April 14, 2025 • 53 mins
Imagine transforming your business operations with seamless automation.
Welcome to The Power Lounge, where Amy Vaughan of Together Digital hosts conversations with empowered individuals. In this episode, Amy sits down with Christi Stafford, CEO and founder of Automation on a Mission, who brings over twenty-five years of experience in revolutionizing small businesses through intelligent automated systems.
Christi shares her "Attract, Sell, and Wow" framework, a strategy that streamlines customer journeys, boosts revenue, and builds lasting client relationships. Together, they explore the evolution of Christi's business model, the crucial role of automation in sustainable entrepreneurship, and the balance between technology and personal interaction.
Discover practical strategies to automate and scale your business, reclaim valuable time, and thrive. Whether you're an entrepreneur or interested in automation, this episode offers valuable insights to support your business journey.
Christi Stafford leads Automation on a Mission, empowering small businesses with streamlined sales and marketing automation since 2014. With over 25 years of experience, she has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs generate millions in revenue while reclaiming time through efficient, scalable systems. Her leadership includes launching impactful programs and a thriving social enterprise, making entrepreneurship more accessible and sustainable.
Join us as we explore the optimal customer journey through automation with Christi Stafford on The Power Lounge.
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:52 - Nonprofit Management and Social Enterprise
03:29 - Unplanned Career Paths
08:41 - Efficient Meetings with Calendar Automation
10:42 - Unlocking Business Opportunities with Automation
13:46 - Automation's Human Connection & Magic
19:06 - Enhancing Client Renewal Rates
22:43 - Optimizing Business Automation Strategy
26:21 - Streamline Buying with Automation
28:07 - Inclusive Membership for Retired Members
32:04 - Automated Subscription Success
35:54 - Streamlining Guest Preparation Process
37:17 - Automated Affiliate Integration
42:14 - DocuSign Integration Limitations
45:40 - Mindful Use of Chatbots
46:53 - Chatbot Mastery with Lauren
50:14 - Custom Automation for Unique Businesses
53:35 - Design Career: Learning Through Experience
56:14 - Outro
Quotes:
"In digital chaos, automation is your secret weapon to reclaim time and energy."- Amy Vaughan
"Automation unlocks unique solutions and hidden opportunities for your business."- Christi Stafford
Key Takeaways:
Unlocking Automation Potential in Small Businesses
Creating Seamless Customer Journeys
Balancing Technology and Authenticity
Optimizing for Continued Success
Harnessing AI for the Future
Choosing the Right Automation Tools
Embracing Feedback as an Opportunity
Connect with Christi Stafford:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinorfleetstafford/
Website:https://automationonamission.com/
Connect with the host Amy Vaughan:
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/amypvaughan
Podcast:https://www.togetherindigital.com/podcast/
Learn more about Together Digital and consider joining the movement by visitinghttps://togetherindigital.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hello everyone and welcome to our weekly Power
Lounge.
This is your place to hearauthentic conversations from
those who have power to share.
My name is Amy Vaughn and I amthe owner and chief empowerment
officer of Together Digital, adiverse and collaborative
community of women who work indigital and choose to share
their knowledge, power andconnections.
You can join the movement attogetherindigitalcom and today I
(00:33):
am thrilled to welcome ChristyStafford, ceo and founder of
Automation on a Mission kind oftwo of my favorite things
missions and automations.
Let's do this.
For over 25 years, christy hasbeen transforming how small
businesses operate, helpinghundreds of entrepreneurs
generate millions in revenuethrough intelligent, automated
(00:53):
systems.
If you're not intrigued yet, Idon't know what you're doing
here.
What makes Christy's approachso powerful is her attract, sell
and wow framework that turnscustomer journeys into seamless
experiences that not only driverevenue but create lasting
client relationships.
Since founding Automation on aMission in 2014, she has been on
a mission to makeentrepreneurship more
(01:14):
sustainable.
Yay for that.
By giving business owners backtheir most precious time.
You know what it is rightResources or resources, time.
You know what it is rightResources or resources time.
Your most precious resource isa resource.
No, it is time, christy bringsa unique perspective that blends
technical expertise with a deepunderstanding of the human side
(01:35):
of business growth.
Today, she will share insightson how automation can make your
take your business fromsurviving to thriving, helping
you reclaim time, increaserevenue and, oh my goodness,
scale with confidence.
I mean, I'm excited.
I don't know about you all.
Welcome, christy, to the PowerLounge.
We are thrilled to have youhere, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
I am so excited to be here, and I loved your own
enthusiasm about all this, so Iknow you're in good company.
This is.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
You are speaking to my soul, You're speaking my love
language, like human, but alsoautomation and time, like all of
these things are so essentialand important to our business
and you know we throw the wordout balance far too much.
But business owners, we puteverything into what we do and
sometimes that could be at theexpense of ourselves, and it's
just something I don't ever wantto see, because we need our
(02:23):
small businesses.
So yes, I'm very much behind themission and the work that
you're doing, christine.
I love that you're doing itthrough automation, but before
we dive into some automationstrategies and nerd out more in
that area, I would love for youto share with our listeners what
inspired you to createautomation on a mission and what
were some of the problems thatyou were seeing that needed
solving.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Okay, well, so you know, you mentioned, you know
over 25 years doing, you knowsystems and things like that,
and so I think an important partto sort of point out is that my
history came from nonprofitmanagement.
So I was doing a ton of stuffin the grassroots nonprofit
world where you have to have,you know, like 10 times more
(03:05):
creative ideas than you have youknow capabilities to actually
execute because you're the, youknow you're wearing this hat,
you're wearing that hat, and soon and so forth, like I can ask
for $100,000 and then go changethe tire on a 15 passenger van
all in the same afternoon.
So you know, I think that Ikind of hit the adult world
early on, learning about thosethings because it had to be
(03:26):
simply in the type of work thatI was doing.
And I finished a master'sdegree and here's the God honest
truth about how this thing allcame to be.
I opened a social enterprise inDenver, colorado, called Monkey
Bikes Recyclery.
It was an amazing experience.
I was able to take the businessfrom a place of you know, like
asking for money in exchange forworm fuzzies, to let's provide
(03:49):
a service and also train ouryouth and all of these really
great things.
And I was doing all thisalongside building or, I'm sorry
, finishing a master's degree inorganizational leadership.
So I was specifically studyingthose things so that I can, you
know, do something meaningfulwith it in the future.
Except, I failed to ask what onedoes with a master's degree in
(04:11):
organizational leadership, right?
And so I spent two years inschool joking about how I was
going to get a job at Google andpush the coffee cart and make
eighty five thousand dollars ayear, which is like twice of
what I was making, right, as anexecutive director.
And then I finished the programand realized I had nothing
planned.
I'd done all this stuff and Ibuilt this amazing business
(04:34):
inside the nonprofit.
And so then it was like, okay,so what do I do?
So I literally called theschool and I was like, in
hindsight, I should have askedthis question beforehand, what
does one do?
And literally the idea came fromsomebody saying well, you can
solve, and it was kind of likean obvious answer, you know.
And so when I launched thebusiness, in the very beginning
it was actually designed to be acoaching business and it turned
(04:56):
out it was like the moth to aflame.
I was not interested in waitingfor you to have the personal
transformation.
I was like let's just nip thisin the bud and let's talk about
your systems and your processes.
Like 25 years of doing it in somany different environments, I
was like I could not do it.
So I feel very blessed andfortunate to be one of those
people who very clearly cannotdo something that I'm not in
(05:20):
alignment with, and this is whatI was meant to do.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Absolutely, I think you know it.
When you find it right, it'skind of like finding that
soulmate walking into the housethat you know was always meant
to be yours.
But to your point and what itsounds like, in your experience,
you kind of had to take thewinding road to get there right.
It takes some time, it takessome exploration to figure it
out.
And then also another part Iresonated with was that
sometimes you don't realize likethe answer right in front of
(05:47):
you.
You need other people to belike yo, you know, this is kind
of what your jam is and whereyou're like like zone of genius
is Right.
And then you're like, oh duh,like cause sometimes it was
obvious is hard to see yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
I felt like I was like trying to stuff myself into
pants that didn't fit.
You know what I mean.
Like, but, and also similar to,you can't wear pants that don't
fit for very long.
It was less than like a twoweek period where I was like,
okay, this doesn't feel right inthis whole.
How do I, how do I find myplace as an entrepreneur?
And so when I really thoughtabout, like, what is it that I
(06:21):
am drawn to?
What is it that I see everybodyneeds?
Yes, 11 years ago, I felt likeevery business needed automation
, including my own, which had alist of two people my mom and my
brother and I was like, I'mgoing to spend a lot of money to
do this, but I know I need itin order to go where I want to
go.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Yeah, there's so much benefit even small businesses
with automation.
We have a lot of members withinthe Together Digital community
who are small business owners,digital professionals, that are
juggling a ton of priorities.
My next question for you iswhat is the first automation
opportunity that they shouldlook for when they're starting
to feel overwhelmed, Becausesometimes that keeps you from
(07:02):
moving at all.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Right, that analysis paralysis is a real thing, so I
think you know and I want tostart not only with, you know,
low hanging fruit, but alsowhat's something that's easy,
and that would be things likemaking sure that you are
automating how people scheduletime with you.
And the reason why I say that,first and foremost, is
specifically because number one,it's 2025.
(07:26):
And we are, you know, like ifwe put ourselves in the position
of being the consumer.
We want ease, we want aneffortless process.
So when we're doing that backand forth thing where, like, I'm
free at such and such dates andtimes and so on and so forth,
you know, so one, it's a loteasier, and I say that also
because I also hear someresistance around oh, that feels
so impersonal.
(07:47):
But at the end of the day, yourjob and your business is to
serve your ideal client, and ifthat's your goal and you are
wasting time doing this back andforth and you lose
opportunities.
So take the stress off of yourplate.
Give somebody an easy way toschedule time with you, you and
then automate those reminders,because that's going to help you
ensure that they show up.
(08:07):
You know, like I got tons ofsupport from you guys to make
sure that I knew what I neededto know in order to be prepared
for here.
So then I did all my homework.
You know what I mean and that'swhat we get, and I don't have
to do it.
You know, as the person who hasthose reminders in the
background, they are there toserve me so that I can focus on
other things and then show up onthat call ready to be present
(08:28):
and supportive, and so on and soforth.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Low hanging fruit easy.
I love that.
Yeah, remove the barriers foryourself and for them.
That's such a great point.
I will plug for a hot second.
You know Calendly now thatthey're paying for it.
But, calendly, if you want tosend us some money, please do.
I'm pitching it all the time.
You know a lot of people willuse virtual assistants or
assistants with calendars andthings like that.
I have used Calendly and I havecreated, like, different types
(08:53):
of meetings for different typesof days to really only allow
people to schedule meetings whenI want meetings scheduled and
it's so much easier to send alink.
And then the beautiful thing isis afterwards you can create a
whole workflow for follow-upemails to really make sure that
you're hitting those touchpoints and make sure they have
what they need in, like you said, before, during and after, and
so it's not just creating abetter experience for you, it's
(09:15):
creating a better experience foryour potential customer.
Acuity is another one we'veused as well.
There's a lot of greatautomation tools for calendar
management.
I honestly agree with you.
I think calendar management isa great one, because I think
that's a good place to startright, because we're trying to
make our time more available andefficient.
So why not start with thecalendar, possibly?
(09:36):
But again, like you said, lowhanging fruit makes a lot of
sense.
What are some of the mostmundane routine tasks that
you're doing and really thinkabout, like, how could I make
this simpler?
How could I automate it?
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I love it, love it.
Well, and you said something,too, that I also wanted to just
point out, and that was aroundwhen you give people access to
you, and so one of the things,especially with women
entrepreneurs, we're notnecessarily always the best with
our boundaries.
So you can set up theboundaries when nobody's
watching and that's in youravailability.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
So absolutely, oh, a hundred percent.
Yeah, I have one.
I have two days of the weekthat I take meetings and it's
like that.
Those are my two meeting days.
That's just the way I like towork.
And again, as an entrepreneur,you own your time.
It doesn't own you, and you'reright, Nobody can see those
boundaries.
It's just they go on mycalendar, they find the time
that works for them and,honestly, it has saved me hours
(10:23):
and hours of back and forth.
I really do love it.
So I do recommend doing that,if you can.
All right, so also in some ofour material that you were
sharing with us before we got onhere, you mentioned that most
businesses lose leads and misssales opportunities from a lack
of automation.
(10:43):
What are some of the mostcommon blind spots you see in
the customer journey that couldpotentially be solved with
automation?
