June 30, 2024 • 40 mins
Episode 31 Frederick Dudek (Freddy D)
Transforming Clients into Raving Advocates for Your IT Services Company, with Stuart Selbst.
In this episode of the Business Superfan Podcast, I had the pleasure of chatting with Stuart Selbst , the Director of Customer Experience at Nothing But Net. Stu shared his journey from owning his own IT company to joining Nothing But Net, where he focuses on creating exceptional client experiences. We discussed the importance of building strong relationships and fostering superfans by understanding clients’ visions and goals. Stu emphasized the value of loyalty programs, recognizing referrals, and creating a community of advocates. His insights highlight the power of meaningful connections and a customer-centric approach in driving long-term business success.
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Attention business owners, are you looking to transform your employees, customers, and business allies relationships and elevate your brand to new heights? Join the Business Superfans Accelerator today. Led by me, Freddie D, this dynamic mentorship program empowers you to turn your stakeholders into passionate superfans. The ultimate brand advocates who actively promote your business. Imagine a community of dedicated supporters promoting your products or services, not just through word of mouth, but as proud champions of your brand. With exclusive access to monthly Q& A sessions, brainstorming opportunities, and valuable resources like online courses, playbooks, and much more. This program is designed to provide you with the tools you need for sustainable, profitable growth. Don't wait. Every moment you delay allows your competition to get ahead. Sign up now at bizsuperfans. community and start unleashing the potential of your superfans today. Your brand's transformation awaits. Let's make business growth your reality.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Freddy D (00:00):
Stuart Selbst known as Stu serves as a director of client
(00:04):
experience at Nothing But Net,where he plays a crucial role in
overseeing the sales team and ensuringthe success of all of our clients.
With over three decades ofexperience in the it industry
Stu has an impressive background.
He has worked in both corporate it and hasalso successfully managed his own it firm.
His experienced extendsbeyond national borders.
(00:26):
As is provided consultancy services to it.
Firms and software companies, worldwidestews career highlights include serving
as COO of a thriving software company.
Stu is not only a seasoned itprofessional, but also a dedicated
business leader with a genuine passionfor helping others achieve success.
(00:47):
In addition to his professionalcommitments, your organizes, a
popular monthly networking event,named the Business and Brews.
Which fosters connections among localbusinesses at nearby craft breweries.
Residing in Mesa, Arizona Stushares his home with his wife,
Loree, and their cherished felinecompanions, Cliff and Chloe.
(01:08):
And enthusiastic sports fan, Stuenjoys embracing life and immersing
himself in the world around him.
His love for adventure extends totravel, where he seeks to experience
all that the world has to offer.
Stu takes great pleasure intreating his friends and family to
mouthwatering barbecue creations.
Welcome Stuart, or as you'd liketo be called, Stu Selbis, to
(01:32):
the Business Superfans Podcast.
How are you this morning?
Stuart Selbst (01:35):
I'm good, Freddie.
I'm good.
Yeah.
It's a Friday morning,
Freddy D (01:39):
it is a Friday morning.
It's an exciting Friday morning.
We're ready for the weekend.
Stuart Selbst (01:43):
It is.
Yeah.
I'm ready for the weekend.
I need some downtime.
This has been a crazy work week,
Freddy D (01:48):
Yeah, I can I can relate.
I can totally relate.
Share with our audience your storyof how you got to where you are right
now, which is Director of CustomerExperience for an IT company called
Nothing But Net, which is a cool name.
Stuart Selbst (02:05):
Thanks.
I'm quite proud of the name.
So I've been in the IT industry along time from working in corporate
IT in my early 20s to having myown IT company in the early 2000s
and selling it and then consulting.
And when I decided that it was nolonger time for me to be my own boss.
I bounced around a couple ofcompanies and I actually saw a
(02:26):
position open with nothing but that.
And I know the owner Bob Cox, who'sbeen a friend of mine for 16 or
17 years throughout the industry.
Cause when I was speaking andconsulting in the industry,
we would run into each other.
And obviously both being from thePhoenix area, we would talk about things
going on and just had a nice rapport.
So I told him years ago, I said,someday I'm going to come work with you.
(02:50):
And so he was advertising on LinkedInfor a director of sales position,
and I applied and I called him upand I said, Hey, Bob, I applied for
this director of sales position.
And he's Stu, come on in.
And so I came in and wesat down and we talked.
I'm like, Hey, I really don't thinkthat we should ever use the title
director of sales because it comesacross salesy, very old school.
(03:12):
And I do believe that the the clientexperience starts with the sale.
So I want to direct the client experience.
So the title is directorof client experience.
I run sales, marketing customersuccess, things along those lines.
So that's how I reallycame into this position.
But what really drives me here is asI was interviewing, there were these
(03:33):
wooden letters, PLJ up on the wall.
And I asked Bob, I'm like, what's PLJ?
He's you don't know.
I said, no.
He says we've done each other a long time.
You don't know what PLJ is.
He says, PLJ is our corporate identity.
PLJ information systems incorporateddoing business as Nothing But Net.
So it was PLJ stand forsays peace, love, and joy.
And I was sold.
(03:54):
Because that's the conceptof what we're about.
We're not just an IT service provider.
We are a service company that does ITservices and we're very engaged in taking
care of our clients and we want to doit with peace, love, and joy, right?
Have a happy day, have a happy world.
We know things, you're gonna hit speedbumps along the way, but you know what?
(04:16):
If we can have a good attitudeabout it and, Freddie D,
you've known me long enough.
Freddy D (04:21):
Oh, yeah, we met back a long time ago, early 2000s.
Stuart Selbst (04:23):
So my whole philosophy in life is, be nice to people, I've
had my ups and downs in life and,we all have had our ups and downs in
relationships and whatever, but, thewhole concept of Nothing But Net of the
peace, joy, and love and having thatliterally on the wall of the office
every single day where you have to seeit makes it ingrained in your thoughts.
Freddy D (04:45):
That's an important thing that you said right there
is having it up on the wall.
I think companies, regardless of theindustry, should have a mission statement
or their whole aspect of what they'reabout, so that you see it, because,
like you just said, it gets ingrained inyour head, and your whole culture, your
mindset, your belief, it's a game changer.
Stuart Selbst (05:09):
Absolutely.
It goes back to one of thephilosophies that I strongly
believe in, and EOS, right?
Traction?
As, and I'm not a, I'm not an EOSconsultant or whatever, but I do believe
in it and having been a chief operationofficer and understanding operations.
But a big part of that is haveyour mission up on the wall, right?
Freddy D (05:29):
Everybody is on the same page.
Stuart Selbst (05:32):
Right, becomes culture, it becomes embedded, it becomes a second
nature and, I believe leading by example.
I think that's the way my boss,Bob, does that because he is always
about the peace, love and joy.
He's always about takingthe higher road and.
Being the better person andsometimes, every now and again you'll
(05:54):
lose the battle, but win the warbecause you take the higher road.
I'm okay with that, I'm okaygetting beat up a little bit, but
I'm not going to get destroyed.
Freddy D (06:01):
Sure.
It's, think of a rowing team.
Okay, and everybody'sgot to be on the boat.
Everybody's got to be rowing at the exactsame time and going in the same direction.
By having that mission statement, upthere where everybody sees it daily.
It gets everybody in tune on the same pageor basically go back to the rowing boat.
(06:22):
They're on the rowing boat and they'reall rowing at the exact same time
going in one direction, now they'reefficient and that's really important.
Stuart Selbst (06:30):
Again like you don't become super efficient in rowing
or anything, hockey, whatever,baseball without practicing, and
it's practicing all the time.
I use the PLJI the peace,love, and joy a lot.
And sometimes.
Ever so often, I lose my cherublike demeanor, and I lose the peace,
(06:51):
love, and joy, and it frustrates me.
But then I snap backinto why I'm here, okay?
I'm here to do a job, but the mission ofthe organization, is bigger than the job.
It's bigger than the one person.
It's bigger than anything that we can do.
I think that's the reason that we'rea successful organization, and one
(07:12):
of the reasons that I am here, isto bring that customer focused,
consultative approach of technology andbusiness to the masses, especially the
businesses in Arizona, and it doesn'tmatter the size of the organization.
But, to consult and just have ithave a sit down with somebody,
(07:33):
they don't have to become a client.
Sometimes it's not a good play.
It's not a good fit.
Freddy D (07:39):
But here's a cool thing that I one of the other individual that I had
on a previous podcast, Rick Benton talkedabout the fact that even though they were
not a good fit for his previous business.
