April 7, 2025 • 24 mins
What if the biggest waste in your ad budget isn’t the media, the message, or the targeting… but the way your team answers the phone?
In this punchy Maven Marketing episode, Brandon Welch and Caleb Agee break down how poor phone etiquette quietly drains your advertising dollars—and exactly what to do about it.
Inside this episode:
- Why a missed call is often a $200 mistake
- 10+ phone etiquette rules that every business should follow
- How poor customer experience sabotages even great marketing
- Simple, free fixes that turn your phone team into a conversion machine
- Proven stats: Trained phone teams earn 20% more per call
If you're spending a dime on advertising and not training your phone team, you're leaking opportunity. This episode will help you plug the hole—and grow your revenue without touching your ad budget.
Perfect for: Service businesses, local shops, anyone with a ringing phone.
Watch, share, and forward to the team. This one could save you thousands.
Subscribe for fresh episodes every Maven Monday.
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Host: Brandon Welch
Co-Host: Caleb Agee
Executive Producer: Carter Breaux
Audio/Video Producer: Nate the Camera Guy
Do you have a marketing problem you'd like us to help solve? Send it to MavenMonday@FrankandMaven.com!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brandon Welch (00:06):
Welcome to the Maven Marketing Podcast.
Today is Maven Monday.
I'm your host, Brandon Welch,and I'm here with Caleb, Dad
mode, Agee.
Caleb Agee (00:14):
Dad mode.
Brandon Welch (00:15):
Dad mode.
He's about to be in Dad mode.
Hey, one thing about Frank andMaven and our culture and the
culture you should do your verybest to create is that family
always comes first.
We don't just say it, we meanit.
And that means if there's agame, if there is a mom or a dad
in need, if there is a doctor'sappointment, you take it.
Caleb Agee (00:35):
You got to get there .
Brandon Welch (00:36):
Your team will make it happen for you around
here.
Caleb Agee (00:39):
Yep.
Brandon Welch (00:40):
And I think, as business owners, it's easy to
think about well, what's thatcosting me?
And I would strongly urge youto say what is it costing you to
not do that?
Because, people don't want ajob, they want a life.
Yeah, and when you canincorporate your mission and
your values and your sharedvalues as like a business with a
family or an individual thathas a life, that is I mean,
(01:03):
we're just being honest is themost important thing Make your
business exist to prop that up.
Caleb Agee (01:10):
Yeah.
Brandon Welch (01:10):
And so that's good.
Caleb's got to run out of herein just a minute, which is why
we're bringing you a supersnappy but impactful episode.
Caleb Agee (01:19):
That was my snappy.
Brandon Welch (01:21):
Yeah, yes, amen on a Wednesday.
Caleb Agee (01:23):
Amen On a Monday morning.
Brandon Welch (01:24):
I mean, it's Monday morning, monday morning,
right yeah, behind the scenes.
You never know where we'rerecording these, but it is a
Wednesday today.
So, hey, this is the placewhere we help you eliminate
waste in advertising, grow yourbusiness so you can achieve the
big dream.
And uh, hey, we're all aboutthat wasted advertising part.
We're all about that wastedadvertising part, we're just
going to come right out with it.
I don't think there's a singlebigger waste in advertising than
(01:47):
what we're about to talk abouttoday.
Caleb Agee (01:48):
That's a bold statement.
Brandon Welch (01:49):
That is a very bold statement and everybody's
going, ooh, what is it?
I know it's probably it's gotto be direct mail or it's got to
be penny power.
I don't know why I just came upwith that.
Caleb Agee (02:01):
Yeah, some old newspaper that you shouldn't buy
anymore or something like that.
Brandon Welch (02:05):
All that stuff can actually work remarkably
well.
Hey, the biggest waste a lot ofmirror it's probably you and
the way you yeah, there I saidit.
Oh man, what did he just do?
The way you choose to answeryour phone.
Caleb Agee (02:24):
Yeah.
Brandon Welch (02:24):
Poor phone etiquette is the biggest single
waste in advertising.
Did you know that 80% ofbusiness communication is still
done on the phone?
Caleb Agee (02:33):
80% of your sales have some sort of phone
interaction.
Brandon Welch (02:36):
Yeah, I believe it.
Caleb Agee (02:37):
Yeah, I believe it.
I think there would be somepeople who are like I don't know
.
Brandon Welch (02:42):
Yeah.
Caleb Agee (02:43):
But I would say, yeah, Think about your large
yeah.
Brandon Welch (02:45):
If you're a brick and mortar, if you're in a town
and you're providing a serviceto real folks and not like
robots and things like that,that's still phone driven, yeah,
and if it's not, it should be.
Caleb Agee (02:54):
Yeah, unless you're selling software or something
like that.
Brandon Welch (02:56):
Can I get a hold of somebody right, likely to
switch?
To a competitor or away fromyou to a competitor if a phone
interaction is poor, and ithappens.
Lickety split, it happens yeahdid you know how she talked to
me?
Like well, they ought to knowbetter than that, or you?
Can you believe that like justall you gotta do is say one
person, one wrong thing, to sendsomebody the wrong direction,
(03:17):
and they're out on the loosebuying from somebody else, right
?
Yeah uh, what else do you knowabout phone etiquette?
Caleb Agee (03:23):
Oh, on average, it takes six times more to gain a
new customer than to retain onethrough good service.
Brandon Welch (03:30):
Six times more.
If you lose that customer today, it's going to cost you six
times what it costs you to getthem in the first place or just
to keep them happy.
Caleb Agee (03:39):
Yeah.
And phone-trained employeesgenerate 20% higher revenue per
call yeah.
Brandon Welch (03:45):
This is done.
All this data came fromRingCentral, a phone gurus,
gurus of phone etiquette and allthat.
So we're going to give youeverybody knows this, this is
not new information.
Everybody has had their ownpersonal experience.
This is backed up by your lifeand how you prefer to be treated
personal experience.
This is backed up by your lifeand how you prefer to be treated
(04:06):
.
But just in case you haven'theard it in a while, or in case
you have a team that you justwant to say hey, let's make sure
we're doing these things.
We're going to give you some nodust stuff, but I guarantee you
that you are probably you havean opportunity to polish at
least one of these things.
Caleb Agee (04:19):
I think when you reiterate your standards and
your expectations, then you haveit clearly spelled out and then
when somebody falls below that,um, we all can help.
It's not obviously you couldhave a correctional conversation
, but we can all help each other.
Rise to that standard, right?
Think about like Chick-fil-Athey have very clear standards
and I promise you it's not amanager every time who's saying
(04:40):
hey, don't forget to say mypleasure.
After they say thank you, theguy or gal in the next lane is
saying hey, you missed that.