Speaker 2 (10:51):
So I think I like to think about it as like hidden
opportunities in your business,and so I want to introduce this
concept of if we think about ourcustomer journey in three
buckets.
They are the attract bucket,the sell bucket and the wow
bucket, and automation canhappen in all three of those
phases.
And so when we think about itfrom the hidden opportunity or
(11:12):
the potential lost opportunities, it's things like in that
attract stage, what are youdoing to make sure that you're
speaking to your ideal client,that you know who that person is
and that, when they come intoyour ecosystem, how do you make
sure that they get theexperience that they deserve and
that they're expecting?
In the selling sales stage, itis looking at what does your
(11:38):
buying process look like?
I sort of hinted at this withthe calendar piece around
friction in the experience.
So how easy is it for people toknow and understand what it
means to work with you?
How much does it cost?
Can they check out on yourwebsite?
If they buy on your website,does it work?
What happens after they buy?
And then, in that final stage,how do you deliver value?
(11:59):
How do you want to deliver onyour promises and continue to
make them feel like an amazing,wonderful human being that
you're grateful to have as apart of your ecosystem, because
the easiest client to acquire isthe one that you've already
overcome.
And so, if we can create newbuying experiences, continue to
deliver value over time.
(12:20):
If they're happy they're notgoing anywhere else, you know,
they become the raving fans thathelp us drive business into our
world by referring theirfriends and their family.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
A hundred percent.
Yeah, no, I could not echo thatenough.
Referrals and existingcustomers, marketers we know
these are like the key people.
We need those referrals,especially small businesses.
We need those referrals and weneed those testimonials.
In fact, you got a little shoutout from our live listening
audience.
They love your website, christyand your testimonials.
So well done.
I think oftentimes that's onevery underutilized thing.
(12:51):
As business owners, it's likesometimes we feel like we're
bragging, which you ought to bedoing, folks.
If you're running your ownbusiness, you got to be
believing in yourself more thananybody else.
But at the end of the day,having other people speak on
your behalf just lends to thatlevel of authenticity, the
ability to create trust and,like you said, referrals, which
(13:13):
are so essential to our business.
And you know, the last thingyou want to do is lose leads and
sales opportunities by really,like you said, having like a
poor user experience, and thebest way to address that is
through automation.
But let's talk a little bitabout the human element Because,
like you said earlier, somepeople feel like automation is
like a cold thing or feelsimpersonal.
How do you balance creatingautomated systems while
(13:33):
maintaining authenticconnections with your customers?
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Well, I think the first, the first thing is to I
was and I was thinking aboutthis at like six o'clock in the
morning, because I truly do wakeup in the morning thinking
about these things.
You know, there are parts ofour business that we can't and
we don't want to replaceourselves, and so when it comes
to the one-on-one relationship,this can't be beat.
Most people who sign up forAutomation on a Mission and when
(13:59):
I say most people, I'm talkinglike 95% of people want to see
me, meet me.
You know and know I'm real andhuman and all those things,
before they become a member ofAutomation on a Mission.
I know that.
So I'm not trying to sell.
I'm going to give people aninvitation in an email, but I'm
also going to say I get it.
You probably want to talk to me, let's schedule a conversation.
(14:19):
You know what I'm saying.
So you can have a personalrelationship through automation
but also recognize where do youshine and don't take that away
from yourself because at the endof the day, you're just sort of
crippling your own experience.
And then the other side of thatis that automation can be super
magical, and this is the thingthat I think a lot of people who
(14:40):
have not had the opportunity towork with it underestimate.
It doesn't need to be generic,it doesn't need to be generic,
it doesn't need to be sterile.
It can feel really personal andall that.
Really, it's not the audit.
The issue isn't the automation.
The issue is messaging andknowing who it is that you're
talking to and making sure thatwhen you're speaking to those
people, that they can really seethemselves.
(15:01):
You're picturing them.
So my client avatar her name isScaling Sarah, and I visualize
her and she looks an awful lotlike all of my clients.
So when I'm calling out thestruggles of business owners,
I'm pulling from real lifeexperiences.
I can talk about those in myautomated emails and that's
going to really bring home thatpersonal connection that they're
(15:22):
building.
And I wrote that email fivemonths ago and it's just you're
hitting it now because this iswhere you are in my automated
customer journey.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Yeah, I think that's a great great point, as you're
working through automation,paying close attention to your
messaging and really keepingyour customer in mind, making
them the hero, making it aboutthem, the problems you're trying
to solve, because then you'realways going to be relevant and
again they're going to be likeoh my gosh, how does she know me
so well?
It doesn't feel like anautomated message, right.
(15:52):
Because, you've done theresearch and you've taken the
time.
You're right.
I think some people might kindof just jump into the process of
automation and just think, well, I'm just going to write a nice
little template here and I'mjust going to make it as vanilla
and bland as possible.
It's like no, make itpersonable.
You know, I was at contentmarketing world it was two years
ago now and, um, there was ateam, a duo, a guy and a gal who
(16:13):
did, um, a fantastic talk onyour newsletter and your first
opening welcome email and howlike it's like email marketing
is a relationship.
But it's not like you're goingto go and propose to them at the
first email.
But then why, as marketers, dowe try to propose to people on
the first email or the secondone?
Right?
I thought it was such a funanalogy.
(16:34):
But what they really talkedabout was, you know, asking the
new, you know email list memberwhat is it that you hope to get
out of this?
What are you looking for?
How can I help you?
How can we make this the mostvaluable email you receive every
week?
And I was like I love that Iadded a question like that to
ours and we actually getresponses from people for our
(16:56):
welcome emails, and I'm likewhoever replies to a welcome
email, you know, and it's anautomated thing, it's just that
as soon as they sign up it justgoes straight to their inbox.
So I agree with you Likethere's a lot to be had when you
understand your audience andwork your messaging in the right
way, that automation doesn'teven feel like automation on the
other end for sure, love it Allright.
(17:18):
You have helped businessesgenerate millions of revenue
through automation snaps to that.
Can you share a success storywhere a simple automation tweak
helped to create a some kind ofimpact?
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Yeah, you know I have lots of fun stories, but I
think in light of you know whowe most often serve.
Today I'll share, you know,from our ideal client pool.
So we worked with a humandesign expert for several years
and she was amazing at sellingon this webinar schedule that
(17:53):
she was running Like she couldbe like at the last minute Yep,
I'm going to do it at such andsuch date and she'd had 300
people registered by the end ofthat afternoon and then she
would sell a $15,000 program andshe was really inspirational in
that moment.
But then when they paid,nothing happened and it was
essentially like chaos behindthe scenes, and so nobody ever
(18:16):
complained, nobody ever, youknow, gave up on the program.
But they also didn't renew.
And so the issue, you know thatI saw was here is this amazing
program.
I do believe that you'redelivering tangible results.
But the issue is, how do theysee it?
How do they make thatconnection?
And so what we did was weimmediately built a new client,
new member, customer onboardingexperience that helps them
(18:37):
understand what's the value ofthe program that you just signed
up for, helping make thatemotional connection to the big
ticket item, so there's nobuyer's remorse afterwards and
that sort of spread out overtime reminder series around when
she had, you know, teachingclasses, when there was you know
private coaching opportunities,making sure that they were
(19:02):
actually doing the things thatthey paid for, because the
further away you get, the lesslikely they are to do that.
And then, at that nine monthmark, we started a reminder
series for the coaches to letthem know, hey, so and so is
getting ready to come up forrenewal.
And for the client themselvesstarting to like, let's look
back, let's reflect on where youcame from, where are you today,
how does transformation feel?
(19:23):
And sort of warming them up tothis idea of you're about ready
to make another really bigdecision.
What does this look like foryou?
So that when the coach had theconversation about renewal, it
wasn't a surprise.
They're not coming indisappointed, disgruntled, you
know, et cetera, et cetera.
(19:44):
So the the they already feltand could see their own success
and and joy, and so they weremore readily saying yes to.
So we drastically improvedtheir conversion rate to that
second opportunity.
So again, it was all about howshe showed value to her existing
clients instead of alwayshaving to go fish in a new pond
for a new set of clients.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
That is a fantastic example, so easy.
You actually gave me some ideas.
I like the reflection, likelook at how far you've come, or
do you still have so far to go?
Like why give up now?
And because I think sometimesagain, like automation, mind
comes into play and you're likenope, you're lapsing, it's
ending.
You know these kinds of things.
Instead, like how do you kindof bring them back into the
(20:24):
story of why they were there?
what they had hoped to achieveand why they maybe need to stay
on and continue, because, yeah,I can imagine that's a pretty
big ticket price there to thenlike kind of just leave them
high and dry, give them all thislove and attention to then they
fork over you know five figuresand then you're like, okay,
well, thanks for the money.
And then like kind of crickets,like you want to feel seen and
(20:47):
heard, I think, especially whenyou're dealing with those kinds
of programs.
I know I'm a human design nerdas well.
By the way, we've had a wholepodcast episode just on that a
while back.
If you ever want to go back andlisten to Diamond's episode, do
you mind if I say something.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
So one of the things that we teach our community is
prospects are people.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
And so one of the things that's really helpful
when you're thinking about yourown process is put yourself in
the shoes of, or shoes of, or inthe seat of your client, of
your customer.
And so I want you to think backto the last time you got billed
for something on an annualbasis and they didn't tell you
that the payment was coming, andhow pissed off.
Or angry you were, and it's likethat could have been avoided.
(21:29):
You could have, you know,number one, talk to me sometime
in the 11 and a half months fromthe time I purchased, but also
like giving me a heads up andthen I could make an educated
decision Do I want to stay on?
But you know, what we're tryingto do is avoid that shock
feeling.
We want them to feel value.
We want them to continue onbecause you know this is just
the beginning.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
You know Right.
Well, and with that kind of abusiness model, like you said,
it's going to cost you 10 timesas much to go fish and find a
new person than it is to keep anexisting.
So you should be doingeverything you can to keep those
existing and maintain thatretention.
I wholeheartedly agree, love it.
This is so like all my jam.
I'm liking this.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
All right, I feel like you and I drink from the
same punch.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
We do.
We got to hang out some moreafter this, as we all know the
digital landscape we do.
We got to hang out some moreafter this.
As we all know the digitallandscape it's always changing
and ever faster and faster, itseems.
How do you advise business,businesses to future proof their
automation systems, as newertechnologies seem to be just
popping up everywhere?
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Well.
So I would say first andforemost to your point that
technology is popping upeverywhere.
So I would say first andforemost to your point that
technology is popping upeverywhere, so our system is an
all in one tech platform that webuild, create, serve our ideal
clients in and we automate theircustomer journey.
But I also say to them yes,these technologies could be a
dime, a dozen.
It's really about the time andenergy you're willing to put
(22:51):
into that.
And to that point, in terms ofhow do you future-proof your
business in them?
I would say being agile,recognizing you know, even if
you said I'm going to changefrom you know this technology to
this technology, there's time,energy involved with that.
What does support look like toget you there?
But the other important thingthat I want to point out is that
(23:14):
I think that when automationstarted to become a more common
thing to even small businesses,it was sold to people with this
idea of set it and forget it,and I think that there were a
huge lost opportunities simplyin that mindset, because what
you should be doing with that isautomate as much of your
business as you realisticallycan and then go back and start
(23:36):
to optimize, because whatautomation is doing for you is.
It's helping you createconsistency in every stage of
the customer journey, and thenyou can go back and look at the
data what does the data say interms of what's working and
what's not, and fix it.
So, for example, our onboardingprocess.
So when a new person becomes anautomation on a Mission member,
we're on version 6.0 in threeyears, and the reason why is
(24:00):
because when we fix, you knowthe latest things that feel like
friction in our process,whether it's for the client or
for our team, it exposes thenext layer.
You know what I mean.
You know what I mean and so youknow, from the fall of last
year to the spring of this year,my team has cut six, six weeks
out of the onboarding process.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Wow, that's amazing.
Good for you all.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
And the only reason that that happened was number
one a willingness to devote thetime and a critical eye to say
this isn't perfect.
How can I make it better?
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yes, yeah, it's more agile than that, right, it's
like constantly looking forimprovement and being willing
and open to change and beingflexible because ultimately,
yeah, you have to keepautomation.
I agree with you, that's a goodpoint.
It's not a set it and forget it.
It is, you know.
