Turning Business Problems into Profit Centers

0:00 The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are solely those of the hosts and their guests and not those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services, or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability explicitor implies shall be extended to W FOURCY Radio or its employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing W FOURCY Radio. Welcome to Powerful Business Strategies, where you will find out that everything you have ever learned about growing your business is wrong. Finally, a show where you'll learn the right way to grow your business by learning business and financial strategies that your competition isn't doing. And now here's your host.

0:47 President of Next Step CFO Michael Barbarita and joining Michael for today's show as an executive moderator is chooky obia. Yes, this is shook in. I believe that gratitude is undefeated and growth is about the next step. It is an honor for me to moderate today's discussion with my good friend Michael. Michael, how are you excellent, Chocky, how you doing. I'm doing well. Look really energized by today's episode. One of my favorite topics, profit centers. How about that? Right there you go? There you go? Yeah, go ahead?

1:27 Well, as Chucky said, my name is Michael Baberia, President of Next Step CFO, and next Step CFO is a fractional CFO and strategic implementation firm, and our vision is to ensure that overwhelmed business owners achieve the time, freedom, and consistent profits. To build a legacy and the life they desire. Yes, our mission is dedicated to guiding small business owners to leveraging their time, exploding their profits, and building a meaningful legacy. This show, Powerful Business Strategies and our book of the same name as a step towards accomplishing that vision. Admission. And before I hand it back to Chukey, I do want to have a little opening inspiration, or at least I think it's inspiration, But who knows.

2:08 Uh. You know what I love about business owners, But we're the crazy ones who see problems and say, you know what, I can fix that. Well, everyone else is complaining about how things are. We're out there creating solutions. Think about that. Every great business started because someone got frustrated enough to say there has to be a better way. And that's what makes us different. We don't just see problems, we see opportunities. We just we just we don't just face challenges, we create solutions. So if you're out there grinding, solving problems, making things better, this show is for you because Chukey today, Yes, because today Chucky and I are going to show you how to turn those everyday headaches into extraordinary opportunities. So with that, I'll hand it back to my moderator for today's show and co author chookey.

3:00 Oh b up, brilliant. Michael is interesting, right, So you used a couple of my favorite phrases there, So business problems and then profit centers. Right, So that's effectively the episode today is turning business problems into profit centers. But before we get started, just a quick disclaimer, folks, Michael and I are both affiliated with a number of different organizations. I currently serve as a managing director of business Development for Vetterprice, a global business focused law firm. In addition to that, though, look, it's truly an honor to collaborate with Michael to moderate business roundtables and document best practice insights really coast to coast, across industries, across different types of businesses, and then we showcase these insights in our book called Powerful Business Strategies.

3:48 Please note that the views expressed on this show based on those experiences born out of very successful experiences with business owners small to medium sized businesses and beyond. My mission as a fearless moderator is to ask the y questions today to help you, the listener, learn the best strategies that the competition isn't doing. So with that, back over to Michael, Thank you, cherkey. You know, just last week I was getting my car service and I overheard something interesting. You know, a customer was saying, I hate bringing my car in. You never know if you're being going to be being sold something that you don't need. You never know how long it'll take, you never know what it's going to cost. And the service manager just nodded and made a bunch of excuses.

4:39 But right there in those three complaints was a blueprint for dominating the auto repair industry. And here's what's most business owners get completely wrong. They hear customer complaints and they think that's just how it is. That's just how it works in our industry. But what if I told you that the successful business owners in any industry are the ones who look at a common customer complaint and say, that's exactly what we're going to fix. Well, over the next forty minutes, I'm going to take you through different industries, from home services to healthcare, from retail to restaurants, and show you how to identify the complaints that customers have in each industry and turn them into positions of market dominance that your.

5:26 Competition can't match. I'll show you how a dentist took three things people hate the most about going to the dentists and turn them into a marketing message that doubled their practice in eighteen months. And I'll reveal how a plumber took the biggest complaints about plumbers and created a service guarantee that had customers actually thinking and thanking him. For his prices. So get a pended paper because I'm going to give you specific examples from multiple industries that can you can adapt to your business. And if you're driving, don't worry. You can catch this episode again on our podcast at Powerful Business Strategies dot com.