Brandon Welch (04:46):
Yeah, To the new guy, you know.
And so Zig Ziglar said trainingis a lot like bathing.
We recommend it daily.
Caleb Agee (04:55):
That's good.
Yeah, that's good.
Brandon Welch (04:56):
So, in the spirit of Zig, we're going to
recommend you do these thingsdaily.
Reinforce these standards.
Hey, number one is Run to thephone.
Caleb Agee (05:05):
It is money ringing.
It's a bag of money ringingover there on that desk in the
front of the office.
Brandon Welch (05:13):
Just yeah, when you hear that phone, that means
dollars are falling from the skyand are you going to grab them.
And it's like the analogy I'vedone in some sales trainings and
we've had some clients that hadsome pretty poor phone
experiences.
And I walk up to them and Ihand them $200.
And I say, if I handed this toyou and you wadded it up and
(05:34):
went and threw it out on thestreet, would that be in any way
reasonable?
Would you ever do that?
No you'd probably put it in asafe place, wouldn't you?
Well, it's the exact same thingthat happens when that phone
rings, because it probably cost150, 200 bucks to make that
phone ring if you're aservice-based business.
Caleb Agee (05:49):
Yeah, Especially if you're doing any kind of paid
advertising which I assume youare because you're watching this
podcast, so you need to expectyou call that a hundred dollar
bill every time that phone rings.
At least we have a friend.
Brandon Welch (06:04):
He's been on the podcast before.
He had a $100 million servicecompany and I have known him to
fire people just because theydisrespected the money he was
spending.
He's like you're allowed tohave a bad day, you're allowed
to mess some things up, but whenit comes to the money I've
(06:25):
spent to make that phone ring,so you have a job and you don't
respect that red in the face,yes, that's crazy.
So, number one, run to the phoneguys.
Hey, that's money, that's acash register ring and we've
already spent.
That means that Mike or Keithor Tyler has spent at least $100
to make that dang thing ring.
Caleb Agee (06:45):
Yeah, so I can have a job, make a game out of it,
right, I'm never going to letthat ring more than twice or
more than three times orsomething like that.
You kind of have this standard.
It will never go to voicemailfirst of all, but it rings what?
Five, six times before it does.
Yes, let's beat it to three.
Brandon Welch (06:59):
Yes, you know.
So you pick up that phone.
What's the first thing you'regoing to do?
Number two Smile, smile, wow,what an opportunity.
Thank you for coming in today.
Yeah, you have shown up to giveme your money.
Caleb Agee (07:14):
Does that make me blah?
That's not what you're saying,by the way.
That's just the signals you'regiving.
Yeah, well, it's gratitude,right.
Brandon Welch (07:19):
Yeah, that is a gesture of like it is nice to
see what things in the universehad to align, that I got the
opportunity to talk to you today, yeah, and you got the
opportunity to deal with thebest company on planet Earth at
doing X, y or Z right.
Caleb Agee (07:36):
Yeah, and there is there's psychology involved in
this.
There's also just good voicing.
When we do recordings, it'sactually these are like studio
mics.
If we're recording a radiocommercial, or even a TV
commercial, but especially aradio, you can't see the people
that are recording that, but thetone changes if they smile as
(07:59):
they're delivering it.
So unless we're doing some sortof dramatic telling of
something, we want them to smilebecause they'll.
You, on the other end, willfeel the difference.
That's right.
Brandon Welch (08:10):
The most successful call center companies
put a mirror in the cubiclewhere the person's calling so
you can see your body languageright, because you can hear it.
My dad always told me cheapestthing you can give anybody is a
smile.
Caleb Agee (08:22):
That's a good one.
Brandon Welch (08:23):
What a gift, right?
Love you dad.
Hey.
Number three yeah, insertZoolander references here.
Hey, we don't have time forthat.
Caleb's in dad mode.
Put your brand phrases in yourphone intro or in your phone
etiquette.
This is fun, this is the.
I think this is one of the bestversions of alignment, like if
you have a campaign, as we'vebeen teaching you to do for the
(08:45):
last almost 100 episodes on theMaven Marketing Podcast if you
have a campaign and you havethis more than just a series of
ads running, you have thispersona and personality and
these characters you've put inyour television or TV or website
or social media ads.
The person is calling with thatpersona in mind and make them
(09:06):
get it.
It's like when I go to DisneyWorld, I don't see different
characters, I see the samecharacters.
I've seen my entire life sayingand doing the same things that
they've always done.
Caleb Agee (09:14):
Could be a different person playing that character,
but they look the same and theysound the same and I know it's
the same place and that's whatyou want to do.
The owner is not going to be.
Maybe if the owner is yourspokesperson on your TV
commercials and you've got thisbranding, this presence, that's
happening.
The owner is not answering thatphone call.
Yes, but you can give them asignal that says this is where
(09:35):
that owner is.
Brandon Welch (09:36):
You can use their catchphrases.
Caleb Agee (09:37):
Yes.
Brandon Welch (09:38):
From some of our campaigns.
You guys know Randy and Dee bynow.
We use them a lot becausethey've just done extremely well
doing all the things we talkabout here.
But they have this thing calledthe D guarantee and in her
commercial she's saying that's aD guarantee right.
And so when they answer theirphones, wouldn't it just make
(09:58):
sense?
And they do this like thank youfor calling the window source
of Kentucky home of the Dguarantee.
And people come up to them atthe supermarket and all their
home shows and all their inpublic and mention this stuff
anyway.
So why wouldn't we just readthat back to them?
It just confirms, it validatesthat oh yes, you've come to the
home of whatever right.
Yep, Geico I haven't done thisanytime recently, but I
(10:22):
guarantee you somewhere in theirphone script is welcome to
Geico.
You could save 15 or you cansave 15% or more on car
insurance in 15 minutes.
15 minutes can save you 15%more on car insurance, Sorry now
I got it right.
Caleb Agee (10:34):
If it was a sales line, they'd probably ask it as
a question Would you like tosave 15% or more in 15 minutes
today?
Yeah, let's see if we can saveyou 15% or more.
Brandon Welch (10:43):
How about 1-800-GOT-JUNK?
All you have to do is point.
I did call them recently andeverything that's in their
commercials it's like welcome to1-800-GOT-JUNK.
All you got to do is point.
And their people are trained tosay that, oh yeah, so-and-so
will be out there.
And remember, all you have todo is point and their junk goes
(11:05):
away.
Right, I guarantee you you do,but you just haven't.
You haven't boiled them down.
Put those things on paper andyes, uh, there should be room
for personality and nuance inyour phone scripts.
But that government, let's havea training session and say this
is how we, this is how we'regoing to do it.