It's just to keep in mind thatit needs to be optimized from
time to time to kind of be atits peak and to really do what
it is doing, what you want to do, cause I was even thinking you
(25:00):
know, we've both been kind oftalking in the membership space
but, like I wonder if you couldgive some examples for, like you
know, people who are providingeither services or selling
products in terms of, uh, canyou clarify the question of like
, like, what ways and they couldlike automation might benefit
them, or what are some examplesof ways in which automation has
kind of come in and reallyhelped them gain additional
revenue or sales, when maybethey might have left a pie and
dry without any automationprocess or follow up?
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Okay, so let's go back to those three buckets that
I talked about attract, selland well.
So in the attract stage, myfavorite automation is a long
term nurture.
And a long term nurture canstart as big or as small as you
want, and I wanted to point thatout because as soon as I talk
about days, weeks, months, years, um, people start to
hyperventilate and the goal isjust start, and every time you
(25:45):
write a new email, pack it inthere.
But the purpose of that is isit really helps make sure that
you are building thatrelationship.
You're not going from hi, myname is Christy to will you
marry me overnight?
Right, and you're also creatingan environment where you are
saying I'm open, I'm here andI'm ready whenever you are,
instead of saying buy my stuffnow, and when they don't buy,
(26:06):
you feel like you are a terriblebusiness person.
So, in the attract stage,long-term nurture In the selling
stage, I think I would.
It's truly a tie, especiallybecause different businesses
have different methodologies forhow they sell.
Some can productize and offerpricing, checkout and all that
stuff on their website, whereasothers need estimates and custom
(26:30):
pricing.
Whenever possible, I alwaysrecommend productize, productize
, productize, productize,because it reduces the friction
in the buying experience, butreally what I would say my
favorite would be what happensafter they buy.
How do you make sure that thatprocess is nailed down with
automation?
Because, again, it's all aboutmaking sure that they get the
best experience possible and youget the best experience
(26:51):
possible and you know so, like Iknow, every single person who
signs up for automation onmission gets the exact same
experience.
And you can't tell me youdidn't get such and such email,
because if you're in theautomation you got it.
Now we just got to go find it.
So there's that consistencypiece and then in the wow stage,
it's about that and my favoritewould be okay.
So my favorite automation isand we separate this out into
(27:13):
three.
So I think, satisfaction survey, testimonial and referral.
And the reason why I breakthose up is because I have found
, working with a lot of diverseclients and a lot of women, that
there was apprehension aboutasking for testimonials and
referrals, and so the concernwas well, what if they're not
happy?
Speaker 1 (27:33):
And my reaction to that is the concern was well,
what if they're not happy?
And my reaction to that isdon't, don't you want to know.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
So are we.
You know, we have an automationnow that is that goes out
before you ever ask for atestimonial, and it's
essentially just two emailsthumbs up, thumbs in the middle,
thumbs down.
It takes your reader twoseconds to pick the right, you
know, emoji and then, dependingon how they answer and this is
the amazing thing of automationIf you push the happy button,
then it triggers a request for atestimonial and a referral.
(28:01):
If you push the neutral buttonor an unhappy, then it gives the
owner a notification.
Hey, you might have someproblems that you want to
address, and how amazing is thatthey're giving you a chance to
fix it.
Yeah.
So that would be my favorite inthat stage.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
I love it and.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
I love that example.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
I do think that is sometimes scary asking for
feedback, and then people arelike oh, feedback is a gift, and
you're like but it is true,because it all depends on how
you spin it Right.
So we just recently did somepast you know, lapsed member
surveys and conversations, andwe happened to find a member who
was like I'm semi-retired andI'm on a fixed income, I love
the community, I still do someof the work, I'm still working a
bit, but it's just, it's notwithin my budget anymore.
(28:43):
And so we created a retireelegacy leader membership type so
that these women who still wantto give back to community, want
to learn from community, be incommunity, have the opportunity
and it doesn't take it away fromthem just because they happen
to have their circumstances, youknow, their regular income
changed and because, again, it'slike it's that depth and
(29:04):
breadth of you know diversitywithin the community that makes
it so rich.
But it was like, just thinkabout that.
Every time you're asking forfeedback, you're asking for an
opportunity to actually improveon what you're doing already.
So, while I know it's hard, youknow we do surveys every year
too, and I'm always like alittle gut, my tummy is like all
tight and I'm like, oh, whatare they going to say?
You know we all take thefeedback so personally, but
(29:27):
again, look at it as thatopportunity.
So I love that you encouragethat and I do think that is
definitely one of those places.
That leads into the nextquestion, nicely, of when you're
looking to retain.
Often retention gets overlookedand prioritization of
acquisition I guess because it'ssexier.
I don't know, I never quiteunderstood it myself.
What automated processes haveyou found most effective for
(29:49):
keeping clients coming back?
Speaker 2 (29:51):
I think it really depends on the type of business.
So I shared the example of thehuman design.
And can I tell another shortstory?
Oh, I love it.
We love the stories, bring them.
So here's another verydifferent kind of business.
So I worked with a whole bunchof different master spa dealers
for several years and when I hadan opportunity to visit a
(30:15):
master spa dealer in Ohio, um,and they had a brick and mortar
store and we were building outsolutions for their business,
and he, he said my customers aretransactional customers.
And I was like, okay, well,what do you mean by that?
And he said well, you know, wedeliver a $50,000 swim spa and
then we never hear from themagain, unless there's a problem.
And then I'm like, what kind ofproblems do they have?
(30:37):
And he said cloudy water.
Cloudy water is a party stopper.
I'll never forget that thing.
I had this picture of likeSuper Bowl Sunday you got the
wings and the beer and yourwater is dirty and nobody's
going to get in there and and so.
But but the irony of it was Iwas.
I was in his physical spacethat was covered wall to wall of
(30:59):
chemicals, filters and smellygoods.
And I'm like why aren't youselling those?
And he said that you know thebusiness goes elsewhere.
They go to this online store toorder their, their, their
products.
And I was like, well, I mean wecould solve that problem.
And so I also had learned thatyou don't buy a hot tub and take
it home in the back of your car.
It's a multi-week process, andso during that time, the first
(31:21):
thing we did was we automatedwhat happens from the time they
buy To the time their hot tub isdelivered, and all the content
was around Preparing your space,helping you understand,
permitting, making sure that youhave the right kind of
electrical outlets, all thiskind of stuff.
And did they need it?
Maybe a few of them, but reallywhat it was was helping them
understand.
You didn't just take $50,000 oftheir money and run away with
(31:44):
it.
It's helping them understand.
You're actively working ontheir project, et cetera, et
cetera.
And then, after the hot tub wasdelivered, or swim spa was
delivered, it was all about howto maximize the use of said hot
tub.
These are the health benefits.
How do you do exercise?
By the way, you could buy thislittle floaty thing that you
could put your snacks in allthat kind of stuff.
And then we went one stepfurther.
(32:06):
We already know what you bought, so we know what schedule you
need filters and chemicals like.
Let's use that information toautomate reminders.
And so it went from just alittle bit of value around how
to get the most out of it tolet's help you proactively avoid
the problem that they hearabout, to let's help you create
a subscription program.
So, rather than waiting untilyou know a couple of days before
(32:28):
every single time, let's saveyou money with a subscription
program.
You'll have your filters andyour chemicals on your doorstep
before you even need them.
And I'm telling you overnighttens of thousands of dollars.
And one of the cool things aboutgetting to and this is my
message around niche down is Iserved about a dozen different
master spa dealers and they allgot along really well and shared
(32:51):
and collaborated.
So when I built it for one, wecould take it and put it in
another business and anotherbusiness.
And so not only was it tens ofthousands of dollars for one
store, it was tens of thousandsof dollars for all of the other
master stores.
And um, you know, and so, and,and.
The moral of the story isdeliver value.
And the last piece that I willsay about all of this is I wish
(33:12):
that I could buy from the firstguy when I when we were moving
into this house, I wanted a hottub and I went to my.
They're in Ohio and I'm inColorado, so that wasn't going
to happen.
But I went to my friend and saidhey, I know you have a hot tub.
Where'd you buy it from?
And it had only been a yearprevious as she bought it.
She had no idea who she boughtit from.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Tells you something.
That relationship it's like itis transactional at that point.
But yeah, how can you take thatpurchase and make it more
relational than justtransactional?
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Yeah, and that Hatha, for her, wasn't the value.
The value was what could theyhave done Like?
The experience was sounmemorable she had no idea who
she made a sizable investmentwith.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
You know what I mean.
That's impressive.
It tells you something, doesn'tit?
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Yeah, oh, that's such a great story and example.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Oh yeah, no, we love our stories here, so you just
keep on bringing them.
We don't mind it at all,especially like those kinds of
case studies and examples, causeit really, again, it can be
applicable across so manydifferent types of businesses as
well.
That's what's so amazing Forbusiness owners who might be
hesitant about automation ormaybe fearing it's too technical
or too impersonal, like wetouched on earlier.
What perspective, whatperspective shifts, would you
(34:20):
suggest for them?
You don't have to do everything.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
I would say start small and, and like I said
before early on, like just startwith one thing and let that one
thing take something off ofyour plate, and then you know
maybe.
But I think the most importantpiece about all of that is just
because you have automationdoesn't mean that you have have
to have it in every part of yourbusiness.
I have our system integrateswith QuickBooks.
(34:47):
I do not integrate my systemwith QuickBooks.
Do I tell our clients they can,Absolutely.
And for me that's just one areathat I want a little bit more
access, a little bit more manualcontrol, and I'm okay with that
and that might change.
But to that point you don'thave to do everything, and so if
you're feeling like it's an allor nothing kind of thing, start
small, pick one thing at a time.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Yeah, no again.
I think that's always the bestway to start right Baby steps,
one little thing at a time.
Rue is jumping into the chatwith our live listening audience
.
She says that she loves that.
You mentioned checking for thefriction and the client
experience.
Speaking of that, I rememberthis platform which we're on, by
the way, Riverside, she lovesit.
Glad that you love it RequiresChrome or Edge browser.
This led to a bit of confusionand error messaging when she
(35:32):
tried to join this webinar todayfrom Firefox.
So, yeah, thanks for thefeedback, rue, we love to hear
that, and you're not the firstperson to mention it.
And then their online webplatform is also kind of heinous
.
So yeah, riverside, if you'relistening, we got feedback for
you.
But it is about that experience,right, because you want people
to show up and if they're havingproblems and struggling to log
(35:55):
in, then it is a pain in thebutt.
But we also have automatedemails that go out to remind
people two hours ahead of time,10 minutes beforehand, that
we're like we're waiting for youright now, so people hopefully
start to try to get on early incase they need to log in extra
things.
But it is that.
It is that attention to detailand friction.
I think, like you said andmentioned earlier, even in our
like podcast guesting process,we try to alleviate and remove a
(36:16):
lot of the friction by, youknow, listing out here's kind of
what you need to do to prep.
Here's how you need to when weneeded to show up, so that it is
easier for you and you can justshow up and not be like, you
know, I mean, I don't knowyou're.
You're doing fantastic.
It sounds like you just sitaround and talk on podcasts all
day, every day.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
But yeah, some people come on they're like ah, you
know sometimes they get reallyexcited and I get a little
bouncy.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
So I'm really proud of myself that I'm sitting still
You're being, still you canbounce around, it's all right.
But yeah, no, it definitelyhelps.
You know, even when we're doinglike in-person events, we have
learned just really making surethat people know and can see and
understand where they're meantto be, what time, what to expect
(37:02):
, because it does reduce acertain level of anxiety for
people as well, because you wantpeople to show up and be
present for the impending event.
So there's definitely so manyways you know, outside of just
even our business, that youcould think of to kind of make
automation.
So Laura did have a questionfrom our live listening audience
.
She says she notices that youhave an affiliate program.
How many affiliates are in yourecosystem?
That's a great question.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
So I would guess probably between 75 and 100.
And the reason that I wouldestimate that is because that's
the number of members that wehave in our system.
So anytime somebody becomes aclient or a member of Automation
on a Mission, our automationautomatically adds them to the
affiliate program.
So our private member onlycommunity gives them access to
(37:44):
all kinds of content and thingslike that, as well as an
affiliate dashboard.
So they get a custom link.
If they wanted to sell ourprogram or refer business, they
can, and they can watch theirown dollars and cents, you know,
generate through there.
And then we do have, you know,folks that are they're not a
good fit for one reason oranother in their own business
(38:05):
but they love what we do and sothey share, you know.
So they get added as well.
I will never tell somebody theycan't sell for me, I know right
.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
Oh, you want to spread the word, please, right?
Yes, make it easy for them.
Make it easy.
That's a great question to askyourself too, business owners.
How can I make it easier for myexisting customers to sell for
me?
