.

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER_02]: So that was a bigger harder thing and then turnover for the clients.

[00:15:15] [SPEAKER_02]: They're like, you know, why are these people that have been with you for seven years?

[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Now, leaving.

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER_02]: So that I think was a bigger challenge for them.

[00:15:21] [SPEAKER_02]: Luckily, I didn't have to stay on,

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_02]: I stayed on for 18 months to help with the operation side.

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER_02]: They wanted what I had implemented for my company,

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_02]: because I was such a well-oiled machine.

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER_02]: So I stayed on on the back end there to help that.

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_02]: And it was difficult.

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Hmm.

[00:15:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Saying this is the microcosm of every story I've heard, right?

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Most people have very just,

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_00]: it's like a juggling hide, you know, a story about this,

[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_00]: this after the paperwork signed and the money shows up in your bank account.

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_00]: But I digress, this is, so if you want to hear more about somebody who's been through this,

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_00]: this is a reason you should talk to her,

[00:15:59] [SPEAKER_00]: community miles in September and Denver.

[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Like, don't, I mean, you can read all the books you want,

[00:16:04] [SPEAKER_00]: you can watch all the videos you want.

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I love being able to ask questions in real time and like get actual answer.

[00:16:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, we feel the textbook says that this is what should,

[00:16:13] [SPEAKER_00]: like, that's not real life.

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_00]: That's just mine.

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_00]: That's just me.

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Take it for whatever it's worth either, Gras.

[00:16:20] [SPEAKER_00]: All right. So let's talk about,

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_00]: on this word automation, because like,

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I think a lot of people want to just take it out back.

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Like, Mr. Wonderful Dave, shoot it behind the shed.

[00:16:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Like, it has been used, abused, stretched, watered down the whole thing, right?

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Like, especially in this industry where like,

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_00]: kind of supposed to be on the cutting edge of technology and

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_00]: just as cysts companies with what is possible, right?

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And like open them up.

[00:16:47] [SPEAKER_00]: You think things?

[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_00]: But then like for some reason, it just seems like there's a lot of manual labor that

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_00]: comes to Brown this automation that we are all promised.

[00:16:55] [SPEAKER_00]: So I don't, I know, right?

[00:16:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Like, or you should be called machine learning now.

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't care.

[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever marketing you want to put it around.

[00:17:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I know that's like changing things and we're in the very early days,

[00:17:06] [SPEAKER_00]: while we're less of this and we'll see what that looks like.

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Somebody think it read somewhere.

[00:17:10] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like, well, every six months, it's got a change.

[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's like, maybe we give it a year or two to figure out what that change

[00:17:16] [SPEAKER_00]: looks like before I start putting too much time into it.

[00:17:18] [SPEAKER_00]: But I digress.

[00:17:19] [SPEAKER_00]: So tell me what is automation actually mean to you?

[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_02]: To me, I like that.

[00:17:26] [SPEAKER_02]: So I've been doing automation for,

[00:17:29] [SPEAKER_02]: but since I had my previous company, automation doesn't mean that you have to be using AI.

[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_02]: And I think that's where things really got muddy in the last two years that

[00:17:40] [SPEAKER_02]: now people automatically associate, oh, if I'm doing automation, I'm doing AI.

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_02]: And that's really scary, especially for MSPs, because what is going into the AI?

[00:17:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Are we going to be secure?

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, do people what data is going to be going into the prompt?

[00:17:55] [SPEAKER_02]: All of these things start uprising.

[00:17:58] [SPEAKER_02]: And to me, automation doesn't even need AI.

[00:18:02] [SPEAKER_02]: And it could be something from you, just all of us need clients to say a live in business, right?

[00:18:08] [SPEAKER_02]: So hopefully we're using a CRM and not using a data,

[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_02]: just to spreadsheet to manage our leads, but let's assume we're using a CRM.

[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_02]: We're using a CRM. Well, automation can look like when you mark that deal as a one deal in your CRM,

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_02]: that kicks off your new client onboarding checklist.

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER_02]: That creates a draft email using a template that you've created.

[00:18:32] [SPEAKER_02]: So to welcome that client onboard, what do they need to know day one?

[00:18:36] [SPEAKER_02]: That can create a drive or drop box folder, you know, whatever asset folder you need,

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_02]: all of that can be done automatically. A client brief can be created and go to the account manager

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_02]: first seamless hand-off. You know, what I was seeing early on in my business is it was taking two

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER_02]: hours for an admin to take the information from the sales person and manually create everything that needed

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_02]: to be done for that client. Well, that's two hours for every single client plus whatever other

[00:19:05] [SPEAKER_02]: administrative work that could be eliminated. And so it does and timeframes then now get short

[00:19:15] [SPEAKER_02]: and where that client doesn't need to sit around and wait until that person has time to onboard

[00:19:20] [SPEAKER_02]: and sometimes it isn't an admin. Sometimes it's a sales person, sometimes it's the account manager

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_02]: and so that's where a big time frame and automation can really be saved and that's just one scenario.

[00:19:31] [SPEAKER_02]: I like that one because we all have to have sales to stay alive. What needs to get done for you to

[00:19:35] [SPEAKER_02]: kick off a new client? And that is where an automation and then you're looking at consistency because

[00:19:42] [SPEAKER_02]: that client is going to be onboarded the same way every other client has been onboarded.

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_02]: You're not worried about did I forget to do something? Did my team not do something? All of this

[00:19:51] [SPEAKER_02]: can be built through automation and then work together with your project management system

[00:19:56] [SPEAKER_00]: and the other software platforms are using. Wow, so let me pause you right there.

[00:20:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I've walked down many a show, I'll add many a conference and they all like, you know, next to the

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_00]: word automation, you know that one that's been used in abuse. Let me put another word right next to it

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_00]: integration. That word probably even more than the other word, okay? And so I've seen entire

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_00]: marketing strategies around the word integration. Again, what does that integration actually do?