Caleb Agee (11:21):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, this goes with it.
Clearly state the name of yourcompany.
So they didn't call Brandon.
They might be calling forBrandon, but they called Frank
and Maven.
So we're going to make sure weanswer the name of the company
and then, if I answered thephone, I'm going to state my
name yeah.
And so what we want?
To want to make sure that theyhave a personal connection with
(11:43):
me, the person who's answeredthe phone, because I'm going to
help them today.
Brandon Welch (11:47):
Yes.
Caleb Agee (11:47):
And so we've heard different people answer the
phone without their company name, which I don't like at all.
It's like hey, this is Donnie.
Brandon Welch (11:56):
Yeah, you're like this is Donnie, no, my goodness
.
Caleb Agee (11:59):
Or if you have sales people who have direct lines
that answer the phone.
Brandon Welch (12:03):
Yeah.
Caleb Agee (12:03):
Make sure they just assume it's a sales call and say
the business name and then saytheir name.
Yes, that's important.
Brandon Welch (12:09):
I have a friend, his name's Randy and he always
answers the phone professionally.
He knows it's me like it's abuddy.
He's like this is Randy.
How can I help you?
And I'm like, I know it's Randy.
Caleb Agee (12:20):
Yeah, you saw my name pop up, right.
Brandon Welch (12:22):
Yeah, it's funny.
So that seems like a no-duhthing, but I guarantee you we've
got.
Probably even people that wetalk about this regularly are
just not doing that.
It's like thank you for callingFrank and Maven.
It's a great day at Frank andMaven.
How can I help you?
Yeah, where we eliminate wastein advertising.
Yeah, hey, riley, are youlistening?
(12:42):
Yeah, yeah, so say the companyname, say your name, and then
like what can I do for you today?
Right, number five.
Caleb Agee (12:54):
Once you understand what they're looking for, get
them answers quickly.
Brandon Welch (12:57):
It's like where's the no duh button?
Again, this is a duh thing.
But some people are like well,I'm going to have to get you
with a blah blah, blah, blah,blah, blah, blah.
Caleb Agee (13:05):
Yeah, it's like hmm yeah, unless there's a legal
reason, you can't answer thatquestion.
Answer the question.
Brandon Welch (13:12):
Answer the question or give a range.
Yeah, and if you are a law firmor you're a medical firm
because sometimes they can't dothose sorts of things say well,
I know that most people blank.
Now, every situation isdifferent, but most people tell
a story and say so, I give thema range.
They didn't call probably sothey could get an appointment.
They called to get the next stepof confidence that would allow
(13:34):
them to move to the next step,right, yep, so if you're just
immediately saying, well, I'llhave a person get back with you
that that's like, eh, don't dothat, right, of course.
So, man, you want a world-classlesson in um phone etiquette?
Call Disney World at 2 am inthe morning and get their 2 am
(13:57):
staff.
I'm sure their eight to fivestaff is wonderful.
Yeah, hopelessly stuck in avery nasty situation in Florida
with my entire family and it wasjust like one of those deals
like screw it.
We're going to Disney andliterally 2 am couldn't sleep on
this awful, awful thing thatthey called a bed, but it was
(14:21):
like it was a torture chamberreally.
Futon Worse, literally worse.
And I was like, screw it, we'regoing to Disney.
And so I called Disney at 2 amand that was the most
unbelievable phone experience.
Just do it.
Just call and say I think we'regoing in July.
And what can you do for me andlisten to how they read back?
(14:41):
Well, I'm hearing you want this.
Well, yes, mr Welch or Mr Agee,we believe you ought to have
all these things and let me lookthat right up for you.
Call Disney at 2 am, side rantover.
Caleb Agee (14:55):
But hey, give them the answer to the dang question
so you might hear how much doesthis cost, does it typically
cost?
And give them the first You'regoing to be trained to say well,
it depends on whether we haveto come out and give you an
estimate.
Brandon Welch (15:07):
It's like no.
Our average person, needingwhat you are asking for, spends
$8,200.
Caleb Agee (15:14):
Yeah, or you can say it's between $5,000 and $10,000
or $7,000 and $9,000.
If you can get it tighter.
I think you need to just be asclear and quick as you can with
all of that.
Brandon Welch (15:27):
Do not hem-haw.
Caleb Agee (15:28):
How long does it usually take If you're booking
four weeks out?
Yes, you know you're going toactually have a big problem on
the tail end of this experience.
Brandon Welch (15:39):
Yeah, if you aren't honest at some level.
Caleb Agee (15:42):
There's a right way to say this.
I want to be clear about that.
Brandon Welch (15:44):
Well, people who book in February typically get
their jobs done in three to fourweeks.
When we get to May or June,that stretches out to six to 12
weeks.
So it just depends on whenyou're wanting to get it done.
There you go, you guys takingnotes.
Yeah, exactly, and you knowwhat this is called empathy.
This is called looking throughthe world through the customer's
(16:05):
eyes, walking around in theirshoes for a minute and just
think about what you would wantif you were in their shoes.
Yeah, we have some wonderfulempathy questions in the Maven
Marketer and chapter eightcalled what you're really
selling.
Sorry, chapter yes, chaptereight, what you're really
selling.
But they revolve around whatare their needs, pains, hopes
and fears.
How can your product satisfythose and what's the most
reasonable next step for action?
Caleb Agee (16:32):
That's what they're actually trying to do and so if
you just wire your languagearound those you're going to go
far.
So what's number six?
Make sure you sweep up whenyou're done.
So you're going to want to.
Really you're kind of recappingthe conversation, so have I
answered all?
Your questions.
Brandon Welch (16:43):
What I heard you say yeah, what I'm hearing is
you're shopping other companiesright now and you're just
looking to get some prices.
I've given you a range for that.
Is there anything else I cananswer?
Is there anything else that youwere curious about, anything
else you've seen that you like.
Caleb Agee (16:55):
Yeah.
Brandon Welch (16:57):
What can I do to make this easier for you?
Right, You're sweeping thefloor, right?
Caleb Agee (17:01):
Make it nice and tidy.
Brandon Welch (17:03):
Yeah.
So that's prettyself-explanatory.
Just say, have I answered allyour questions today?
Right yeah, duh Right.
Caleb Agee (17:15):
Take as much time as it takes is the next one, which
is um, I can't.
I can't remember exactly whichcompany this was, but they had
somebody do a six hour customerservice call.
Uh, and they normally and itwas a call center type of
customer service place Normallyyou'd be disciplined for being
on the phone that long right,yeah.
Because you should try to getoff.
There's more calls waiting.
Brandon Welch (17:35):
Yes.
Caleb Agee (17:36):
They rewarded this person because they gave such
excellent customer service.
