March 12, 2025 • 56 mins
Step into the heart of the shed industry with this eye-opening episode focused on the essential theme of customer service. We're unpacking the prevailing norms and practices that govern interactions between businesses and their clients, arguing that a customer-first mindset isn't just ethical—it's fundamentally smart business. Our guests share genuine insights into the subtle yet impactful ways customer service shapes the industry. Listeners will gain a wealth of knowledge about the often-overlooked dimensions of rent-to-own financing, highlighting both its advantages and ethical dilemmas.
From marketing strategies that connect with today’s digital-savvy consumers to reflections on how personal values like integrity and transparency can transform business practices, this episode offers practical wisdom for anyone invested in the shed marketplace. We dive deep into the importance of understanding customer stories, fostering trust, and navigating the complex landscape of inventory management—all while striving for growth and sustainability.
Most importantly, we tackle the pressing question: what does it mean to prioritize merit and service in an industry that could easily succumb to the allure of profits over people? Leverage these insights to not just sustain your business but propel it into a future shaped by genuine customer care. Join us for thought-provoking conversations that inspire change and foster community within the shed marketplace. Don’t forget to subscribe, share your thoughts, and leave a review!
For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.
To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.
To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.
This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Union Grove Lumber
Shed Pro
Making Sales Simple
Digital Shed Builder
Realwork Labs
iFAB LLC
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Shed Geek (00:09):
Thank you for listening to part two of a
two-part series here at the ShedGeek podcast.
If you missed part one, just goback to last week and listen
for more engaging conversationhere at the Shed Geek podcast.
You are right, there are peoplewho want to rule the world and
that's maybe what me and you canidentify with.
(00:32):
Maybe our we're probably lessaggressive on return.
Just to be clear with you.
We're probably less aggressiveon marketing.
I almost there's a guy I almostwant to have on here to talk
about our marketing because hewanted to come to us from a
different company and we knewthe company he was working with
was a good company and weactually discouraged him because
(00:57):
we felt like maybe there was alure to our services or
personality or something to workwith us that didn't match what
he was looking for.
He was being serviced he's beenserviced just absolutely fine
and instead we took more of aconsultative role in his company
and we tried not to interruptthe services that were already
(01:19):
working.
And I would make the argumentfor any company who comes to us,
whether it be in rent-ownedfinance or if you look, if you
have something that's working,keep using it.
I'm not going to convincesomeone that a company is doing
a bad job to win your business.
I do not feel like that is anapproach that we should be
(01:42):
taking and I don't think that'sthe betterment of the industry.
Would you agree to have to quitusing that lumber because we
support this company.
Come over to us.
Whether it's a good fix for youor not, it's a good fit for us.
So we've had to have someaccountability of ourselves, and
(02:03):
that's very difficult to dowhenever you have a lot of gain
in front of you.
But yeah, we've.
We've had to do that.
Vance Wright (02:15):
At its core.
Really, if it's not servicebased, it will probably get
twisted somewhere.
So, if it's not serving thosewho are serving you, it will
probably get twisted somewhere.
So, if it's not serving thosewho are serving you, you're
probably going to get it out oforder at some point.
That's kind of where I was kindof.
I know there are again we're.
(02:36):
We're a small, small fry in abig pond as well.
We're a small, family- ownedshed company and I don't think
what I'm saying here today isgoing to influence the shed
world.
I don't think a business movewe make is going to materially
change big players in the RTOindustry.
I'm just down here looking atit and really in the trenches.
(02:58):
The whole concept was to servethe customer that walks through
the door, that needs a shed,that might not have the cash to
pay for it today and in my view,at times, and at least in
places, it has evolved intosomething much more, dare I say
it maybe even sinister at timesin terms of its influence on the
(03:20):
actual industry, in terms ofthe way it has held, you know,
like I described to you thewhole repo cycle and the way
that has held.
Retail pricing even has beenrepressed by that, which, in
turn, hurts the manufacturer.
That's really bringing,bringing the industry to the
table.
To start with and you know thisis not a secret Many folks who
(03:44):
are big players in the RTOindustry started out as a shed
manufacturer and, in my view,have migrated to the rent to own
simply because that's where theprofit margin existed within
the industry.
Shed Geek (04:00):
You know, I would even make the argument even
beyond rent to own.
There's just this complexity ofyou start in one area but you
see opportunity in the other.
I see opportunity everywhere.
It amazes me when people saythere's just no opportunity.
I'm like, oh, there's notenough time in the day, and then
(04:20):
it makes it worse because I'm avisionary and I'm a little
light on implementation, so Ihave to have friends around me
who are better at doing thingsthat I am, which isn't hard to
find.
You know, I've literally.
For those who have had anopportunity to have us come
speak or something like that,they've literally heard these
(04:40):
words.
I have found the key to success.
The key to success is doingwhat people tell me.
It's getting people smarterthan you in a room around you to
help be successful.
I never claimed to have itfigured out.
I've harvested the power ofnetworking to be able to work
with people who have dynamictalents and skills.
(05:03):
That just amaze me and I standback and I am amazed and I love
seeing them benefit and grow,because to me that's a personal
satisfaction.
To me is seeing Dylan do histhing in marketing, or Cord, you
know, or Josh and Justin, which, by the way.
Justin is the one I want togive 100% of credibility to in
the rent-owned world fordiscussing and really driving
(05:27):
the force behind adirect-to-consumer, which he may
want to wring my neck for,because sometimes there's a
competitive advantage to stayingquiet.
But you know what?
It doesn't matter if you'reoffering it.
If it's out there, why not doit, even if it does limit the
control there.
(05:48):
Why not do it, even if it doeslimit the control?
What I'm more interested in isif I have a consumer come into a
I won't mention any companies,but let's just assume a large
company's name, anyone whoever'sout there in the magic audience
world today.
Imagine a large shedmanufacturer and just imagine
that I find that customer and Isend them in and I say they're
pre-approved, whether it's onfinance or rent to own.
Can you imagine themanufacturer saying oh no, no,
(06:10):
we offer rent to own.
So, Mr.
Dealer, you can't sell to thatcustomer unless you use ours.
You can't use that rent to ownprovider.
Imagine saying I'd rather notsell the shed and help the
customer today if I don't getthe rewards and benefits off of
it.
That is self-serving personallyand I can't help but imagine we
(06:32):
almost want to do this, but Idon't know how the industry
would respond.
We would have to market directto consumer, and a two-sided
marketplace is difficult.
If you don't believe that, justshed hub sheds for sale or the
marketplace that Jason Graber isputting out right now, that's
very difficult to accomplish.
It's way different to reachfish in a barrel b2b than it is
(06:54):
to reach the consumer base of300 million people in America.
Um, and I think a lot of peoplethought that's what the podcast
was initially and that's not.
But that doesn't mean we're notgoing to go direct to consumer
at some point.
And this is.
This is all interestingconversation, because this is
like I didn't want.
I didn't expect that we'd gothis deep today, but that's fine
(07:16):
.
I love having difficult or hardconversations and figuring out
even our own view and our owndirection of where we're
choosing to go.
ADVERTISEMENT (07:29):
This is James Price of ShedPro on faith and
business.
Have you heard the sayingbefore?
Busy means being under Satan'syoke.
When we are busy, we hurry fromone thing to the next.
Hurry is the great enemy of aspiritual life.
Hurry kills relationships, joy,gratitude and wisdom.
The history of hurrying youknow?
(07:50):
In 1370, Germany introduced thefirst public clock.
The day was no longer dictatedby the rising and the setting of
the sun.
Then, in 1880, Thomas Edisoninvented the light bulb.
People were now enabled to stayup long after dark.
Then, in 2007, Steve Jobsreleased the iPhone.
(08:10):
A recent study showed that anaverage iPhone user touches
their phone 2,617 times a day.
So, what is the solution to ourbusy lives?
Slow down, Take the long way towork, Silence your phone, Keep
your Sabbath day abreast.
Simplify our lives around whatreally matters.
(08:32):
This is James Price.
Thanks for listening.
Shed Geek (08:39):
What's the solution?
You kind of make the argumentthat the solution is it needs to
correct itself and it needs tobe self-serving.
Is that what will limit theinfluence?
Vance Wright (08:53):
I think I'd have to say that I feel I've shared
with you all the insight I have.
Honestly, I really don't know.
I've chosen my words carefully.
I think it's interesting thedynamic that rent-to-own has
played in the industry,particularly in the last 10
years or so, and I think it'svery interesting how that is
shifting to either offeringin-house financing through some
(09:21):
of the more seasoned and largerrent-to-own providers or, like
you said, partnering withfinancing solutions.
I think it's a good thing thatwe recognize that need to the
end consumer, regardless ofwhat's happening internally in
the industry, regardless of howthat may affect the rent-to-own
(09:43):
companies, the manufacturerslong-term.
Really, in any industry, thecustomer should drive the
innovation, the need to servethat person walking in my door
not just me, I'm not saying thatbut as an industry, the folks
walking in our doors that'swho's feeding our families man,
that's who's supporting ourindustry.
(10:04):
We don't have an industrywithout those folks, and seeking
a way to serve those folkspurely, I think will give us a
good answer long term do youthink?
it's going to affect the thingswe've talked about here today.
You know, obviously.
You know marketing has to bedone right.
I mean, customer acquisition isreal.
(10:27):
Competition makes that at timesmore difficult than others.
You know, as you see, thecycles up and down of the
industry and competition and youknow lots coming and going, all
those things.
That's nothing new about thatto you and I.
We've been in it a number ofyears.
So, just going back to theroots of what it actually is,
(10:52):
the customer needs, what needare we actually serving?
For me, I think I have, at leastat times, even in the past, at
times even in the past, notunderstood that that's what's
driving the need for a paymentplan on the shed Right.
Sometimes, sometimes I thinkwe've construed that to be that,
(11:15):
look, we've got to satisfy ourrent to own company rather than
we have to do what's best forthis customer Can be two very
different things.
Not intentionally, I'm notpointing.
You mentioned someone coming onand defending themselves.
I hope it hasn't come acrossthat way what I've said.
You know we're a red domeprovider and I'm not.
(11:36):
I'm not throwing us under thebus, I'm just interested in
seeing what drives that andwhere it goes from here.
Shed Geek (11:45):
Well, same here, and I even have to speak to our own
company as an RTO provider aswell, too, I'll be at a small
provider we still hold someplace right, not only in the
industry but to our developmentof our customer, to the devotion
of our customer.
One of the reasons that Ireally partnered with the
(12:05):
devotion of our customer, youknow, we, one of the things that
one of the reasons that Ireally partnered with the guys
that I'm with right now you knowwhat really, what really drew
me to them was, like theircustomer approach, their
kindness towards the customer asopposed to an abrasiveness, and
it's like, well, there's a timeto I don't know.