He still wanted them to become asuperfan of his organization, because
even though they didn't do business,or in your case, you didn't do business
(08:03):
with some XYZ company, the fact thatthey appreciated who you are, they're
still going to tell other people, andthey're going to be your, your brand
advocates, or I call superfans, thatare going to be promoting you anyway.
Stuart Selbst (08:17):
Absolutely.
So it's funny you say that because acouple of months ago I was meeting with
a company, a nonprofit actually, causewe do a lot of work in the nonprofit
space and as I was sitting down withthem and learning about their business
and their infrastructure and whatnot,and they're a Mac mostly Macs and
no servers, no real infrastructure.
It wasn't a good fit.
However, the conversations havebeen still going on, Hey, Stu,
(08:38):
we want to do this and this.
Okay.
Now fast forward six months later,I was having a conversation with
one of their leaders I thoughtabout what you said six months ago
and we've really be considering it.
I don't want to replace all ourcomputers, but is there a way that we
could have that same level of security?
I said, yes.
We can put everything, everybodyinto a remote desktop and we can have
(08:59):
the servers in the domain and da.
So now the conversation is nowgoing to, alright, we want to
put that into our 2025 budget.
I went and consulted and had a meetingwith somebody and where it wasn't a
good fit, they're still a fan of whatwe do and wanted to find a way to work
with us because they had talked tofive other IT companies and they all
(09:20):
told them the same thing, we don'twork with Macs, we don't do this.
But they knew to come to me or cometo nothing but net and They'll, will
come up with a solution that will work.
So, you're right.
It's a superfan.
And it takes a while to build superfans.
People will be advocates, right?
Freddy D (09:38):
Yep.
Stuart Selbst (09:38):
But there's a difference between an advocate and a superfan.
Freddy D (09:41):
Yeah.
Superfan is advocates on steroids.
Stuart Selbst (09:45):
Yeah,
Freddy D (09:46):
Think of the sports team, and you've got, the fans, and there's the
fans, and then there's the superfans,and the superfans, as you can see
in my background, got the facespainted, got the jerseys, got the
banners, got the hats, got the bumpersticker, and they're promoting the
team and are spending their own moneybuying the gear, promoting the team.
Stuart Selbst (10:08):
So years ago, I did a presentation in the IT industry
called Selling IT Services, How Not ToSuck At It, and I did it at different
conferences and everyone loved it, andit went on for three or four years.
Hey, Stu, can you refreshyour presentation?
But as I was putting it together,I thought about superfans, right?
I thought about advocacy for businessesand there's one company out there that
(10:31):
has the biggest superfans in the worldwhere their fans are so dedicated.
They will tattoo that company's brand ontheir body, and that's Harley Davidson.
Freddy D (10:43):
Absolutely correct.
Yep.
Stuart Selbst (10:44):
They will brand themselves.
With that logo, I don't seeanybody putting the nothing
but net logo on their bodies.
I would be really happy if someoneripped off their shirt and said,
Hey, look at nothing, but net.
But when you think about that,how long did it take Harley
Davidson be to get to that level?
(11:07):
It was probably 50, 60, 70 years, butthey kept at it from the time they
started to the time they sold to AMCand then they bought themselves back.
You just look at it, butthey're at it every single day.
One of the things we need to do as smallbusinesses or leaders is we need to be
at it every single day talking to ourclients and we always have an excuse.
(11:29):
All right.
And one of the things I'm just trying toshake off is, I manage the sales team and
whatnot here, but I still need to go anddo some door knocking with my clients.
I'm just trying to get thaton my schedule right now.
I look at my calendar and it'sfilled with other stuff and I'm
just going to start canceling crap.
Freddy D (11:47):
You're right, but that's what I'm creating this
business superfan movement.
And I like, I'm calling it amovement because really we need to
blend all old school ways of doingthings and incorporate new ways
of doing things and blend the two.
Now you really got the best of the bestbecause you're leveraging technology,
but then you got the old fashioned,in person touch, in person phone call.
(12:10):
It's not automated as we are today,but it's still differentiate.
It's like sending somebodya thank you card through the
mail versus a thank you text.
Stuart Selbst (12:22):
But here's the thing Freddy, and this is something that
I'm struggling with and people inour age group probably also struggle
with this because we're, In thetwilight of our career, right?
We're not our customer anymore.
We're not the demographic of our customer.
Our customers are millennials now.
People that are making the buyingdecisions for it services or consulting
(12:45):
services or whatever services,whatever they're millennials.
The way that we did business and ourparents did business and our grandparents
did business of the handshake and goingseeing people and bringing the gift and
the thank you card and things like that.
I'm not sure that's still valid,even though in my mind, a nice touch.
Freddy D (13:06):
I think it's still valid because I've gotten people
that would text me, I'd send themsomething, and they would go wow.
That was really nice.
I appreciate that it,because it's different.
They're not used to it, they're used tothe instant text, and everything else.
Again, I say you got to blend thetwo and that's why I wrote the book,
Creating Business Superfans and I've setup, the Business Superfans Accelerator
(13:30):
community is really to blend old schoolwith new school, because it works.
Stuart Selbst (13:36):
I'm sure it is.
Freddy D (13:38):
A multi pronged approach.
You can send a text, but at the sametime, all of a sudden, they get a
real card in the mail, for example.
Or you you send a recorded videoand you send it over to somebody
to wish them happy birthday.
And you just click a quickvideo and you send it to them.
Big difference.
Stuart Selbst (13:53):
It's that personal touch, right?
Because, it goes topersonal feelings, right?
And Again, this goes way back, and we'vetalked about this for years, you and I.
People do business with peoplethey like and trust, okay?
Freddy D (14:07):
People will also forget what you said, but they'll
remember how you made them feel.
Stuart Selbst (14:11):
Always remember how you made them feel.
So yeah, that's my philosophy.
I'm with you on that.
I think building superfans is great.
I think if using the Harley Davidsonanalogy again, I mean we need to all
find more Harley Davidson kind of peoplethat are willing to tattoo nothing
but net on their bodies, or at leastpromote them or even wear our barbecue
(14:33):
aprons that we're giving out the summer.
Yeah, that's our summer swag,barbecue aprons with barbecue
tools, and me and my barbecue.
Freddy D (14:39):
So lemme ask a question.
Stuart Selbst (14:40):
Yeah.
Go ahead.
Freddy D (14:41):
We're talking about this stuff.
What do you think IT companies ingeneral are overlooking in doing to
creating superfans with their customers?
Stuart Selbst (14:51):
It's a good question.
I can tell you what we do, butlet me make it more broad, because
I think it's a broader question.
You're asking IT companies ingeneral, we're a boutique firm,
we're very customer focused.
I think the problem, and I'mgoing to call it a problem, maybe
even a pandemic, so to speak.
But technology companies are so focusedon the technology, and not the results,
(15:13):
not the solution, not the people.
So I think when you lose touch ofwho you're serving, and you think
you're a technology company, likemanaged service providers like us,
we typically do not invent anything.
Okay, we're not building software.
We're not creating thenext microprocessor.
(15:33):
We work with companies likeMicrosoft and Intel and.
Lenovo and Cisco, they're theones that are building stuff.
We're an integrator.
We're a, we're the service provider.
We're a reseller.
Okay.
What we do as technologists, we'restill going to call us technologists.
Typically, the industry focusestoo much on the what, not the why,
(15:57):
You know me, I'm a big Simon Sinek fan.
So I'll talk about thatgolden circle, right?
The golden , and we try to focus onour why, like just recently, I went
through a exercise of breaking down ourunique value prop, our UVP and put in a
presentation to my boss and my sales team.
This is what we're about.
You guys, we broke it down.
We got granular.
(16:17):
You should see the whiteboardin the conference room.
We got really granular what we did.
Dude, I even took it to the next level anddid a SWOT analysis for my internal team.
I wanted to know what everyone thoughtabout our strengths, our weaknesses,
our threats, and our opportunities.
So I did a SWOT analysis with ourteam, and I think that's what IT
companies are missing as a whole.
You have an advocate for thecustomer, which was, let's call it me.
(16:39):
Okay.
But then you have 20 technicians thatare just, they want to do the work.
Freddy D (16:44):
You made me think of something.
Yesterday, I was working with one ofmy customers and they brought in a
monitor as I needed an extra monitor.