[00:20:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Could be a paper tiger, absolutely paper thin and like I don't even know why you qualify for the

[00:20:33] [SPEAKER_00]: word integration but it looks good in your marketing. So like we've all been and you know for the

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_00]: people in this industry, IT men's services, the concept of going from Excel spreadsheet to

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_00]: an email box to a PSA, right? Like you know, our version of the ERP or whatever, maybe it's CRM

[00:20:53] [SPEAKER_00]: that's customized to do a bit more, whatever. So I was a big jump and like the people who bought

[00:20:59] [SPEAKER_00]: all these products and that were told, oh so easy it takes, you know, a week or two and you're online

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_00]: turning into six months. Like it was not easy and it was very bulky and like the blueprint for

[00:21:10] [SPEAKER_00]: it's probably took more to create than the software they wrote, there's a happily implement it

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER_00]: to do it. That being said, my concern, maybe this is why you know you're doing what you're doing

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_00]: now, my concern is a lot of you know the typical IT men's services company, it's less than 10 employees.

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean there are much bigger ones, don't get me wrong. But a jar of you are sub 10 employees,

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_00]: probably in a lot of cases of five employees, they do not have 48, 120 hours to implement

[00:21:42] [SPEAKER_00]: all of these widgets that are supposed to connect each other to the point where and Elaine,

[00:21:47] [SPEAKER_00]: you probably won't be surprised but I'm going to say it anyway. I can't tell you how many times

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_00]: across my time in this sandbox and I started about 2000, 2001, it's 2024 okay?

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER_00]: People have bought software subscriptions and bought and bought and bought and then you go back

[00:22:06] [SPEAKER_00]: and be like, hey, I remember I saw you at that show in Orlando in December, we're like now the next

[00:22:13] [SPEAKER_00]: version of that show next, you know next year came and how to go. Yeah, we never turned it on,

[00:22:19] [SPEAKER_00]: it's still on the box. And it's like, why? Why do you have to? Okay are you so thankful? Yeah.

[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay. Yeah, this is a thing that I've really been getting on my soapbox about is under

[00:22:35] [SPEAKER_02]: utilization of your current software. We're always looking outside for the next thing that's going

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_02]: to solve my problems when really if you have software in place, it's most likely you're just not

[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_02]: using it to the best that it could be and it's just sitting there. And you're thinking, oh the

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_02]: the problem with the software? Well, it's probably a problem with nobody knows what the process is,

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_02]: nobody knows how to use it. Training did not exist, changed management wasn't there. So every

[00:23:05] [SPEAKER_02]: person's using it differently. We see this all the time when I go into a company is that every

[00:23:11] [SPEAKER_02]: person has their own way. Well, this is how I use it. And this is how I use it. Well, what's your

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_02]: company way of using it? Why don't we do that first of all? And then like you mentioned where,

[00:23:21] [SPEAKER_02]: you know a lot of MSPs are 10 or less employees. You might not need a big massive

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_02]: automation for yourself. You know there could be some really small things. I am really a big

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_02]: advocate of what's your current software and how can we tie these together instead of moving

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_02]: to something that does everything. As long as it has an API, you can tie these things to

[00:23:46] [SPEAKER_02]: you. Now, you do need to know your process. That is a big one. You know, in order to automate,

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_02]: you need to know your process. But in order to train your employees, you need to know your

[00:23:55] [SPEAKER_02]: process or they don't know your process. But these things, in your MSP for other, you've got clients

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_02]: where you're providing services, what kind of automation could be in place there to help them

[00:24:09] [SPEAKER_02]: have an easier process there, unlikely on boarding employees. What does their new employee

[00:24:15] [SPEAKER_02]: onboarding look like? Where could you fit into that as a MSP to help them with that process?

[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_02]: What about employee onboarding? Where that client needs to know what that automation looks like.

[00:24:28] [SPEAKER_02]: An automation doesn't have to be where it goes in and cuts everything off. It could be when

[00:24:38] [SPEAKER_02]: it's the list of things that need to happen. Because some people forget to turn off that employee's

[00:24:43] [SPEAKER_02]: email and they still have access to it six months later. Oops. So, some of it could be for

[00:24:51] [SPEAKER_00]: yourself and some of it could be for your clients. Okay, a lot of the time the process was copied from

[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_00]: somebody else. So, it's the zero acts of the zero acts of the zero acts and it's starting to fade.

[00:25:05] [SPEAKER_00]: That's number one, number two. The other part of the time is there isn't technically a

[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_00]: defined process because the person who created the process no longer there, the person who put

[00:25:13] [SPEAKER_00]: the system in, no longer there, it's been whispered down the lane and morphed over time by

[00:25:18] [SPEAKER_00]: different people. And they change their business process to fit the system, the tool, the software,

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_00]: rather than the other way around. This happens constantly. It's like, why our system is designed

[00:25:31] [SPEAKER_00]: to have this business and it's like, we don't have that. Let me give you a perfect example.

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_00]: I remember one time somebody's like, one order to implement the system you need to have a

[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_00]: dispatcher in front of your help desk engineers. And it's like, not everybody has a dispatcher in front

[00:25:44] [SPEAKER_00]: of their help desk engineers. Like, well, that's how they work full of the software works. You should go

[00:25:47] [SPEAKER_00]: out and hire dispatchers. It's like, did you market that I need to hire a new full-time employee

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_00]: in order to implement yours all where? Like, this was not in the car. So, like, how do I get

[00:25:57] [SPEAKER_00]: it's not to work for the way that we work, rather than what you thought was the right way?

[00:26:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And then like now we're making exceptions to what it was originally designed. This happens all the time.

[00:26:08] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. And I think I see that too and complicated software creates complicated processes.