There's a time to be tough, dad, and there's a time to be
loving dad.
Right, there's a time todiscipline, but for me, I kind
(12:32):
of approach that in the same wayas my faith.
Look, discipline never workedwith me.
I know that the beginning ofwisdom is to fear the Lord, but
I would always tell people I wastoo stupid to be scared, right,
you know, instead, it was lovethat reached me.
You know I didn't get reachedthrough discipline, and some
(12:54):
people did.
You know, I got reached throughlove.
I got reached whenever gracewas offered to me and I didn't
have any other option, and thatwas one thing.
That's a large comparison todraw, possibly to our rent-out
provider.
But the one thing I appreciatedis how their customer approach
was.
I appreciated the approach theytook to their customer, that it
meant a lot to them tounderstand their story, their
(13:16):
difficulty and their hardships.
You know, work with them, beable to not take just such a
hard approach.
I'm again not suggesting thatthose things aren't necessary at
times, but I'm you're in mywheelhouse right now, vance.
I'm doing a keynote speech heresoon and you want to know what
the power or what the topic is.
(13:37):
It's the power of giving versustaking and trying to identify
when you need to be a giver andwhen you need to be a taker.
And I'm really trying to dig indeep.
I'm reading a book over thepower of giving.
I'm watching as many videos asI can.
I really want to make the mostimpactful speech that I can
(13:59):
possibly for this group ofpeople who, by the time this
podcast comes out, that willhave already happened.
For this group of people who,by the time this podcast comes
out, that will have alreadyhappened.
It's fulfilling for me to tryto dig in and be better myself.
I think that's the hardship ofbeing in business and trying to
operate in morality, trying tooperate in um conviction of like
(14:26):
who you are, so like that's.
That's one of the things thatexcited me.
I think there are othercompanies I could have worked at
that probably do a better jobin rent to own in terms of like
their uh, their numbers perhaps.
But it's probably a little moreaggressive approach than what I
(14:47):
just felt like I wanted to beassociated with.
Necessarily, our brand is aparticular brand and we can't
outrun that.
It's like I would rather rollup the podcast or any other
business that we're doing.
But before I get too far on that, I want to ask you this much
like the rent to own, are thereother areas of the business that
(15:11):
should be customer focused andnot maybe self-serving?
We obviously.
I got into marketing.
Why did I do that?
Not only because theopportunity was there, but
because I really felt like itserved the customer, because the
(15:37):
shed industry is not immunefrom the way the rest of the
world chooses to shop.
No, and you said earlier,customer acquisition is a real
thing.
Competition is good.
It sometimes makes thatdifficult.
But that competition makes us alittle bit better, doesn't it,
when someone comes out and doesa good job.
And the one thing that werecognized, I think, is that
(15:59):
there are, whether you like itor not, there are a lot of
customers shopping at Amazon,and how were we going to be able
to bring that to the shedindustry if they weren't doing
it already?
And I'll share with you my mostfrustrating sentiment about this
entire thing.
We have customers that we getleads and they sit in the CRM
(16:21):
untouched for a week.
I literally discussed this withJason Graber yesterday at
ShedSuite.
We have customers that we talkabout rent on.
Let's talk about manufacturers.
Let's talk about manufacturersand their dedication to the
customer.
They will sit there for a weekand then their expectation is
(16:44):
that whenever they finally getaround to making that phone call
, that that customer shouldanswer, and when that customer
answers, they should purchase ashed with minimal trouble.
And if not, we have not done ourjob as a lead provider, because
we basically didn't deliver aperson who sold when you were
ready to sell them something,and that is mind boggling.
(17:07):
It's actually appalling that youwant to just negate the entire
sales process altogether.
If I could bring a lead thatwere so substantial to your
table that they bought everytime you called when you were
ready to call and didn't giveyou any trouble, I would start
selling sheds.
I probably wouldn't providemarketing because if I'm that
(17:28):
good and look, these are goodleads You're first place in the
opportunity to sell themsomething among 3000
manufacturers that could sellthem something.
Them something among 3,000manufacturers that could sell
them something.
You're first place and all youhave to do is dedicate your
sales process and or your dealernetwork to utilizing systems
and processes that work.
(17:49):
We're almost at a place towhere I'm almost making I mean
Shed, oven Sheds for Sale.
The fact that these programsweren't embraced as much when
they initially came out isamazing to me.
Some of our advertisers, SolarBlaster fans, the Zula I'm not
(18:11):
just giving them shout outs, I'mamazed that we say we sell the
best product but we don'tembrace new products until the
customer demands it.
ADVERTISEMENT (18:18):
Are you swimming in leads but struggling to close
the deal?
It's time to turn those leadsinto profits with Making Sales
Simple, the ultimate salestraining program designed
specifically for shed salesprofessionals.
At Making Sales Simple, weunderstand the challenges you
face overwhelmed by inquiries,unsure how to follow up, and
(18:41):
missing opportunities that canboost your bottom line.
Our proven techniques help youand your team master the art of
connecting with customers,building trust and closing deals
like never before.
Whether you're new to theindustry or a seasoned pro, this
training will sharpen yourskills, increase your
conversions and drive yourbusiness to new heights.
(19:02):
Don't let those leads go cold.
Invest in your team's successtoday.
Making sales simple, becauseevery lead deserves a closer.
Shed Geek (19:18):
Why do the manufacturers not?
Why wouldn't they have thatsame aggressiveness towards
bettering their customerexperience through a sales and
marketing process?
And or product, not just rentto own, which is a service, or
financing traditional financingbut what about other areas?
(19:39):
What about delivery?
You know, I watched these guyscome out with the Challenger.
We did their website Amazingproduct and I love the shed
haulers.
But all I saw for years was howthey wanted an alternative and,
man, they put those guysthrough the wringer and hey,
they should have difficultconversations, I agree, but in
(20:03):
my opinion, they really putthose guys through it?
Will it do this, will it do that?
Ah, it's this.
You know what I mean.
Like those are naturalquestions, but I've been around
some maybe differentconversations than others.
You know, shouldn't we embracethese things?
You know what I mean.
Like, when there's newinnovation and stuff like that,
(20:23):
I mean, we can, we can do thisin multiple directions, right,
you know, like I don't know.
You have any thoughts on it?
Vance Wright (20:31):
Well, when it all comes right down to it and I've
said this a couple of times ifit, if it helps me serve that
customer coming through my frontdoor that needs a shed, it
makes me either more efficient,more professional, more
competitive, then that's reallywhat should be driving the
(20:51):
decision.
As a manufacturer, as asalesperson, serving your
marketing guy or serving you asa sales guy, we'll say, serving
the guy in the plant and makinghis life easier is really not
what we exist for.
We exist to take care of thatcustomer and it's hard to keep
that.
You know, you, you said I've,I've listened to some of the
(21:14):
podcasts and I think, as a whole, the industry is a very
conservative group.
So maybe I can quote a scripture.
But it's much easier to saywe're going to esteem others
better than ourselves versusactually doing it and actually
having a servant's heart andactually meaning that.
I mean customer service and thecustomer first and we always do
(21:38):
the right thing, and integrity,all those buzzwords.
That's easy to say wheneverything is sunny and it's on
a Tuesday afternoon and we'rehappy and having a good day and
everything has went real wellthus far in the week, but when
it's going to cost you $10,000,or you're going to have to stay
late and miss your kid's ballgame because you made a promise
to someone that walked throughthe door you'd get them a quote.
(21:58):
That's when all those thingsactually come into play, is when
it costs you something.
And then we get to see if youmean that.
We get to see if you actuallythink more of that person that
walked through the door than youdo your own selfish desires and
your wants.
That's the test, not saying itthat matters.
It's what you do, it's yourcharacter.
(22:18):
It's not.
It's what you do.
It's your character.
It's not what other peoplethink you do, and it's not what
you say you do.
It's what you actually do.
Mine hadn't always been realexcellent.
Shed Geek (22:30):
What helped you better that process.
Vance Wright (22:37):
A lot of people have sown good things into my
life.
I don't know that I could.
I don't know that I have agreat process yet, but I just
know that it's but I know thatthe I know that without that
customer walking through thefront door and being served well
, we don't even have an industryso what is your?
Shed Geek (22:56):
what is your dedication to your customer?
What is the focus, what is themission statement of your
company?
Your dedication to yourcustomer, what is that?
Vance Wright (23:12):
To build lasting relationships by doing unto
others as you'd have them dounto you.
That's maybe paraphrasing ourmission statement just a bit.
Whether it's having a hardconversation, okay, I'll just.
You know we don't have perfectprocesses.
I'll be very transparent withyou.
Yesterday evening we have acarport company who we're a
(23:34):
dealer for.
Right, a nice, warm Saturdaymorning right before Christmas,
I'm working in the office bymyself and this lady walks in,
is moving from Florida toOklahoma and needs a carport Not
an uncommon story.
There's people there out onaudience shaking their head Yep,
yep.
She wants it as soon aspossible.
So, I send a rush order intothe carport company.
(23:56):
Well, yesterday afternoonthey're out installing her
carport.
All right, it's been aboutthree, four weeks with the
holidays and everything that wasas quick as they could get it
done.
And she calls up here to theoffice upset because the guys
are wanting her to get blocks.
Well, it's, you know, 15 or 20degrees out in the winds blowing
, the wind speed's higher thanthe temperature, and she's out
(24:18):
trying to gather some concreteblocks for that crew to put her
carport up.
And she's ticked off and I,when that conversation's
finished, I'm frustrated at mefor not screaming it louder and
making it more obvious that yourground has to be level.
Lady, I didn't serve her.
(24:39):
Well, yes, did, I did.
I tell her absolutely, butobviously I didn't communicate
it to her effectively, becausenow she's having a terrible
experience the ground's frozenand she's out trying to dig
cinder blocks out of the dirtand can't do it, and and she's
rightfully- so she's ticked off.
Shed Geek (24:59):
You know I'm thinking about all that you're saying.
I'm thinking aboutconversations we've had with
people in the past, people whowant to, or at least have a
desire to, see it, whether theywant to create it or not, uh see
, like some kind of tradeassociation.
You know cause?
I?
I believe that education that'swhy I use the tagline education
through entertainment was theprocess by which the podcast was
(25:24):
birthed.
It was a labor of love.
I've admitted this before.
It went from being a labor oflove to being an all out job.
At this point I'm not saying Idon't still love it, but I don't
love it in the same way thatit's very charitable.
I love it in a way that isserving for me and my family and
(25:50):
the family of those who workwith us.
But, man, I've really beenthinking about a lot here lately
on.
You talk about the power ofserving and it just really shows
to me in your entire demeanor,from your facial expressions
down to the influx in your voice, that you care about the
(26:11):
customer.
But that's a staple in who youare and what you built your
company around.
And I believe that you're not arare company today.