Now, not every call should bethat long or every time.
Brandon Welch (17:44):
You're matching the energy of the person who's
on the other line right.
Caleb Agee (17:47):
Yeah, if they're in hustle mode, hustle right up.
If they are slow and easy, takeit slow and give them the time.
Hopefully you've got coveragethat the next call that comes in
isn't waiting on you, butthat'd be great.
Brandon Welch (18:01):
Yeah, yes, love it.
Hey, cut down all your phonetrees.
This is, we're on number ninenow I think.
Chop them down.
Caleb Agee (18:10):
Yeah, I don't want to listen to a robot.
Yeah, I want a human.
Brandon Welch (18:14):
Like, go back to that first thing.
You've spent hundreds ofdollars probably to get this
person to your phones and you'regoing to subject them to some
cheap automated robot thing.
Like, I know AI is getting goodand I know there are times
where the phone tree has to takeprecedent.
But, like, if you're sittingthere wondering should I hire a
(18:36):
another $15 an hour person toanswer the phone or should I you
know outsources to a phone treehire the person?
Yeah, that's an, it's areplaceable value.
Caleb Agee (18:46):
It will pay for itself, I think, in reputation
alone.
Yeah, and that's the thing Ithink, even just hearing press
one for sales.
I don't want to talk to sales.
Yeah, you know what?
Brandon Welch (19:00):
I'm saying that's when you put sales as your
first press one for sales.
Caleb Agee (19:03):
That's the door I have to open, then press 13 for
service.
Brandon Welch (19:06):
It's like well, you've shown me what's important
.
Caleb Agee (19:09):
Well, it's like I think, even if I was trying to
be sold, I wanted to buy whatyou're selling.
As soon as you said sales and Ihad to open that gate to get in
there, I'm like, oh great, I'mabout to be sailed, sold, yeah,
and my guard goes up.
Brandon Welch (19:24):
Yeah, what you're looking for is to talk to a
consultant.
Yes, talk to a specialist.
Yes, a product specialist, avehicle specialist, a service
specialist or An elder lawspecialist?
Caleb Agee (19:33):
Cut down that stupid tree.
Yeah, a couple really basicthings.
These two kind of go togetherCheck your hold music.
Yeah, what's it sound like?
Is it crappy?
Brandon Welch (19:43):
You know what Is it weird, it's mind-blowing mind
, but I've been listening to thesame.
Hold me, there was a.
There's a car dealer in town Ihappen to have a family member
that worked there, so I calledthis um car dealership a lot and
it had this but a bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, but a bum but a bum
yeah, and that was like 13, 14,15 years ago and I was like
because I had sat on hold for along time car dealership, go
(20:05):
figure.
But and it's amazing to me howmany people have that default
that person who wrote that musicought to be getting royalties
like crazy hello royalties,probably royalty free.
Caleb Agee (20:16):
Which is the problem ?
Brandon Welch (20:16):
yeah, but like just delete that stuff out.
Yeah, uh, go to your localrecording studio if you have to,
or you know what.
Pull out your iphone and do avoice memo or do some pull up
garage band on your computer orslightly hire some high school
kid yeah, or you can go buy somelike royalty-free stock music.
Caleb Agee (20:33):
Maybe that fits your vibe a little bit more.
Brandon Welch (20:35):
It may be a little cheesy still, but it's
not the default thing that theother guys down the street have
guarantee there's a companyonline doing this for a couple
hundred bucks and doing it well,yeah, making sure your hold
music is, yeah, is on point, andput your promotions in there.
Hey, did you know that youcould save 15%?
Caleb Agee (20:52):
or more in 15 minutes.
This all comes with a caveatthat you're going to do your
very, very best to never putthem on hold, but just in case
you have to.
Brandon Welch (20:58):
Well, you've got them there, right, this should
work.
Keep them stoked or tell jokes,wouldn't that be fun?
Caleb Agee (21:03):
Yeah, there's one that does like history like
trivia.
Yes, history like trivia.
Yes, during the, it's kind oflike you're waiting at the
movies.
Yes and uh, that was kind offun.
Yeah, um, also check yourvoicemail on the hour, on the
hour.
Well, I was gonna say alsocheck the oh message that they
hear before they leave avoicemail and make sure that's
not a robot.
Make sure it's special soundslike you.
Brandon Welch (21:24):
Hey, we're so sorry.
Uh, man, you got our voicemailthat that never happens.
Something must be reallyhappening right now.
But we are going to get back toyou, not within one business
day, we're going to get back toyou immediately.
Caleb Agee (21:35):
You are our first thing as soon as whatever we're
doing.
I mean, you're only open eighthours a day, nine hours a day,
so that's ringing.
Brandon Welch (21:44):
We didn't put this in here.
But hey, for your weekends.
We didn't put this in here, buthey, for your weekends, for
times that are low peak, thatyou're not going to have
somebody on staff, hire ananswering service it will cost
you five or ten bucks a call,maybe, maybe, and at least have
them have a real personanswering.
Caleb Agee (21:58):
Yeah, yep.
Brandon Welch (22:04):
Last thing Secret shop your phones weekly.
I want you to put a spot inyour calendar where you're
calling your own business on aweekly basis and just seeing
what that experience was like.
Caleb Agee (22:14):
Yeah.
Brandon Welch (22:15):
Like, why not?
It's really.
It's like checking your bankaccount.
It's like well, I've spentabout I don't know $5,000 on
advertising this week.
Let me see how that's workingfor me and let's make sure the
first hole is patched right.
Caleb Agee (22:31):
That's right.
Brandon Welch (22:32):
I mean, you make sure there's gas in your car,
you make sure there's not nailsin your tires.
That's basic stuff, right?
Not sure if that analogy wastracking, but you get it.
Hey guys, that's the biggestwaste and you can fix it for
free.
You just have to put a littlebit of effort into it.
I don't want you lecturing yourpeople, but you rally them
(22:53):
around the Maven MarketingPodcast and I'm sure, dozens of
others blogs, podcasts, websitesor whatever.
Just do some training on aweekly basis and say, hey, it's
Monday, what are we going tofocus on?
Caleb Agee (23:07):
We're going to get a little better today.
Brandon Welch (23:08):
Inspect what you expect, as they say.
Caleb Agee (23:10):
Yeah.
Brandon Welch (23:11):
Cool.
Caleb Agee (23:11):
Yeah.
Brandon Welch (23:12):
If you know somebody that needs to hear this
, send it with grace and say hey, I found some value in this.
I think you will too.
Caleb Agee (23:21):
Yeah.