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_02]: And I think that's why I see a lot of MSPs just go to spreadsheets because they can manage

[00:26:21] [SPEAKER_02]: spreadsheet. It's easy. You can have what feels like a checklist in there. You can share it with

[00:26:27] [SPEAKER_02]: your employees, whatever it might be. And so I always like to say there's a step above that that is

[00:26:33] [SPEAKER_02]: easy to still implement. But that you're not having to hire a whole another person to manage the process.

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_02]: Because this is a huge thing. You've got to hire another employee to manage it. Of course,

[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_02]: the next step is like, well, then I'm just not going to do it because that's a huge expense.

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_02]: Employees are a big resource. They're the ones that we're paying the most for.

[00:26:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, a software was supposed to solve my problem. Not create a whole new problem and be

[00:26:58] [SPEAKER_00]: ten times as expensive. Okay. Let me go the other way. So I end this and I'm sure you've

[00:27:04] [SPEAKER_00]: touched these by like, all right, I implement sales force or a hub spot. And I spend more time

[00:27:10] [SPEAKER_00]: exporting stuff from those systems into Excel spreadsheets because the systems too hard to navigate

[00:27:15] [SPEAKER_00]: to get to where I'm at, just easier for me to dump the data and manipulate it myself.

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. And I love those two platforms. I think they're fantastic for larger companies.

[00:27:26] [SPEAKER_02]: And we do have we do work with a lot of companies that use HubSpot because that is a great CRM.

[00:27:32] [SPEAKER_02]: There's a lot of other capabilities to it. And it has a great API. So functionally you can do a lot

[00:27:38] [SPEAKER_02]: with it outside of HubSpot as well. But most companies don't need a sales force. If you're a 10-person

[00:27:44] [SPEAKER_02]: and you're the loan person selling maybe, you have one other person as a sales person on your

[00:27:50] [SPEAKER_02]: team. Sales force is probably overdoing it. It is super complicated. Look for something like a pipe

[00:27:56] [SPEAKER_02]: drive or something really simple where you're just paying minimally for some functionality of a CRM.

[00:28:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And you can keep things organized. So many times I run into people in MSP land who are like,

[00:28:08] [SPEAKER_00]: well, I'll just use my, the same tool I used from my thickening system as my, my sales system.

[00:28:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, these systems were not designed to do one or thought like you're trying to, you know,

[00:28:17] [SPEAKER_00]: square peg round hole basically. Like I get there's workflows, the concept of workflows and you

[00:28:23] [SPEAKER_00]: can do similar things. But they're just you're trying to do too much with the sent, you know,

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_00]: something that was designed for service and project management. You're trying to get it to do

[00:28:32] [SPEAKER_00]: sales and I'm not saying you can. Just saying like you got to jump through a lot of hoops to get to a

[00:28:37] [SPEAKER_02]: word feels like it's doing something for you. Yeah, I agree. And then what happens when you're at a

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER_02]: platform that does so many things, then it's too hard to learn everything. And so I do come from the

[00:28:52] [SPEAKER_02]: side where let's let's find the system that works for that need and basics. If you're a small company,

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_02]: you just don't need a lot of bells and whistles. You don't have a whole training team

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_02]: to put together what needs to happen in these. So let's find something simple to use

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_02]: that the team is going to use and then if we need to use automation to sync things together,

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_00]: we can do that then. Or not? Yeah, it's fair. So so you work with MSPs today, yes? Yes.

[00:29:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay. What is a typical size MSP that you work with since I guess you saw your company in 2018

[00:29:28] [SPEAKER_00]: and like what are the types of systems that you see implemented on a regular?

[00:29:32] [SPEAKER_02]: So typically work with MSPs around 30 employees. They've done a couple of acquisitions like

[00:29:39] [SPEAKER_02]: you're saying, you know, some small role loves to build out their team. Maybe get an areas that they

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_02]: weren't in and what's interesting is when you start getting to a team of 30, that's when these

[00:29:48] [SPEAKER_02]: pain points that have been talking about really start surfacing because then you spend more time

[00:29:54] [SPEAKER_02]: answering questions than you do working on your company. So these things matter at that time

[00:29:59] [SPEAKER_02]: and you don't want to just hire another person because at that point it just becomes more chaos

[00:30:05] [SPEAKER_02]: on top of more chaos. That's fair. Some common ones that we do, the new client onboarding process

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_02]: is one of our most common ones and that's the one that we see being managed from a spreadsheet most

[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_02]: often. And so we have a whole workflow for new client onboarding and the workflow for management

[00:30:24] [SPEAKER_02]: like a recurring task every week for that account manager to do a client status update where you

[00:30:30] [SPEAKER_02]: at with this client is their roadblock. Is there something that you need to do? You know,

[00:30:35] [SPEAKER_02]: something like that and then also having a recurring task for that account manager with things

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_02]: to follow up with that client on an idea so that they don't go untouched for a month. You know,

[00:30:46] [SPEAKER_02]: something to keep us top of mind. So those are really common ones from the client perspective

[00:30:51] [SPEAKER_02]: and then internal management wise are dashboards of capacity planning. Things where they can now

[00:31:00] [SPEAKER_02]: get a data, birds I view of their company without having to hop around to four different places.

[00:31:06] [SPEAKER_02]: So we'll funnel all of that into a dashboard for them to be able to see. Okay, that makes sense.

[00:31:13] [SPEAKER_00]: So a new client onboarding, count management, maybe offboarding, right? It's a cousin to the first one.