I believe that there aremultiple manufacturers out there
today that echo your sentimentshere today of what it means to
drive the customer, andsometimes we can get lost in the
(26:36):
business of business.
Vance Wright (26:38):
Right Technology upgrades or you know what the
industry shift means.
It all means nothing if thecustomer is not served with
excellence.
Yeah, in the long term in thebig picture, none of it even
matters.
Shed Geek (26:49):
Yeah Well, I think about.
You know things I can share offair, things that they're not.
They don't hold any eternalvalue.
You know what I mean.
So, there's no reason to sharethem publicly, even on the
podcast, and things we'veexperienced inside of the
industry that made me shake myhead once or twice.
(27:10):
You know what I mean, you know.
But that's also just life ingeneral, isn't it, Vance?
Even outside of the shedindustry, we have to wake up
every day and approach the worldwith that same armor of God
right Ephesians 6 and what ittells us to do and how to arm
ourself for the day
ADVERTISEMENT (27:32):
digital shed builder is an online shed
configurator that strives toprovide incredible visual
quality, fantastic customerservice and an amazingly low
price point, making it a perfectfit for any shed dealer looking
to increase their online sales.
Digital Shed Builder is simpleto use, taking less than five
(27:53):
minutes to integrate on yoursite.
The get a quote featurestreamlines your sales process,
showing you exactly what yourpotential customers need.
They offer a highlycustomizable experience that
accurately represents your brandand unique shed offerings,
working with you directly to setup everything you need in a
(28:16):
configurator, with no extrastartup cost, no lengthy
contracts or commitments and nohidden fees.
Digital Shed Builder has beencreated with quality, simplicity
and affordability in mind.
Shed Geek (28:35):
I'm going to shift just a little bit and then we'll
wrap up.
But we're sitting here atJanuary 21st, the day after the
inauguration, thinking aboutpolitics.
I'm thinking about how muchpolitics has crept into our
society in general for everydayconversation.
(28:55):
For everyday conversation, Ieven think about how it's crept
in somewhat to our small nicheof the shed industry and our
little neck of the great bigwoods.
Right that we think about whatthe future is going to look like
from a top-down model, from a50,000-foot view, if you will.
(29:17):
Do you think people areencouraged today?
Do you think this will changethe retail market, based off of
what we're seeing in offices ashigh as the white house?
Vance Wright (29:27):
Well, that's an interesting discussion, and who
can tell?
So, one thing that youmentioned off the air that we
might get into a discussionabout this yes, I'm a voter and
yes, I think you should vote.
(29:47):
And if you want my heartfeltopinion about politics, I think
I could distill it down to youin a very few words.
I could distill it down to youin a very few words.
When you start saying what canwe do, rather than why don't
they do it different, then youropinion will mean something to
me.
Okay, if you're not involved,it doesn't really matter to me
(30:13):
what you think about politics,at least at some level.
At least do what you can.
Yeah, you know it's.
It's whether it's in businessor whether it's in politics.
Probably a personal pet peeveof Vance's is I don't like to
hear you say they, especially ifyou have a stake in this thing.
Yeah, what that is.
(30:35):
What that is a subconscious wayof you relieving yourself of
the responsibility that you have.
Shed Geek (30:42):
Virtue signaling.
Vance Wright (30:47):
I wish they would get their act together up there
in Washington.
And do I understand there's alot of corruption and a lot of
you know?
I was looking at some of thefootage from the inauguration
yesterday and do I know that allthe opposing parties and forces
and previous presidents and all, do I know that they're all
(31:09):
connected?
Yes, I do.
Yes, obviously I mean thoseguys are on a first name basis.
They, you know, drink beer andhang out on the weekends
together to a large extent.
And do I know there's a lot ofcorruption and a lot of big
money changing those things I do.
(31:29):
But I just hate to hear somebodysay I wish they would get their
act together because to atleast to some degree, we still
have a government of the people,for the people and by the
people.
And when you say they, itrenders you with a powerless
feeling.
If nothing else, you can't doanything about it.
So, what I'd say is do what youcan.
It's not them that are theproblem.
They're not the issue we are.
(31:50):
If Shannon and Vance will getup and do the right thing
tomorrow for our families andeveryone else in the world would
do the same thing.
I'd be very interested inseeing what happened and, and
you know, am I am I a little bitrelieved at the change of power
.
Honestly, I am politicallypersonally, but I don't think
(32:11):
that's the answer.
I think the answer is for us toaccept some personal
responsibility in those roles.
Shed Geek (32:17):
You know, the army changed their slogan from be all
that you can be to an army ofone, and I really like.
I really like that whenever Iuse that as a, as a reference
and an intro to.
Your family is your firstministry that God has trusted
(32:40):
you with and your family is thesmallest level of government to
which you'll ever be involvedwith.
It begins in your family.
As a matter of fact, when yougo back to the podcasting, I
listen to a lot of podcasts.
When I was out on the roadtrying to knock on doors and
sell people things, one of thethings that always stood out to
(33:00):
me is the power of local, andthere was actually a podcast I
was listening to that reallytalked about the power of local.
And what I mean is if you wentto your local and I'm guilty, so
, just to be clear, I have toinclude myself but if you go to
those local judges, localcircuit clerks, sheriffs you
(33:45):
know people in the communitythat you can go and talk to and
find out who they are and whatthey're doing and what they
stand for.
And whenever you do that fromone community to the next,
that's whenever you startwagging the dog by the tail,
(34:06):
because you have the opportunityto make a difference in your
home.
If you don't get a chance totalk with President Trump, even
if you support him, you willhave a chance to talk to your
local judges.
And you will have a chance totalk to your local judges and
you will have a chance to talkto your local mayor and alderman
.
And I believe you know beyondthat.
It starts in your family.
I think it starts at home, andit's how do you represent
(34:31):
yourself in your community?
There's so much here that ispowerful.
How does all that affect theshed industry?
Somebody who's listening todaysaying I tuned in to listen
today.
I didn't want to hear about allthis garbage.
I wanted to hear about shedsand people's stories.
You know I'm painting with abroad brush, I recognize that,
(34:52):
but you know politics and thosethings are.
You know we don't talk about itall the time, but this is the
day after the inauguration and Ifelt like, hey, it's powerful
to try and talk about who westand for, what we stand for,
and those things do have adirect effect on our industry,
(35:12):
absolutely.
ADVERTISEMENT (35:15):
Hello Shed Sellers.
Did you catch the latest RealWork Labs interview with George
Converse?
If not, don't miss thisvalue-packed episode.
Head to Shed Geeks podcast,youtube and search Real Work
Labs.
George and the Real Work Labscrew are riding the wave of
Google's latest updates, takingyour digital presence to the
(35:36):
next level.
We're tech artisans craftingyour neighborhood brand voice
for shed sellers like you tostand out, gain trust and get
found online.
Our software will easilycapture your work snapshots,
videos, weave your craft storyand get reviews all in one
virtual experience.
Our innovation goes beyondgetting found for your business
(35:59):
location, rather, getting foundfor your work locations.
Reviews intertwine with theircorresponding job sites.
When potential customers seeklocal expertise, you're the
proven solution they'll find.
It's high time to map yourreviews and showcase your
beautiful work in a meaningfulway that builds trust in
customers neighborhoods.
(36:20):
Ready for the journey?
Visit shedgeekrealworklabs.
com or call George today at480-787-7575.
Real work labs, elevating yourtrust, increasing your
conversions and getting youfound where you work in the
neighborhoods you serve, oneshed at a time.
Vance Wright (36:44):
I'd say I don't know if that was a question for
me or you, but I'll respondanyways.
I feel you've already coveredsome of it, but what I would say
is those of you that are outthere somewhere in a shed shop
building a shed today, when itcomes down to hiding a flaw or
fixing it right, go ahead and dothe right thing.
Probably has a lot more impactthan you talking on break to
(37:07):
your fellow shed builders in thepaint booth about what's wrong
in Washington.
Have a lot more effect ifyou'll just do what's right
today.
That's a powerful statement hadwe always been doing that, we
wouldn't be having thediscussions that we're having
today about genders and many,many, many other things.
(37:29):
We wouldn't be having theproblems we that are caused by
social ills.
If a bunch of these inner citykids had a dad that was doing
the right thing on a Monday,what is it Tuesday morning today
?
All their life would be a muchdifferent place and, honestly,
that's probably where you and Ican have the most effect.
(37:50):
You go, do the next right thingyeah
Shed Geek (37:56):
Vance, has been exciting, to say the least.
I want to do the same thingthat I do with everyone else.
Um, you may have listened to afew podcasts, so you know this
is coming or not, but I like toopen up the floor, as if I
haven't talked enough already.
Um, I think you played a Jedimind trick on me and you
interviewed me in this podcasttoday.
(38:19):
I'm not sure what happened, butyou definitely got me out of my
shell.
I certainly hope that me or youdidn't say anything that would
be offensive, and if we did, Icertainly hope whoever was
offended will get over it.
I believe that difficult, hardconversations and even
(38:41):
challenging conversations arealways welcome.
I don't know if this was hardor challenging, but it was
certainly thought-provokingnonetheless, and we didn't talk
about what we were going todiscuss off air, I think.
Even one of the things youasked is do you have a list of
questions or some agenda?
And I said no.
My agenda is to make compellingcontent for people to listen to
(39:02):
about our industry, and I thinkthrough this conversation, we
did some of that today.
But my question to you today isdo you have any questions for
me?
Podcast, faith, shed related,family.
It really doesn't matter, justas an open transparency for
conversation.
Do you have anything that youwould want to ask here today or
(39:25):
get my opinion on?
If not, it's okay, but feelfree to ask anything and I'll
give you my best answer that Ican drum up.
How about that?
Vance Wright (39:35):
My interest would be that you would give me
feedback on what you think thestate of the industry is from
your position, what it lookslike going forward and, if need
be, we're looking at it.
Look at that in retrospect interms of how it relates to the
past, but not necessarily justwhere we go from here more.
Shed Geek (39:58):
One thing that I've kind of kept close to my chest
but I feel like, because we havea platform that we can speak on
, at least one thing thatinterests me is I've not
discussed this really loud withmuch any people, but something
(40:20):
that seems to be developing inmy psyche that I believe is
going to be, if it's not goingto be, the future.
It's certainly something thatwe recommend here at the podcast
, or at least I think we doright now.
Maybe I haven't vetted itenough to have that conversation
out loud.
The one thing that surprises methe most that I've been seeing
lately in regards to how itaffects a lot of the industry is
(40:43):
inventory.
I've been stuck on this thingabout inventory Vance here
lately.
It's truly amazing that we willspend so much time and money
building inventory.
You said something aboutcarports earlier.
You guys sell a lot of thosebarn dominiums.
(41:06):
We're partnering with a companyout of Ohio called Dayton Barns
and these guys are pretty sharp.