6:09 So if you're just joining us. We're talking about turning customer complaints into market opportunities and positions of market dominance across different in various industries. And for those who are new to the show or you know, it's really important that I define what a position of market dominance is and why it's the most powerful messaging strategy in business today. And in our research for our book Powerful Business Strategies, Chucky and I had to go all the way back to nineteen thirty one where we discovered that the key to successful marketing is to get into the mind of the customer.

6:50 But how do we do that? But not mind readers, I mean getting in the mind of the customer is really based on two emotional issues. What is the. Problem that the prospect has and doesn't want, and the second is the solution they want but they can't find. And we always remember that people make buying decisions emotionally and then back up those decisions logically, and so we simply enter the conversation taking place in the prospect's mind by using what we call the conversion formula. Now here's the thing about the conversion formula. It's a four pot process that allows you to address the prospect's problem and solution and do so at just the right time, as if you were in the prospect's mind. And it must be followed just like any other formula, with all four parts executed in the right order, otherwise it doesn't work.

7:46 So this is that conversion formula. And the reason why we're bringing this up is we're talking about problems that customers have in various industries, and in creating a position of Marcket dominance, it always is best to focus first on the problems that the industry is having, that the customer's perception of the problems that the industry is having. So let's talk about that conversion formula. So the conversion formula starts with what we call captivate. That's a headline which happens to be the problem that the customer has and doesn't want. It's designed to stop you in your tracks, to interrupt them, if you will. Now, the headline of the problem is the first thing you should say out of your mouth or that a person sees or hears from you or your business, and it must really identify the problem they have, as you only have three seconds to keep their attention. The second component of the conversion formula is to fascinate.

8:49 Now that you've. Interrupted the prospects with the problem, we have to keep their attention and we have to engage them with a sub headline or the second thing they see, which happens to be your unique solution to their problem that they can't find. And this is how you enter the conversation. The prospects are having in their minds to the captivate and fascinate. And by the way, I'm going to repeat it one more time. These two first parts, these two parts of the conversion formula, the captivate and the fascinate, are the keys to successful marketing. And these two parts of this formula are not doing their job. We never get to the third step. And the third step of the formula is the educate. So the third component is you have to educate them. Now that we've captivated and fascinated them and got their attention, we now have the time to give the prospect more information about how we go about solving this problem. And what I find with most business owners, they start with the educate and that's obviously out of order. Remember the formula has to be performed in the exact order, otherwise it doesn't work. And business owners, the vast majority of business owners have the propensity or the intuition to start with the educate where they feel that they have to

10:21 educate the person about their product or service, uh and uh where. And what happens is it becomes all about me. It becomes all about that business, and quite frankly, the customer doesn't care about the business or being explained or educated on the business without having solving their solving their problem, without having solved you know, you're going to solve their problem first. So that's that's the biggest mistake business owners make with the conversion formula. They start with the educate. Now, if you do the formula properly, you have captivated, fascinate, educate, and then the close. And we always have to end the conversion formula with an offer which has to be so compelling and so irresistible that the prospect would be foolish not to take it. And if you don't know what I mean by that by a compelling offer that's so irresistible, you better catch our show on compelling offers.

11:21 You go to Powerful Business Strategies dot com where we dedicate a whole show. On the five components of a compelling offer. So, now that you know the conversion formula and the position of market dominance is simply the first two components of that formula, you need to get the position of market dominance right, which is that captivate and fascinate the problem and solution, or the formula falls apart. And one last point. The conversion formula follows the way a prospect buys from you. It's often been said, and in our research it was said countless times that people buy based on emotion and then back up that emotion logically the position of market dominance to captivate and fascinate the problem and solution. Those are the emotional triggers and the educate is the logical trigger.

12:20 So if a spouse was. Trying to explain why they made a purchase to another spouse, they would use the educate or the logical component of the convergent formula to explain the reason why they made that purchase. So let me give you a couple of examples of really great positions of market dominance. So Domino's Pizza discovered that hungry college kids needed quick food to eat before their next class. Well, they created a position of market dominance around that problem, which was guaranteed thirty minute pizza delivery or it's free. That was a terrific position of market dominance and it carried them for years.