[00:31:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And then making your data work for you, right? Like, like that's why they use the words,

[00:31:25] [SPEAKER_00]: another marketing business intelligence, right? It's like, well, if your data is just siloed and

[00:31:30] [SPEAKER_00]: you can't actually take anything meaningful out of it, then what's the point? Yeah. I want my

[00:31:35] [SPEAKER_00]: filing cabinet for you to go back to when something bad happens rather than it actually

[00:31:39] [SPEAKER_02]: giving you the ability to make decisions in real time. Right. And I get so aggravated listening

[00:31:44] [SPEAKER_02]: to gut feelings. Well, I had this gut feeling, like, no, no, because that can lead you down the wrong

[00:31:51] [SPEAKER_02]: way. But how about we make decisions based on data? And if you have data in front of you instead

[00:31:56] [SPEAKER_02]: of all these gut feelings, because gut feelings just because you have one doesn't mean it's the right one.

[00:32:03] [SPEAKER_02]: It could be based on so many things. It could be based on how you're feeling that day or you

[00:32:07] [SPEAKER_02]: feel in more risky or you feel in more confident. Well, then your gut's telling you to go for it.

[00:32:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, that I mean listen. You're right. I use that too. But you ask Jen, he's in bond

[00:32:19] [SPEAKER_00]: scenes. I'm a data guy. I'm like, all right, what now? Let's go see what we did last year. What are we

[00:32:24] [SPEAKER_00]: forecasting for next year? What do we see now, right? Like things that fluctuate the shift. So

[00:32:29] [SPEAKER_00]: like, in saying guessing, all right, let's just use actual information. And like, I get it. Here's

[00:32:34] [SPEAKER_00]: a problem. Actual information takes time together. All right. I get it. Yeah, like, yeah, like, yeah.

[00:32:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And I hate to even use this example because I was the person that was like, no, man, I'm going to use

[00:32:45] [SPEAKER_00]: the calculator. I don't need to show you my work. That I get to the right answer. Then be happy.

[00:32:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Like to show your work in math class. I was not a fan of math class. That was me. I was like,

[00:32:55] [SPEAKER_00]: no, this is, I'm never going to use this in real life. Well, yes, you will. I was like,

[00:32:59] [SPEAKER_00]: hmm, I'm going to come back afterwards. I'm going to tell you that you were wrong. That was me.

[00:33:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I like, you know, like, I can pipe it into like, why do you, why do you, why do you

[00:33:09] [SPEAKER_00]: calculate it on the SATs? What's the point then? Like, just show you my work then. Why why do I

[00:33:13] [SPEAKER_02]: need to use the machine? Yeah. I agree with you. I like having them in result too, which is why I

[00:33:19] [SPEAKER_02]: like it all clean and in a nice fixed dashboard for me. Hmm. No, let's fair. I mean, which is funny

[00:33:26] [SPEAKER_00]: because in our industry, like two or three major companies have figured out like build companies

[00:33:31] [SPEAKER_00]: around pulling data from multiple systems into dashboards. Some of since been acquired, I digress.

[00:33:36] [SPEAKER_00]: But, you know, like the data, like, what about junk data in junk data out through dashboards

[00:33:41] [SPEAKER_00]: telling you the wrong thing? You're now you're making information. You're taking information that

[00:33:46] [SPEAKER_00]: you're saying is valid and you're making business decisions off of an actors.

[00:33:51] [SPEAKER_02]: That is, and that was one thing I was going to touch on on the second. I guess I'm glad you asked

[00:33:54] [SPEAKER_02]: that. That is, that is a problem. You need to make sure that your data is good data. Number one,

[00:34:02] [SPEAKER_02]: even if you have a person manually looking at that, you're still going to get junk, a junk

[00:34:07] [SPEAKER_02]: and result. So the first thing is to make sure that your data is good. What data do you want to be

[00:34:13] [SPEAKER_02]: pulling that, looking at and pull that and then have some spot checks. Make sure that things are

[00:34:18] [SPEAKER_02]: calculated correctly. Make sure that things are right. And, you know, maybe there's a little bit

[00:34:23] [SPEAKER_02]: of a time period in between where you've been doing something manually. Now you're looking at creating

[00:34:28] [SPEAKER_02]: a dashboard view that you're doing some manual checks there to make sure in the first

[00:34:33] [SPEAKER_02]: four weeks, you know, depending on how often data is pulled. But you really do need to make sure

[00:34:38] [SPEAKER_02]: or you're always, doesn't matter if you put it into a dashboard or not, you're always going

[00:34:42] [SPEAKER_02]: to be looking at bad data. So that's the problem. The problem isn't the end result. The problem

[00:34:46] [SPEAKER_00]: is where you're getting this information. Okay. So, if I were to zoom back out what you help people do

[00:34:55] [SPEAKER_00]: is save time. But in order to save time and using technology as your way to save them that time,

[00:35:02] [SPEAKER_00]: you need to first understand process and work for it. Yeah, absolutely. You know, I would say

[00:35:09] [SPEAKER_00]: how many times did somebody come to you? I'm sure you're going to say all the time. But I'm

[00:35:13] [SPEAKER_00]: letting you decide that. Okay. Okay. Come here and say, we really don't have a process. Can you tell us

[00:35:18] [SPEAKER_02]: what our process should be? Yes. That that has happened so often that we now, we only work with

[00:35:26] [SPEAKER_02]: the client that knows what their process is because if they don't know what their process is,

[00:35:32] [SPEAKER_02]: I can't help them. It takes for value. Then it takes them so long to put their process together

[00:35:41] [SPEAKER_02]: that it's too expensive for them to see for them to see the value because they just wanted the

[00:35:48] [SPEAKER_02]: end result. But they didn't even know what their current state was to get to an end result. And so before

[00:35:54] [SPEAKER_02]: we kick off with a client, we're like, we love to work with you. But you come back to us when you

[00:35:59] [SPEAKER_02]: know what your process is. That doesn't mean that they need to have it into a workflow diagram.