Brandon Welch (23:21):
Not you need to hear this, yeah Right, but
forward in this link and, whileyou're at it, if it did
something for you, please giveus a little like and subscribe,
because we're going to bedelivering more and more stuff
for a really long, long time.
We are here for you.
We are in the game ofentrepreneurs.
Our heart bleeds for the smallbusiness, which is not all that
small.
(23:44):
No small business is a smallthing, right?
The owner-operated companies ofAmerica, these are the ones
making the difference.
These are the ones driving ourcultures and our community, and
so that's who we're here toserve.
That's why we're here everyMonday.
We'll be back every Mondayanswering real-life marketing
questions, because marketers whocan't teach you why are just a
fancy lie.
Have a great week.
Welcome to the Maven Marketing Podcast.
Today is Maven Monday.
I'm your host, Brandon Welch,and I'm here with Caleb, Dad
mode, Agee.
Caleb Agee (00:14):
Dad mode.
Brandon Welch (00:15):
Dad mode.
He's about to be in Dad mode.
Hey, one thing about Frank andMaven and our culture and the
culture you should do your verybest to create is that family
always comes first.
We don't just say it, we meanit.
And that means if there's agame, if there is a mom or a dad
in need, if there is a doctor'sappointment, you take it.
Caleb Agee (00:35):
You got to get there .
Brandon Welch (00:36):
Your team will make it happen for you around
here.
Caleb Agee (00:39):
Yep.
Brandon Welch (00:40):
And I think, as business owners, it's easy to
think about well, what's thatcosting me?
And I would strongly urge youto say what is it costing you to
not do that?
Because, people don't want ajob, they want a life.
Yeah, and when you canincorporate your mission and
your values and your sharedvalues as like a business with a
family or an individual thathas a life, that is I mean,
(01:03):
we're just being honest is themost important thing Make your
business exist to prop that up.
Caleb Agee (01:10):
Yeah.
Brandon Welch (01:10):
And so that's good.
Caleb's got to run out of herein just a minute, which is why
we're bringing you a supersnappy but impactful episode.
Caleb Agee (01:19):
That was my snappy.
Brandon Welch (01:21):
Yeah, yes, amen on a Wednesday.
Caleb Agee (01:23):
Amen On a Monday morning.
Brandon Welch (01:24):
I mean, it's Monday morning, monday morning,
right yeah, behind the scenes.
You never know where we'rerecording these, but it is a
Wednesday today.
So, hey, this is the placewhere we help you eliminate
waste in advertising, grow yourbusiness so you can achieve the
big dream.
And uh, hey, we're all aboutthat wasted advertising part.
We're all about that wastedadvertising part, we're just
going to come right out with it.
I don't think there's a singlebigger waste in advertising than
(01:47):
what we're about to talk abouttoday.
Caleb Agee (01:48):
That's a bold statement.
Brandon Welch (01:49):
That is a very bold statement and everybody's
going, ooh, what is it?
I know it's probably it's gotto be direct mail or it's got to
be penny power.
I don't know why I just came upwith that.
Caleb Agee (02:01):
Yeah, some old newspaper that you shouldn't buy
anymore or something like that.
Brandon Welch (02:05):
All that stuff can actually work remarkably
well.
Hey, the biggest waste a lot ofmirror it's probably you and
the way you yeah, there I saidit.
Oh man, what did he just do?
The way you choose to answeryour phone.
Caleb Agee (02:24):
Yeah.
Brandon Welch (02:24):
Poor phone etiquette is the biggest single
waste in advertising.
Did you know that 80% ofbusiness communication is still
done on the phone?
Caleb Agee (02:33):
80% of your sales have some sort of phone
interaction.
Brandon Welch (02:36):
Yeah, I believe it.
Caleb Agee (02:37):
Yeah, I believe it.
I think there would be somepeople who are like I don't know
.
Brandon Welch (02:42):
Yeah.
Caleb Agee (02:43):
But I would say, yeah, Think about your large
yeah.
Brandon Welch (02:45):
If you're a brick and mortar, if you're in a town
and you're providing a serviceto real folks and not like
robots and things like that,that's still phone driven, yeah,
and if it's not, it should be.
Caleb Agee (02:54):
Yeah, unless you're selling software or something
like that.
Brandon Welch (02:56):
Can I get a hold of somebody right, likely to
switch?
To a competitor or away fromyou to a competitor if a phone
interaction is poor, and ithappens.
Lickety split, it happens yeahdid you know how she talked to
me?
Like well, they ought to knowbetter than that, or you?
Can you believe that like justall you gotta do is say one
person, one wrong thing, to sendsomebody the wrong direction,
(03:17):
and they're out on the loosebuying from somebody else, right
?
Yeah uh, what else do you knowabout phone etiquette?
Caleb Agee (03:23):
Oh, on average, it takes six times more to gain a
new customer than to retain onethrough good service.
Brandon Welch (03:30):
Six times more.
If you lose that customer today, it's going to cost you six
times what it costs you to getthem in the first place or just
to keep them happy.
Caleb Agee (03:39):
Yeah.
And phone-trained employeesgenerate 20% higher revenue per
call yeah.
Brandon Welch (03:45):
This is done.
All this data came fromRingCentral, a phone gurus,
gurus of phone etiquette and allthat.
So we're going to give youeverybody knows this, this is
not new information.
Everybody has had their ownpersonal experience.
This is backed up by your lifeand how you prefer to be treated
personal experience.
This is backed up by your lifeand how you prefer to be treated
(04:06):
.
But just in case you haven'theard it in a while, or in case
you have a team that you justwant to say hey, let's make sure
we're doing these things.
We're going to give you some nodust stuff, but I guarantee you
that you are probably you havean opportunity to polish at
least one of these things.
Caleb Agee (04:19):
I think when you reiterate your standards and
your expectations, then you haveit clearly spelled out and then
when somebody falls below that,um, we all can help.
It's not obviously you couldhave a correctional conversation
, but we can all help each other.
Rise to that standard, right?
Think about like Chick-fil-Athey have very clear standards
and I promise you it's not amanager every time who's saying
(04:40):
hey, don't forget to say mypleasure.
After they say thank you, theguy or gal in the next lane is
saying hey, you missed that.
Brandon Welch (04:46):
Yeah, To the new guy, you know.
And so Zig Ziglar said trainingis a lot like bathing.
We recommend it daily.
Caleb Agee (04:55):
That's good.
Yeah, that's good.
Brandon Welch (04:56):
So, in the spirit of Zig, we're going to
recommend you do these thingsdaily.
Reinforce these standards.
Hey, number one is Run to thephone.
Caleb Agee (05:05):
It is money ringing.
It's a bag of money ringingover there on that desk in the
front of the office.
Brandon Welch (05:13):
Just yeah, when you hear that phone, that means
dollars are falling from the skyand are you going to grab them.