So the guy shows up, with hiscompanionette, okay, to deliver a monitor,
hooks it up, it's dusty, it's dirty, andeverything else, and he goes I'm sorry,
(17:06):
it's a dusty monitor, but, the companygot a really good deal on this thing.
I didn't say a word, I just thoughtto myself, That was just absolutely
horrible experience, because it showedthat he didn't care, zero customer
service, and totally indifferent.
Stuart Selbst (17:27):
So something like that would never ever happen in our world.
Okay.
Even if we had a used monitor thatwe were giving to a client, right?
My team would clean it up, polishit, put it in a box or at least a bag
to keep it dust free, lay it down,test it, make sure it all worked.
That's the difference, that's thePLJ,, that's the peace, love, and joy,
(17:47):
That's how our clients know that wecare, and again, like I said earlier.
There's going to be times that wetrip over our shoelaces, right?
They're going to hit a speed bump.
We're going to screw somethingup because we are human, right?
Just like you described,, you guys,go above and beyond, my perception
is the guy really didn't give a crap.
He was just there to just,here's the, here's your monitor.
(18:10):
Bye.
A couple of squirts of Windexand a paper towel go a long way.
But you know what?
A lot of IT type people do not thinkabout that, and the funny thing is,
we're looking at a marketing firm rightnow, and I asked for some references.
I want to check everybody out.
So they gave me one I talkedto, and it's a very small
firm in Maine that I spoke to.
(18:31):
One person, managed serviceprovider in the state of Maine.
We're having a conversation.
She's very happy withthis marketing company.
But the thing that disappoints me alittle bit is the marketing vendor
gave me a company that doesn'teven come to our demographic.
We're a 19 person organizationin Phoenix, seventh largest
(18:53):
city in, oh, we're actually inChandler, but Phoenix metro area.
We're the seventh largestcity in, in the U.
S.
Why don't you give me somebodywho's closer to our size in
a larger city like Denver?
Or Chicago or something like that totalk to because they're experiencing
some of the same issues that we are.
We're in Phoenix, there'sa lot of competition.
(19:15):
I want this marketing companyto help me differentiate myself.
I can tell people we create superfans,that we do things better, but until
they know, until they experience thenothing but net way, they don't know.
They can just assume and I neverwant people to assume something.
Okay, and I never want to besalesy even though that's my job.
(19:37):
I want people to believe in our message.
I want people to understand thatwe are here to serve our community.
We are here to help our clientsand our prospects and I reached
out to a prospect today that we'resupposed to meet late next month.
I asked him, can we meet a little earlier?
I really want to get to know yourbusiness better and talk about
(19:59):
the collaborative partnership.
Not about, hey, can Isell you IT services?
Can I sell you some IT stuff.
No, I want to know more about them.
Because if I know more about them,what they do, what their mission is,
what their passion is, In the backof my head, because you know me.
I'm going to try to find a wayto help increase their business.
(20:20):
I'm going to not only come up with goodsolutions from a technology perspective
of where we should take them, but alsowho do I know that can utilize them?
Who do I know, cause givers gain.
Freddy D (20:32):
That goes back when I was selling manufacturing software.
You made me think of my old sellingdays, and I would never get into the
features and functions of the software.
I would be talking to the head guy, theowner of the company or the president
of the company, and I'd flat out tellhim, Our product does the job, the other
(20:52):
product that you're going to look at doesthe job, and the other product that you're
going to look at, they all do the job.
I ask where do you wantto be in five years?
What's your strategy?
What's your vision?
And we got out of the conversationof does it turn right?
Does it turn left?
Is it blue?
Is it green?
Stuart Selbst (21:09):
Where's it going to take your business?
Freddy D (21:11):
We're looking at how can I help you grow your business?
What's your strategy andwhat's your timeline?
How can we help accomplish that goal?
Then really the sale becomes backwardsbecause, okay, to reach your goal,
Stu, that you just told me thatyou want to do in three years, you
want to increase, by 2 million.
(21:32):
We need to back this up.
Because you got training, you got torun systems simultaneously, you can't
just shut one off, you got to run twosystems temporarily, make sure everything
is going, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Based upon your timeline youjust gave me, Stu, you need to
issue that PO to me tomorrow.
Stuart Selbst (21:48):
Yesterday.
Yeah.
No I'm with you.
A thousand percent.
Freddy D (21:51):
Yeah.
It's a lot of fun because you leaveeverybody else behind because they're
all busy talking about this turns blueand it does that, and it flips this
and we're so wonderful about that.
Stuart Selbst (22:03):
You don't talk about features.
You talk about how it's going to benefit.
I got two stories that I want to share.
They're both current clients, justa fantastic construction company.
And they've grown so much.
They've outgrown QuickBooks, right?
So they're talking to me andcause they know I come from that
ERP world and stuff like that.
I said we can go acouple of different ways.
We can go to a Sage cause Sage is reallydesigned for the construction business.
(22:25):
However, let's really look to the future.
Let's look five, seven,10 years out there.
I said, let's look at a true ERP system.
Let's look at NetSuite.
I'm a big fan of NetSuite.
We're actually a referral partner to them.
That's all we do is refer the business.
He says, okay so we've been workingwith NetSuite and them a little bit, and
he's pretty impressed, but we're goingto evaluate a couple of other things.
(22:46):
But for him to come to me andsay, Stu, this is where we're at.
I said, okay let's look atthese different solutions.
Now we don't sell them, but we have thattrust and they understand that we are
going to look at how it affects the usercommunity within the organization, how
it can from a technological standpoint.
How it can take their business tothe next level, and what other things
(23:10):
are they going to need, whetherit's bandwidth or infrastructure,
whatever, to run these systems.
Okay.
So we can plan accordingly.
That's what I try to getacross to every client.
Freddy D (23:19):
You know what?
That's the unexpected.
I'll call that the unexpected extrabecause you're not getting paid for this,
but you're helping that business go tothe next level, which in turn is going
to transform them into your superfan.
Because the owner of that company knowsother owners of other companies, and
they're going to be having beers orconversation or coffee or whatever.
(23:41):
And that's going to come up and go, Ohman, you got to talk to my buddy, Stu.
He'll hook you up.
Stuart Selbst (23:46):
And that's how that came about.
So a good friend of mine is theguy's business coach, and he was
having problems with his IT company.
He's Oh, you got to talk to Stu.
With, he didn't miss a beat.
You got to talk to Stu.
And we met the next dayand signed on with us.
The other client that I want to talkabout, he goes, I want to go to the cloud.
Okay.
What do you want to put in the cloud?
(24:07):
I want to put everything in the cloud.
Okay.
So we start talking about these things.
He's got some products with bigdatabases and stuff like that.
So we're looking at Azure and I'm like,you're going to spend 25, 000 a month.
Now, I don't want to go to the cloud.,Then we start to narrow it down.
He just wants to move his file andprint to like SharePoint stuff.
Okay.
So he's trying to do it himselfand so it's just funny that
(24:29):
they know, they have a vision.
The owners have a visionof what they want.
But I try to tell people,stay in your lane.
You do what you do best.
Let us console you.
You know what?
Have what I call diarrhea in the mouth.
Just throw it all up and tell mewhat you want to accomplish, and
(24:49):
then I'll put the pieces together.
It's like a game of Tetris.
That's what technology, that'swhat being an MSP is about.
You take the client's vision andyou put the pieces together to
make it work for their company.
Yes, there's a cost to that, but ifthey try to piecemeal it together.
Without a complete system or acomplete plan, then they're going
(25:13):
to trip over their shoelaces, they'regoing to fall flat on their face, and
then it's going to cost them more.
So that's what I recommend to people,when you're talking to your technology
company, if they're engaged in yourbusiness, the way we get engaged with
our clients, sit down and talk to them,tell them what they, tell them what
you need, tell them what you want.
And it's not just the salesperson,but, most IT companies should
(25:35):
have a customer success managerwho's more consultative, right?
Freddy D (25:39):
Back to what we were talking about earlier is what's the company's
vision, and you're just a component ofhelping them accomplish that vision.
You're just a one piece.
You're one piece of the puzzle.
Stuart Selbst (25:51):
Yep.
We also have a seat at the table.
We have a seat at the big boys table.
We're not sitting on the kiddietable We're helping them, strategize
and build process and budget.
I'm sitting in those meetings withour clients, or Bob is, and we're
having those budgetary meetings,we're doing those quarterly business
reviews, we're engaging with theclient from a business perspective,
not just helping them find the AnyKeyor, get their Microsoft Word to print.
Freddy D (26:16):
It's really what's the vision and how can we
help you get to your vision?