[00:36:03] [SPEAKER_02]: But they need to have a loom video recorded. They need to have a word document where they've

[00:36:11] [SPEAKER_02]: typed out their process. They need to know instead of starting at point A with us and saying,

[00:36:17] [SPEAKER_02]: well, we don't know, okay, then you're lost. You've got to start somewhere and then we're going to work

[00:36:24] [SPEAKER_00]: with you. Well, but that guy's outcome looks really good. Just clone there as it may put our name on.

[00:36:31] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, we actually tried that too with doing these like workflows that we see often and have

[00:36:38] [SPEAKER_02]: like a template at one that they could purchase. And the problem is that even though there's

[00:36:44] [SPEAKER_02]: similarities between workflows, it still is custom to how that client built it. So we have

[00:36:51] [SPEAKER_02]: we worked with so many clients all over the world that we do. We have a great idea of exactly

[00:36:58] [SPEAKER_02]: what needs, you know, the processes, what the workflows look like. But when you get into

[00:37:02] [SPEAKER_02]: client workflow, what your services do, that looks very different between companies. And so

[00:37:09] [SPEAKER_02]: you can't just pick it off the shelf. If you want to do that, you can just go to make.com

[00:37:13] [SPEAKER_02]: and pull one of their automation sequences already built out in plug that in. You don't need an

[00:37:18] [SPEAKER_02]: us. But the problem is when you need to customize it for your company, that's when all the new

[00:37:23] [SPEAKER_00]: answers come together. Oh, so you're saying not all technology people are created equal.

[00:37:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Very true. Okay, not all businesses deliver services in the same way. No, no, and there's a great

[00:37:37] [SPEAKER_02]: business out there. I'm sure that is happy to help you put together your workflow. You don't know what it

[00:37:41] [SPEAKER_00]: is. And then we can work with you. Okay, so this is, I mean, this, this top, the getting what

[00:37:49] [SPEAKER_00]: your process is. And I get it, right? The 30 person companies get out should have a different

[00:37:57] [SPEAKER_00]: response than the 5% company. Actually, I would say I would be very, I would be intrigued to see

[00:38:03] [SPEAKER_00]: the 30 person company that's operating on the 5 first and company plan. But hey, I'm sure somebody

[00:38:08] [SPEAKER_00]: out there has figured that part out like it's not impossible. But I would say as you hit certain

[00:38:13] [SPEAKER_00]: size of companies with a lot of people in there, that has to be adjusted, has to be more of the

[00:38:19] [SPEAKER_00]: client tell is probably changing with you, right? Because you're, you know, of an

[00:38:25] [SPEAKER_00]: especially and well, hold on. Hold on. I can't help but come back to something we said earlier.

[00:38:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, we work with customers, you know, about 30 employees or more, right? Maybe there's a few

[00:38:35] [SPEAKER_00]: roll ups and acquisitions. Hold on, those are all some acquisitions. We're all different companies

[00:38:39] [SPEAKER_00]: with different processes. What if they never merge those together? Okay, that I'm so glad you said that.

[00:38:46] [SPEAKER_02]: And it does, this happens. They continue operating their same way when they do these acquisitions

[00:38:54] [SPEAKER_02]: because they don't have the time to do any change management. And so these clients are managed

[00:38:59] [SPEAKER_02]: this way. These are the services that this client bought from me. This is what we provide.

[00:39:04] [SPEAKER_02]: And it is extreme chaos. And then what you see is they acquire two or three companies and then

[00:39:10] [SPEAKER_02]: they can't do it anymore. They are so resource strapped and there's so much where account managers

[00:39:16] [SPEAKER_02]: have 40 different packages that they're managing across the company, that they can't even do

[00:39:23] [SPEAKER_02]: another acquisition because they haven't finished cleaning up what they've already done and it takes

[00:39:28] [SPEAKER_02]: so long. I mean, the owner gets burnt out eventually because how could they keep this up when

[00:39:33] [SPEAKER_02]: there's no consistency between all of the different departments, acquisitions, team members,

[00:39:39] [SPEAKER_02]: company, culture is just big. I call it spaghetti. I mean, so you've seen this clearly because

[00:39:46] [SPEAKER_00]: very vivid the way you're explaining it. I mean, I can tell you why that happens. It's very simple.

[00:39:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, I went and spent a lot of money, however I got it, whether it came out of the bank account

[00:39:57] [SPEAKER_00]: or I borrowed it to buy another business. And I do not want to lose the revenue that I was expecting

[00:40:02] [SPEAKER_00]: from that business. If I make a lot of changes, the chance of change means that I could lose clients.

[00:40:07] [SPEAKER_00]: So we're just going to keep running things, the way that they were running things for, you know,

[00:40:12] [SPEAKER_00]: because that's only way it can maybe guarantee or get to us close to guarantee as possible

[00:40:17] [SPEAKER_00]: and that revenue stays with me. That's why they do it. Well, absolutely. And that's, you know,

[00:40:21] [SPEAKER_02]: that's the fear part of purchasing a service related business. That's why

[00:40:26] [SPEAKER_02]: multiples are so much less on a service, buying a service company versus buying a technology company,

[00:40:32] [SPEAKER_02]: a software company because they're not, they could leave easier to go somewhere else. So whenever

[00:40:39] [SPEAKER_02]: you purchase a service company, you don't want to lose that. You just bought that company,

[00:40:44] [SPEAKER_02]: providing that service. You don't want them to leave. And so I, you know, I can see why that happens.

[00:40:49] [SPEAKER_02]: But it is unfortunate from a growth standpoint because you're at the same time you're keeping

[00:40:55] [SPEAKER_02]: yourself from being able to grow because you're trying to mitigate what is feared in you

[00:41:01] [SPEAKER_00]: that you don't want to lose those. So if you approach the company, let's say they're 30 employees,

[00:41:05] [SPEAKER_00]: they've done two acquisitions and they're in this position where they have not merged their processes.

[00:41:10] [SPEAKER_00]: You would tell them to go do that and then come back and see you. Yeah. Then we would help them

[00:41:15] [SPEAKER_02]: out like because that's the problem that's hard. Okay. Well, now I've got this in a word document.