And it's like the analogy I'vedone in some sales trainings and
we've had some clients that hadsome pretty poor phone
experiences.
And I walk up to them and Ihand them $200.
And I say, if I handed this toyou and you wadded it up and
(05:34):
went and threw it out on thestreet, would that be in any way
reasonable?
Would you ever do that?
No you'd probably put it in asafe place, wouldn't you?
Well, it's the exact same thingthat happens when that phone
rings, because it probably cost150, 200 bucks to make that
phone ring if you're aservice-based business.
Caleb Agee (05:49):
Yeah, Especially if you're doing any kind of paid
advertising which I assume youare because you're watching this
podcast, so you need to expectyou call that a hundred dollar
bill every time that phone rings.
At least we have a friend.
Brandon Welch (06:04):
He's been on the podcast before.
He had a $100 million servicecompany and I have known him to
fire people just because theydisrespected the money he was
spending.
He's like you're allowed tohave a bad day, you're allowed
to mess some things up, but whenit comes to the money I've
(06:25):
spent to make that phone ring,so you have a job and you don't
respect that red in the face,yes, that's crazy.
So, number one, run to the phoneguys.
Hey, that's money, that's acash register ring and we've
already spent.
That means that Mike or Keithor Tyler has spent at least $100
to make that dang thing ring.
Caleb Agee (06:45):
Yeah, so I can have a job, make a game out of it,
right, I'm never going to letthat ring more than twice or
more than three times orsomething like that.
You kind of have this standard.
It will never go to voicemailfirst of all, but it rings what?
Five, six times before it does.
Yes, let's beat it to three.
Brandon Welch (06:59):
Yes, you know.
So you pick up that phone.
What's the first thing you'regoing to do?
Number two Smile, smile, wow,what an opportunity.
Thank you for coming in today.
Yeah, you have shown up to giveme your money.
Caleb Agee (07:14):
Does that make me blah?
That's not what you're saying,by the way.
That's just the signals you'regiving.
Yeah, well, it's gratitude,right.
Brandon Welch (07:19):
Yeah, that is a gesture of like it is nice to
see what things in the universehad to align, that I got the
opportunity to talk to you today, yeah, and you got the
opportunity to deal with thebest company on planet Earth at
doing X, y or Z right.
Caleb Agee (07:36):
Yeah, and there is there's psychology involved in
this.
There's also just good voicing.
When we do recordings, it'sactually these are like studio
mics.
If we're recording a radiocommercial, or even a TV
commercial, but especially aradio, you can't see the people
that are recording that, but thetone changes if they smile as
(07:59):
they're delivering it.
So unless we're doing some sortof dramatic telling of
something, we want them to smilebecause they'll.
You, on the other end, willfeel the difference.
That's right.
Brandon Welch (08:10):
The most successful call center companies
put a mirror in the cubiclewhere the person's calling so
you can see your body languageright, because you can hear it.
My dad always told me cheapestthing you can give anybody is a
smile.
Caleb Agee (08:22):
That's a good one.
Brandon Welch (08:23):
What a gift, right?
Love you dad.
Hey.
Number three yeah, insertZoolander references here.
Hey, we don't have time forthat.
Caleb's in dad mode.
Put your brand phrases in yourphone intro or in your phone
etiquette.
This is fun, this is the.
I think this is one of the bestversions of alignment, like if
you have a campaign, as we'vebeen teaching you to do for the
(08:45):
last almost 100 episodes on theMaven Marketing Podcast if you
have a campaign and you havethis more than just a series of
ads running, you have thispersona and personality and
these characters you've put inyour television or TV or website
or social media ads.
The person is calling with thatpersona in mind and make them
(09:06):
get it.
It's like when I go to DisneyWorld, I don't see different
characters, I see the samecharacters.
I've seen my entire life sayingand doing the same things that
they've always done.
Caleb Agee (09:14):
Could be a different person playing that character,
but they look the same and theysound the same and I know it's
the same place and that's whatyou want to do.
The owner is not going to be.
Maybe if the owner is yourspokesperson on your TV
commercials and you've got thisbranding, this presence, that's
happening.
The owner is not answering thatphone call.
Yes, but you can give them asignal that says this is where
(09:35):
that owner is.
Brandon Welch (09:36):
You can use their catchphrases.
Caleb Agee (09:37):
Yes.
Brandon Welch (09:38):
From some of our campaigns.
You guys know Randy and Dee bynow.
We use them a lot becausethey've just done extremely well
doing all the things we talkabout here.
But they have this thing calledthe D guarantee and in her
commercial she's saying that's aD guarantee right.
And so when they answer theirphones, wouldn't it just make
(09:58):
sense?
And they do this like thank youfor calling the window source
of Kentucky home of the Dguarantee.
And people come up to them atthe supermarket and all their
home shows and all their inpublic and mention this stuff
anyway.
So why wouldn't we just readthat back to them?
It just confirms, it validatesthat oh yes, you've come to the
home of whatever right.
Yep, Geico I haven't done thisanytime recently, but I
(10:22):
guarantee you somewhere in theirphone script is welcome to
Geico.
You could save 15 or you cansave 15% or more on car
insurance in 15 minutes.
15 minutes can save you 15%more on car insurance, Sorry now
I got it right.
Caleb Agee (10:34):
If it was a sales line, they'd probably ask it as
a question Would you like tosave 15% or more in 15 minutes
today?
Yeah, let's see if we can saveyou 15% or more.
Brandon Welch (10:43):
How about 1-800-GOT-JUNK?
All you have to do is point.
I did call them recently andeverything that's in their
commercials it's like welcome to1-800-GOT-JUNK.
All you got to do is point.
And their people are trained tosay that, oh yeah, so-and-so
will be out there.
And remember, all you have todo is point and their junk goes
(11:05):
away.
Right, I guarantee you you do,but you just haven't.
You haven't boiled them down.
Put those things on paper andyes, uh, there should be room
for personality and nuance inyour phone scripts.
But that government, let's havea training session and say this
is how we, this is how we'regoing to do it.
Caleb Agee (11:21):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, this goes with it.
Clearly state the name of yourcompany.
So they didn't call Brandon.
They might be calling forBrandon, but they called Frank
and Maven.
So we're going to make sure weanswer the name of the company
and then, if I answered thephone, I'm going to state my
name yeah.
And so what we want?
To want to make sure that theyhave a personal connection with
(11:43):
me, the person who's answeredthe phone, because I'm going to
help them today.
Brandon Welch (11:47):
Yes.
Caleb Agee (11:47):
And so we've heard different people answer the
phone without their company name, which I don't like at all.
It's like hey, this is Donnie.