Stuart Selbst (26:21):
Absolutely.
Freddy D (26:22):
That's, superfan.
So what's the one thing thatjust about every IT company could
do better to foster superfans?
Stuart Selbst (26:30):
This is something that I'm also working on because
this is one of our failures.
We need to Instead oflooking for new business.
We need to cultivate thebusiness we have right?
I don't think IT companies andI'm gonna blame myself for this.
I don't think even though we do agood job of working with our clients,
(26:50):
I don't think we're engaged enough.
I call it tripping over my shoelacesand I just finished off my first
year here at Nothing But Net.
I'm coming to a realization thatI've taken the first year to learn
our systems and learn some ofour clients and things like that.
Now I really want to stepit up a notch, right?
I think in the IT business, we'reso focused either on the technology.
(27:11):
Or finding that new logo to putup on the wall, the new client or
the new vendor or whatever, thatwe forgot where we came from.
We forgot the people that I wouldn'tsay forget, but I'm going to use
that word just because it's the onethat came to my mind we're forgetting
the people that got us there.
Freddy D (27:25):
The gold is in your existing customers.
That's your base.
Stuart Selbst (27:29):
My low hanging fruit.
That is, those are my superfans.
Those are the people thatI need to engage with.
I'll give you an example.
So we have some very large clients,and we do a lot of work for them
and we do some sponsorships oftheir events and things like that.
And they know that we're engaged.
So one of the things I've worked on for my2024 25 plan is to have a loyalty program.
(27:51):
Create a loyalty program for ourclients that renew or send referrals
or whatever it happens to be.
And so I'm putting thefinal touches on it.
But I think it's a really good plan toreward our clients for being our clients.
Freddy D (28:04):
Yeah, I talk about it in the book or loyalty program.
Stuart Selbst (28:07):
Never read your book.
I just can read your mind.
But one of the things Iput in there is a budget.
For sponsoring their events, right?
So clients have events, they have openhouses, they have golf tournaments,
they have things like that.
And we're asked all the time, and I've gotto go and ask and get permission to, for a
couple hundred bucks or a couple thousanddollars or whatever it happens to be.
(28:28):
This way with my loyalty program, I'vegot money I'm setting aside, right?
MDF funds for helping the clients.
So I don't have to go and ask permission.
Client says, Hey, Stu, would yousponsor our golf tournament for 500?
Let me look at what you spent.
Let me look at my kitty.
You know what?
500 is outside of the budget basedon your spend, but I can do 250.
(28:52):
Can you give me a hole sponsoror something like that for that?
It's just those kind ofconversations where I'm putting
the, money where my mouth is.
When I say I want Superfans, Iwant to support our clients, I'm
putting the money where my mouth isbecause, they spend money with me.
I want to give part of it backto them to do their events.
And you know what?
We're building out a referral program.
(29:13):
Mary Jane, the receptionist at oneof our clients, she wants to refer
her dad's business to us or whatever.
You know what?
We'll give her a cash reward of up toa thousand dollars, for the referral.
And Mary Jane, who probably makes20 bucks an hour, a nice thousand
dollar bonus, from nothing butnet, Visa gift card or cash wired.
Freddy D (29:31):
Could be a ticket to a, to see the D backs or whatever.
Stuart Selbst (29:34):
Yeah.
Freddy D (29:35):
Yeah.
Baseball team football, hockey, whatever.
Stuart Selbst (29:38):
Yeah, so that's just one of the things.
And so we also have another thingfor gift cards and stuff like
that, that I'm putting together.
It's rewarding people for being our fans.
And I'm not trying to buy their love.
My wife would call it buying their love.
No, it's if you think of me, if you thinkhighly enough of me, that you're going
to tell somebody to come meet with me.
Because you trust me.
(29:59):
I want to do something nice for you.
I want to do something, Iwant to thank you for that.
So for the referral that gets a meeting.
Hey, here's a gift card if we get thebusiness Here's something a little extra
because you played a part in our success
Freddy D (30:12):
One of the one of my quotes in the book is people crawl through broken
glass For appreciation and recognition.
So what you're doing right thereis you're appreciating them
for the referral number one.
And once it converts into acustomer, you're recognizing them
from that perspective as well.
(30:32):
So now you've just transformed theminto a superfan, they're going to
go , wow, he really appreciatedwhat I gave him and I feel special.
I want to do this again.
When we do get those referrals andstuff like that, I'm going to have one
of those giant checks printed up, thewhiteboard checks and present it and
take pictures and social it out becausethat way people know that, Hey, Mary
(30:54):
Jane or Freddie D gave us a referral.
We got the business because Freddy Dtrusts Stu, or nothing but net, and hey
we're people of our word where we say,hey, we're going to get, give you a check.
And even when I had my consultingcompany, I got a referral from someone
and I had a referral program, I actuallywound up cutting them a check for 500.
Yeah.
Stuart Selbst (31:14):
It was, I got the check, I took a picture of it.
Freddy D (31:16):
You hit a point there, it's sharing it, because if I turn around
and say, Hey, Stu, really appreciatethat referral, thank you so much,
okay, you feel wonderful and you gotyour little gift and all that stuff,
but if I turn around and say, Hey,everybody, I want to take a moment
to recognize Stu for giving us thisreferral and really appreciate him.
(31:37):
Now, all of a sudden, you feellike a rock star, because now
you got edified in public.
Stuart Selbst (31:43):
Or in a newsletter or whatever.
Yeah.
Freddy D (31:45):
Night and day difference, because now you feel important.
Stuart Selbst (31:48):
You feel important.
You're on top of the world.
It's like you're wearing a tuxedo.
Freddy D (31:52):
So that's how you create superfans.
Yeah.
Exactly the way.
Cool.
Stu, it's been a pleasure.
How can people find you, andwhat's the free offer that
you have for our listeners?
Stuart Selbst (32:04):
Nothing's free.
First of all, they can findthis at NothingButNet.com.
You can check us out there.
You can find us on LinkedIn, onFacebook Twitter or X or whatever.
So the free offer is anyone who'slistening to this that would like
for us to give them a second set ofeyes on their network, on their cyber
security, I will make that offer to them.
(32:26):
It's typically a 1, 500 evaluation,but we can run some tools on their
network just to give them a second lookon things and see where they're at.
If any of their email addresses are onthe dark web, things along those lines.
So I would love to do that andpeople can get ahold of me directly.
My direct line to my officeis 480 889 6604 and my email
(32:50):
is SSelbst@ NothingButNet.Comand feel free to reach out.
Again, you can find me on LinkedIn or onTwitter or on Facebook and just reach out.
Again, go to our website, nothingbutnet.
com.
You can call us and get ahold of usand just, ask questions, we're here to
(33:13):
help, and like I said earlier, not everybusiness is a perfect fit, at the end of
the day, we want to help people and wewant to be friends with people and we want
to build more superfans and I'm willingto go to the ends of the earth for people.
At some point, it's going tohave to be a two way street.
Let me be a superfan of yours, aswell as you being a superfan of mine.
Freddy D (33:32):
Yeah, great point.
And one of the things I tellpeople is that, I'll just
use you and me as an example.
We may never do business, but ifwe don't take the time to learn a
little bit about each other, we'llnever know the opportunities that
could potentially happen because youand I may not do business together,
(33:54):
but you may know somebody, or I mayknow somebody that could use your
services or, somebody that could usemy services four months from now.
Stuart Selbst (34:03):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And everybody has it and everybody knowsabout it and everybody, and sometimes you
just need a coach, sometimes you just needsomeone to push you to that next level.
I was a business coach for eight yearsand people would do really well in
business and they would get stuck.
It's almost like having, a coach doesn'thave all the have all the answers, right?
(34:25):
And if you look at someprofessional sports, yeah, look
at the Chicago Cubs, right?
Great team, but they'rein the cellar right now.
Okay.
And it's not always the coach's fault.
It's how the coach, is leading andhow the people are responding to it.
So with you being an author, apodcaster, a speaker, an advisor, a
coach, you can't do the work for them.
(34:46):
You can just advise andhelp them build a place.
And just like in IT, wedo business consulting.
But sometimes there's no moneyin the budget to do something,
or something along those lines.
Freddy D (34:57):
At this point in time, it could be tomorrow, but if you don't
stay in contact with them, and that'swhy I created the Business Superfan
Accelerator, which is an online community,is because exactly what you just said.