13:07 Em and M's, who was in competition with Hershey's, discovered that moms were sick and tired of melted chocolate going all over their kids' faces, hands, and not to mention furniture. Their position of market dominance melts in your mouth, not in your hands. The problem in the pharmaceutical industry is the price for the same drug can be dramatically different in different pharmacies, Pricing for the exact same drugs all over the place, And wouldn't be nice if there was price transparency so a customer could understand and choose the pharmacy that had the lowest price for a particular prescription.

13:52 Would that solve a major problem in the industry? Well, what about somebody who was able to come up with that and innovate in order to do so? Well, Mark Cuban's company did, and I believe the company was called and is called cost Plus. His position of market dominance, no middlemen, no price game, no just huge drug savings. That's no middlemen, no price games, huge drug savings, and they would post the cost of the medications and compare it to other pharmacies. So those are three examples of successful positions of market dominance, but there are several others, and there are several others waiting to be made, because every business owner that can hear my voice needs to produce and come up with a position of market dominance.

14:46 Yeah, it's interesting, Michael, right, just on that point. So we're getting some really good activity from our listeners. I have a question, kind of a consolidated question from some of the comments, Harry from Business Owner's list. So, look, this is interesting so far when we talk to business owners, what we hear a lot is but look, my industry is different, Michael. Everyone just expects, you know, these kinds of problems, Like, how do you respond to that? Well, Chookie, quite frankly, this is why ninety five percent of small business and financial strategies use today are identical to everybody's competition, and they don't work. Yeah, the business owners who can solve one or more of those problems that are commonplace and just today accepted by the consumer because it's the industry and really it's not accepted by the consumer. They're aggravated about it, but they deal with that aggravation. But those who can solve one of more of those problems will differentiate themselves from their competitors. And it's not easy, but those that is the key differentiator solving the consumer and or the customer's problem.

16:01 Whoever the customer or client is very helpful. Thank you, so no problem. So let's start with the home services industry, specifically HVAC, plumbing, and electrical. And here are three complaints earned from business owners over and over. I never know when they'll show up, I hate getting hit with surprise costs, and I can't trust their recommendations. So let me show you how three different companies turned these exact complaints into powerful market dominating positions. First, an HVAC company in Texas. So instead of making excuses about arrival times, they created what they call the perfect time promise. So they had a two hour arrival window, They had a GPS tracking link. It was one hundred dollars off if they were late. Now that is that's really going to the core of the matter, and that is that is guaranteeing your timeliness. They also gave text updates and they gave the tech photos and bios in advance, so you had you understood not only the name of the person who was coming, but you also understood what the you know, what their background was. Their business doubled in eighteen months because they saw the number one complaint in their industry. Then there was a plumbing company. A plumbing company took the second complaint about surprise costs and created what they called the clear price promise upfront pricing declaration.

17:35 So it wasn't called an estimate. Everybody calls these things estimates and they're not that the actual price that you're committing to. But you know, and many customers assumed that, but they had a different name for it. They called it upfront pricing declaration. That way, yeah, that way the customer knew that was going to be the price no matter what. And there was a guarantee of no overtime charges. They were a price match guarantee and monthly payment plans if they couldn't afford it. And they even went further. They found additional things to fix during the job.

18:17 You know how sometimes. They're they're in this case of plumbing, they they're notting to work on plumbing. They find another problem, they'll show video evidence of that and they'll provide three options to solve the problem, and they'll give priority pricing, which is a discounted pricing because it was something they found while they were doing the primary job. And they offered future scheduling and no pressure, no selling pressure at all. Their average ticket actually increased by forty percent because customers trusted them enough to choose premium solutions. Now let's look at an electrical company attack of the trust issue. They created what they called the Electrical Education Experience, and they had video diagnostics and photo documentation for all the problems. They were giving people options, comparison options. You know, maybe there were three or four options that they could fix on how they could fix that particular problem. And by the way, giving people options is a very valuable thing. People hate it when they there's just no choices that they have.