You know whether that's areferral program or an easy way
to share your services or aneasy way to discount for them.
Sharing that's always a greatway to go.
I love it.
Live listening audience.
(38:33):
You're super engaged today,which means we must be doing
good, christy.
Yeah, so I've got a couple morequestions for you, but live
listening audience.
You keep the questions comingtoo.
You are absolutely a part ofthis conversation and why we do
this and why we're here.
So don't be shy.
Looking ahead, Christy, whatexcites you the most about the
future of business automationand how do you see it evolving
(38:53):
for small businesses inparticular?
Speaker 2 (38:57):
Okay, so first I have to give a confession, I was
really excited for this question.
So I am type A or A minus, andI say that because there are
parts of my business and my lifethat I'm all about structure
and setting things up in advance, et cetera, and then there's
plenty of things that I am alsofly by the seat of my pants, and
so one of the things that I seehappening is we're seeing more
(39:20):
and more about AI getting putinto anything and everything.
Obviously, the work that we dois going to be hugely impacted
by AI.
I am very excited for the pointin time where I can go in and
say I need an automation thatdoes this, this, this and this,
and it just whips it out and Idon't have to take an hour to
build it, because then my flybyI mean and maybe it won't serve
me super well because I'malready a little too fly by the
(39:42):
seat of my pants sometimes butat the same time, I think so for
me.
I love that.
I, I, I see that coming and Isee it happening very soon.
But I also think about thestruggles that we I've watched
our clients experience inlearning, and when we made a big
shift last year.
We went from offering ourprogram as a DIY solution with a
(40:05):
course to doing the setup forour clients, and and the reason
why we made that change wasbecause we were seeing that they
weren't getting it and as muchas they tried, as much as they
wanted to learn, as much as theyshowed up for our live q&a
calls, participated in ourtrainings, the learning was
happening.
It was just happening slow, andwhat I felt was a sense of
responsibility like this is notwhere you need to be spending
(40:26):
happening slow, and what I feltwas a sense of responsibility
like this is not where you needto be spending your time.
And so I could see AI coming inwith a bigger presence and how
we run our technology, so that,rather than having to do all
these things, we can tell AIwhat we want and need it to do,
and it will do it for us.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
Yeah, I agree, I'm a huge fan and super kind of
learning out right now on AIagents and workflows because,
workflows are definitely, Ithink, that next phase, that
next step in kind of creatingthose automated multi-step tasks
instead of just like a singulartask, which actually leads into
Betty's question very nicely.
So thanks, Betty, for sharingyour question.
(41:06):
Zapier is very popular.
We use it for a lot of things.
Zaps man, they feel like magic,sometimes Does a lot of
automation.
She has found it, though, to bea little buggy.
I don't disagree, depending onwhat it's trying to integrate
with.
Are there any other automationtools you have used or have
found reliable?
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Okay.
So I want to break thatquestion down, if that's okay.
So I want to break thatquestion down, if that's okay.
So, uh, so Zapier actually has.
Zapier is an element ofautomation, so it's job.
I like to say and I've beensaying this for a decade now uh,
and I do this, Zapier is, isthe me and, and it's shaking
hands with different systems,and so to that point and I can't
(41:45):
believe I'm defending Zapier,because they also sometimes make
me want to pull my hair out,but they are Zapier is going to
do as good of a job as thepeople who develop the solution.
So Zapier doesn't write forCalendly or DocuSign.
They just create theenvironment for these two
(42:06):
companies to come together.
And so you know, and I'll useDocuSign and I don't mean to
sort of diss them, but I'll useDocuSign as a good example of
the imperfection there is.
When DocuSign first createdtheir solution with Zapier, they
were like, yeah, we integratewith Zapier.
Yeah, if you have more than onecontract in DocuSign, it does
(42:27):
not work because it will justwilly-nilly pick whichever.
It didn't have thesophistication to say I want
this contract versus thiscontract and that's not on
Zapier to solve that problem,that's on DocuSign.
So that's the piece that Iwould say about that.
But in terms of how?
So Zapier as an integrationtool?
Other, there's Make.
Zapier has an integration toolthere's Make.
And I think more and moreproducts are becoming more
(42:50):
user-friendly with just usingwebhooks in lieu of Zapier.
So you can just sort of skipthe middleman and just go
straight from connecting point Ato point B and then, if it's
okay, to do a plug for oursystem, sure, you know, our
automation on a mission is allthe technology that you need to
run your business online, and sowhen you have your calendaring
(43:13):
and your e-commerce and yourwebsite and your CRM and your
emails and your automations andyour membership and courses all
under one roof.
You don't need Zapier, youdon't need somebody to say, hey,
forums talk to you know, crm,for example.
You can build all of that allin the same place and you can
use some or all of it.
But the fewer places that youhave to make connections, the
(43:37):
fewer things that you riskbreaking down, the fewer things
that you have to troubleshootSomething.
I was with Keap for a very longtime.
Keap has three differentintegration solutions with
Zapier and I'm like, okay, well,pick your poison.
Which one's going to?
Speaker 1 (43:50):
work today.
Great, that is such a fantasticpoint, chrissy.
I 110% agree.
Zapier is kind of that conduitbetween.
That makes the connection.
But depending on how it'sintegrated into the other
software, I've definitely foundthat where it's just more
limiting or things don't workquite the same because you're
asking one software to talk toanother software and then be
(44:11):
that, go between.
And so oftentimes it's notnecessarily Zapier, sometimes it
is the setup, sometimes it isthe software that you're trying,
the pieces of software you'retrying to get to talk.
And it sounds crazy y'all, butI've actually also used AI to be
tech support for me to help meif I find that, like, setting up
a zap isn't working quite sowell and I'll tell you it keeps
defaulting me back to justmaking like, like creating web
(44:34):
hooks and things like that.
So I've all of a sudden learnedhow to do that.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
And what you're doing is you're getting a layer
underneath of Zapier.
Zapier just makes all of thatpretty.
Speaker 1 (44:44):
Yep, it's just the.
It's a nice pretty interfaceinterface.
Also, dan um, uh included uhsystem IO.
He says it's a lot of uh builtin inbuilt automation tools,
including CRM, email marketingand website courses.
So, yeah, those are some goodsolutions as well as
alternatives.
So thanks for that.
Yeah, um, and then, as Imentioned earlier, uh, live
(45:04):
listeners.
There's some links in the chat.
If you want to meet up withChristy to talk more about these
awesome things, there's a linkto her calendar above, and then
I've also linked her website.
We'll be sure to include thosein the show notes as well.
All right, keep the questionsin the comments coming live
listeners.
We're going to move into thefinal few questions, which is
our power round.
This is just a fun kind ofquick hit set of questions that
(45:27):
we've got for you.
Christy, one of my questionsthat I had for you was email
sequences or chatbots.
Which automation tool deliversthe biggest ROI for most
businesses?
Do you think?
Speaker 2 (45:38):
I'm going to start with email sequences, and I feel
fearful to say that answerbecause I do feel like it might
date me a little bit, like Idon't want technology to leave
me behind, sure.
But here's what I will sayabout chatbots.
I think they're incredible.
I think that the potential ishuge, yes, and unless you have
the time and the technicalknow-how to really make sure
(45:59):
that your chatbot is gettingyour voice and your brand and is
going to behave themselves,then I would say you know like,
be really mindful of them.
And as a quick example, we havea chatbot.
It is presently turned offbecause it was trying to sell
automation on a mission to ourclients, and so I was like, okay
, great job, a little tooambitious and I need to like,
(46:21):
tone you down a little bit.
So she is turned off untilfurther notice.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
So fair enough, you know, and there's still
something to be said.
I mean, I don't know, I emailmarketing man.
It's been a big conversationlately with you know, with
platforms like within socialmedia shifting.
That is like my friend Lucretiasays it's you are renting that
house.
You do not own that house.
You own your email list.
Yeah, all of these properties X, facebook, twitter was Twitter,
I guess and Instagram, allthose things, linkedin, I mean
(46:49):
just, it's so volatile right now.
Um, I think there's a lot to besaid for that email automation
and building and establishingthat relationship, building the
trust, etc.
Um, and for those of you, andit's still the cheapest, it is
right marketing strategyabsolutely, it's very, very
underappreciated.
And, um, I was getting ready tosay I haven't had her on the
podcast yet.
(47:09):
I was going back through myepisodes going where's the link
to lauren's podcast episode?
She actually just did a masterclass on chatbots and automation
and you know, not automation,but like creating and building
chatbots that's what herbusiness does.
Um, so, members, if you haven'tchecked it out yet, jump into
our digital digital IQmasterclass channel on Slack and
(47:32):
you can kind of go back throughand see the whole series of our
masterclass videos.
But I mean, she almost broke mybrain with the masterclass
talking about chat box, chat boxand their capabilities.
But I agree with you, like youknow you, based on what she
shared, you know I'm like, oh,if you, if you're gonna do this,
you have to do it right Because, like what you were saying
earlier, customer experience iseverything and maintaining,
retaining, keeping them,generating that additional
(47:53):
revenue.
So you could much like AI.
It can be if you're not carefuland you don't do it well and
you aren't thorough about it, itcan backfire.
So I am still aligned with you.
I don't think that age is us, Ijust think it just makes us
wise, christy.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
And as time passes it's going to get better and
better and easier for that, andmine has only turned off long
enough for me to figure out.
What do I need to do to have itbe a little bit more discerning
about who it's moving thatconversation.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
Well, I'm happy to connect you and Lauren if you'd
like.
She's a little firecracker man.
She's a blast.
Yeah, I'm, I would love thatActually.
Speaker 2 (48:31):
Okay, I will.
Speaker 1 (48:32):
I will Thank you.
I'm always down for makingthose good connections.
Yeah, she's okay Wonderful, andthen all right.
My next one is oh, what's onebusiness task that should never
be automated?
Speaker 2 (48:43):
And I would say that it's possible that not everybody
will agree with me, but I kindof hinted at this with, uh, the
affiliate stuff, um, or I'msorry, quickbooks, payments,
money out of the business, in myopinion shouldn't be automated.
Um, I want to know, you knowlike it could be something as
simple as you think asubscription has been canceled
(49:03):
and it hasn't.
Um, I want to pay out myaffiliate program, I want to pay
out for for my bills, thingslike that, you know like, and
that's not because that's to methat's not the same as auto pay.
Auto pay is a different setupand arrangement altogether, but
it comes up often with ourclients around how do I automate
(49:23):
paying the affiliatecommissions?
And I'm like, I think youprobably number one, you can't
in our system and, number two, Ithink you should be grateful
for that Because you want toknow whether or not.
Somebody got credit for a salethat maybe didn't belong having
that, you know, for one reasonor another.
Speaker 1 (49:39):
Love it.
It's a great example.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
All right, complete this sentence Good automation is
like a good assistant, becauseshe shows up on time, she's
never late, she never takes snowdays and she always does the
best quality work that you toldher to do Right, hey, so so
agree.
And it doesn't have to be a she, but mine's name is scaling
Sarah, so that's right, I loveit.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
I like the alliteration.
Yeah the alliteration there.
That's amazing.
Yeah, you're so right, theycan't take a sick day, and you
know.
And if there's any human error,it's yours, so there's nobody
else to blame.
All right, my last power onquestion for you is what is your
go to response when clients saybut my business is too unique
(50:26):
for automation.
Speaker 2 (50:30):
Your business might be unique, but your automation
is designed to be customtailored around your business.
So we figure out what we canautomate in your business and we
go from there.
So, again, we start with withstep one and a lot of times, you
know, when I talk to clients, Itell them I'm super nosy and so
I'm going to get in under thehood of your business and I'm
going to poke around and find,you know, like I love finding
things that people do with paper, and I'm like, yeah, we're
going to eliminate that, youknow.
(50:50):
So it it.
It really doesn't matter howspecial you think your business
is.
The intention is automation,isn't cookie cutter.
So, yes, you can use, you know,these sort of themed solutions
and but.
But the experience gets builtaround what you need in your
business because it's really foryou.
Yeah, exactly love it.
Speaker 1 (51:11):
Fantastic answer, christy.
Thank you so much for all ofthese amazing insights, very
actionable, on creating seamlesscustomer journeys through
automation.
You have definitely shown ushow to work smarter, not harder.
One of my favorite sayings Idon't care how old it gets for
our listeners.
You can find this recording onyoutube.
We've got a channel with all ofthis and all of our past
podcast episodes, so be sure tocheck it out and subscribe.
(51:33):
Connect with Christy onLinkedIn or at our website,
automationautomissioncom.
And remember, even smallautomations can create a
powerful ripple effect in yourbusiness.