Trying to solve it by yourself, and yougot nobody to talk to, to brainstorm,
you're not going anywhere, you're goingaround in a circle, your blood pressure is
(35:20):
going up, your stress level is going up,because you go, I can't figure this out.
Where if you went into a community,where you can say, hey, I've got this
question, does anybody know anybodythat can help with me on this stuff?
It's a game changer.
Stuart Selbst (35:34):
Yeap,Absolutely.
So it takes a village, right?
It takes a village to raise kids.
It takes a village to run a business.
And I used to say, it's easy to starta business, but difficult to run it.
There's so many moving parts and Idon't know, and I was a single solo
practitioner for a long time back inthe day, and I don't know how I did it.
(35:55):
I just don't know.
And I couldn't do it today.
I couldn't be a solo practitioner today.
Great.
Thank you for having me on.
Appreciate it.
Stuart Selbst known as Stu serves as a director of client
(00:04):
experience at Nothing But Net,where he plays a crucial role in
overseeing the sales team and ensuringthe success of all of our clients.
With over three decades ofexperience in the it industry
Stu has an impressive background.
He has worked in both corporate it and hasalso successfully managed his own it firm.
His experienced extendsbeyond national borders.
(00:26):
As is provided consultancy services to it.
Firms and software companies, worldwidestews career highlights include serving
as COO of a thriving software company.
Stu is not only a seasoned itprofessional, but also a dedicated
business leader with a genuine passionfor helping others achieve success.
(00:47):
In addition to his professionalcommitments, your organizes, a
popular monthly networking event,named the Business and Brews.
Which fosters connections among localbusinesses at nearby craft breweries.
Residing in Mesa, Arizona Stushares his home with his wife,
Loree, and their cherished felinecompanions, Cliff and Chloe.
(01:08):
And enthusiastic sports fan, Stuenjoys embracing life and immersing
himself in the world around him.
His love for adventure extends totravel, where he seeks to experience
all that the world has to offer.
Stu takes great pleasure intreating his friends and family to
mouthwatering barbecue creations.
Welcome Stuart, or as you'd liketo be called, Stu Selbis, to
(01:32):
the Business Superfans Podcast.
How are you this morning?
Stuart Selbst (01:35):
I'm good, Freddie.
I'm good.
Yeah.
It's a Friday morning,
Freddy D (01:39):
it is a Friday morning.
It's an exciting Friday morning.
We're ready for the weekend.
Stuart Selbst (01:43):
It is.
Yeah.
I'm ready for the weekend.
I need some downtime.
This has been a crazy work week,
Freddy D (01:48):
Yeah, I can I can relate.
I can totally relate.
Share with our audience your storyof how you got to where you are right
now, which is Director of CustomerExperience for an IT company called
Nothing But Net, which is a cool name.
Stuart Selbst (02:05):
Thanks.
I'm quite proud of the name.
So I've been in the IT industry along time from working in corporate
IT in my early 20s to having myown IT company in the early 2000s
and selling it and then consulting.
And when I decided that it was nolonger time for me to be my own boss.
I bounced around a couple ofcompanies and I actually saw a
(02:26):
position open with nothing but that.
And I know the owner Bob Cox, who'sbeen a friend of mine for 16 or
17 years throughout the industry.
Cause when I was speaking andconsulting in the industry,
we would run into each other.
And obviously both being from thePhoenix area, we would talk about things
going on and just had a nice rapport.
So I told him years ago, I said,someday I'm going to come work with you.
(02:50):
And so he was advertising on LinkedInfor a director of sales position,
and I applied and I called him upand I said, Hey, Bob, I applied for
this director of sales position.
And he's Stu, come on in.
And so I came in and wesat down and we talked.
I'm like, Hey, I really don't thinkthat we should ever use the title
director of sales because it comesacross salesy, very old school.
(03:12):
And I do believe that the the clientexperience starts with the sale.
So I want to direct the client experience.
So the title is directorof client experience.
I run sales, marketing customersuccess, things along those lines.
So that's how I reallycame into this position.
But what really drives me here is asI was interviewing, there were these
(03:33):
wooden letters, PLJ up on the wall.
And I asked Bob, I'm like, what's PLJ?
He's you don't know.
I said, no.
He says we've done each other a long time.
You don't know what PLJ is.
He says, PLJ is our corporate identity.
PLJ information systems incorporateddoing business as Nothing But Net.
So it was PLJ stand forsays peace, love, and joy.
And I was sold.
(03:54):
Because that's the conceptof what we're about.
We're not just an IT service provider.
We are a service company that does ITservices and we're very engaged in taking
care of our clients and we want to doit with peace, love, and joy, right?
Have a happy day, have a happy world.
We know things, you're gonna hit speedbumps along the way, but you know what?
(04:16):
If we can have a good attitudeabout it and, Freddie D,
you've known me long enough.
Freddy D (04:21):
Oh, yeah, we met back a long time ago, early 2000s.
Stuart Selbst (04:23):
So my whole philosophy in life is, be nice to people, I've
had my ups and downs in life and,we all have had our ups and downs in
relationships and whatever, but, thewhole concept of Nothing But Net of the
peace, joy, and love and having thatliterally on the wall of the office
every single day where you have to seeit makes it ingrained in your thoughts.
Freddy D (04:45):
That's an important thing that you said right there
is having it up on the wall.
I think companies, regardless of theindustry, should have a mission statement
or their whole aspect of what they'reabout, so that you see it, because,
like you just said, it gets ingrained inyour head, and your whole culture, your
mindset, your belief, it's a game changer.
Stuart Selbst (05:09):
Absolutely.
It goes back to one of thephilosophies that I strongly
believe in, and EOS, right?
Traction?
As, and I'm not a, I'm not an EOSconsultant or whatever, but I do believe
in it and having been a chief operationofficer and understanding operations.
But a big part of that is haveyour mission up on the wall, right?
Freddy D (05:29):
Everybody is on the same page.
Stuart Selbst (05:32):
Right, becomes culture, it becomes embedded, it becomes a second
nature and, I believe leading by example.
I think that's the way my boss,Bob, does that because he is always
about the peace, love and joy.
He's always about takingthe higher road and.
Being the better person andsometimes, every now and again you'll
(05:54):
lose the battle, but win the warbecause you take the higher road.
I'm okay with that, I'm okaygetting beat up a little bit, but
I'm not going to get destroyed.
Freddy D (06:01):
Sure.
It's, think of a rowing team.
Okay, and everybody'sgot to be on the boat.
Everybody's got to be rowing at the exactsame time and going in the same direction.
By having that mission statement, upthere where everybody sees it daily.
It gets everybody in tune on the same pageor basically go back to the rowing boat.
(06:22):
They're on the rowing boat and they'reall rowing at the exact same time
going in one direction, now they'reefficient and that's really important.
Stuart Selbst (06:30):
Again like you don't become super efficient in rowing
or anything, hockey, whatever,baseball without practicing, and
it's practicing all the time.
I use the PLJI the peace,love, and joy a lot.
And sometimes.
Ever so often, I lose my cherublike demeanor, and I lose the peace,
(06:51):
love, and joy, and it frustrates me.
But then I snap backinto why I'm here, okay?
I'm here to do a job, but the mission ofthe organization, is bigger than the job.
It's bigger than the one person.
It's bigger than anything that we can do.
I think that's the reason that we'rea successful organization, and one
(07:12):
of the reasons that I am here, isto bring that customer focused,
consultative approach of technology andbusiness to the masses, especially the
businesses in Arizona, and it doesn'tmatter the size of the organization.
But, to consult and just have ithave a sit down with somebody,
(07:33):
they don't have to become a client.
Sometimes it's not a good play.
It's not a good fit.
Freddy D (07:39):
But here's a cool thing that I one of the other individual that I had
on a previous podcast, Rick Benton talkedabout the fact that even though they were
not a good fit for his previous business.
He still wanted them to become asuperfan of his organization, because
even though they didn't do business,or in your case, you didn't do business
(08:03):
with some XYZ company, the fact thatthey appreciated who you are, they're
still going to tell other people, andthey're going to be your, your brand
advocates, or I call superfans, thatare going to be promoting you anyway.
Stuart Selbst (08:17):
Absolutely.
So it's funny you say that because acouple of months ago I was meeting with
a company, a nonprofit actually, causewe do a lot of work in the nonprofit
space and as I was sitting down withthem and learning about their business
and their infrastructure and whatnot,and they're a Mac mostly Macs and
no servers, no real infrastructure.
It wasn't a good fit.