[00:41:20] [SPEAKER_02]: How do I take this process and make it a workflow? How do I make it so that I can delegate a sign?

[00:41:27] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, you might have 40 things that need to get done for a client. That doesn't mean I'll

[00:41:32] [SPEAKER_02]: 40 get done by the same person. So that's where I or at the same time, right? Some things need

[00:41:37] [SPEAKER_02]: to come first before the other things. Some things are linear. Some things are tangential. So where we

[00:41:43] [SPEAKER_02]: come in is you've got your process. We're going to make it into a workflow that people can manage

[00:41:48] [SPEAKER_02]: where there's accountability, there's task assignments, then you can do dashboards out for capacity.

[00:41:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Then we can build on top of that. Okay. So if you haven't gotten the message out of this,

[00:42:01] [SPEAKER_00]: here's what I got from this. So far one, even if you have an informal process put it right

[00:42:08] [SPEAKER_00]: it down, write it down. Zerooxing somebody else's process probably doesn't help you because if

[00:42:15] [SPEAKER_00]: their business is an identical year business which most businesses are not unless you're a franchise

[00:42:20] [SPEAKER_00]: company, then you know, copying somebody else's work may not do you good. It may hurt you more.

[00:42:29] [SPEAKER_00]: And also what you were doing before size and time changes what you might be,

[00:42:36] [SPEAKER_00]: you probably have to be doing now. And it's, you know, we've talked a lot of ways around the whole

[00:42:42] [SPEAKER_00]: mergers acquisitions by sell side sell, sell side all this stuff. But this is something that

[00:42:49] [SPEAKER_00]: haven't really talked about fast forward into the future a little bit past that. What happened

[00:42:54] [SPEAKER_00]: afterwards? What does it look like now? Do you're the guy who bought all this stuff and you're

[00:42:59] [SPEAKER_00]: burned out because you haven't been able to actually successfully merge everything together,

[00:43:03] [SPEAKER_00]: and your people are so confused because the menu has 40 items on instead of five,

[00:43:09] [SPEAKER_00]: there's no efficiency at that point. And so how, how do you get past the glass seal you effectively

[00:43:15] [SPEAKER_02]: created the glass seal in future? Yeah, I mean there's some uncomfortable times but I mean

[00:43:22] [SPEAKER_02]: I've seen it happen so many times. You know, if you want to put in the time to improve things,

[00:43:28] [SPEAKER_02]: it gets so much better. It does take time to put in the stuff that we've been talking about. And

[00:43:35] [SPEAKER_02]: like we're talking about it from acquisition, merger, whatever perspective, but it can just be

[00:43:40] [SPEAKER_02]: your growing your own company and your hiring and you're feeling these same pain points

[00:43:45] [SPEAKER_02]: because you do change in a volve as a company. You might not offer the same thing you did

[00:43:49] [SPEAKER_02]: five years ago, right? But they're still in the same package they were five years ago. So these things

[00:43:54] [SPEAKER_02]: that we're talking about are for anybody that's growing their company that is tired of doing

[00:44:00] [SPEAKER_02]: everything in the day to day. But what I see as a result and I've seen this, we've done this now with

[00:44:06] [SPEAKER_02]: companies all across the world. We've probably done 300 engagements with companies, all different sizes

[00:44:13] [SPEAKER_02]: is that your employee retention goes up because they're less burnt out. They can get to work,

[00:44:19] [SPEAKER_02]: do their job and at the end of the day they can leave work and they are happier. So we see

[00:44:25] [SPEAKER_02]: where an average employee might stay six months, start saying two years. You know, whatever that

[00:44:30] [SPEAKER_02]: timeline is for you, they start staying longer because the most important thing to them is work life

[00:44:36] [SPEAKER_02]: balance. They don't want to be worked today and then we start seeing the client lifetime

[00:44:43] [SPEAKER_02]: value go up because they are being managed consistently, proactively and they have somebody that

[00:44:51] [SPEAKER_02]: is more knowledgeable because they've been with the company longer. They've got more institutional

[00:44:55] [SPEAKER_02]: knowledge to help that client and then we see one thing that companies don't really think so much about

[00:45:01] [SPEAKER_02]: is what they think about it, but they don't know how to get there is higher spend from their clients.

[00:45:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Their clients start spending more money with them because you have the time to dedicate to them.

[00:45:13] [SPEAKER_02]: Instead of the shit storm that's been created and your internal processes that they can't see.

[00:45:19] [SPEAKER_02]: All the client was seen as wise has taken so long. Why does their mistakes here? Why didn't this happen?

[00:45:25] [SPEAKER_02]: And you change that narrative when you start doing these things and now the clients like,

[00:45:28] [SPEAKER_02]: you're rocking this what else can I buy? And you can introduce new services new packages better packages.

[00:45:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Hold on, the last three minutes. Okay. I've been to a lot of sessions and a lot of conferences,

[00:45:43] [SPEAKER_00]: maybe educational events, hopefully not the same one we're running up in September. But like

[00:45:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I've been in a lot of breakout sessions. I've been in a lot of peer group meetings. I've been a lot

[00:45:53] [SPEAKER_00]: and the things you just said as your outcomes to why you should go through this is what I've

[00:45:58] [SPEAKER_00]: heard on every single PowerPoint slide deck and every presentation I've been in when it comes to these topics.

[00:46:04] [SPEAKER_00]: This is all what they're saying you should have. More sales sell your customer more things.

[00:46:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, your package should be different than five years ago. Yes, you want them to stay with you longer.

[00:46:14] [SPEAKER_00]: No, you don't want them to go out and shop for somebody else on your renewal date.

[00:46:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I have a hard time with my getting employees and keeping them.