So don't be shy, don't beafraid of it and don't miss next
week's power lounge, friday,april 11th, when we welcome
financial therapists.
We're just like, we're just.
We're just solving all theworld's problems, all of our
(51:55):
small business.
I love that yeah, right, um,with kara cosway brittle.
She is going to help us explorehow our enneagram type
influences our relationship withmoney.
I know we talked human design,now we're talking enneagram.
See, you're in good company.
Love it Share some insightsfrom her book on healing
financial trauma and shiftingfrom scarcity to empowerment.
(52:16):
So another great conversationlined up for next week.
Christy, thank you so much forbeing here with us and you know,
talking to our amazingcommunity.
If you're not a member yet ofTogether Digital, check us out
togetherindigitalcom If you arelooking for the opportunity to
get more content like thisconnections, conversations that
are definitely going to move youand your business forward.
Again, christy, I can't thankyou enough.
(52:37):
This is like food for my soul.
I'm such an automation nerd.
I don't know why I'm this way,but it's good to be in good
company.
We can't help it right.
We can't help it Nope it.
We can't help it right.
We can't help it Nope it's allgood, all right.
Thank you all so much for beinghere with us today.
Thank you, live listeners, forall your engagement and amazing
questions.
We appreciate you as well.
Until then, keep asking, keepgiving and keep growing.
We'll see you all next week.
(52:57):
Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye,bye, bye.
Hello everyone and welcome to our weekly Power
Lounge.
This is your place to hearauthentic conversations from
those who have power to share.
My name is Amy Vaughn and I amthe owner and chief empowerment
officer of Together Digital, adiverse and collaborative
community of women who work indigital and choose to share
their knowledge, power andconnections.
You can join the movement attogetherindigitalcom and today I
(00:33):
am thrilled to welcome ChristyStafford, ceo and founder of
Automation on a Mission kind oftwo of my favorite things
missions and automations.
Let's do this.
For over 25 years, christy hasbeen transforming how small
businesses operate, helpinghundreds of entrepreneurs
generate millions in revenuethrough intelligent, automated
(00:53):
systems.
If you're not intrigued yet, Idon't know what you're doing
here.
What makes Christy's approachso powerful is her attract, sell
and wow framework that turnscustomer journeys into seamless
experiences that not only driverevenue but create lasting
client relationships.
Since founding Automation on aMission in 2014, she has been on
a mission to makeentrepreneurship more
(01:14):
sustainable.
Yay for that.
By giving business owners backtheir most precious time.
You know what it is rightResources or resources, time.
You know what it is rightResources or resources time.
Your most precious resource isa resource.
No, it is time, christy bringsa unique perspective that blends
technical expertise with a deepunderstanding of the human side
(01:35):
of business growth.
Today, she will share insightson how automation can make your
take your business fromsurviving to thriving, helping
you reclaim time, increaserevenue and, oh my goodness,
scale with confidence.
I mean, I'm excited.
I don't know about you all.
Welcome, christy, to the PowerLounge.
We are thrilled to have youhere, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
I am so excited to be here, and I loved your own
enthusiasm about all this, so Iknow you're in good company.
This is.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
You are speaking to my soul, You're speaking my love
language, like human, but alsoautomation and time, like all of
these things are so essentialand important to our business
and you know we throw the wordout balance far too much.
But business owners, we puteverything into what we do and
sometimes that could be at theexpense of ourselves, and it's
just something I don't ever wantto see, because we need our
(02:23):
small businesses.
So yes, I'm very much behind themission and the work that
you're doing, christine.
I love that you're doing itthrough automation, but before
we dive into some automationstrategies and nerd out more in
that area, I would love for youto share with our listeners what
inspired you to createautomation on a mission and what
were some of the problems thatyou were seeing that needed
solving.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Okay, well, so you know, you mentioned, you know
over 25 years doing, you knowsystems and things like that,
and so I think an important partto sort of point out is that my
history came from nonprofitmanagement.
So I was doing a ton of stuffin the grassroots nonprofit
world where you have to have,you know, like 10 times more
(03:05):
creative ideas than you have youknow capabilities to actually
execute because you're the, youknow you're wearing this hat,
you're wearing that hat, and soon and so forth, like I can ask
for $100,000 and then go changethe tire on a 15 passenger van
all in the same afternoon.
So you know, I think that Ikind of hit the adult world
early on, learning about thosethings because it had to be
(03:26):
simply in the type of work thatI was doing.
And I finished a master'sdegree and here's the God honest
truth about how this thing allcame to be.
I opened a social enterprise inDenver, colorado, called Monkey
Bikes Recyclery.
It was an amazing experience.
I was able to take the businessfrom a place of you know, like
asking for money in exchange forworm fuzzies, to let's provide
(03:49):
a service and also train ouryouth and all of these really
great things.
And I was doing all thisalongside building or, I'm sorry
, finishing a master's degree inorganizational leadership.
So I was specifically studyingthose things so that I can, you
know, do something meaningfulwith it in the future.
Except, I failed to ask what onedoes with a master's degree in
(04:11):
organizational leadership, right?
And so I spent two years inschool joking about how I was
going to get a job at Google andpush the coffee cart and make
eighty five thousand dollars ayear, which is like twice of
what I was making, right, as anexecutive director.
And then I finished the programand realized I had nothing
planned.
I'd done all this stuff and Ibuilt this amazing business
(04:34):
inside the nonprofit.
And so then it was like, okay,so what do I do?
So I literally called theschool and I was like, in
hindsight, I should have askedthis question beforehand, what
does one do?
And literally the idea came fromsomebody saying well, you can
solve, and it was kind of likean obvious answer, you know.
And so when I launched thebusiness, in the very beginning
it was actually designed to be acoaching business and it turned
(04:56):
out it was like the moth to aflame.
I was not interested in waitingfor you to have the personal
transformation.
I was like let's just nip thisin the bud and let's talk about
your systems and your processes.
Like 25 years of doing it in somany different environments, I
was like I could not do it.
So I feel very blessed andfortunate to be one of those
people who very clearly cannotdo something that I'm not in
(05:20):
alignment with, and this is whatI was meant to do.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Absolutely, I think you know it.
When you find it right, it'skind of like finding that
soulmate walking into the housethat you know was always meant
to be yours.
But to your point and what itsounds like, in your experience,
you kind of had to take thewinding road to get there right.
It takes some time, it takessome exploration to figure it
out.
And then also another part Iresonated with was that
sometimes you don't realize likethe answer right in front of
(05:47):
you.
You need other people to belike yo, you know, this is kind
of what your jam is and whereyou're like like zone of genius
is Right.
And then you're like, oh duh,like cause sometimes it was
obvious is hard to see yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
I felt like I was like trying to stuff myself into
pants that didn't fit.
You know what I mean.
Like, but, and also similar to,you can't wear pants that don't
fit for very long.
It was less than like a twoweek period where I was like,
okay, this doesn't feel right inthis whole.
How do I, how do I find myplace as an entrepreneur?
And so when I really thoughtabout, like, what is it that I
(06:21):
am drawn to?
What is it that I see everybodyneeds?
Yes, 11 years ago, I felt likeevery business needed automation
, including my own, which had alist of two people my mom and my
brother and I was like, I'mgoing to spend a lot of money to
do this, but I know I need itin order to go where I want to
go.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Yeah, there's so much benefit even small businesses
with automation.
We have a lot of members withinthe Together Digital community
who are small business owners,digital professionals, that are
juggling a ton of priorities.
My next question for you iswhat is the first automation
opportunity that they shouldlook for when they're starting
to feel overwhelmed, Becausesometimes that keeps you from
(07:02):
moving at all.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Right, that analysis paralysis is a real thing, so I
think you know and I want tostart not only with, you know,
low hanging fruit, but alsowhat's something that's easy,
and that would be things likemaking sure that you are
automating how people scheduletime with you.
And the reason why I say that,first and foremost, is
specifically because number one,it's 2025.
(07:26):
And we are, you know, like ifwe put ourselves in the position
of being the consumer.
We want ease, we want aneffortless process.
So when we're doing that backand forth thing where, like, I'm
free at such and such dates andtimes and so on and so forth,
you know, so one, it's a loteasier, and I say that also
because I also hear someresistance around oh, that feels
so impersonal.
(07:47):
But at the end of the day, yourjob and your business is to
serve your ideal client, and ifthat's your goal and you are
wasting time doing this back andforth and you lose
opportunities.
So take the stress off of yourplate.
Give somebody an easy way toschedule time with you, you and
then automate those reminders,because that's going to help you
ensure that they show up.
(08:07):
You know, like I got tons ofsupport from you guys to make
sure that I knew what I neededto know in order to be prepared
for here.
So then I did all my homework.
You know what I mean and that'swhat we get, and I don't have
to do it.
You know, as the person who hasthose reminders in the
background, they are there toserve me so that I can focus on
other things and then show up onthat call ready to be present
(08:28):
and supportive, and so on and soforth.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Low hanging fruit easy.
I love that.
Yeah, remove the barriers foryourself and for them.
That's such a great point.
I will plug for a hot second.
You know Calendly now thatthey're paying for it.
But, calendly, if you want tosend us some money, please do.
I'm pitching it all the time.
You know a lot of people willuse virtual assistants or
assistants with calendars andthings like that.
I have used Calendly and I havecreated, like, different types
(08:53):
of meetings for different typesof days to really only allow
people to schedule meetings whenI want meetings scheduled and
it's so much easier to send alink.
And then the beautiful thing isis afterwards you can create a
whole workflow for follow-upemails to really make sure that
you're hitting those touchpoints and make sure they have
what they need in, like you said, before, during and after, and
so it's not just creating abetter experience for you, it's
(09:15):
creating a better experience foryour potential customer.
Acuity is another one we'veused as well.
There's a lot of greatautomation tools for calendar
management.
I honestly agree with you.
I think calendar management isa great one, because I think
that's a good place to startright, because we're trying to
make our time more available andefficient.
So why not start with thecalendar, possibly?
(09:36):
But again, like you said, lowhanging fruit makes a lot of
sense.
What are some of the mostmundane routine tasks that
you're doing and really thinkabout, like, how could I make
this simpler?
How could I automate it?
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I love it, love it.
Well, and you said something,too, that I also wanted to just
point out, and that was aroundwhen you give people access to
you, and so one of the things,especially with women
entrepreneurs, we're notnecessarily always the best with
our boundaries.
So you can set up theboundaries when nobody's
watching and that's in youravailability.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
So absolutely, oh, a hundred percent.
Yeah, I have one.
I have two days of the weekthat I take meetings and it's
like that.
Those are my two meeting days.
That's just the way I like towork.
And again, as an entrepreneur,you own your time.
It doesn't own you, and you'reright, Nobody can see those
boundaries.
It's just they go on mycalendar, they find the time
that works for them and,honestly, it has saved me hours
(10:23):
and hours of back and forth.
I really do love it.
So I do recommend doing that,if you can.
All right, so also in some ofour material that you were
sharing with us before we got onhere, you mentioned that most
businesses lose leads and misssales opportunities from a lack
of automation.
(10:43):
What are some of the mostcommon blind spots you see in
the customer journey that couldpotentially be solved with
automation?
Speaker 2 (10:51):
So I think I like to think about it as like hidden
opportunities in your business,and so I want to introduce this
concept of if we think about ourcustomer journey in three
buckets.
They are the attract bucket,the sell bucket and the wow
bucket, and automation canhappen in all three of those
phases.
And so when we think about itfrom the hidden opportunity or
(11:12):
the potential lost opportunities, it's things like in that
attract stage, what are youdoing to make sure that you're
speaking to your ideal client,that you know who that person is
and that, when they come intoyour ecosystem, how do you make
sure that they get theexperience that they deserve and
that they're expecting?
In the selling sales stage, itis looking at what does your
(11:38):
buying process look like?
I sort of hinted at this withthe calendar piece around
friction in the experience.
So how easy is it for people toknow and understand what it
means to work with you?
How much does it cost?
Can they check out on yourwebsite?
If they buy on your website,does it work?
What happens after they buy?
And then, in that final stage,how do you deliver value?
(11:59):
How do you want to deliver onyour promises and continue to
make them feel like an amazing,wonderful human being that
you're grateful to have as apart of your ecosystem, because
the easiest client to acquire isthe one that you've already
overcome.
And so, if we can create newbuying experiences, continue to
deliver value over time.
(12:20):
If they're happy they're notgoing anywhere else, you know,
they become the raving fans thathelp us drive business into our
world by referring theirfriends and their family.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
A hundred percent.