However, the conversations havebeen still going on, Hey, Stu,
(08:38):
we want to do this and this.
Okay.
Now fast forward six months later,I was having a conversation with
one of their leaders I thoughtabout what you said six months ago
and we've really be considering it.
I don't want to replace all ourcomputers, but is there a way that we
could have that same level of security?
I said, yes.
We can put everything, everybodyinto a remote desktop and we can have
(08:59):
the servers in the domain and da.
So now the conversation is nowgoing to, alright, we want to
put that into our 2025 budget.
I went and consulted and had a meetingwith somebody and where it wasn't a
good fit, they're still a fan of whatwe do and wanted to find a way to work
with us because they had talked tofive other IT companies and they all
(09:20):
told them the same thing, we don'twork with Macs, we don't do this.
But they knew to come to me or cometo nothing but net and They'll, will
come up with a solution that will work.
So, you're right.
It's a superfan.
And it takes a while to build superfans.
People will be advocates, right?
Freddy D (09:38):
Yep.
Stuart Selbst (09:38):
But there's a difference between an advocate and a superfan.
Freddy D (09:41):
Yeah.
Superfan is advocates on steroids.
Stuart Selbst (09:45):
Yeah,
Freddy D (09:46):
Think of the sports team, and you've got, the fans, and there's the
fans, and then there's the superfans,and the superfans, as you can see
in my background, got the facespainted, got the jerseys, got the
banners, got the hats, got the bumpersticker, and they're promoting the
team and are spending their own moneybuying the gear, promoting the team.
Stuart Selbst (10:08):
So years ago, I did a presentation in the IT industry
called Selling IT Services, How Not ToSuck At It, and I did it at different
conferences and everyone loved it, andit went on for three or four years.
Hey, Stu, can you refreshyour presentation?
But as I was putting it together,I thought about superfans, right?
I thought about advocacy for businessesand there's one company out there that
(10:31):
has the biggest superfans in the worldwhere their fans are so dedicated.
They will tattoo that company's brand ontheir body, and that's Harley Davidson.
Freddy D (10:43):
Absolutely correct.
Yep.
Stuart Selbst (10:44):
They will brand themselves.
With that logo, I don't seeanybody putting the nothing
but net logo on their bodies.
I would be really happy if someoneripped off their shirt and said,
Hey, look at nothing, but net.
But when you think about that,how long did it take Harley
Davidson be to get to that level?
(11:07):
It was probably 50, 60, 70 years, butthey kept at it from the time they
started to the time they sold to AMCand then they bought themselves back.
You just look at it, butthey're at it every single day.
One of the things we need to do as smallbusinesses or leaders is we need to be
at it every single day talking to ourclients and we always have an excuse.
(11:29):
All right.
And one of the things I'm just trying toshake off is, I manage the sales team and
whatnot here, but I still need to go anddo some door knocking with my clients.
I'm just trying to get thaton my schedule right now.
I look at my calendar and it'sfilled with other stuff and I'm
just going to start canceling crap.
Freddy D (11:47):
You're right, but that's what I'm creating this
business superfan movement.
And I like, I'm calling it amovement because really we need to
blend all old school ways of doingthings and incorporate new ways
of doing things and blend the two.
Now you really got the best of the bestbecause you're leveraging technology,
but then you got the old fashioned,in person touch, in person phone call.
(12:10):
It's not automated as we are today,but it's still differentiate.
It's like sending somebodya thank you card through the
mail versus a thank you text.
Stuart Selbst (12:22):
But here's the thing Freddy, and this is something that
I'm struggling with and people inour age group probably also struggle
with this because we're, In thetwilight of our career, right?
We're not our customer anymore.
We're not the demographic of our customer.
Our customers are millennials now.
People that are making the buyingdecisions for it services or consulting
(12:45):
services or whatever services,whatever they're millennials.
The way that we did business and ourparents did business and our grandparents
did business of the handshake and goingseeing people and bringing the gift and
the thank you card and things like that.
I'm not sure that's still valid,even though in my mind, a nice touch.
Freddy D (13:06):
I think it's still valid because I've gotten people
that would text me, I'd send themsomething, and they would go wow.
That was really nice.
I appreciate that it,because it's different.
They're not used to it, they're used tothe instant text, and everything else.
Again, I say you got to blend thetwo and that's why I wrote the book,
Creating Business Superfans and I've setup, the Business Superfans Accelerator
(13:30):
community is really to blend old schoolwith new school, because it works.
Stuart Selbst (13:36):
I'm sure it is.
Freddy D (13:38):
A multi pronged approach.
You can send a text, but at the sametime, all of a sudden, they get a
real card in the mail, for example.
Or you you send a recorded videoand you send it over to somebody
to wish them happy birthday.
And you just click a quickvideo and you send it to them.
Big difference.
Stuart Selbst (13:53):
It's that personal touch, right?
Because, it goes topersonal feelings, right?
And Again, this goes way back, and we'vetalked about this for years, you and I.
People do business with peoplethey like and trust, okay?
Freddy D (14:07):
People will also forget what you said, but they'll
remember how you made them feel.
Stuart Selbst (14:11):
Always remember how you made them feel.
So yeah, that's my philosophy.
I'm with you on that.
I think building superfans is great.
I think if using the Harley Davidsonanalogy again, I mean we need to all
find more Harley Davidson kind of peoplethat are willing to tattoo nothing
but net on their bodies, or at leastpromote them or even wear our barbecue
(14:33):
aprons that we're giving out the summer.
Yeah, that's our summer swag,barbecue aprons with barbecue
tools, and me and my barbecue.
Freddy D (14:39):
So lemme ask a question.
Stuart Selbst (14:40):
Yeah.
Go ahead.
Freddy D (14:41):
We're talking about this stuff.
What do you think IT companies ingeneral are overlooking in doing to
creating superfans with their customers?
Stuart Selbst (14:51):
It's a good question.
I can tell you what we do, butlet me make it more broad, because
I think it's a broader question.
You're asking IT companies ingeneral, we're a boutique firm,
we're very customer focused.
I think the problem, and I'mgoing to call it a problem, maybe
even a pandemic, so to speak.
But technology companies are so focusedon the technology, and not the results,
(15:13):
not the solution, not the people.
So I think when you lose touch ofwho you're serving, and you think
you're a technology company, likemanaged service providers like us,
we typically do not invent anything.
Okay, we're not building software.
We're not creating thenext microprocessor.
(15:33):
We work with companies likeMicrosoft and Intel and.
Lenovo and Cisco, they're theones that are building stuff.
We're an integrator.
We're a, we're the service provider.
We're a reseller.
Okay.
What we do as technologists, we'restill going to call us technologists.
Typically, the industry focusestoo much on the what, not the why,
(15:57):
You know me, I'm a big Simon Sinek fan.
So I'll talk about thatgolden circle, right?
The golden , and we try to focus onour why, like just recently, I went
through a exercise of breaking down ourunique value prop, our UVP and put in a
presentation to my boss and my sales team.
This is what we're about.
You guys, we broke it down.
We got granular.
(16:17):
You should see the whiteboardin the conference room.
We got really granular what we did.
Dude, I even took it to the next level anddid a SWOT analysis for my internal team.
I wanted to know what everyone thoughtabout our strengths, our weaknesses,
our threats, and our opportunities.
So I did a SWOT analysis with ourteam, and I think that's what IT
companies are missing as a whole.
You have an advocate for thecustomer, which was, let's call it me.
(16:39):
Okay.
But then you have 20 technicians thatare just, they want to do the work.
Freddy D (16:44):
You made me think of something.
Yesterday, I was working with one ofmy customers and they brought in a
monitor as I needed an extra monitor.
So the guy shows up, with hiscompanionette, okay, to deliver a monitor,
hooks it up, it's dusty, it's dirty, andeverything else, and he goes I'm sorry,
(17:06):
it's a dusty monitor, but, the companygot a really good deal on this thing.
I didn't say a word, I just thoughtto myself, That was just absolutely
horrible experience, because it showedthat he didn't care, zero customer
service, and totally indifferent.
Stuart Selbst (17:27):
So something like that would never ever happen in our world.
Okay.
Even if we had a used monitor thatwe were giving to a client, right?
My team would clean it up, polishit, put it in a box or at least a bag
to keep it dust free, lay it down,test it, make sure it all worked.
That's the difference, that's thePLJ,, that's the peace, love, and joy,
(17:47):
That's how our clients know that wecare, and again, like I said earlier.
There's going to be times that wetrip over our shoelaces, right?