[00:46:22] [SPEAKER_00]: No, they're not easy to find and they have a cost to bring in here every time I bring in your

[00:46:26] [SPEAKER_00]: person. Like you effectively talk the top five things everybody complains about and you just

[00:46:33] [SPEAKER_00]: smash them into like three minutes as your outcome. And so like sounds to be going to be

[00:46:38] [SPEAKER_00]: truly I'm going to be honest with you because oh, I mean, I've been here in it for 20 years and I see

[00:46:43] [SPEAKER_00]: the same people come back year after year after year and like that haven't figured out where the

[00:46:49] [SPEAKER_02]: yeah well it's because nobody wants to fix the stuff inside right we just want to what could we buy to

[00:46:56] [SPEAKER_02]: solve our problem just like medication we know what what can I buy to lose weight what can I buy to

[00:47:01] [SPEAKER_02]: do this when really all we need is internal if we have these systems in place these processes in place

[00:47:09] [SPEAKER_02]: then selling is easier. Then we could put in a sales process then we could hire other people to

[00:47:15] [SPEAKER_02]: follow the process and get sales so I don't have to do it. And it really is it sounds to

[00:47:21] [SPEAKER_02]: good to be true because not enough companies do it they're good at what they do that's why

[00:47:26] [SPEAKER_02]: they started their company building processes is not anybody's idea of fun except for probably

[00:47:32] [SPEAKER_02]: myself and the people that are higher because this is what we love doing but that's not why

[00:47:37] [SPEAKER_02]: they started their company they started their company to be a kick but MSP to help people solve

[00:47:44] [SPEAKER_02]: a service provider problem not to build processes in their internal company that isn't fun for them.

[00:47:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah I number one I agree with that like it isn't fun and number two but the the problems that come

[00:47:59] [SPEAKER_00]: because of nobody's been time on this have avoided it a little bit now like haven't concentrated enough

[00:48:06] [SPEAKER_00]: one it started it didn't finish it copied somebody else's homework all these things turned into incomplete

[00:48:13] [SPEAKER_00]: and incomplete turns into all the problems you just said you you've seen actual successful outcomes

[00:48:19] [SPEAKER_00]: too so maybe maybe I'm the problem maybe it's me maybe I should have completed the process like

[00:48:25] [SPEAKER_00]: everybody else did and I gotta see a different story um so I assume some or all of this comes into

[00:48:33] [SPEAKER_02]: your workshop at MSP community mine. Yes this is going to be so much fun and also I'm a big believer

[00:48:39] [SPEAKER_02]: in heavy things interactive and so we're going to be doing stuff in real time you're going to be

[00:48:45] [SPEAKER_02]: able to see automation and I've built an automation sequence so that they can even see a custom

[00:48:50] [SPEAKER_02]: workflow built for them within two minutes based on the software they use everything so we're

[00:48:56] [SPEAKER_02]: going to be talking about that we're going to be talking about how if you want to use AI how

[00:49:00] [SPEAKER_02]: you can use it to alleviate some of the process burden not all of it but showing how to do that.

[00:49:06] [SPEAKER_00]: My process be. I know it's happening absolutely absolutely so we're going to start off there

[00:49:16] [SPEAKER_02]: and we're going to build on this idea and reduce the amount of places that you're going to get data

[00:49:21] [SPEAKER_02]: I think that's a big thing data doesn't have to just be numbers data can be

[00:49:27] [SPEAKER_02]: clients data can be who's managing what and so we're going to be talking through all of those

[00:49:32] [SPEAKER_02]: things so that you have everything in one place how to document and how to build automation if you

[00:49:37] [SPEAKER_00]: want to do that on top of it. So you know I number one just want to point out real quick

[00:49:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I have not met Elaine prior to this session we did not compare notes I did not give her a question

[00:49:50] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm simply just talking about what I've seen throughout my journey right now I TMSB Lann

[00:49:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I and she's not coming in here with any you know magic you know sprinkles that fixes that right

[00:50:00] [SPEAKER_00]: base coach you saying is hey we do work in order to get you to a better outcome but

[00:50:06] [SPEAKER_00]: she also told you she won't work with you if you didn't do your homework at a time

[00:50:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I said no who your clients are you made it very clear which I would say your client tells very

[00:50:17] [SPEAKER_00]: narrow based on how many people I've talked to I would say if you're interested in what that looks like

[00:50:24] [SPEAKER_00]: let me see what it looks like to go from a piece of paper to it's running

[00:50:29] [SPEAKER_00]: then you should come to MSB community minds and you should pick a brain because just like the other

[00:50:34] [SPEAKER_00]: experts that are going to be doing workshops and the other IT and managed services business owners

[00:50:39] [SPEAKER_00]: that are getting up on stage to tell you what they figured out works it doesn't work I'm sure

[00:50:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Elaine's time has not small dollar amount value to it just gonna take a while I haven't asked her

[00:50:50] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just guessing right she looks like she knows what her good times work so you know take take the opportunity

[00:50:57] [SPEAKER_00]: to come and learn from someone that does this professionally and so that way you can actually

[00:51:03] [SPEAKER_00]: understand all right I understand what I'm missing now what do I need to do to get to the point where

[00:51:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I can actually let the systems start doing work for me rather than I'm working to make this is

[00:51:12] [SPEAKER_00]: the more for me and I think that's the big difference I mean let me change the cliche of it

[00:51:17] [SPEAKER_00]: you know working on your business instead of in your business right except we're using technology

[00:51:20] [SPEAKER_00]: to effectively do this so if you are interested in talking to Elaine in real time because by the

[00:51:27] [SPEAKER_00]: this has been great I mean she knows her stuff people I've talked to I think I've done a thousand

[00:51:32] [SPEAKER_00]: of these podcasts episodes this person knows what they're talking about talk some people who

[00:51:38] [SPEAKER_00]: I wondered if they really did know what they were talking about if you think of those