Yeah, no, I could not echo thatenough.
Referrals and existingcustomers, marketers we know
these are like the key people.
We need those referrals,especially small businesses.
We need those referrals and weneed those testimonials.
In fact, you got a little shoutout from our live listening
audience.
They love your website, christyand your testimonials.
So well done.
I think oftentimes that's onevery underutilized thing.
(12:51):
As business owners, it's likesometimes we feel like we're
bragging, which you ought to bedoing, folks.
If you're running your ownbusiness, you got to be
believing in yourself more thananybody else.
But at the end of the day,having other people speak on
your behalf just lends to thatlevel of authenticity, the
ability to create trust and,like you said, referrals, which
(13:13):
are so essential to our business.
And you know, the last thingyou want to do is lose leads and
sales opportunities by really,like you said, having like a
poor user experience, and thebest way to address that is
through automation.
But let's talk a little bitabout the human element Because,
like you said earlier, somepeople feel like automation is
like a cold thing or feelsimpersonal.
How do you balance creatingautomated systems while
(13:33):
maintaining authenticconnections with your customers?
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Well, I think the first, the first thing is to I
was and I was thinking aboutthis at like six o'clock in the
morning, because I truly do wakeup in the morning thinking
about these things.
You know, there are parts ofour business that we can't and
we don't want to replaceourselves, and so when it comes
to the one-on-one relationship,this can't be beat.
Most people who sign up forAutomation on a Mission and when
(13:59):
I say most people, I'm talkinglike 95% of people want to see
me, meet me.
You know and know I'm real andhuman and all those things,
before they become a member ofAutomation on a Mission.
I know that.
So I'm not trying to sell.
I'm going to give people aninvitation in an email, but I'm
also going to say I get it.
You probably want to talk to me, let's schedule a conversation.
(14:19):
You know what I'm saying.
So you can have a personalrelationship through automation
but also recognize where do youshine and don't take that away
from yourself because at the endof the day, you're just sort of
crippling your own experience.
And then the other side of thatis that automation can be super
magical, and this is the thingthat I think a lot of people who
(14:40):
have not had the opportunity towork with it underestimate.
It doesn't need to be generic,it doesn't need to be generic,
it doesn't need to be sterile.
It can feel really personal andall that.
Really, it's not the audit.
The issue isn't the automation.
The issue is messaging andknowing who it is that you're
talking to and making sure thatwhen you're speaking to those
people, that they can really seethemselves.
(15:01):
You're picturing them.
So my client avatar her name isScaling Sarah, and I visualize
her and she looks an awful lotlike all of my clients.
So when I'm calling out thestruggles of business owners,
I'm pulling from real lifeexperiences.
I can talk about those in myautomated emails and that's
going to really bring home thatpersonal connection that they're
(15:22):
building.
And I wrote that email fivemonths ago and it's just you're
hitting it now because this iswhere you are in my automated
customer journey.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Yeah, I think that's a great great point, as you're
working through automation,paying close attention to your
messaging and really keepingyour customer in mind, making
them the hero, making it aboutthem, the problems you're trying
to solve, because then you'realways going to be relevant and
again they're going to be likeoh my gosh, how does she know me
so well?
It doesn't feel like anautomated message, right.
(15:52):
Because, you've done theresearch and you've taken the
time.
You're right.
I think some people might kindof just jump into the process of
automation and just think, well, I'm just going to write a nice
little template here and I'mjust going to make it as vanilla
and bland as possible.
It's like no, make itpersonable.
You know, I was at contentmarketing world it was two years
ago now and, um, there was ateam, a duo, a guy and a gal who
(16:13):
did, um, a fantastic talk onyour newsletter and your first
opening welcome email and howlike it's like email marketing
is a relationship.
But it's not like you're goingto go and propose to them at the
first email.
But then why, as marketers, dowe try to propose to people on
the first email or the secondone?
Right?
I thought it was such a funanalogy.
(16:34):
But what they really talkedabout was, you know, asking the
new, you know email list memberwhat is it that you hope to get
out of this?
What are you looking for?
How can I help you?
How can we make this the mostvaluable email you receive every
week?
And I was like I love that Iadded a question like that to
ours and we actually getresponses from people for our
(16:56):
welcome emails, and I'm likewhoever replies to a welcome
email, you know, and it's anautomated thing, it's just that
as soon as they sign up it justgoes straight to their inbox.
So I agree with you Likethere's a lot to be had when you
understand your audience andwork your messaging in the right
way, that automation doesn'teven feel like automation on the
other end for sure, love it Allright.
(17:18):
You have helped businessesgenerate millions of revenue
through automation snaps to that.
Can you share a success storywhere a simple automation tweak
helped to create a some kind ofimpact?
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Yeah, you know I have lots of fun stories, but I
think in light of you know whowe most often serve.
Today I'll share, you know,from our ideal client pool.
So we worked with a humandesign expert for several years
and she was amazing at sellingon this webinar schedule that
(17:53):
she was running Like she couldbe like at the last minute Yep,
I'm going to do it at such andsuch date and she'd had 300
people registered by the end ofthat afternoon and then she
would sell a $15,000 program andshe was really inspirational in
that moment.
But then when they paid,nothing happened and it was
essentially like chaos behindthe scenes, and so nobody ever
(18:16):
complained, nobody ever, youknow, gave up on the program.
But they also didn't renew.
And so the issue, you know thatI saw was here is this amazing
program.
I do believe that you'redelivering tangible results.
But the issue is, how do theysee it?
How do they make thatconnection?
And so what we did was weimmediately built a new client,
new member, customer onboardingexperience that helps them
(18:37):
understand what's the value ofthe program that you just signed
up for, helping make thatemotional connection to the big
ticket item, so there's nobuyer's remorse afterwards and
that sort of spread out overtime reminder series around when
she had, you know, teachingclasses, when there was you know
private coaching opportunities,making sure that they were
(19:02):
actually doing the things thatthey paid for, because the
further away you get, the lesslikely they are to do that.
And then, at that nine monthmark, we started a reminder
series for the coaches to letthem know, hey, so and so is
getting ready to come up forrenewal.
And for the client themselvesstarting to like, let's look
back, let's reflect on where youcame from, where are you today,
how does transformation feel?
(19:23):
And sort of warming them up tothis idea of you're about ready
to make another really bigdecision.
What does this look like foryou?
So that when the coach had theconversation about renewal, it
wasn't a surprise.
They're not coming indisappointed, disgruntled, you
know, et cetera, et cetera.
(19:44):
So the the they already feltand could see their own success
and and joy, and so they weremore readily saying yes to.
So we drastically improvedtheir conversion rate to that
second opportunity.
So again, it was all about howshe showed value to her existing
clients instead of alwayshaving to go fish in a new pond
for a new set of clients.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
That is a fantastic example, so easy.
You actually gave me some ideas.
I like the reflection, likelook at how far you've come, or
do you still have so far to go?
Like why give up now?
And because I think sometimesagain, like automation, mind
comes into play and you're likenope, you're lapsing, it's
ending.
You know these kinds of things.
Instead, like how do you kindof bring them back into the
(20:24):
story of why they were there?
what they had hoped to achieveand why they maybe need to stay
on and continue, because, yeah,I can imagine that's a pretty
big ticket price there to thenlike kind of just leave them
high and dry, give them all thislove and attention to then they
fork over you know five figuresand then you're like, okay,
well, thanks for the money.
And then like kind of crickets,like you want to feel seen and
(20:47):
heard, I think, especially whenyou're dealing with those kinds
of programs.
I know I'm a human design nerdas well.
By the way, we've had a wholepodcast episode just on that a
while back.
If you ever want to go back andlisten to Diamond's episode, do
you mind if I say something.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
So one of the things that we teach our community is
prospects are people.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
And so one of the things that's really helpful
when you're thinking about yourown process is put yourself in
the shoes of, or shoes of, or inthe seat of your client, of
your customer.
And so I want you to think backto the last time you got billed
for something on an annualbasis and they didn't tell you
that the payment was coming, andhow pissed off.
Or angry you were, and it's likethat could have been avoided.
(21:29):
You could have, you know,number one, talk to me sometime
in the 11 and a half months fromthe time I purchased, but also
like giving me a heads up andthen I could make an educated
decision Do I want to stay on?
But you know, what we're tryingto do is avoid that shock
feeling.
We want them to feel value.
We want them to continue onbecause you know this is just
the beginning.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
You know Right.
Well, and with that kind of abusiness model, like you said,
it's going to cost you 10 timesas much to go fish and find a
new person than it is to keep anexisting.
So you should be doingeverything you can to keep those
existing and maintain thatretention.
I wholeheartedly agree, love it.
This is so like all my jam.
I'm liking this.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
All right, I feel like you and I drink from the
same punch.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
We do.
We got to hang out some moreafter this, as we all know the
digital landscape we do.
We got to hang out some moreafter this.
As we all know the digitallandscape it's always changing
and ever faster and faster, itseems.
How do you advise business,businesses to future proof their
automation systems, as newertechnologies seem to be just
popping up everywhere?
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Well.
So I would say first andforemost to your point that
technology is popping upeverywhere.
So I would say first andforemost to your point that
technology is popping upeverywhere, so our system is an
all in one tech platform that webuild, create, serve our ideal
clients in and we automate theircustomer journey.
But I also say to them yes,these technologies could be a
dime, a dozen.
It's really about the time andenergy you're willing to put
(22:51):
into that.
And to that point, in terms ofhow do you future-proof your
business in them?
I would say being agile,recognizing you know, even if
you said I'm going to changefrom you know this technology to
this technology, there's time,energy involved with that.
What does support look like toget you there?
But the other important thingthat I want to point out is that
(23:14):
I think that when automationstarted to become a more common
thing to even small businesses,it was sold to people with this
idea of set it and forget it,and I think that there were a
huge lost opportunities simplyin that mindset, because what
you should be doing with that isautomate as much of your
business as you realisticallycan and then go back and start
(23:36):
to optimize, because whatautomation is doing for you is.
It's helping you createconsistency in every stage of
the customer journey, and thenyou can go back and look at the
data what does the data say interms of what's working and
what's not, and fix it.
So, for example, our onboardingprocess.
So when a new person becomes anautomation on a Mission member,
we're on version 6.0 in threeyears, and the reason why is
(24:00):
because when we fix, you knowthe latest things that feel like
friction in our process,whether it's for the client or
for our team, it exposes thenext layer.
You know what I mean.
You know what I mean and so youknow, from the fall of last
year to the spring of this year,my team has cut six, six weeks
out of the onboarding process.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Wow, that's amazing.
Good for you all.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
And the only reason that that happened was number
one a willingness to devote thetime and a critical eye to say
this isn't perfect.
How can I make it better?
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yes, yeah, it's more agile than that, right, it's
like constantly looking forimprovement and being willing
and open to change and beingflexible because ultimately,
yeah, you have to keepautomation.
I agree with you, that's a goodpoint.
It's not a set it and forget it.
It is, you know.
It's just to keep in mind thatit needs to be optimized from
time to time to kind of be atits peak and to really do what
it is doing, what you want to do, cause I was even thinking you
(25:00):
know, we've both been kind oftalking in the membership space
but, like I wonder if you couldgive some examples for, like you
know, people who are providingeither services or selling
products in terms of, uh, canyou clarify the question of like
, like, what ways and they couldlike automation might benefit
them, or what are some examplesof ways in which automation has
kind of come in and reallyhelped them gain additional
revenue or sales, when maybethey might have left a pie and
dry without any automationprocess or follow up?
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Okay, so let's go back to those three buckets that
I talked about attract, selland well.
So in the attract stage, myfavorite automation is a long
term nurture.
And a long term nurture canstart as big or as small as you
want, and I wanted to point thatout because as soon as I talk
about days, weeks, months, years, um, people start to
hyperventilate and the goal isjust start, and every time you
(25:45):
write a new email, pack it inthere.
But the purpose of that is isit really helps make sure that
you are building thatrelationship.
You're not going from hi, myname is Christy to will you
marry me overnight?
Right, and you're also creatingan environment where you are
saying I'm open, I'm here andI'm ready whenever you are,
instead of saying buy my stuffnow, and when they don't buy,
(26:06):
you feel like you are a terriblebusiness person.
So, in the attract stage,long-term nurture In the selling
stage, I think I would.
It's truly a tie, especiallybecause different businesses
have different methodologies forhow they sell.
Some can productize and offerpricing, checkout and all that
stuff on their website, whereasothers need estimates and custom
(26:30):
pricing.