Brandon Welch (11:56):
Yeah, you're like this is Donnie, no, my goodness
.
Caleb Agee (11:59):
Or if you have sales people who have direct lines
that answer the phone.
Brandon Welch (12:03):
Yeah.
Caleb Agee (12:03):
Make sure they just assume it's a sales call and say
the business name and then saytheir name.
Yes, that's important.
Brandon Welch (12:09):
I have a friend, his name's Randy and he always
answers the phone professionally.
He knows it's me like it's abuddy.
He's like this is Randy.
How can I help you?
And I'm like, I know it's Randy.
Caleb Agee (12:20):
Yeah, you saw my name pop up, right.
Brandon Welch (12:22):
Yeah, it's funny.
So that seems like a no-duhthing, but I guarantee you we've
got.
Probably even people that wetalk about this regularly are
just not doing that.
It's like thank you for callingFrank and Maven.
It's a great day at Frank andMaven.
How can I help you?
Yeah, where we eliminate wastein advertising.
Yeah, hey, riley, are youlistening?
(12:42):
Yeah, yeah, so say the companyname, say your name, and then
like what can I do for you today?
Right, number five.
Caleb Agee (12:54):
Once you understand what they're looking for, get
them answers quickly.
Brandon Welch (12:57):
It's like where's the no duh button?
Again, this is a duh thing.
But some people are like well,I'm going to have to get you
with a blah blah, blah, blah,blah, blah, blah.
Caleb Agee (13:05):
Yeah, it's like hmm yeah, unless there's a legal
reason, you can't answer thatquestion.
Answer the question.
Brandon Welch (13:12):
Answer the question or give a range.
Yeah, and if you are a law firmor you're a medical firm
because sometimes they can't dothose sorts of things say well,
I know that most people blank.
Now, every situation isdifferent, but most people tell
a story and say so, I give thema range.
They didn't call probably sothey could get an appointment.
They called to get the next stepof confidence that would allow
(13:34):
them to move to the next step,right, yep, so if you're just
immediately saying, well, I'llhave a person get back with you
that that's like, eh, don't dothat, right, of course.
So, man, you want a world-classlesson in um phone etiquette?
Call Disney World at 2 am inthe morning and get their 2 am
(13:57):
staff.
I'm sure their eight to fivestaff is wonderful.
Yeah, hopelessly stuck in avery nasty situation in Florida
with my entire family and it wasjust like one of those deals
like screw it.
We're going to Disney andliterally 2 am couldn't sleep on
this awful, awful thing thatthey called a bed, but it was
(14:21):
like it was a torture chamberreally.
Futon Worse, literally worse.
And I was like, screw it, we'regoing to Disney.
And so I called Disney at 2 amand that was the most
unbelievable phone experience.
Just do it.
Just call and say I think we'regoing in July.
And what can you do for me andlisten to how they read back?
(14:41):
Well, I'm hearing you want this.
Well, yes, mr Welch or Mr Agee,we believe you ought to have
all these things and let me lookthat right up for you.
Call Disney at 2 am, side rantover.
Caleb Agee (14:55):
But hey, give them the answer to the dang question
so you might hear how much doesthis cost, does it typically
cost?
And give them the first You'regoing to be trained to say well,
it depends on whether we haveto come out and give you an
estimate.
Brandon Welch (15:07):
It's like no.
Our average person, needingwhat you are asking for, spends
$8,200.
Caleb Agee (15:14):
Yeah, or you can say it's between $5,000 and $10,000
or $7,000 and $9,000.
If you can get it tighter.
I think you need to just be asclear and quick as you can with
all of that.
Brandon Welch (15:27):
Do not hem-haw.
Caleb Agee (15:28):
How long does it usually take If you're booking
four weeks out?
Yes, you know you're going toactually have a big problem on
the tail end of this experience.
Brandon Welch (15:39):
Yeah, if you aren't honest at some level.
Caleb Agee (15:42):
There's a right way to say this.
I want to be clear about that.
Brandon Welch (15:44):
Well, people who book in February typically get
their jobs done in three to fourweeks.
When we get to May or June,that stretches out to six to 12
weeks.
So it just depends on whenyou're wanting to get it done.
There you go, you guys takingnotes.
Yeah, exactly, and you knowwhat this is called empathy.
This is called looking throughthe world through the customer's
(16:05):
eyes, walking around in theirshoes for a minute and just
think about what you would wantif you were in their shoes.
Yeah, we have some wonderfulempathy questions in the Maven
Marketer and chapter eightcalled what you're really
selling.
Sorry, chapter yes, chaptereight, what you're really
selling.
But they revolve around whatare their needs, pains, hopes
and fears.
How can your product satisfythose and what's the most
reasonable next step for action?
Caleb Agee (16:32):
That's what they're actually trying to do and so if
you just wire your languagearound those you're going to go
far.
So what's number six?
Make sure you sweep up whenyou're done.
So you're going to want to.
Really you're kind of recappingthe conversation, so have I
answered all?
Your questions.
Brandon Welch (16:43):
What I heard you say yeah, what I'm hearing is
you're shopping other companiesright now and you're just
looking to get some prices.
I've given you a range for that.
Is there anything else I cananswer?
Is there anything else that youwere curious about, anything
else you've seen that you like.
Caleb Agee (16:55):
Yeah.
Brandon Welch (16:57):
What can I do to make this easier for you?
Right, You're sweeping thefloor, right?
Caleb Agee (17:01):
Make it nice and tidy.
Brandon Welch (17:03):
Yeah.
So that's prettyself-explanatory.
Just say, have I answered allyour questions today?
Right yeah, duh Right.
Caleb Agee (17:15):
Take as much time as it takes is the next one, which
is um, I can't.
I can't remember exactly whichcompany this was, but they had
somebody do a six hour customerservice call.
Uh, and they normally and itwas a call center type of
customer service place Normallyyou'd be disciplined for being
on the phone that long right,yeah.
Because you should try to getoff.
There's more calls waiting.
Brandon Welch (17:35):
Yes.
Caleb Agee (17:36):
They rewarded this person because they gave such
excellent customer service.
Now, not every call should bethat long or every time.
Brandon Welch (17:44):
You're matching the energy of the person who's
on the other line right.
Caleb Agee (17:47):
Yeah, if they're in hustle mode, hustle right up.
If they are slow and easy, takeit slow and give them the time.
Hopefully you've got coveragethat the next call that comes in
isn't waiting on you, butthat'd be great.
Brandon Welch (18:01):
Yeah, yes, love it.
Hey, cut down all your phonetrees.
This is, we're on number ninenow I think.
Chop them down.
Caleb Agee (18:10):
Yeah, I don't want to listen to a robot.