They're going to hit a speed bump.
We're going to screw somethingup because we are human, right?
Just like you described,, you guys,go above and beyond, my perception
is the guy really didn't give a crap.
He was just there to just,here's the, here's your monitor.
(18:10):
Bye.
A couple of squirts of Windexand a paper towel go a long way.
But you know what?
A lot of IT type people do not thinkabout that, and the funny thing is,
we're looking at a marketing firm rightnow, and I asked for some references.
I want to check everybody out.
So they gave me one I talkedto, and it's a very small
firm in Maine that I spoke to.
(18:31):
One person, managed serviceprovider in the state of Maine.
We're having a conversation.
She's very happy withthis marketing company.
But the thing that disappoints me alittle bit is the marketing vendor
gave me a company that doesn'teven come to our demographic.
We're a 19 person organizationin Phoenix, seventh largest
(18:53):
city in, oh, we're actually inChandler, but Phoenix metro area.
We're the seventh largestcity in, in the U.
S.
Why don't you give me somebodywho's closer to our size in
a larger city like Denver?
Or Chicago or something like that totalk to because they're experiencing
some of the same issues that we are.
We're in Phoenix, there'sa lot of competition.
(19:15):
I want this marketing companyto help me differentiate myself.
I can tell people we create superfans,that we do things better, but until
they know, until they experience thenothing but net way, they don't know.
They can just assume and I neverwant people to assume something.
Okay, and I never want to besalesy even though that's my job.
(19:37):
I want people to believe in our message.
I want people to understand thatwe are here to serve our community.
We are here to help our clientsand our prospects and I reached
out to a prospect today that we'resupposed to meet late next month.
I asked him, can we meet a little earlier?
I really want to get to know yourbusiness better and talk about
(19:59):
the collaborative partnership.
Not about, hey, can Isell you IT services?
Can I sell you some IT stuff.
No, I want to know more about them.
Because if I know more about them,what they do, what their mission is,
what their passion is, In the backof my head, because you know me.
I'm going to try to find a wayto help increase their business.
(20:20):
I'm going to not only come up with goodsolutions from a technology perspective
of where we should take them, but alsowho do I know that can utilize them?
Who do I know, cause givers gain.
Freddy D (20:32):
That goes back when I was selling manufacturing software.
You made me think of my old sellingdays, and I would never get into the
features and functions of the software.
I would be talking to the head guy, theowner of the company or the president
of the company, and I'd flat out tellhim, Our product does the job, the other
(20:52):
product that you're going to look at doesthe job, and the other product that you're
going to look at, they all do the job.
I ask where do you wantto be in five years?
What's your strategy?
What's your vision?
And we got out of the conversationof does it turn right?
Does it turn left?
Is it blue?
Is it green?
Stuart Selbst (21:09):
Where's it going to take your business?
Freddy D (21:11):
We're looking at how can I help you grow your business?
What's your strategy andwhat's your timeline?
How can we help accomplish that goal?
Then really the sale becomes backwardsbecause, okay, to reach your goal,
Stu, that you just told me thatyou want to do in three years, you
want to increase, by 2 million.
(21:32):
We need to back this up.
Because you got training, you got torun systems simultaneously, you can't
just shut one off, you got to run twosystems temporarily, make sure everything
is going, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Based upon your timeline youjust gave me, Stu, you need to
issue that PO to me tomorrow.
Stuart Selbst (21:48):
Yesterday.
Yeah.
No I'm with you.
A thousand percent.
Freddy D (21:51):
Yeah.
It's a lot of fun because you leaveeverybody else behind because they're
all busy talking about this turns blueand it does that, and it flips this
and we're so wonderful about that.
Stuart Selbst (22:03):
You don't talk about features.
You talk about how it's going to benefit.
I got two stories that I want to share.
They're both current clients, justa fantastic construction company.
And they've grown so much.
They've outgrown QuickBooks, right?
So they're talking to me andcause they know I come from that
ERP world and stuff like that.
I said we can go acouple of different ways.
We can go to a Sage cause Sage is reallydesigned for the construction business.
(22:25):
However, let's really look to the future.
Let's look five, seven,10 years out there.
I said, let's look at a true ERP system.
Let's look at NetSuite.
I'm a big fan of NetSuite.
We're actually a referral partner to them.
That's all we do is refer the business.
He says, okay so we've been workingwith NetSuite and them a little bit, and
he's pretty impressed, but we're goingto evaluate a couple of other things.
(22:46):
But for him to come to me andsay, Stu, this is where we're at.
I said, okay let's look atthese different solutions.
Now we don't sell them, but we have thattrust and they understand that we are
going to look at how it affects the usercommunity within the organization, how
it can from a technological standpoint.
How it can take their business tothe next level, and what other things
(23:10):
are they going to need, whetherit's bandwidth or infrastructure,
whatever, to run these systems.
Okay.
So we can plan accordingly.
That's what I try to getacross to every client.
Freddy D (23:19):
You know what?
That's the unexpected.
I'll call that the unexpected extrabecause you're not getting paid for this,
but you're helping that business go tothe next level, which in turn is going
to transform them into your superfan.
Because the owner of that company knowsother owners of other companies, and
they're going to be having beers orconversation or coffee or whatever.
(23:41):
And that's going to come up and go, Ohman, you got to talk to my buddy, Stu.
He'll hook you up.
Stuart Selbst (23:46):
And that's how that came about.
So a good friend of mine is theguy's business coach, and he was
having problems with his IT company.
He's Oh, you got to talk to Stu.
With, he didn't miss a beat.
You got to talk to Stu.
And we met the next dayand signed on with us.
The other client that I want to talkabout, he goes, I want to go to the cloud.
Okay.
What do you want to put in the cloud?
(24:07):
I want to put everything in the cloud.
Okay.
So we start talking about these things.
He's got some products with bigdatabases and stuff like that.
So we're looking at Azure and I'm like,you're going to spend 25, 000 a month.
Now, I don't want to go to the cloud.,Then we start to narrow it down.
He just wants to move his file andprint to like SharePoint stuff.
Okay.
So he's trying to do it himselfand so it's just funny that
(24:29):
they know, they have a vision.
The owners have a visionof what they want.
But I try to tell people,stay in your lane.
You do what you do best.
Let us console you.
You know what?
Have what I call diarrhea in the mouth.
Just throw it all up and tell mewhat you want to accomplish, and
(24:49):
then I'll put the pieces together.
It's like a game of Tetris.
That's what technology, that'swhat being an MSP is about.
You take the client's vision andyou put the pieces together to
make it work for their company.
Yes, there's a cost to that, but ifthey try to piecemeal it together.
Without a complete system or acomplete plan, then they're going
(25:13):
to trip over their shoelaces, they'regoing to fall flat on their face, and
then it's going to cost them more.
So that's what I recommend to people,when you're talking to your technology
company, if they're engaged in yourbusiness, the way we get engaged with
our clients, sit down and talk to them,tell them what they, tell them what
you need, tell them what you want.
And it's not just the salesperson,but, most IT companies should
(25:35):
have a customer success managerwho's more consultative, right?
Freddy D (25:39):
Back to what we were talking about earlier is what's the company's
vision, and you're just a component ofhelping them accomplish that vision.
You're just a one piece.
You're one piece of the puzzle.
Stuart Selbst (25:51):
Yep.
We also have a seat at the table.
We have a seat at the big boys table.
We're not sitting on the kiddietable We're helping them, strategize
and build process and budget.
I'm sitting in those meetings withour clients, or Bob is, and we're
having those budgetary meetings,we're doing those quarterly business
reviews, we're engaging with theclient from a business perspective,
not just helping them find the AnyKeyor, get their Microsoft Word to print.
Freddy D (26:16):
It's really what's the vision and how can we
help you get to your vision?
Stuart Selbst (26:21):
Absolutely.
Freddy D (26:22):
That's, superfan.
So what's the one thing thatjust about every IT company could
do better to foster superfans?
Stuart Selbst (26:30):
This is something that I'm also working on because
this is one of our failures.
We need to Instead oflooking for new business.
We need to cultivate thebusiness we have right?
I don't think IT companies andI'm gonna blame myself for this.
I don't think even though we do agood job of working with our clients,
(26:50):
I don't think we're engaged enough.
I call it tripping over my shoelacesand I just finished off my first
year here at Nothing But Net.
I'm coming to a realization thatI've taken the first year to learn
our systems and learn some ofour clients and things like that.
Now I really want to stepit up a notch, right?