I really like them.
I think they'll be on brandsort of with our vision and
they're going to be talkingabout the carport industry on
Mondays and a lot of that, thatworld.
(41:27):
The one thing I findinteresting in comparison to the
two industries as we dive intoit further, is that everything
is a new construction build forthe carport world carport and
steel buildings and if youreally look at some of the most
successful shed companies, theysell on three or four different
(41:49):
models and then they reallyharvest the power of websites,
seo, ads, all these differentthings that we've explored and
gotten into to bring a customerin.
Maybe it's on a 3D configurator.
They operate that completionthrough that point of sale and
then it moves on to either arent-to-own or a finance
(42:12):
traditional finance, however itlooks or cash buy.
I'm asking myself from a shedperspective.
I mean, I know companies haveeasy $800,000 worth of inventory
on the ground.
How much more effective can yoube if you change your strategy
(42:33):
away from an inventory model andstart selling off of your
displays, kind of like what wesee in the carport world?
I feel like that would alsochange some of the conversation
we've had here today aboutrent-to-own, providing inventory
(42:56):
, therefore capturing the heartand soul of the company.
Right, I mean it would changethings like that when you can go
direct to consumer, when youcan sell off an inventory or off
a display piece, as opposed tohaving 200 pieces of inventory
(43:17):
out there, the burden that putson either investors or the
company.
If you have 80 lots and you'reputting $200,000 on each lot, if
you gave me 200,000 to be your81st lot, could we potentially,
with good marketing and salesprocesses, outsell 10 of those
lots and therefore be moreproductive for you financially?
(43:44):
You have a commitment to yourdealers but we're not offering
jobs in most situations.
Most of the dealer networks are1099 independent contractors.
We're not going through thetrouble to put them on w2 not
most cases.
I'm not saying some don't, soyou know.
That's why you know I'm goingto address this again and I'm
(44:06):
tired of addressing.
I'm gonna let it go.
But I got got stuck in my crawlthat I had somebody say you
know, don't, don't partner withShed Geek, he's trying to steal
your dealer network.
I'll just say today it's themost ignorant statement I've
ever heard.
I'm trying to steal your dealernetwork.
I'll just say today is the mostignorant statement I've ever
heard.
I'm trying to do anything, butit's actually the last thing on
earth that I would want is to goacquire someone's dealer
(44:27):
network and try to fund thatinventory.
If anything, we would be muchmore, much more inclined to
harvest the power of knowledgeand what we've learned through
digital presence.
ADVERTISEMENT (44:42):
At IFAB LLC, our passion is welding, fabricating
and design.
That's why, in 2015, we beganto commercially market our
product to the shed, portablebuilding and minibarn industry.
Our product is primarily usedto build trusses.
Our truss saw system cutsboards in one motion and our
(45:02):
truss press system installs andpresses the gusset plates to a
finished truss.
We custom fabricate jigs thatassure perfectly symmetrical
truss setup without error.
We also have other productsdesigned to help your shed
builder increase qualityefficiency and save money.
Our precision door tape willbuild your custom doors square
(45:25):
every time and easily adjust tobuild any door.
For products like these orother custom fabrication
services For your barn shop,visit ifabllc.
com or call 563-422-7496, orsimply email us at ifabllc@
(45:47):
gmailcom.
Shed Geek (45:50):
I don't want a dealer network.
It's the last thing I want.
If I started a shed companytoday, I'm not opening up shed
lots Now that's not saying it'snot a productive model.
It's got us here and it's veryproductive and it's done very
well, I know.
And I'm not saying it's notgoing to do well for a long time
.
All I'm saying is it'scertainly not the avenue that we
(46:11):
want to go down.
So, I think I'm curious can youhave more success by increasing
your digital presence, which isalso a bit counterintuitive to
the way some people in ourindustry with conservative roots
(46:35):
choose to move their lifeforward in all aspects?
So, I can respect that and whileI do respect it, I also believe
it will offer up opportunityfor bigger fish, so to speak, to
come in and occupy that spaceand take a larger market share.
Unfortunately, and that's OK,because I think you know, those
people who don't support theideas will see that as a God
(46:59):
thing and just kind of changethe direction in the course of
where they feel like they'rehaving to move away.
And I can tell you thecompanies who are taking the
bigger market share alsoprobably see that as a God thing
and that their prosperity andopportunity is just being
brought their way, so they'reperfectly okay with swallowing
up more competition.
In short, what I would say isI'm sort of doubling down on
(47:21):
embracing the digital presenceand using that ability to reach
customers and get in front ofcustomers.
I do think it's here to stay.
I think it's only going to getbigger and I'm really watching
the companies move more towardinvesting in that, as opposed to
inventory on the ground that'ssent there until you have to
(47:42):
discount it.
I don't know Doesn't mean I'mright, Vance, I've been wrong
more than I've been right.
If you don't believe me, ask mywife.
So, you know I just try to takewhat I learn and try to listen.
You know I'm much moreintroverted than people realize.
I know that sounds crazy, butalso people who say, oh, he
(48:04):
talks a lot, I don't talk a lot,I listen a lot.
And because I listen a lot,sometimes I have something to
say.
Doesn't mean I'm right always,but I give it my best effort and
I really do try to be an activelistener to people and hear.
I would say, first and foremost,I'm successful because I got
above and anything that I'vedone.
(48:27):
I can't get up and walk throughthe door without his permission
.
So, this podcast, my businessesand anything my name is
associated with 100% belong tohim.
But if they don't, I don't wantthem.
Two, I'm not perfect.
Only one perfect person walkedthis ground and I ain't him.
Three, I have failed my way tosuccess.
Anything that you see that'sgood for me.
(48:48):
You see the tip of the iceberg.
I promise you do not see thebottom of the iceberg, which is
years of doubt, depression,self-doubt, been fired, I've
quit unnecessarily, I have notbeen dedicated to jobs where I
(49:08):
should have been.
I was undisciplined, I wasimmature, and all of those
things have led me to here todayand I'm not ashamed of those.
Things have led me to heretoday and I'm not ashamed of
those things, but you know, uh,they got me where, where I am in
any in in any uh sense ofsuccess.
So, um, I probably answered yourquestion way too long there,
(49:33):
but I hope you got something outof that, or the listener got
something out of that I did.
Thank you, yeah, I wouldimagine you're a fan of prayer,
and not only have I not beenwearing my traditional Shed Geek
outfits here lately, also, Irecognized the other day,
(49:57):
listening back, that I haven'tbeen praying on as much episodes
as I did recently, and that'salways been a staple of who we
are, what we are.
We'll shut it down before wehave to give up the idea that,
that, that we're not gonna, thatwe're not gonna pray and put
Jesus first and all that we do.
Happy to edit this out If youdon't feel comfortable with it,
do you?
Do you feel comfortable praying?
(50:19):
And if not, over the industry,if not, I'll gladly bear that
responsibility.
I know it's a lot to ask and Ididn't warn you about that.
Vance Wright (50:30):
I'm certainly not opposed to prayer.
I'm not sure how prepared I amto perform that, but prayer is
an essential part of who we are.
Shed Geek (50:40):
So well, I opened the floor to you, if you would.
And uh, uh, just let God leadyou with whatever prayer he puts
on your heart.
That's okay.
Vance Wright (50:51):
Probably the hardest thing I've ever done is
prayed in public, but I can giveit a shot, God in heaven.
Today we ask you, lord, thatyou bless the fruit of our
labors.
Thank you, lord, for bringingus to this place.
Would you give us wisdom thatonly comes from above, as we go
forward, lord, bless our efforts.
Bless Shannon and his laborwith the podcast.
(51:13):
Bless all of us in the industryas we try to put others ahead
of ourselves today.
Would you help us to serve withexcellence, as if you were here
in our position?
We ask it in the name of Jesus,amen.
Shed Geek (51:27):
Amen.
I'm going to tell you somethingI've said on the podcast before
.
Others have maybe got a kickout of it.
I pray throughout the day,Vance, I talk to God and I've
heard some people say I don't dothat.
I've never done that and that'sstrange to me because I feel
like you know, the Bible says heputs a song in your heart.
(51:49):
I believe that only that songis heard sometimes between you
and Him, and it's a unique voicethat you hear from Him and that
he hears from you.
But I'm going to tell you alittle story, then we'll go.
It's a story about when Iworked with faith-based drug and
alcohol rehabilitation.
I've told it before on thepodcast.
For those of you who havelistened to it, turn me off here
(52:09):
, but you know, for those whohaven't listen close, I had the
privilege of encouragingthousands of men to pray.
We prayed for dinner, we prayedbefore we went to bed, we
prayed and we got up.
We prayed in a lot ofsituations, always before
breakfast, lunch and dinner.
You call on somebody differentin this faith based drug and
(52:32):
alcohol rehabilitation facilitythat we were in, to encourage
men to become more bold inpraying publicly, because public
speaking and even public prayeris a difficult thing and I
finally got Alan, and Alan wasone that would always get away
from everybody.
He'd always sneak back and hideand we just wanted to call him
out and out of the thousands ofprayers that I've heard and
(52:55):
called on men to pray even thebest prayers I've ever heard
prayer warriors I don't rememberany of them, but I remember
Alan's prayer and I think it wasthe simplicity of it and I
called on Alan one day becausehe thought he was going to get
away and I said Alan, would youpray over our lunch?
And Alan was not only funny inwhat he said but funny in his
(53:17):
reactions.
And he literally looks at meand has this look on his face
and he says yeah, yeah, yeah, ofcourse, yeah, no, yeah, of
course, I'll pray, absolutely.
I'd love to pray today over thefood.
It's OK, I wouldn't give it ashot.
He closes his eyes and bows hishead along with everybody else
(53:39):
and I just kind of kept one eyeopen and peeked over at him and
he said Lord, I'd like to thankyou for today.
Today was a good day.
And then he does this with hisface.
He kind of yeah, you know,almost as if to say I mean I'm
(54:01):
really does this with his face.
He kind of, yeah, you know,almost as if to say I mean I'm
really feeling this.
You know, he said it was a goodday.
It was a good, good day andamen and he was so pleased with
his prayeryeah and everybody looked at me
(54:23):
like is that one okay?
And I just gave this nod ofapproval, as if to say, hey, you
gave it all that you had.
And i'm'm going to tell youI've never remembered another
prayer that another man said inall of my life, like I have Alan
(54:43):
, because it was from the mostgenuine place I had ever seen.
And he thought, man, I can't,I've been busted and I can't
hide no more.
I'm going to give it my best.
And I believe that God heardthat prayer and I'll tell you
what that was a good good day inadvance.
Today's a good good day,Absolutely.
It is the day the.
(55:04):
Lord has made I thank you.
I'm going to go ahead and endthe podcast right there.
I thank you for being a gueston the show as an example of you
know.