19:33 Energy savings calculations were also involved in that and future prevention plans. But here's where they took it a step further. They turned every service call into an educational opportunity. They showed customers what to look for, explained warning signs, provided maintenance tips, created safety checklists and offered prevention plans, and their referral rate triple because they weren't just fixing problems, they were empowering customers, and that's how the customer feels where you can solve these unique problems in a particular industry. And so if you look at healthcare for a moment, specifically dental practices, the big the three biggest patient complaints are fear, of pain, interesting, cause of concerns even though they have insurance, and time management. So a dental practice in Florida took these three complaints into and converted it to what they call the comfort first promise. They had a fear assessment before treatment, so you know that their philosophy was is that anytime you're experiencing fear, it's never as bad as you imagined. And they had a methodology for actually feeling the fear before the treatment.

20:52 Which was really fascinating. And so. That was a way that they used to address that fear. And they had sedation choices so you could have your choice of different types of sedation so you don't feel the pain. And environmental controls along with. Treatment pacing so they could go at a certain pace to be able to, you know, spread out the treatment in a sense that that the fear of pain isn't as great, and so for cast concerns they had they phased in treatment options. They had internal financing where the dentist finance part of the price. They had what they called insurance maximization, where the doctor had had staff that found the most ensurable protocol for that particular patient based on their insurance plan. And then they had lifetime guarantees, which is an incredible risk reversal. So they turned the time management into issue. With their one visit promise, I had saying day treatment. They actually had what they called family block booking, so the whole family could come in at once. They had late hours during the week and we're open Saturdays. They had virtual consultations, and they also had emergency care. So with that, before I move on

22:23 and continue the discussion, we're going to take a ninety second break. Hey, their business owners, let me ask you something. Are you tied of blending in with your competitors, frustrated with slow growth and slim margins. Well, I've got news for you. Everything you've ever learned about growing your business is wrong. But don't worry I'm here to let you in on a secret weapon, your position of market dominance. It's what sets you apart, makes you irreplaceable, and has customers lining up at your door. My name is Michael Barbarita from Next Step CFO. I know what you're thinking. Sounds great, Michael, But how do I find my position of market dominance? Well, that's exactly why we've created our game changing implementation program called Next Step to Market Dominance. In just ninety days, we'll guide you step by step to a position of market dominance by uncovering your unique strengths that competitors can't touch, by crafting a message that resonates deeply with your ideal customer, by building a strategy that turns you into the go to expert in your field.

23:28 Now this is in theory. These are battle tested strategies that have helped businesses like you as double, triple, and quadruple their revenue. Don't let another quarter go by struggling to standout. It's time to dominate your market. Period. Go to NEXTSTEPCFO dot net, forward slash contact, fill out the form and in the message section put the word dominate or call us at seven eight one three two six three a two two. That's next STEPCFO dot net, forward slash content or call us at seven eighty one three two six three eight two two. Well, welcome back, and if you're just joining us, we're talking about turning customer complaints into market dominating positions. And now let's look at the retail and restaurant industry. So in retail, we hear three major complaints. Number one is I can't find someone to help me. The second is the price is different than on the label, and the product on the sign is different from the price on the label, and the price at checkout doesn't match the label or the sign.

24:37 Returns our hassle is another complaint. So let me show you how three different retailers turn these complaints into competitive advantages. So a furniture store created what they call the perfect shopping experience, and this is for the I can't find someone complaint. So they had personal shopping assistance for people who spent over a certain amount. They had digital price scanners all over the store. They had a mobile checkout that you'd have to wait in line. They had video product demos and at home design consultation. But they didn't just add staff. They created a complete customer service system with instant help buttons throughout the store. They had digital product information stations, they had video chat with specialists you could do right on your phone, and they had a virtual room planning. Their average sale increased by eighty five percent because customers got the help they needed to make bigger purchases.

25:43 I mean, when you can have. Sales associates at a retail store actually have personalized service, it makes an incredible difference. You know, one of the things we did at Ski Time It's funny, is we were closed in the off season. We were just a ski shop, and we didn't want to sell aqua lungs or anything like that, because what it did is it impeded on cash flow because all that stuff didn't sell and we'd have carryover inventory. But what we did in the officity is and is for anyone who wanted to buy a gift for a birthday or a anniversary or whatever special occasion that came up when we were closed, we would have personal appointments with them, and boy, they would come into the store. There'd be the only ones in the whole store, and they would purchase, you know, a lot of product because we had all kinds of time to spend with them and you know, make all kinds of suggestions as to what they should buy.