I think in the IT business, we'reso focused either on the technology.
(27:11):
Or finding that new logo to putup on the wall, the new client or
the new vendor or whatever, thatwe forgot where we came from.
We forgot the people that I wouldn'tsay forget, but I'm going to use
that word just because it's the onethat came to my mind we're forgetting
the people that got us there.
Freddy D (27:25):
The gold is in your existing customers.
That's your base.
Stuart Selbst (27:29):
My low hanging fruit.
That is, those are my superfans.
Those are the people thatI need to engage with.
I'll give you an example.
So we have some very large clients,and we do a lot of work for them
and we do some sponsorships oftheir events and things like that.
And they know that we're engaged.
So one of the things I've worked on for my2024 25 plan is to have a loyalty program.
(27:51):
Create a loyalty program for ourclients that renew or send referrals
or whatever it happens to be.
And so I'm putting thefinal touches on it.
But I think it's a really good plan toreward our clients for being our clients.
Freddy D (28:04):
Yeah, I talk about it in the book or loyalty program.
Stuart Selbst (28:07):
Never read your book.
I just can read your mind.
But one of the things Iput in there is a budget.
For sponsoring their events, right?
So clients have events, they have openhouses, they have golf tournaments,
they have things like that.
And we're asked all the time, and I've gotto go and ask and get permission to, for a
couple hundred bucks or a couple thousanddollars or whatever it happens to be.
(28:28):
This way with my loyalty program, I'vegot money I'm setting aside, right?
MDF funds for helping the clients.
So I don't have to go and ask permission.
Client says, Hey, Stu, would yousponsor our golf tournament for 500?
Let me look at what you spent.
Let me look at my kitty.
You know what?
500 is outside of the budget basedon your spend, but I can do 250.
(28:52):
Can you give me a hole sponsoror something like that for that?
It's just those kind ofconversations where I'm putting
the, money where my mouth is.
When I say I want Superfans, Iwant to support our clients, I'm
putting the money where my mouth isbecause, they spend money with me.
I want to give part of it backto them to do their events.
And you know what?
We're building out a referral program.
(29:13):
Mary Jane, the receptionist at oneof our clients, she wants to refer
her dad's business to us or whatever.
You know what?
We'll give her a cash reward of up toa thousand dollars, for the referral.
And Mary Jane, who probably makes20 bucks an hour, a nice thousand
dollar bonus, from nothing butnet, Visa gift card or cash wired.
Freddy D (29:31):
Could be a ticket to a, to see the D backs or whatever.
Stuart Selbst (29:34):
Yeah.
Freddy D (29:35):
Yeah.
Baseball team football, hockey, whatever.
Stuart Selbst (29:38):
Yeah, so that's just one of the things.
And so we also have another thingfor gift cards and stuff like
that, that I'm putting together.
It's rewarding people for being our fans.
And I'm not trying to buy their love.
My wife would call it buying their love.
No, it's if you think of me, if you thinkhighly enough of me, that you're going
to tell somebody to come meet with me.
Because you trust me.
(29:59):
I want to do something nice for you.
I want to do something, Iwant to thank you for that.
So for the referral that gets a meeting.
Hey, here's a gift card if we get thebusiness Here's something a little extra
because you played a part in our success
Freddy D (30:12):
One of the one of my quotes in the book is people crawl through broken
glass For appreciation and recognition.
So what you're doing right thereis you're appreciating them
for the referral number one.
And once it converts into acustomer, you're recognizing them
from that perspective as well.
(30:32):
So now you've just transformed theminto a superfan, they're going to
go , wow, he really appreciatedwhat I gave him and I feel special.
I want to do this again.
When we do get those referrals andstuff like that, I'm going to have one
of those giant checks printed up, thewhiteboard checks and present it and
take pictures and social it out becausethat way people know that, Hey, Mary
(30:54):
Jane or Freddie D gave us a referral.
We got the business because Freddy Dtrusts Stu, or nothing but net, and hey
we're people of our word where we say,hey, we're going to get, give you a check.
And even when I had my consultingcompany, I got a referral from someone
and I had a referral program, I actuallywound up cutting them a check for 500.
Yeah.
Stuart Selbst (31:14):
It was, I got the check, I took a picture of it.
Freddy D (31:16):
You hit a point there, it's sharing it, because if I turn around
and say, Hey, Stu, really appreciatethat referral, thank you so much,
okay, you feel wonderful and you gotyour little gift and all that stuff,
but if I turn around and say, Hey,everybody, I want to take a moment
to recognize Stu for giving us thisreferral and really appreciate him.
(31:37):
Now, all of a sudden, you feellike a rock star, because now
you got edified in public.
Stuart Selbst (31:43):
Or in a newsletter or whatever.
Yeah.
Freddy D (31:45):
Night and day difference, because now you feel important.
Stuart Selbst (31:48):
You feel important.
You're on top of the world.
It's like you're wearing a tuxedo.
Freddy D (31:52):
So that's how you create superfans.
Yeah.
Exactly the way.
Cool.
Stu, it's been a pleasure.
How can people find you, andwhat's the free offer that
you have for our listeners?
Stuart Selbst (32:04):
Nothing's free.
First of all, they can findthis at NothingButNet.com.
You can check us out there.
You can find us on LinkedIn, onFacebook Twitter or X or whatever.
So the free offer is anyone who'slistening to this that would like
for us to give them a second set ofeyes on their network, on their cyber
security, I will make that offer to them.
(32:26):
It's typically a 1, 500 evaluation,but we can run some tools on their
network just to give them a second lookon things and see where they're at.
If any of their email addresses are onthe dark web, things along those lines.
So I would love to do that andpeople can get ahold of me directly.
My direct line to my officeis 480 889 6604 and my email
(32:50):
is SSelbst@ NothingButNet.Comand feel free to reach out.
Again, you can find me on LinkedIn or onTwitter or on Facebook and just reach out.
Again, go to our website, nothingbutnet.
com.
You can call us and get ahold of usand just, ask questions, we're here to
(33:13):
help, and like I said earlier, not everybusiness is a perfect fit, at the end of
the day, we want to help people and wewant to be friends with people and we want
to build more superfans and I'm willingto go to the ends of the earth for people.
At some point, it's going tohave to be a two way street.
Let me be a superfan of yours, aswell as you being a superfan of mine.
Freddy D (33:32):
Yeah, great point.
And one of the things I tellpeople is that, I'll just
use you and me as an example.
We may never do business, but ifwe don't take the time to learn a
little bit about each other, we'llnever know the opportunities that
could potentially happen because youand I may not do business together,
(33:54):
but you may know somebody, or I mayknow somebody that could use your
services or, somebody that could usemy services four months from now.
Stuart Selbst (34:03):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And everybody has it and everybody knowsabout it and everybody, and sometimes you
just need a coach, sometimes you just needsomeone to push you to that next level.
I was a business coach for eight yearsand people would do really well in
business and they would get stuck.
It's almost like having, a coach doesn'thave all the have all the answers, right?
(34:25):
And if you look at someprofessional sports, yeah, look
at the Chicago Cubs, right?
Great team, but they'rein the cellar right now.
Okay.
And it's not always the coach's fault.
It's how the coach, is leading andhow the people are responding to it.
So with you being an author, apodcaster, a speaker, an advisor, a
coach, you can't do the work for them.
(34:46):
You can just advise andhelp them build a place.
And just like in IT, wedo business consulting.
But sometimes there's no moneyin the budget to do something,
or something along those lines.
Freddy D (34:57):
At this point in time, it could be tomorrow, but if you don't
stay in contact with them, and that'swhy I created the Business Superfan
Accelerator, which is an online community,is because exactly what you just said.
Trying to solve it by yourself, and yougot nobody to talk to, to brainstorm,
you're not going anywhere, you're goingaround in a circle, your blood pressure is
(35:20):
going up, your stress level is going up,because you go, I can't figure this out.
Where if you went into a community,where you can say, hey, I've got this
question, does anybody know anybodythat can help with me on this stuff?
It's a game changer.
Stuart Selbst (35:34):
Yeap,Absolutely.
So it takes a village, right?
It takes a village to raise kids.
It takes a village to run a business.
And I used to say, it's easy to starta business, but difficult to run it.
There's so many moving parts and Idon't know, and I was a single solo
practitioner for a long time back inthe day, and I don't know how I did it.
(35:55):
I just don't know.
And I couldn't do it today.
I couldn't be a solo practitioner today.
Great.
Thank you for having me on.
Appreciate it.
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