Hey, look, can't say enough forTyler.
He's been great.
I still have a song that Ilisten to on my Apple Music that
(55:24):
he shared one day on Facebook.
It's called Love.
I don't know if you know thesong.
It's called Love.
The pastor stood up and all hesaid was love.
And then he sat back down and Istill listen to that song.
Tyler's inspired so much for mein the shed industry.
Uh, I, just I thank you.
Your whole business, uh, blessyou guys hope that you're doing
(55:47):
well and continue to do well.
Thank you for being a guesttoday thank you for having me.
Vance Wright (55:52):
I have enjoyed the interview, the two-way
interview.
Shed Geek (55:57):
It's been great.
Thank you for listening to part two of a
two-part series here at the ShedGeek podcast.
If you missed part one, just goback to last week and listen
for more engaging conversationhere at the Shed Geek podcast.
You are right, there are peoplewho want to rule the world and
that's maybe what me and you canidentify with.
(00:32):
Maybe our we're probably lessaggressive on return.
Just to be clear with you.
We're probably less aggressiveon marketing.
I almost there's a guy I almostwant to have on here to talk
about our marketing because hewanted to come to us from a
different company and we knewthe company he was working with
was a good company and weactually discouraged him because
(00:57):
we felt like maybe there was alure to our services or
personality or something to workwith us that didn't match what
he was looking for.
He was being serviced he's beenserviced just absolutely fine
and instead we took more of aconsultative role in his company
and we tried not to interruptthe services that were already
(01:19):
working.
And I would make the argumentfor any company who comes to us,
whether it be in rent-ownedfinance or if you look, if you
have something that's working,keep using it.
I'm not going to convincesomeone that a company is doing
a bad job to win your business.
I do not feel like that is anapproach that we should be
(01:42):
taking and I don't think that'sthe betterment of the industry.
Would you agree to have to quitusing that lumber because we
support this company.
Come over to us.
Whether it's a good fix for youor not, it's a good fit for us.
So we've had to have someaccountability of ourselves, and
(02:03):
that's very difficult to dowhenever you have a lot of gain
in front of you.
But yeah, we've.
We've had to do that.
Vance Wright (02:15):
At its core.
Really, if it's not servicebased, it will probably get
twisted somewhere.
So, if it's not serving thosewho are serving you, it will
probably get twisted somewhere.
So, if it's not serving thosewho are serving you, you're
probably going to get it out oforder at some point.
That's kind of where I was kindof.
I know there are again we're.
(02:36):
We're a small, small fry in abig pond as well.
We're a small, family- ownedshed company and I don't think
what I'm saying here today isgoing to influence the shed
world.
I don't think a business movewe make is going to materially
change big players in the RTOindustry.
I'm just down here looking atit and really in the trenches.
(02:58):
The whole concept was to servethe customer that walks through
the door, that needs a shed,that might not have the cash to
pay for it today and in my view,at times, and at least in
places, it has evolved intosomething much more, dare I say
it maybe even sinister at timesin terms of its influence on the
(03:20):
actual industry, in terms ofthe way it has held, you know,
like I described to you thewhole repo cycle and the way
that has held.
Retail pricing even has beenrepressed by that, which, in
turn, hurts the manufacturer.
That's really bringing,bringing the industry to the
table.
To start with and you know thisis not a secret Many folks who
(03:44):
are big players in the RTOindustry started out as a shed
manufacturer and, in my view,have migrated to the rent to own
simply because that's where theprofit margin existed within
the industry.
Shed Geek (04:00):
You know, I would even make the argument even
beyond rent to own.
There's just this complexity ofyou start in one area but you
see opportunity in the other.
I see opportunity everywhere.
It amazes me when people saythere's just no opportunity.
I'm like, oh, there's notenough time in the day, and then
(04:20):
it makes it worse because I'm avisionary and I'm a little
light on implementation, so Ihave to have friends around me
who are better at doing thingsthat I am, which isn't hard to
find.
You know, I've literally.
For those who have had anopportunity to have us come
speak or something like that,they've literally heard these
(04:40):
words.
I have found the key to success.
The key to success is doingwhat people tell me.
It's getting people smarterthan you in a room around you to
help be successful.
I never claimed to have itfigured out.
I've harvested the power ofnetworking to be able to work
with people who have dynamictalents and skills.
(05:03):
That just amaze me and I standback and I am amazed and I love
seeing them benefit and grow,because to me that's a personal
satisfaction.
To me is seeing Dylan do histhing in marketing, or Cord, you
know, or Josh and Justin, which, by the way.
Justin is the one I want togive 100% of credibility to in
the rent-owned world fordiscussing and really driving
(05:27):
the force behind adirect-to-consumer, which he may
want to wring my neck for,because sometimes there's a
competitive advantage to stayingquiet.
But you know what?
It doesn't matter if you'reoffering it.
If it's out there, why not doit, even if it does limit the
control there.
(05:48):
Why not do it, even if it doeslimit the control?
What I'm more interested in isif I have a consumer come into a
I won't mention any companies,but let's just assume a large
company's name, anyone whoever'sout there in the magic audience
world today.
Imagine a large shedmanufacturer and just imagine
that I find that customer and Isend them in and I say they're
pre-approved, whether it's onfinance or rent to own.
Can you imagine themanufacturer saying oh no, no,
(06:10):
we offer rent to own.
So, Mr.
Dealer, you can't sell to thatcustomer unless you use ours.
You can't use that rent to ownprovider.
Imagine saying I'd rather notsell the shed and help the
customer today if I don't getthe rewards and benefits off of
it.
That is self-serving personallyand I can't help but imagine we
(06:32):
almost want to do this, but Idon't know how the industry
would respond.
We would have to market directto consumer, and a two-sided
marketplace is difficult.
If you don't believe that, justshed hub sheds for sale or the
marketplace that Jason Graber isputting out right now, that's
very difficult to accomplish.
It's way different to reachfish in a barrel b2b than it is
(06:54):
to reach the consumer base of300 million people in America.
Um, and I think a lot of peoplethought that's what the podcast
was initially and that's not.
But that doesn't mean we're notgoing to go direct to consumer
at some point.
And this is.
This is all interestingconversation, because this is
like I didn't want.
I didn't expect that we'd gothis deep today, but that's fine
(07:16):
.
I love having difficult or hardconversations and figuring out
even our own view and our owndirection of where we're
choosing to go.
ADVERTISEMENT (07:29):
This is James Price of ShedPro on faith and
business.
Have you heard the sayingbefore?
Busy means being under Satan'syoke.
When we are busy, we hurry fromone thing to the next.
Hurry is the great enemy of aspiritual life.
Hurry kills relationships, joy,gratitude and wisdom.
The history of hurrying youknow?
(07:50):
In 1370, Germany introduced thefirst public clock.
The day was no longer dictatedby the rising and the setting of
the sun.
Then, in 1880, Thomas Edisoninvented the light bulb.
People were now enabled to stayup long after dark.
Then, in 2007, Steve Jobsreleased the iPhone.
(08:10):
A recent study showed that anaverage iPhone user touches
their phone 2,617 times a day.
So, what is the solution to ourbusy lives?
Slow down, Take the long way towork, Silence your phone, Keep
your Sabbath day abreast.
Simplify our lives around whatreally matters.
(08:32):
This is James Price.
Thanks for listening.
Shed Geek (08:39):
What's the solution?
You kind of make the argumentthat the solution is it needs to
correct itself and it needs tobe self-serving.
Is that what will limit theinfluence?
Vance Wright (08:53):
I think I'd have to say that I feel I've shared
with you all the insight I have.
Honestly, I really don't know.
I've chosen my words carefully.
I think it's interesting thedynamic that rent-to-own has
played in the industry,particularly in the last 10
years or so, and I think it'svery interesting how that is
shifting to either offeringin-house financing through some
(09:21):
of the more seasoned and largerrent-to-own providers or, like
you said, partnering withfinancing solutions.
I think it's a good thing thatwe recognize that need to the
end consumer, regardless ofwhat's happening internally in
the industry, regardless of howthat may affect the rent-to-own
(09:43):
companies, the manufacturerslong-term.
Really, in any industry, thecustomer should drive the
innovation, the need to servethat person walking in my door
not just me, I'm not saying thatbut as an industry, the folks
walking in our doors that'swho's feeding our families man,
that's who's supporting ourindustry.
(10:04):
We don't have an industrywithout those folks, and seeking
a way to serve those folkspurely, I think will give us a
good answer long term do youthink?
it's going to affect the thingswe've talked about here today.
You know, obviously.
You know marketing has to bedone right.
I mean, customer acquisition isreal.
(10:27):
Competition makes that at timesmore difficult than others.
You know, as you see, thecycles up and down of the
industry and competition and youknow lots coming and going, all
those things.
That's nothing new about thatto you and I.
We've been in it a number ofyears.
So, just going back to theroots of what it actually is,
(10:52):
the customer needs, what needare we actually serving?
For me, I think I have, at leastat times, even in the past, at
times even in the past, notunderstood that that's what's
driving the need for a paymentplan on the shed Right.
Sometimes, sometimes I thinkwe've construed that to be that,
(11:15):
look, we've got to satisfy ourrent to own company rather than
we have to do what's best forthis customer Can be two very
different things.
Not intentionally, I'm notpointing.
You mentioned someone coming onand defending themselves.
I hope it hasn't come acrossthat way what I've said.
You know we're a red domeprovider and I'm not.
(11:36):
I'm not throwing us under thebus, I'm just interested in
seeing what drives that andwhere it goes from here.
Shed Geek (11:45):
Well, same here, and I even have to speak to our own
company as an RTO provider aswell, too, I'll be at a small
provider we still hold someplace right, not only in the
industry but to our developmentof our customer, to the devotion
of our customer.
One of the reasons that Ireally partnered with the
(12:05):
devotion of our customer, youknow, we, one of the things that
one of the reasons that Ireally partnered with the guys
that I'm with right now you knowwhat really, what really drew
me to them was, like theircustomer approach, their
kindness towards the customer asopposed to an abrasiveness, and
it's like, well, there's a timeto I don't know.
There's a time to be tough, dad, and there's a time to be
loving dad.
Right, there's a time todiscipline, but for me, I kind
(12:32):
of approach that in the same wayas my faith.
Look, discipline never workedwith me.
I know that the beginning ofwisdom is to fear the Lord, but
I would always tell people I wastoo stupid to be scared, right,
you know, instead, it was lovethat reached me.
You know I didn't get reachedthrough discipline, and some
(12:54):
people did.
You know, I got reached throughlove.
I got reached whenever gracewas offered to me and I didn't
have any other option, and thatwas one thing.
That's a large comparison todraw, possibly to our rent-out
provider.
But the one thing I appreciatedis how their customer approach
was.