[00:51:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not kidding that yeah hey I'm being honest I don't know if you haven't already gotten out of

[00:51:47] [SPEAKER_00]: this yeah 45 minute 50 minute session I straight shooter I don't like to sugar go to any

[00:51:53] [SPEAKER_00]: um so number one check on MSB community minds go to MSB initiative.com in the community minds

[00:52:00] [SPEAKER_00]: you will see she's in the cat she's in the this schedule figure out circle those come it's free

[00:52:06] [SPEAKER_00]: your MSB and is literally cost you nothing other than time a little bit of travel so please take

[00:52:11] [SPEAKER_00]: advantage of that not asking you for anything other than just actually try okay that's number one number two

[00:52:20] [SPEAKER_00]: um somebody has figured out now granted she's seen a lot so I would pick her brain even though you

[00:52:25] [SPEAKER_00]: might not be perfect to work with area but somebody has figured out I'm going into businesses and said

[00:52:30] [SPEAKER_00]: here's what you need to do to get to a better outcome and everything she just said in that sentence

[00:52:34] [SPEAKER_00]: five minutes ago is what you've been seeing session after session after session that means somebody

[00:52:38] [SPEAKER_00]: has gotten to it an outcome it's not you know mythical somebody has actually achieved it so like

[00:52:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I want to talk to the people who have gotten to an outcome and I let to work backwards first

[00:52:49] [SPEAKER_00]: of them right so okay if I want to get to where you got what do I need to do in order yeah let me

[00:52:54] [SPEAKER_00]: work backwards what are the steps I need to do in order to get here you know that's not hey it's

[00:53:00] [SPEAKER_00]: theoretically possible it's hey you actually did it how do I do that okay that's just me maybe

[00:53:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just in you know you know kind of old school guide but that's how I function I hope that's how

[00:53:11] [SPEAKER_00]: you function too I mean where do people find more information about you your company what you do

[00:53:16] [SPEAKER_00]: maybe some of the you know things that you accomplish on a regular tell us more yeah I'm very active

[00:53:23] [SPEAKER_02]: on LinkedIn so come connect with me shoot me a message pick my brain like George said and come see

[00:53:29] [SPEAKER_02]: me at MSP initiative and Denver so outside of LinkedIn my website is workdaynengia.com and

[00:53:36] [SPEAKER_02]: can see we have free resources on there you know if you're trying to figure out where

[00:53:40] [SPEAKER_02]: automation fits in you can fill out a quick two minute thing and get a report emailed you

[00:53:46] [SPEAKER_02]: within just minutes so we've got a bunch of resources for business owners because the first question is

[00:53:51] [SPEAKER_00]: will where do I start and I bet you that's all work flowed outly it is as well as it is

[00:53:58] [SPEAKER_00]: that's she's drinking her own coolie by the way if you you know for the people who are listening

[00:54:03] [SPEAKER_00]: to this in the car please do not watch this while you're driving be safe a lane does not

[00:54:08] [SPEAKER_00]: spell our name like lane from sign felt okay it's a L a any so just if you were like who I

[00:54:14] [SPEAKER_00]: can I find her a L a any last name b o y d um I'm gonna if I haven't connected with you already I'm

[00:54:21] [SPEAKER_00]: going through and I said it's sitting on your session at this because I'm curious that will be up for

[00:54:28] [SPEAKER_00]: each of you orange I want to learn because you know trust me I paid a lot other people to learn

[00:54:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't always sit on on this sometimes it's yeah I sometimes I need to do some things by

[00:54:38] [SPEAKER_00]: self I never watch the one so September 25th 26th I your month in the school got like three or four

[00:54:48] [SPEAKER_00]: and I fell games behind you on the schedule Denver's nice this time of year it's not cold it's

[00:54:53] [SPEAKER_00]: too hot okay like you should be able to get there on a maybe a Southwest or United flight into that

[00:54:58] [SPEAKER_00]: you know I heard security at the Denver airport's much improved and we talked about it all the time

[00:55:04] [SPEAKER_00]: so guys take advantage I know like we have a lot of smart people in the room that's why we started

[00:55:09] [SPEAKER_00]: this event like it's when I said in the beginning we are literally doing this to give back to the

[00:55:14] [SPEAKER_00]: community that we live in this is exactly this right like you're not I have never seen a lane

[00:55:19] [SPEAKER_00]: and I MSP conference before but she worked with MSPs and I'm sure other businesses and she's

[00:55:25] [SPEAKER_00]: figured out who's has her stuff together and who doesn't if you're somebody that doesn't have

[00:55:29] [SPEAKER_00]: your stuff together figure out what you need to do to get to the point where you can use the

[00:55:34] [SPEAKER_00]: help that she's giving you and then you're already in a better place but I can't stress it off

[00:55:40] [SPEAKER_00]: start writing stuff down start putting it somewhere rather than in here because when George on

[00:55:48] [SPEAKER_00]: the wife finds out and getting all of them just gonna tell you a lane thank you very much for

[00:55:53] [SPEAKER_00]: jumping on here I'm sure you got a lot of things going on your day but I'm looking for a

[00:55:57] [SPEAKER_00]: meeting you in person and guys this session was absolutely recorded we're gonna post it online

[00:56:02] [SPEAKER_00]: right after this on MSP initiative.com under sessions at youtube page.com catcher you can go back

[00:56:08] [SPEAKER_00]: and like I have had people by the way come back and say hey I watched this episode a month ago

[00:56:13] [SPEAKER_00]: and you said this fine you can fact check us that's why we put them out there we're not

[00:56:17] [SPEAKER_00]: at the end of the day okay so definitely go back and check that out lane have a great

[00:56:23] [SPEAKER_02]: rest of your day see in a few short weeks in them yes thank you George this was a blast for me thank

[00:56:28] [SPEAKER_02]: you have a good one bye