Whenever possible, I alwaysrecommend productize, productize
, productize, productize,because it reduces the friction
in the buying experience, butreally what I would say my
favorite would be what happensafter they buy.
How do you make sure that thatprocess is nailed down with
automation?
Because, again, it's all aboutmaking sure that they get the
best experience possible and youget the best experience
(26:51):
possible and you know so, like Iknow, every single person who
signs up for automation onmission gets the exact same
experience.
And you can't tell me youdidn't get such and such email,
because if you're in theautomation you got it.
Now we just got to go find it.
So there's that consistencypiece and then in the wow stage,
it's about that and my favoritewould be okay.
So my favorite automation isand we separate this out into
(27:13):
three.
So I think, satisfaction survey, testimonial and referral.
And the reason why I breakthose up is because I have found
, working with a lot of diverseclients and a lot of women, that
there was apprehension aboutasking for testimonials and
referrals, and so the concernwas well, what if they're not
happy?
Speaker 1 (27:33):
And my reaction to that is the concern was well,
what if they're not happy?
And my reaction to that isdon't, don't you want to know.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
So are we.
You know, we have an automationnow that is that goes out
before you ever ask for atestimonial, and it's
essentially just two emailsthumbs up, thumbs in the middle,
thumbs down.
It takes your reader twoseconds to pick the right, you
know, emoji and then, dependingon how they answer and this is
the amazing thing of automationIf you push the happy button,
then it triggers a request for atestimonial and a referral.
(28:01):
If you push the neutral buttonor an unhappy, then it gives the
owner a notification.
Hey, you might have someproblems that you want to
address, and how amazing is thatthey're giving you a chance to
fix it.
Yeah.
So that would be my favorite inthat stage.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
I love it and.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
I love that example.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
I do think that is sometimes scary asking for
feedback, and then people arelike oh, feedback is a gift, and
you're like but it is true,because it all depends on how
you spin it Right.
So we just recently did somepast you know, lapsed member
surveys and conversations, andwe happened to find a member who
was like I'm semi-retired andI'm on a fixed income, I love
the community, I still do someof the work, I'm still working a
bit, but it's just, it's notwithin my budget anymore.
(28:43):
And so we created a retireelegacy leader membership type so
that these women who still wantto give back to community, want
to learn from community, be incommunity, have the opportunity
and it doesn't take it away fromthem just because they happen
to have their circumstances, youknow, their regular income
changed and because, again, it'slike it's that depth and
(29:04):
breadth of you know diversitywithin the community that makes
it so rich.
But it was like, just thinkabout that.
Every time you're asking forfeedback, you're asking for an
opportunity to actually improveon what you're doing already.
So, while I know it's hard, youknow we do surveys every year
too, and I'm always like alittle gut, my tummy is like all
tight and I'm like, oh, whatare they going to say?
You know we all take thefeedback so personally, but
(29:27):
again, look at it as thatopportunity.
So I love that you encouragethat and I do think that is
definitely one of those places.
That leads into the nextquestion, nicely, of when you're
looking to retain.
Often retention gets overlookedand prioritization of
acquisition I guess because it'ssexier.
I don't know, I never quiteunderstood it myself.
What automated processes haveyou found most effective for
(29:49):
keeping clients coming back?
Speaker 2 (29:51):
I think it really depends on the type of business.
So I shared the example of thehuman design.
And can I tell another shortstory?
Oh, I love it.
We love the stories, bring them.
So here's another verydifferent kind of business.
So I worked with a whole bunchof different master spa dealers
for several years and when I hadan opportunity to visit a
(30:15):
master spa dealer in Ohio, um,and they had a brick and mortar
store and we were building outsolutions for their business,
and he, he said my customers aretransactional customers.
And I was like, okay, well,what do you mean by that?
And he said well, you know, wedeliver a $50,000 swim spa and
then we never hear from themagain, unless there's a problem.
And then I'm like, what kind ofproblems do they have?
(30:37):
And he said cloudy water.
Cloudy water is a party stopper.
I'll never forget that thing.
I had this picture of likeSuper Bowl Sunday you got the
wings and the beer and yourwater is dirty and nobody's
going to get in there and and so.
But but the irony of it was Iwas.
I was in his physical spacethat was covered wall to wall of
(30:59):
chemicals, filters and smellygoods.
And I'm like why aren't youselling those?
And he said that you know thebusiness goes elsewhere.
They go to this online store toorder their, their, their
products.
And I was like, well, I mean wecould solve that problem.
And so I also had learned thatyou don't buy a hot tub and take
it home in the back of your car.
It's a multi-week process, andso during that time, the first
(31:21):
thing we did was we automatedwhat happens from the time they
buy To the time their hot tub isdelivered, and all the content
was around Preparing your space,helping you understand,
permitting, making sure that youhave the right kind of
electrical outlets, all thiskind of stuff.
And did they need it?
Maybe a few of them, but reallywhat it was was helping them
understand.
You didn't just take $50,000 oftheir money and run away with
(31:44):
it.
It's helping them understand.
You're actively working ontheir project, et cetera, et
cetera.
And then, after the hot tub wasdelivered, or swim spa was
delivered, it was all about howto maximize the use of said hot
tub.
These are the health benefits.
How do you do exercise?
By the way, you could buy thislittle floaty thing that you
could put your snacks in allthat kind of stuff.
And then we went one stepfurther.
(32:06):
We already know what you bought, so we know what schedule you
need filters and chemicals like.
Let's use that information toautomate reminders.
And so it went from just alittle bit of value around how
to get the most out of it tolet's help you proactively avoid
the problem that they hearabout, to let's help you create
a subscription program.
So, rather than waiting untilyou know a couple of days before
(32:28):
every single time, let's saveyou money with a subscription
program.
You'll have your filters andyour chemicals on your doorstep
before you even need them.
And I'm telling you overnighttens of thousands of dollars.
And one of the cool things aboutgetting to and this is my
message around niche down is Iserved about a dozen different
master spa dealers and they allgot along really well and shared
(32:51):
and collaborated.
So when I built it for one, wecould take it and put it in
another business and anotherbusiness.
And so not only was it tens ofthousands of dollars for one
store, it was tens of thousandsof dollars for all of the other
master stores.
And um, you know, and so, and,and.
The moral of the story isdeliver value.
And the last piece that I willsay about all of this is I wish
(33:12):
that I could buy from the firstguy when I when we were moving
into this house, I wanted a hottub and I went to my.
They're in Ohio and I'm inColorado, so that wasn't going
to happen.
But I went to my friend and saidhey, I know you have a hot tub.
Where'd you buy it from?
And it had only been a yearprevious as she bought it.
She had no idea who she boughtit from.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Tells you something.
That relationship it's like itis transactional at that point.
But yeah, how can you take thatpurchase and make it more
relational than justtransactional?
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Yeah, and that Hatha, for her, wasn't the value.
The value was what could theyhave done Like?
The experience was sounmemorable she had no idea who
she made a sizable investmentwith.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
You know what I mean.
That's impressive.
It tells you something, doesn'tit?
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Yeah, oh, that's such a great story and example.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Oh yeah, no, we love our stories here, so you just
keep on bringing them.
We don't mind it at all,especially like those kinds of
case studies and examples, causeit really, again, it can be
applicable across so manydifferent types of businesses as
well.
That's what's so amazing Forbusiness owners who might be
hesitant about automation ormaybe fearing it's too technical
or too impersonal, like wetouched on earlier.
What perspective, whatperspective shifts, would you
(34:20):
suggest for them?
You don't have to do everything.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
I would say start small and, and like I said
before early on, like just startwith one thing and let that one
thing take something off ofyour plate, and then you know
maybe.
But I think the most importantpiece about all of that is just
because you have automationdoesn't mean that you have have
to have it in every part of yourbusiness.
I have our system integrateswith QuickBooks.
(34:47):
I do not integrate my systemwith QuickBooks.
Do I tell our clients they can,Absolutely.
And for me that's just one areathat I want a little bit more
access, a little bit more manualcontrol, and I'm okay with that
and that might change.
But to that point you don'thave to do everything, and so if
you're feeling like it's an allor nothing kind of thing, start
small, pick one thing at a time.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Yeah, no again.
I think that's always the bestway to start right Baby steps,
one little thing at a time.
Rue is jumping into the chatwith our live listening audience
.
She says that she loves that.
You mentioned checking for thefriction and the client
experience.
Speaking of that, I rememberthis platform which we're on, by
the way, Riverside, she lovesit.
Glad that you love it RequiresChrome or Edge browser.
This led to a bit of confusionand error messaging when she
(35:32):
tried to join this webinar todayfrom Firefox.
So, yeah, thanks for thefeedback, rue, we love to hear
that, and you're not the firstperson to mention it.
And then their online webplatform is also kind of heinous
.
So yeah, riverside, if you'relistening, we got feedback for
you.
But it is about that experience,right, because you want people
to show up and if they're havingproblems and struggling to log
(35:55):
in, then it is a pain in thebutt.
But we also have automatedemails that go out to remind
people two hours ahead of time,10 minutes beforehand, that
we're like we're waiting for youright now, so people hopefully
start to try to get on early incase they need to log in extra
things.
But it is that.
It is that attention to detailand friction.
I think, like you said andmentioned earlier, even in our
like podcast guesting process,we try to alleviate and remove a
(36:16):
lot of the friction by, youknow, listing out here's kind of
what you need to do to prep.
Here's how you need to when weneeded to show up, so that it is
easier for you and you can justshow up and not be like, you
know, I mean, I don't knowyou're.
You're doing fantastic.
It sounds like you just sitaround and talk on podcasts all
day, every day.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
But yeah, some people come on they're like ah, you
know sometimes they get reallyexcited and I get a little
bouncy.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
So I'm really proud of myself that I'm sitting still
You're being, still you canbounce around, it's all right.
But yeah, no, it definitelyhelps.
You know, even when we're doinglike in-person events, we have
learned just really making surethat people know and can see and
understand where they're meantto be, what time, what to expect
(37:02):
, because it does reduce acertain level of anxiety for
people as well, because you wantpeople to show up and be
present for the impending event.
So there's definitely so manyways you know, outside of just
even our business, that youcould think of to kind of make
automation.
So Laura did have a questionfrom our live listening audience
.
She says she notices that youhave an affiliate program.
How many affiliates are in yourecosystem?
That's a great question.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
So I would guess probably between 75 and 100.
And the reason that I wouldestimate that is because that's
the number of members that wehave in our system.
So anytime somebody becomes aclient or a member of Automation
on a Mission, our automationautomatically adds them to the
affiliate program.
So our private member onlycommunity gives them access to
(37:44):
all kinds of content and thingslike that, as well as an
affiliate dashboard.
So they get a custom link.
If they wanted to sell ourprogram or refer business, they
can, and they can watch theirown dollars and cents, you know,
generate through there.
And then we do have, you know,folks that are they're not a
good fit for one reason oranother in their own business
(38:05):
but they love what we do and sothey share, you know.
So they get added as well.
I will never tell somebody theycan't sell for me, I know right
.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
Oh, you want to spread the word, please, right?
Yes, make it easy for them.
Make it easy.
That's a great question to askyourself too, business owners.
How can I make it easier for myexisting customers to sell for
me?
You know whether that's areferral program or an easy way
to share your services or aneasy way to discount for them.
Sharing that's always a greatway to go.
I love it.
Live listening audience.
(38:33):
You're super engaged today,which means we must be doing
good, christy.
Yeah, so I've got a couple morequestions for you, but live
listening audience.
You keep the questions comingtoo.
You are absolutely a part ofthis conversation and why we do
this and why we're here.
So don't be shy.
Looking ahead, Christy, whatexcites you the most about the
future of business automationand how do you see it evolving
(38:53):
for small businesses inparticular?
Speaker 2 (38:57):
Okay, so first I have to give a confession, I was
really excited for this question.
So I am type A or A minus, andI say that because there are
parts of my business and my lifethat I'm all about structure
and setting things up in advance, et cetera, and then there's
plenty of things that I am alsofly by the seat of my pants, and
so one of the things that I seehappening is we're seeing more
(39:20):
and more about AI getting putinto anything and everything.
Obviously, the work that we dois going to be hugely impacted
by AI.
I am very excited for the pointin time where I can go in and
say I need an automation thatdoes this, this, this and this,
and it just whips it out and Idon't have to take an hour to
build it, because then my flybyI mean and maybe it won't serve
me super well because I'malready a little too fly by the
(39:42):
seat of my pants sometimes butat the same time, I think so for
me.
I love that.
I, I, I see that coming and Isee it happening very soon.