I appreciated the approach theytook to their customer, that it
meant a lot to them tounderstand their story, their
(13:16):
difficulty and their hardships.
You know, work with them, beable to not take just such a
hard approach.
I'm again not suggesting thatthose things aren't necessary at
times, but I'm you're in mywheelhouse right now, vance.
I'm doing a keynote speech heresoon and you want to know what
the power or what the topic is.
(13:37):
It's the power of giving versustaking and trying to identify
when you need to be a giver andwhen you need to be a taker.
And I'm really trying to dig indeep.
I'm reading a book over thepower of giving.
I'm watching as many videos asI can.
I really want to make the mostimpactful speech that I can
(13:59):
possibly for this group ofpeople who, by the time this
podcast comes out, that willhave already happened.
For this group of people who,by the time this podcast comes
out, that will have alreadyhappened.
It's fulfilling for me to tryto dig in and be better myself.
I think that's the hardship ofbeing in business and trying to
operate in morality, trying tooperate in um conviction of like
(14:26):
who you are, so like that's.
That's one of the things thatexcited me.
I think there are othercompanies I could have worked at
that probably do a better jobin rent to own in terms of like
their uh, their numbers perhaps.
But it's probably a little moreaggressive approach than what I
(14:47):
just felt like I wanted to beassociated with.
Necessarily, our brand is aparticular brand and we can't
outrun that.
It's like I would rather rollup the podcast or any other
business that we're doing.
But before I get too far on that, I want to ask you this much
like the rent to own, are thereother areas of the business that
(15:11):
should be customer focused andnot maybe self-serving?
We obviously.
I got into marketing.
Why did I do that?
Not only because theopportunity was there, but
because I really felt like itserved the customer, because the
(15:37):
shed industry is not immunefrom the way the rest of the
world chooses to shop.
No, and you said earlier,customer acquisition is a real
thing.
Competition is good.
It sometimes makes thatdifficult.
But that competition makes us alittle bit better, doesn't it,
when someone comes out and doesa good job.
And the one thing that werecognized, I think, is that
(15:59):
there are, whether you like itor not, there are a lot of
customers shopping at Amazon,and how were we going to be able
to bring that to the shedindustry if they weren't doing
it already?
And I'll share with you my mostfrustrating sentiment about this
entire thing.
We have customers that we getleads and they sit in the CRM
(16:21):
untouched for a week.
I literally discussed this withJason Graber yesterday at
ShedSuite.
We have customers that we talkabout rent on.
Let's talk about manufacturers.
Let's talk about manufacturersand their dedication to the
customer.
They will sit there for a weekand then their expectation is
(16:44):
that whenever they finally getaround to making that phone call
, that that customer shouldanswer, and when that customer
answers, they should purchase ashed with minimal trouble.
And if not, we have not done ourjob as a lead provider, because
we basically didn't deliver aperson who sold when you were
ready to sell them something,and that is mind boggling.
(17:07):
It's actually appalling that youwant to just negate the entire
sales process altogether.
If I could bring a lead thatwere so substantial to your
table that they bought everytime you called when you were
ready to call and didn't giveyou any trouble, I would start
selling sheds.
I probably wouldn't providemarketing because if I'm that
(17:28):
good and look, these are goodleads You're first place in the
opportunity to sell themsomething among 3000
manufacturers that could sellthem something.
Them something among 3,000manufacturers that could sell
them something.
You're first place and all youhave to do is dedicate your
sales process and or your dealernetwork to utilizing systems
and processes that work.
(17:49):
We're almost at a place towhere I'm almost making I mean
Shed, oven Sheds for Sale.
The fact that these programsweren't embraced as much when
they initially came out isamazing to me.
Some of our advertisers, SolarBlaster fans, the Zula I'm not
(18:11):
just giving them shout outs, I'mamazed that we say we sell the
best product but we don'tembrace new products until the
customer demands it.
ADVERTISEMENT (18:18):
Are you swimming in leads but struggling to close
the deal?
It's time to turn those leadsinto profits with Making Sales
Simple, the ultimate salestraining program designed
specifically for shed salesprofessionals.
At Making Sales Simple, weunderstand the challenges you
face overwhelmed by inquiries,unsure how to follow up, and
(18:41):
missing opportunities that canboost your bottom line.
Our proven techniques help youand your team master the art of
connecting with customers,building trust and closing deals
like never before.
Whether you're new to theindustry or a seasoned pro, this
training will sharpen yourskills, increase your
conversions and drive yourbusiness to new heights.
(19:02):
Don't let those leads go cold.
Invest in your team's successtoday.
Making sales simple, becauseevery lead deserves a closer.
Shed Geek (19:18):
Why do the manufacturers not?
Why wouldn't they have thatsame aggressiveness towards
bettering their customerexperience through a sales and
marketing process?
And or product, not just rentto own, which is a service, or
financing traditional financingbut what about other areas?
(19:39):
What about delivery?
You know, I watched these guyscome out with the Challenger.
We did their website Amazingproduct and I love the shed
haulers.
But all I saw for years was howthey wanted an alternative and,
man, they put those guysthrough the wringer and hey,
they should have difficultconversations, I agree, but in
(20:03):
my opinion, they really putthose guys through it?
Will it do this, will it do that?
Ah, it's this.
You know what I mean.
Like those are naturalquestions, but I've been around
some maybe differentconversations than others.
You know, shouldn't we embracethese things?
You know what I mean.
Like, when there's newinnovation and stuff like that,
(20:23):
I mean, we can, we can do thisin multiple directions, right,
you know, like I don't know.
You have any thoughts on it?
Vance Wright (20:31):
Well, when it all comes right down to it and I've
said this a couple of times ifit, if it helps me serve that
customer coming through my frontdoor that needs a shed, it
makes me either more efficient,more professional, more
competitive, then that's reallywhat should be driving the
(20:51):
decision.
As a manufacturer, as asalesperson, serving your
marketing guy or serving you asa sales guy, we'll say, serving
the guy in the plant and makinghis life easier is really not
what we exist for.
We exist to take care of thatcustomer and it's hard to keep
that.
You know, you, you said I've,I've listened to some of the
(21:14):
podcasts and I think, as a whole, the industry is a very
conservative group.
So maybe I can quote a scripture.
But it's much easier to saywe're going to esteem others
better than ourselves versusactually doing it and actually
having a servant's heart andactually meaning that.
I mean customer service and thecustomer first and we always do
(21:38):
the right thing, and integrity,all those buzzwords.
That's easy to say wheneverything is sunny and it's on
a Tuesday afternoon and we'rehappy and having a good day and
everything has went real wellthus far in the week, but when
it's going to cost you $10,000,or you're going to have to stay
late and miss your kid's ballgame because you made a promise
to someone that walked throughthe door you'd get them a quote.
(21:58):
That's when all those thingsactually come into play, is when
it costs you something.
And then we get to see if youmean that.
We get to see if you actuallythink more of that person that
walked through the door than youdo your own selfish desires and
your wants.
That's the test, not saying itthat matters.
It's what you do, it's yourcharacter.
(22:18):
It's not.
It's what you do.
It's your character.
It's not what other peoplethink you do, and it's not what
you say you do.
It's what you actually do.
Mine hadn't always been realexcellent.
Shed Geek (22:30):
What helped you better that process.
Vance Wright (22:37):
A lot of people have sown good things into my
life.
I don't know that I could.
I don't know that I have agreat process yet, but I just
know that it's but I know thatthe I know that without that
customer walking through thefront door and being served well
, we don't even have an industryso what is your?
Shed Geek (22:56):
what is your dedication to your customer?
What is the focus, what is themission statement of your
company?
Your dedication to yourcustomer, what is that?
Vance Wright (23:12):
To build lasting relationships by doing unto
others as you'd have them dounto you.
That's maybe paraphrasing ourmission statement just a bit.
Whether it's having a hardconversation, okay, I'll just.
You know we don't have perfectprocesses.
I'll be very transparent withyou.
Yesterday evening we have acarport company who we're a
(23:34):
dealer for.
Right, a nice, warm Saturdaymorning right before Christmas,
I'm working in the office bymyself and this lady walks in,
is moving from Florida toOklahoma and needs a carport Not
an uncommon story.
There's people there out onaudience shaking their head Yep,
yep.
She wants it as soon aspossible.
So, I send a rush order intothe carport company.
(23:56):
Well, yesterday afternoonthey're out installing her
carport.
All right, it's been aboutthree, four weeks with the
holidays and everything that wasas quick as they could get it
done.
And she calls up here to theoffice upset because the guys
are wanting her to get blocks.
Well, it's, you know, 15 or 20degrees out in the winds blowing
, the wind speed's higher thanthe temperature, and she's out
(24:18):
trying to gather some concreteblocks for that crew to put her
carport up.
And she's ticked off and I,when that conversation's
finished, I'm frustrated at mefor not screaming it louder and
making it more obvious that yourground has to be level.
Lady, I didn't serve her.
(24:39):
Well, yes, did, I did.
I tell her absolutely, butobviously I didn't communicate
it to her effectively, becausenow she's having a terrible
experience the ground's frozenand she's out trying to dig
cinder blocks out of the dirtand can't do it, and and she's
rightfully- so she's ticked off.
Shed Geek (24:59):
You know I'm thinking about all that you're saying.
I'm thinking aboutconversations we've had with
people in the past, people whowant to, or at least have a
desire to, see it, whether theywant to create it or not, uh see
, like some kind of tradeassociation.
You know cause?
I?
I believe that education that'swhy I use the tagline education
through entertainment was theprocess by which the podcast was
(25:24):
birthed.
It was a labor of love.
I've admitted this before.
It went from being a labor oflove to being an all out job.
At this point I'm not saying Idon't still love it, but I don't
love it in the same way thatit's very charitable.
I love it in a way that isserving for me and my family and
(25:50):
the family of those who workwith us.
But, man, I've really beenthinking about a lot here lately
on.
You talk about the power ofserving and it just really shows
to me in your entire demeanor,from your facial expressions
down to the influx in your voice, that you care about the
(26:11):
customer.
But that's a staple in who youare and what you built your
company around.
And I believe that you're not arare company today.
I believe that there aremultiple manufacturers out there
today that echo your sentimentshere today of what it means to
drive the customer, andsometimes we can get lost in the
(26:36):
business of business.
Vance Wright (26:38):
Right Technology upgrades or you know what the
industry shift means.
It all means nothing if thecustomer is not served with
excellence.
Yeah, in the long term in thebig picture, none of it even
matters.
Shed Geek (26:49):
Yeah Well, I think about.
You know things I can share offair, things that they're not.
They don't hold any eternalvalue.
You know what I mean.
So, there's no reason to sharethem publicly, even on the
podcast, and things we'veexperienced inside of the
industry that made me shake myhead once or twice.
(27:10):
You know what I mean, you know.