Yeah, I want a human.
Brandon Welch (18:14):
Like, go back to that first thing.
You've spent hundreds ofdollars probably to get this
person to your phones and you'regoing to subject them to some
cheap automated robot thing.
Like, I know AI is getting goodand I know there are times
where the phone tree has to takeprecedent.
But, like, if you're sittingthere wondering should I hire a
(18:36):
another $15 an hour person toanswer the phone or should I you
know outsources to a phone treehire the person?
Yeah, that's an, it's areplaceable value.
Caleb Agee (18:46):
It will pay for itself, I think, in reputation
alone.
Yeah, and that's the thing Ithink, even just hearing press
one for sales.
I don't want to talk to sales.
Yeah, you know what?
Brandon Welch (19:00):
I'm saying that's when you put sales as your
first press one for sales.
Caleb Agee (19:03):
That's the door I have to open, then press 13 for
service.
Brandon Welch (19:06):
It's like well, you've shown me what's important
.
Caleb Agee (19:09):
Well, it's like I think, even if I was trying to
be sold, I wanted to buy whatyou're selling.
As soon as you said sales and Ihad to open that gate to get in
there, I'm like, oh great, I'mabout to be sailed, sold, yeah,
and my guard goes up.
Brandon Welch (19:24):
Yeah, what you're looking for is to talk to a
consultant.
Yes, talk to a specialist.
Yes, a product specialist, avehicle specialist, a service
specialist or An elder lawspecialist?
Caleb Agee (19:33):
Cut down that stupid tree.
Yeah, a couple really basicthings.
These two kind of go togetherCheck your hold music.
Yeah, what's it sound like?
Is it crappy?
Brandon Welch (19:43):
You know what Is it weird, it's mind-blowing mind
, but I've been listening to thesame.
Hold me, there was a.
There's a car dealer in town Ihappen to have a family member
that worked there, so I calledthis um car dealership a lot and
it had this but a bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, but a bum but a bum
yeah, and that was like 13, 14,15 years ago and I was like
because I had sat on hold for along time car dealership, go
(20:05):
figure.
But and it's amazing to me howmany people have that default
that person who wrote that musicought to be getting royalties
like crazy hello royalties,probably royalty free.
Caleb Agee (20:16):
Which is the problem ?
Brandon Welch (20:16):
yeah, but like just delete that stuff out.
Yeah, uh, go to your localrecording studio if you have to,
or you know what.
Pull out your iphone and do avoice memo or do some pull up
garage band on your computer orslightly hire some high school
kid yeah, or you can go buy somelike royalty-free stock music.
Caleb Agee (20:33):
Maybe that fits your vibe a little bit more.
Brandon Welch (20:35):
It may be a little cheesy still, but it's
not the default thing that theother guys down the street have
guarantee there's a companyonline doing this for a couple
hundred bucks and doing it well,yeah, making sure your hold
music is, yeah, is on point, andput your promotions in there.
Hey, did you know that youcould save 15%?
Caleb Agee (20:52):
or more in 15 minutes.
This all comes with a caveatthat you're going to do your
very, very best to never putthem on hold, but just in case
you have to.
Brandon Welch (20:58):
Well, you've got them there, right, this should
work.
Keep them stoked or tell jokes,wouldn't that be fun?
Caleb Agee (21:03):
Yeah, there's one that does like history like
trivia.
Yes, history like trivia.
Yes, during the, it's kind oflike you're waiting at the
movies.
Yes and uh, that was kind offun.
Yeah, um, also check yourvoicemail on the hour, on the
hour.
Well, I was gonna say alsocheck the oh message that they
hear before they leave avoicemail and make sure that's
not a robot.
Make sure it's special soundslike you.
Brandon Welch (21:24):
Hey, we're so sorry.
Uh, man, you got our voicemailthat that never happens.
Something must be reallyhappening right now.
But we are going to get back toyou, not within one business
day, we're going to get back toyou immediately.
Caleb Agee (21:35):
You are our first thing as soon as whatever we're
doing.
I mean, you're only open eighthours a day, nine hours a day,
so that's ringing.
Brandon Welch (21:44):
We didn't put this in here.
But hey, for your weekends.
We didn't put this in here, buthey, for your weekends, for
times that are low peak, thatyou're not going to have
somebody on staff, hire ananswering service it will cost
you five or ten bucks a call,maybe, maybe, and at least have
them have a real personanswering.
Caleb Agee (21:58):
Yeah, yep.
Brandon Welch (22:04):
Last thing Secret shop your phones weekly.
I want you to put a spot inyour calendar where you're
calling your own business on aweekly basis and just seeing
what that experience was like.
Caleb Agee (22:14):
Yeah.
Brandon Welch (22:15):
Like, why not?
It's really.
It's like checking your bankaccount.
It's like well, I've spentabout I don't know $5,000 on
advertising this week.
Let me see how that's workingfor me and let's make sure the
first hole is patched right.
Caleb Agee (22:31):
That's right.
Brandon Welch (22:32):
I mean, you make sure there's gas in your car,
you make sure there's not nailsin your tires.
That's basic stuff, right?
Not sure if that analogy wastracking, but you get it.
Hey guys, that's the biggestwaste and you can fix it for
free.
You just have to put a littlebit of effort into it.
I don't want you lecturing yourpeople, but you rally them
(22:53):
around the Maven MarketingPodcast and I'm sure, dozens of
others blogs, podcasts, websitesor whatever.
Just do some training on aweekly basis and say, hey, it's
Monday, what are we going tofocus on?
Caleb Agee (23:07):
We're going to get a little better today.
Brandon Welch (23:08):
Inspect what you expect, as they say.
Caleb Agee (23:10):
Yeah.
Brandon Welch (23:11):
Cool.
Caleb Agee (23:11):
Yeah.
Brandon Welch (23:12):
If you know somebody that needs to hear this
, send it with grace and say hey, I found some value in this.
I think you will too.
Caleb Agee (23:21):
Yeah.
Brandon Welch (23:21):
Not you need to hear this, yeah Right, but
forward in this link and, whileyou're at it, if it did
something for you, please giveus a little like and subscribe,
because we're going to bedelivering more and more stuff
for a really long, long time.
We are here for you.
We are in the game ofentrepreneurs.
Our heart bleeds for the smallbusiness, which is not all that
small.
(23:44):
No small business is a smallthing, right?
The owner-operated companies ofAmerica, these are the ones
making the difference.
These are the ones driving ourcultures and our community, and
so that's who we're here toserve.
That's why we're here everyMonday.
We'll be back every Mondayanswering real-life marketing
questions, because marketers whocan't teach you why are just a
fancy lie.
Have a great week.
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