But I also think about thestruggles that we I've watched
our clients experience inlearning, and when we made a big
shift last year.
We went from offering ourprogram as a DIY solution with a
(40:05):
course to doing the setup forour clients, and and the reason
why we made that change wasbecause we were seeing that they
weren't getting it and as muchas they tried, as much as they
wanted to learn, as much as theyshowed up for our live q&a
calls, participated in ourtrainings, the learning was
happening.
It was just happening slow, andwhat I felt was a sense of
responsibility like this is notwhere you need to be spending
(40:26):
happening slow, and what I feltwas a sense of responsibility
like this is not where you needto be spending your time.
And so I could see AI coming inwith a bigger presence and how
we run our technology, so that,rather than having to do all
these things, we can tell AIwhat we want and need it to do,
and it will do it for us.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
Yeah, I agree, I'm a huge fan and super kind of
learning out right now on AIagents and workflows because,
workflows are definitely, Ithink, that next phase, that
next step in kind of creatingthose automated multi-step tasks
instead of just like a singulartask, which actually leads into
Betty's question very nicely.
So thanks, Betty, for sharingyour question.
(41:06):
Zapier is very popular.
We use it for a lot of things.
Zaps man, they feel like magic,sometimes Does a lot of
automation.
She has found it, though, to bea little buggy.
I don't disagree, depending onwhat it's trying to integrate
with.
Are there any other automationtools you have used or have
found reliable?
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Okay.
So I want to break thatquestion down, if that's okay.
So I want to break thatquestion down, if that's okay.
So, uh, so Zapier actually has.
Zapier is an element ofautomation, so it's job.
I like to say and I've beensaying this for a decade now uh,
and I do this, Zapier is, isthe me and, and it's shaking
hands with different systems,and so to that point and I can't
(41:45):
believe I'm defending Zapier,because they also sometimes make
me want to pull my hair out,but they are Zapier is going to
do as good of a job as thepeople who develop the solution.
So Zapier doesn't write forCalendly or DocuSign.
They just create theenvironment for these two
(42:06):
companies to come together.
And so you know, and I'll useDocuSign and I don't mean to
sort of diss them, but I'll useDocuSign as a good example of
the imperfection there is.
When DocuSign first createdtheir solution with Zapier, they
were like, yeah, we integratewith Zapier.
Yeah, if you have more than onecontract in DocuSign, it does
(42:27):
not work because it will justwilly-nilly pick whichever.
It didn't have thesophistication to say I want
this contract versus thiscontract and that's not on
Zapier to solve that problem,that's on DocuSign.
So that's the piece that Iwould say about that.
But in terms of how?
So Zapier as an integrationtool?
Other, there's Make.
Zapier has an integration toolthere's Make.
And I think more and moreproducts are becoming more
(42:50):
user-friendly with just usingwebhooks in lieu of Zapier.
So you can just sort of skipthe middleman and just go
straight from connecting point Ato point B and then, if it's
okay, to do a plug for oursystem, sure, you know, our
automation on a mission is allthe technology that you need to
run your business online, and sowhen you have your calendaring
(43:13):
and your e-commerce and yourwebsite and your CRM and your
emails and your automations andyour membership and courses all
under one roof.
You don't need Zapier, youdon't need somebody to say, hey,
forums talk to you know, crm,for example.
You can build all of that allin the same place and you can
use some or all of it.
But the fewer places that youhave to make connections, the
(43:37):
fewer things that you riskbreaking down, the fewer things
that you have to troubleshootSomething.
I was with Keap for a very longtime.
Keap has three differentintegration solutions with
Zapier and I'm like, okay, well,pick your poison.
Which one's going to?
Speaker 1 (43:50):
work today.
Great, that is such a fantasticpoint, chrissy.
I 110% agree.
Zapier is kind of that conduitbetween.
That makes the connection.
But depending on how it'sintegrated into the other
software, I've definitely foundthat where it's just more
limiting or things don't workquite the same because you're
asking one software to talk toanother software and then be
(44:11):
that, go between.
And so oftentimes it's notnecessarily Zapier, sometimes it
is the setup, sometimes it isthe software that you're trying,
the pieces of software you'retrying to get to talk.
And it sounds crazy y'all, butI've actually also used AI to be
tech support for me to help meif I find that, like, setting up
a zap isn't working quite sowell and I'll tell you it keeps
defaulting me back to justmaking like, like creating web
(44:34):
hooks and things like that.
So I've all of a sudden learnedhow to do that.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
And what you're doing is you're getting a layer
underneath of Zapier.
Zapier just makes all of thatpretty.
Speaker 1 (44:44):
Yep, it's just the.
It's a nice pretty interfaceinterface.
Also, dan um, uh included uhsystem IO.
He says it's a lot of uh builtin inbuilt automation tools,
including CRM, email marketingand website courses.
So, yeah, those are some goodsolutions as well as
alternatives.
So thanks for that.
Yeah, um, and then, as Imentioned earlier, uh, live
(45:04):
listeners.
There's some links in the chat.
If you want to meet up withChristy to talk more about these
awesome things, there's a linkto her calendar above, and then
I've also linked her website.
We'll be sure to include thosein the show notes as well.
All right, keep the questionsin the comments coming live
listeners.
We're going to move into thefinal few questions, which is
our power round.
This is just a fun kind ofquick hit set of questions that
(45:27):
we've got for you.
Christy, one of my questionsthat I had for you was email
sequences or chatbots.
Which automation tool deliversthe biggest ROI for most
businesses?
Do you think?
Speaker 2 (45:38):
I'm going to start with email sequences, and I feel
fearful to say that answerbecause I do feel like it might
date me a little bit, like Idon't want technology to leave
me behind, sure.
But here's what I will sayabout chatbots.
I think they're incredible.
I think that the potential ishuge, yes, and unless you have
the time and the technicalknow-how to really make sure
(45:59):
that your chatbot is gettingyour voice and your brand and is
going to behave themselves,then I would say you know like,
be really mindful of them.
And as a quick example, we havea chatbot.
It is presently turned offbecause it was trying to sell
automation on a mission to ourclients, and so I was like, okay
, great job, a little tooambitious and I need to like,
(46:21):
tone you down a little bit.
So she is turned off untilfurther notice.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
So fair enough, you know, and there's still
something to be said.
I mean, I don't know, I emailmarketing man.
It's been a big conversationlately with you know, with
platforms like within socialmedia shifting.
That is like my friend Lucretiasays it's you are renting that
house.
You do not own that house.
You own your email list.
Yeah, all of these properties X, facebook, twitter was Twitter,
I guess and Instagram, allthose things, linkedin, I mean
(46:49):
just, it's so volatile right now.
Um, I think there's a lot to besaid for that email automation
and building and establishingthat relationship, building the
trust, etc.
Um, and for those of you, andit's still the cheapest, it is
right marketing strategyabsolutely, it's very, very
underappreciated.
And, um, I was getting ready tosay I haven't had her on the
podcast yet.
(47:09):
I was going back through myepisodes going where's the link
to lauren's podcast episode?
She actually just did a masterclass on chatbots and automation
and you know, not automation,but like creating and building
chatbots that's what herbusiness does.
Um, so, members, if you haven'tchecked it out yet, jump into
our digital digital IQmasterclass channel on Slack and
(47:32):
you can kind of go back throughand see the whole series of our
masterclass videos.
But I mean, she almost broke mybrain with the masterclass
talking about chat box, chat boxand their capabilities.
But I agree with you, like youknow you, based on what she
shared, you know I'm like, oh,if you, if you're gonna do this,
you have to do it right Because, like what you were saying
earlier, customer experience iseverything and maintaining,
retaining, keeping them,generating that additional
(47:53):
revenue.
So you could much like AI.
It can be if you're not carefuland you don't do it well and
you aren't thorough about it, itcan backfire.
So I am still aligned with you.
I don't think that age is us, Ijust think it just makes us
wise, christy.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
And as time passes it's going to get better and
better and easier for that, andmine has only turned off long
enough for me to figure out.
What do I need to do to have itbe a little bit more discerning
about who it's moving thatconversation.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
Well, I'm happy to connect you and Lauren if you'd
like.
She's a little firecracker man.
She's a blast.
Yeah, I'm, I would love thatActually.
Speaker 2 (48:31):
Okay, I will.
Speaker 1 (48:32):
I will Thank you.
I'm always down for makingthose good connections.
Yeah, she's okay Wonderful, andthen all right.
My next one is oh, what's onebusiness task that should never
be automated?
Speaker 2 (48:43):
And I would say that it's possible that not everybody
will agree with me, but I kindof hinted at this with, uh, the
affiliate stuff, um, or I'msorry, quickbooks, payments,
money out of the business, in myopinion shouldn't be automated.
Um, I want to know, you knowlike it could be something as
simple as you think asubscription has been canceled
(49:03):
and it hasn't.
Um, I want to pay out myaffiliate program, I want to pay
out for for my bills, thingslike that, you know like, and
that's not because that's to methat's not the same as auto pay.
Auto pay is a different setupand arrangement altogether, but
it comes up often with ourclients around how do I automate
(49:23):
paying the affiliatecommissions?
And I'm like, I think youprobably number one, you can't
in our system and, number two, Ithink you should be grateful
for that Because you want toknow whether or not.
Somebody got credit for a salethat maybe didn't belong having
that, you know, for one reasonor another.
Speaker 1 (49:39):
Love it.
It's a great example.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
All right, complete this sentence Good automation is
like a good assistant, becauseshe shows up on time, she's
never late, she never takes snowdays and she always does the
best quality work that you toldher to do Right, hey, so so
agree.
And it doesn't have to be a she, but mine's name is scaling
Sarah, so that's right, I loveit.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
I like the alliteration.
Yeah the alliteration there.
That's amazing.
Yeah, you're so right, theycan't take a sick day, and you
know.
And if there's any human error,it's yours, so there's nobody
else to blame.
All right, my last power onquestion for you is what is your
go to response when clients saybut my business is too unique
(50:26):
for automation.
Speaker 2 (50:30):
Your business might be unique, but your automation
is designed to be customtailored around your business.
So we figure out what we canautomate in your business and we
go from there.
So, again, we start with withstep one and a lot of times, you
know, when I talk to clients, Itell them I'm super nosy and so
I'm going to get in under thehood of your business and I'm
going to poke around and find,you know, like I love finding
things that people do with paper, and I'm like, yeah, we're
going to eliminate that, youknow.
(50:50):
So it it.
It really doesn't matter howspecial you think your business
is.
The intention is automation,isn't cookie cutter.
So, yes, you can use, you know,these sort of themed solutions
and but.
But the experience gets builtaround what you need in your
business because it's really foryou.
Yeah, exactly love it.
Speaker 1 (51:11):
Fantastic answer, christy.
Thank you so much for all ofthese amazing insights, very
actionable, on creating seamlesscustomer journeys through
automation.
You have definitely shown ushow to work smarter, not harder.
One of my favorite sayings Idon't care how old it gets for
our listeners.
You can find this recording onyoutube.
We've got a channel with all ofthis and all of our past
podcast episodes, so be sure tocheck it out and subscribe.
(51:33):
Connect with Christy onLinkedIn or at our website,
automationautomissioncom.
And remember, even smallautomations can create a
powerful ripple effect in yourbusiness.
So don't be shy, don't beafraid of it and don't miss next
week's power lounge, friday,april 11th, when we welcome
financial therapists.
We're just like, we're just.
We're just solving all theworld's problems, all of our
(51:55):
small business.
I love that yeah, right, um,with kara cosway brittle.
She is going to help us explorehow our enneagram type
influences our relationship withmoney.
I know we talked human design,now we're talking enneagram.
See, you're in good company.
Love it Share some insightsfrom her book on healing
financial trauma and shiftingfrom scarcity to empowerment.
(52:16):
So another great conversationlined up for next week.
Christy, thank you so much forbeing here with us and you know,
talking to our amazingcommunity.
If you're not a member yet ofTogether Digital, check us out
togetherindigitalcom If you arelooking for the opportunity to
get more content like thisconnections, conversations that
are definitely going to move youand your business forward.
Again, christy, I can't thankyou enough.
(52:37):
This is like food for my soul.
I'm such an automation nerd.
I don't know why I'm this way,but it's good to be in good
company.
We can't help it right.
We can't help it Nope it.
We can't help it right.
We can't help it Nope it's allgood, all right.
Thank you all so much for beinghere with us today.
Thank you, live listeners, forall your engagement and amazing
questions.
We appreciate you as well.
Until then, keep asking, keepgiving and keep growing.
We'll see you all next week.
(52:57):
Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye,bye, bye.
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