But that's also just life ingeneral, isn't it, Vance?
Even outside of the shedindustry, we have to wake up
every day and approach the worldwith that same armor of God
right Ephesians 6 and what ittells us to do and how to arm
ourself for the day
ADVERTISEMENT (27:32):
digital shed builder is an online shed
configurator that strives toprovide incredible visual
quality, fantastic customerservice and an amazingly low
price point, making it a perfectfit for any shed dealer looking
to increase their online sales.
Digital Shed Builder is simpleto use, taking less than five
(27:53):
minutes to integrate on yoursite.
The get a quote featurestreamlines your sales process,
showing you exactly what yourpotential customers need.
They offer a highlycustomizable experience that
accurately represents your brandand unique shed offerings,
working with you directly to setup everything you need in a
(28:16):
configurator, with no extrastartup cost, no lengthy
contracts or commitments and nohidden fees.
Digital Shed Builder has beencreated with quality, simplicity
and affordability in mind.
Shed Geek (28:35):
I'm going to shift just a little bit and then we'll
wrap up.
But we're sitting here atJanuary 21st, the day after the
inauguration, thinking aboutpolitics.
I'm thinking about how muchpolitics has crept into our
society in general for everydayconversation.
(28:55):
For everyday conversation, Ieven think about how it's crept
in somewhat to our small nicheof the shed industry and our
little neck of the great bigwoods.
Right that we think about whatthe future is going to look like
from a top-down model, from a50,000-foot view, if you will.
(29:17):
Do you think people areencouraged today?
Do you think this will changethe retail market, based off of
what we're seeing in offices ashigh as the white house?
Vance Wright (29:27):
Well, that's an interesting discussion, and who
can tell?
So, one thing that youmentioned off the air that we
might get into a discussionabout this yes, I'm a voter and
yes, I think you should vote.
(29:47):
And if you want my heartfeltopinion about politics, I think
I could distill it down to youin a very few words.
I could distill it down to youin a very few words.
When you start saying what canwe do, rather than why don't
they do it different, then youropinion will mean something to
me.
Okay, if you're not involved,it doesn't really matter to me
(30:13):
what you think about politics,at least at some level.
At least do what you can.
Yeah, you know it's.
It's whether it's in businessor whether it's in politics.
Probably a personal pet peeveof Vance's is I don't like to
hear you say they, especially ifyou have a stake in this thing.
Yeah, what that is.
(30:35):
What that is a subconscious wayof you relieving yourself of
the responsibility that you have.
Shed Geek (30:42):
Virtue signaling.
Vance Wright (30:47):
I wish they would get their act together up there
in Washington.
And do I understand there's alot of corruption and a lot of
you know?
I was looking at some of thefootage from the inauguration
yesterday and do I know that allthe opposing parties and forces
and previous presidents and all, do I know that they're all
(31:09):
connected?
Yes, I do.
Yes, obviously I mean thoseguys are on a first name basis.
They, you know, drink beer andhang out on the weekends
together to a large extent.
And do I know there's a lot ofcorruption and a lot of big
money changing those things I do.
(31:29):
But I just hate to hear somebodysay I wish they would get their
act together because to atleast to some degree, we still
have a government of the people,for the people and by the
people.
And when you say they, itrenders you with a powerless
feeling.
If nothing else, you can't doanything about it.
So, what I'd say is do what youcan.
It's not them that are theproblem.
They're not the issue we are.
(31:50):
If Shannon and Vance will getup and do the right thing
tomorrow for our families andeveryone else in the world would
do the same thing.
I'd be very interested inseeing what happened and, and
you know, am I am I a little bitrelieved at the change of power
.
Honestly, I am politicallypersonally, but I don't think
(32:11):
that's the answer.
I think the answer is for us toaccept some personal
responsibility in those roles.
Shed Geek (32:17):
You know, the army changed their slogan from be all
that you can be to an army ofone, and I really like.
I really like that whenever Iuse that as a, as a reference
and an intro to.
Your family is your firstministry that God has trusted
(32:40):
you with and your family is thesmallest level of government to
which you'll ever be involvedwith.
It begins in your family.
As a matter of fact, when yougo back to the podcasting, I
listen to a lot of podcasts.
When I was out on the roadtrying to knock on doors and
sell people things, one of thethings that always stood out to
(33:00):
me is the power of local, andthere was actually a podcast I
was listening to that reallytalked about the power of local.
And what I mean is if you wentto your local and I'm guilty, so
, just to be clear, I have toinclude myself but if you go to
those local judges, localcircuit clerks, sheriffs you
(33:45):
know people in the communitythat you can go and talk to and
find out who they are and whatthey're doing and what they
stand for.
And whenever you do that fromone community to the next,
that's whenever you startwagging the dog by the tail,
(34:06):
because you have the opportunityto make a difference in your
home.
If you don't get a chance totalk with President Trump, even
if you support him, you willhave a chance to talk to your
local judges.
And you will have a chance totalk to your local judges and
you will have a chance to talkto your local mayor and alderman
.
And I believe you know beyondthat.
It starts in your family.
I think it starts at home, andit's how do you represent
(34:31):
yourself in your community?
There's so much here that ispowerful.
How does all that affect theshed industry?
Somebody who's listening todaysaying I tuned in to listen
today.
I didn't want to hear about allthis garbage.
I wanted to hear about shedsand people's stories.
You know I'm painting with abroad brush, I recognize that,
(34:52):
but you know politics and thosethings are.
You know we don't talk about itall the time, but this is the
day after the inauguration and Ifelt like, hey, it's powerful
to try and talk about who westand for, what we stand for,
and those things do have adirect effect on our industry,
(35:12):
absolutely.
ADVERTISEMENT (35:15):
Hello Shed Sellers.
Did you catch the latest RealWork Labs interview with George
Converse?
If not, don't miss thisvalue-packed episode.
Head to Shed Geeks podcast,youtube and search Real Work
Labs.
George and the Real Work Labscrew are riding the wave of
Google's latest updates, takingyour digital presence to the
(35:36):
next level.
We're tech artisans craftingyour neighborhood brand voice
for shed sellers like you tostand out, gain trust and get
found online.
Our software will easilycapture your work snapshots,
videos, weave your craft storyand get reviews all in one
virtual experience.
Our innovation goes beyondgetting found for your business
(35:59):
location, rather, getting foundfor your work locations.
Reviews intertwine with theircorresponding job sites.
When potential customers seeklocal expertise, you're the
proven solution they'll find.
It's high time to map yourreviews and showcase your
beautiful work in a meaningfulway that builds trust in
customers neighborhoods.
(36:20):
Ready for the journey?
Visit shedgeekrealworklabs.
com or call George today at480-787-7575.
Real work labs, elevating yourtrust, increasing your
conversions and getting youfound where you work in the
neighborhoods you serve, oneshed at a time.
Vance Wright (36:44):
I'd say I don't know if that was a question for
me or you, but I'll respondanyways.
I feel you've already coveredsome of it, but what I would say
is those of you that are outthere somewhere in a shed shop
building a shed today, when itcomes down to hiding a flaw or
fixing it right, go ahead and dothe right thing.
Probably has a lot more impactthan you talking on break to
(37:07):
your fellow shed builders in thepaint booth about what's wrong
in Washington.
Have a lot more effect ifyou'll just do what's right
today.
That's a powerful statement hadwe always been doing that, we
wouldn't be having thediscussions that we're having
today about genders and many,many, many other things.
(37:29):
We wouldn't be having theproblems we that are caused by
social ills.
If a bunch of these inner citykids had a dad that was doing
the right thing on a Monday,what is it Tuesday morning today
?
All their life would be a muchdifferent place and, honestly,
that's probably where you and Ican have the most effect.
(37:50):
You go, do the next right thingyeah
Shed Geek (37:56):
Vance, has been exciting, to say the least.
I want to do the same thingthat I do with everyone else.
Um, you may have listened to afew podcasts, so you know this
is coming or not, but I like toopen up the floor, as if I
haven't talked enough already.
Um, I think you played a Jedimind trick on me and you
interviewed me in this podcasttoday.
(38:19):
I'm not sure what happened, butyou definitely got me out of my
shell.
I certainly hope that me or youdidn't say anything that would
be offensive, and if we did, Icertainly hope whoever was
offended will get over it.
I believe that difficult, hardconversations and even
(38:41):
challenging conversations arealways welcome.
I don't know if this was hardor challenging, but it was
certainly thought-provokingnonetheless, and we didn't talk
about what we were going todiscuss off air, I think.
Even one of the things youasked is do you have a list of
questions or some agenda?
And I said no.
My agenda is to make compellingcontent for people to listen to
(39:02):
about our industry, and I thinkthrough this conversation, we
did some of that today.
But my question to you today isdo you have any questions for
me?
Podcast, faith, shed related,family.
It really doesn't matter, justas an open transparency for
conversation.
Do you have anything that youwould want to ask here today or
(39:25):
get my opinion on?
If not, it's okay, but feelfree to ask anything and I'll
give you my best answer that Ican drum up.
How about that?
Vance Wright (39:35):
My interest would be that you would give me
feedback on what you think thestate of the industry is from
your position, what it lookslike going forward and, if need
be, we're looking at it.
Look at that in retrospect interms of how it relates to the
past, but not necessarily justwhere we go from here more.
Shed Geek (39:58):
One thing that I've kind of kept close to my chest
but I feel like, because we havea platform that we can speak on
, at least one thing thatinterests me is I've not
discussed this really loud withmuch any people, but something
(40:20):
that seems to be developing inmy psyche that I believe is
going to be, if it's not goingto be, the future.
It's certainly something thatwe recommend here at the podcast
, or at least I think we doright now.
Maybe I haven't vetted itenough to have that conversation
out loud.
The one thing that surprises methe most that I've been seeing
lately in regards to how itaffects a lot of the industry is
(40:43):
inventory.
I've been stuck on this thingabout inventory Vance here
lately.
It's truly amazing that we willspend so much time and money
building inventory.
You said something aboutcarports earlier.
You guys sell a lot of thosebarn dominiums.
(41:06):
We're partnering with a companyout of Ohio called Dayton Barns
and these guys are pretty sharp.
I really like them.
I think they'll be on brandsort of with our vision and
they're going to be talkingabout the carport industry on
Mondays and a lot of that, thatworld.
(41:27):
The one thing I findinteresting in comparison to the
two industries as we dive intoit further, is that everything
is a new construction build forthe carport world carport and
steel buildings and if youreally look at some of the most
successful shed companies, theysell on three or four different
(41:49):
models and then they reallyharvest the power of websites,
seo, ads, all these differentthings that we've explored and
gotten into to bring a customerin.
Maybe it's on a 3D configurator.
They operate that completionthrough that point of sale and
then it moves on to either arent-to-own or a finance
(42:12):
traditional finance, however itlooks or cash buy.
I'm asking myself from a shedperspective.
I mean, I know companies haveeasy $800,000 worth of inventory
on the ground.
How much more effective can yoube if you change your strategy
(42:33):
away from an inventory model andstart selling off of your
displays, kind of like what wesee in the carport world?
I feel like that would alsochange some of the conversation
we've had here today aboutrent-to-own, providing inventory
(42:56):
, therefore capturing the heartand soul of the company.
Right, I mean it would changethings like that when you can go
direct to consumer, when youcan sell off an inventory or off
a display piece, as opposed tohaving 200 pieces of inventory
(43:17):
out there, the burden that putson either investors or the
company.
If you have 80 lots and you'reputting $200,000 on each lot, if
you gave me 200,000 to be your81st lot, could we potentially,
with good marketing and salesprocesses, outsell 10 of those
lots and therefore be moreproductive for you financially?
(43:44):
You have a commitment to yourdealers but we're not offering
jobs in most situations.
Most of the dealer networks are1099 independent contractors.
We're not going through thetrouble to put them on w2 not
most cases.
I'm not saying some don't, soyou know.
That's why you know I'm goingto address this again and I'm
(44:06):
tired of addressing.
I'm gonna let it go.
But I got got stuck in my crawlthat I had somebody say you
know, don't, don't partner withShed Geek, he's trying to steal
your dealer network.
I'll just say today it's themost ignorant statement I've
ever heard.
I'm trying to steal your dealernetwork.
I'll just say today is the mostignorant statement I've ever
heard.
I'm trying to do anything, butit's actually the last thing on
earth that I would want is to goacquire someone's dealer
(44:27):
network and try to fund thatinventory.
If anything, we would be muchmore, much more inclined to
harvest the power of knowledgeand what we've learned through
digital presence.
ADVERTISEMENT (44:42):
At IFAB LLC, our passion is welding, fabricating
and design.
That's why, in 2015, we beganto commercially market our
product to the shed, portablebuilding and minibarn industry.
Our product is primarily usedto build trusses.
Our truss saw system cutsboards in one motion and our
(45:02):
truss press system installs andpresses the gusset plates to a
finished truss.
We custom fabricate jigs thatassure perfectly symmetrical
truss setup without error.
We also have other productsdesigned to help your shed
builder increase qualityefficiency and save money.
Our precision door tape willbuild your custom doors square
(45:25):
every time and easily adjust tobuild any door.
For products like these orother custom fabrication
services For your barn shop,visit ifabllc.
com or call 563-422-7496, orsimply email us at ifabllc@
(45:47):
gmailcom.
Shed Geek (45:50):
I don't want a dealer network.
It's the last thing I want.
If I started a shed companytoday, I'm not opening up shed
lots Now that's not saying it'snot a productive model.
It's got us here and it's veryproductive and it's done very
well, I know.
And I'm not saying it's notgoing to do well for a long time
.
All I'm saying is it'scertainly not the avenue that we
(46:11):
want to go down.
So, I think I'm curious can youhave more success by increasing
your digital presence, which isalso a bit counterintuitive to
the way some people in ourindustry with conservative roots
(46:35):
choose to move their lifeforward in all aspects?
So, I can respect that and whileI do respect it, I also believe
it will offer up opportunityfor bigger fish, so to speak, to
come in and occupy that spaceand take a larger market share.
Unfortunately, and that's OK,because I think you know, those
people who don't support theideas will see that as a God
(46:59):
thing and just kind of changethe direction in the course of
where they feel like they'rehaving to move away.
And I can tell you thecompanies who are taking the
bigger market share alsoprobably see that as a God thing
and that their prosperity andopportunity is just being
brought their way, so they'reperfectly okay with swallowing
up more competition.
In short, what I would say isI'm sort of doubling down on
(47:21):
embracing the digital presenceand using that ability to reach
customers and get in front ofcustomers.
I do think it's here to stay.
I think it's only going to getbigger and I'm really watching
the companies move more towardinvesting in that, as opposed to
inventory on the ground that'ssent there until you have to
(47:42):
discount it.
I don't know Doesn't mean I'mright, Vance, I've been wrong
more than I've been right.
If you don't believe me, ask mywife.
So, you know I just try to takewhat I learn and try to listen.
You know I'm much moreintroverted than people realize.
I know that sounds crazy, butalso people who say, oh, he
(48:04):
talks a lot, I don't talk a lot,I listen a lot.
And because I listen a lot,sometimes I have something to
say.
Doesn't mean I'm right always,but I give it my best effort and
I really do try to be an activelistener to people and hear.
I would say, first and foremost,I'm successful because I got
above and anything that I'vedone.
(48:27):
I can't get up and walk throughthe door without his permission
.
So, this podcast, my businessesand anything my name is
associated with 100% belong tohim.
But if they don't, I don't wantthem.
Two, I'm not perfect.
Only one perfect person walkedthis ground and I ain't him.
Three, I have failed my way tosuccess.
Anything that you see that'sgood for me.
(48:48):
You see the tip of the iceberg.
I promise you do not see thebottom of the iceberg, which is
years of doubt, depression,self-doubt, been fired, I've
quit unnecessarily, I have notbeen dedicated to jobs where I
(49:08):
should have been.
I was undisciplined, I wasimmature, and all of those
things have led me to here todayand I'm not ashamed of those.
Things have led me to heretoday and I'm not ashamed of
those things, but you know, uh,they got me where, where I am in
any in in any uh sense ofsuccess.
So, um, I probably answered yourquestion way too long there,
(49:33):
but I hope you got something outof that, or the listener got
something out of that I did.
Thank you, yeah, I wouldimagine you're a fan of prayer,
and not only have I not beenwearing my traditional Shed Geek
outfits here lately, also, Irecognized the other day,
(49:57):
listening back, that I haven'tbeen praying on as much episodes
as I did recently, and that'salways been a staple of who we
are, what we are.
We'll shut it down before wehave to give up the idea that,
that, that we're not gonna, thatwe're not gonna pray and put
Jesus first and all that we do.
Happy to edit this out If youdon't feel comfortable with it,
do you?
Do you feel comfortable praying?
(50:19):
And if not, over the industry,if not, I'll gladly bear that
responsibility.
I know it's a lot to ask and Ididn't warn you about that.
Vance Wright (50:30):
I'm certainly not opposed to prayer.
I'm not sure how prepared I amto perform that, but prayer is
an essential part of who we are.
Shed Geek (50:40):
So well, I opened the floor to you, if you would.
And uh, uh, just let God leadyou with whatever prayer he puts
on your heart.
That's okay.
Vance Wright (50:51):
Probably the hardest thing I've ever done is
prayed in public, but I can giveit a shot, God in heaven.
Today we ask you, lord, thatyou bless the fruit of our
labors.
Thank you, lord, for bringingus to this place.
Would you give us wisdom thatonly comes from above, as we go
forward, lord, bless our efforts.
Bless Shannon and his laborwith the podcast.
(51:13):
Bless all of us in the industryas we try to put others ahead
of ourselves today.
Would you help us to serve withexcellence, as if you were here
in our position?
We ask it in the name of Jesus,amen.
Shed Geek (51:27):
Amen.
I'm going to tell you somethingI've said on the podcast before
.
Others have maybe got a kickout of it.
I pray throughout the day,Vance, I talk to God and I've
heard some people say I don't dothat.
I've never done that and that'sstrange to me because I feel
like you know, the Bible says heputs a song in your heart.
(51:49):
I believe that only that songis heard sometimes between you
and Him, and it's a unique voicethat you hear from Him and that
he hears from you.
But I'm going to tell you alittle story, then we'll go.
It's a story about when Iworked with faith-based drug and
alcohol rehabilitation.
I've told it before on thepodcast.
For those of you who havelistened to it, turn me off here
(52:09):
, but you know, for those whohaven't listen close, I had the
privilege of encouragingthousands of men to pray.
We prayed for dinner, we prayedbefore we went to bed, we
prayed and we got up.
We prayed in a lot ofsituations, always before
breakfast, lunch and dinner.
You call on somebody differentin this faith based drug and
(52:32):
alcohol rehabilitation facilitythat we were in, to encourage
men to become more bold inpraying publicly, because public
speaking and even public prayeris a difficult thing and I
finally got Alan, and Alan wasone that would always get away
from everybody.
He'd always sneak back and hideand we just wanted to call him
out and out of the thousands ofprayers that I've heard and
(52:55):
called on men to pray even thebest prayers I've ever heard
prayer warriors I don't rememberany of them, but I remember
Alan's prayer and I think it wasthe simplicity of it and I
called on Alan one day becausehe thought he was going to get
away and I said Alan, would youpray over our lunch?
And Alan was not only funny inwhat he said but funny in his
(53:17):
reactions.
And he literally looks at meand has this look on his face
and he says yeah, yeah, yeah, ofcourse, yeah, no, yeah, of
course, I'll pray, absolutely.
I'd love to pray today over thefood.
It's OK, I wouldn't give it ashot.
He closes his eyes and bows hishead along with everybody else
(53:39):
and I just kind of kept one eyeopen and peeked over at him and
he said Lord, I'd like to thankyou for today.
Today was a good day.
And then he does this with hisface.
He kind of yeah, you know,almost as if to say I mean I'm
(54:01):
really does this with his face.
He kind of, yeah, you know,almost as if to say I mean I'm
really feeling this.
You know, he said it was a goodday.
It was a good, good day andamen and he was so pleased with
his prayeryeah and everybody looked at me
(54:23):
like is that one okay?
And I just gave this nod ofapproval, as if to say, hey, you
gave it all that you had.
And i'm'm going to tell youI've never remembered another
prayer that another man said inall of my life, like I have Alan
(54:43):
, because it was from the mostgenuine place I had ever seen.
And he thought, man, I can't,I've been busted and I can't
hide no more.
I'm going to give it my best.
And I believe that God heardthat prayer and I'll tell you
what that was a good good day inadvance.
Today's a good good day,Absolutely.
It is the day the.
(55:04):
Lord has made I thank you.
I'm going to go ahead and endthe podcast right there.
I thank you for being a gueston the show as an example of you
know.
Hey, look, can't say enough forTyler.
He's been great.
I still have a song that Ilisten to on my Apple Music that
(55:24):
he shared one day on Facebook.
It's called Love.
I don't know if you know thesong.
It's called Love.
The pastor stood up and all hesaid was love.
And then he sat back down and Istill listen to that song.
Tyler's inspired so much for mein the shed industry.
Uh, I, just I thank you.
Your whole business, uh, blessyou guys hope that you're doing
(55:47):
well and continue to do well.
Thank you for being a guesttoday thank you for having me.
Vance Wright (55:52):
I have enjoyed the interview, the two-way
interview.
Shed Geek (55:57):
It's been great.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com