26:49 And it was very effective. And a sporting goods retail attackled the pricing issue, where the problem was the price is different at checkout with their promise priced promise plus, and so they had price checkout stations, they had a mobile app, they had a competitive price matching. They had thirty day price protection, so if you saw a price that was lower at during that thirty day period, they could bring it back and they'll they'll match the price, you know, bring it back, but they'll match the price. They had a member rewards pricing program, and if there was any price mismatch problem, the customer would get the lowest price. And they even went further. They had product comparison guides, they had usage videos, they had what they call a fit guarantee, expert recommendations, and their customer satisfaction scores hit ninety five percent because they turned frustrated shoppers into shopping with confidence. And then let's look at restaurants. So the three biggest complaints for restaurants is wait times, inconsistent quality, and speed of service.

28:08 So a Restaurant Group. Created the perfect timing promise to counter the problems of wait times. So they had this digital wait list where you could actually see online on your phone where you stood when you were coming up next. They had text updates. They also had table ready alert so when the table was ready to be alerted, you could order ahead. They had an order ahead option so if the waittime was too long, you could at least get your order in. They had a priority seating program for frequent customers as well, and for inconsistent quality concerns, they developed what they called a taste guarantee.

28:51 They yeah, they had a photo They had a photo. Menu online which was helpful to be able to. Address the you know, being able to order in advance. They had temperature checks where they actually would give you the temperature of the food. It was incredible. They had a satisfaction. Process promise, which was another risk reversal, and they had certain guidelines that their waiters would be held to UH to understand all of the UH, all of the of all of all the things on the menu. But then they turned the speed of service into a competitive advantage by doing the following. So they had order time guarantees, which was another risk reversal. They had rush hour options, They had an express lunch service and to go optimization plan that reduced pickup times for takeout by twenty five percent and their revenue per table increased by forty percent because customers could trust both the experience and the timing.

30:18 So let me share another fascinating example and dry cleaning. This is a you know, a run of the mill industry, and there were three complaints that consistently came up in the dry cleaning industry. They were lost or damaged cloths. They were I never knew when items would be ready, and then it's inconvenient to. Drop off and pick up. So this particular dry cleaner transform their common trust these customers calmon frustrations into what they call their perfect garment promise. So for last the damaged item, they had photo documentation. Uh, they had a barcode track it so that barcode was on the customer receipt and so uh if if if they had if they just scanned that barcode and the item would come up.

31:19 And you know, and and and you know if. It was there and it should have been, if it was ready. Uh, to give back to the customer, and they had a digital inventory, and they had damaged prevention protocols and what they called triple inspection points. And so what's really powerful is they backed it up with a guarantee and all kinds of risk reversals if they lost. If they lost your product, they would triple the value in a in a in reimbursement. UH, they would have the same day reservice, they would have free repairs, a spot treatment guarantees, so if they ever had to clean a spot, it didn't matter what it was, they guaranteed that it would be removed.

32:10 They also had something interesting. They had a color protection promise, so that if there was any fading that took place, they would replace the garment. And then for timing issues, they created the Ready when you are planned where they had text notifications, so you really didn't have to worry about remembering what date your clothes were ready. They actually gave you text notifications. And they had certain express service options, so if something had to be done Saying day, and they guaranteed that delivery. So if you needed something done Saying day or tomorrow, they guaranteed that delivery.

32:52 Otherwise they would give it to you for free. And so they also had a mobile app for tracking with the UH, where the cleaning, what phase the cleaning was in. And so for the convenience issue, where the problem was it is, UH, you know it's inconvenient to drop off and pick up, they had free pickup and delivery. They had twenty so they actually picked up the the close. They had twenty four to seven lockers. They had a mobile app scheduler, they had a virtual valet service, and they had a root optimization. So there their average customer value increased by one hundred and forty percent and they charged thirty percent more than made competitors because they converted every industry pain point into a premium service that customers actually requested by name. And this shows how any business, even one as traditional as dry cleaning, can turn common complaints into powerful market dominant position. Before I continue the discussion, we're going to take a ninety second break. Hey there, business owners, let me ask you something. Are you tied of blending in with your competitors, frustrated with slow growth and slim margins?

34:16 Well, I've got news for you. Everything you've ever learned about growing your business is wrong. But don't worry. I'm here to let you in on a secret weapon, your position of market dominance. It's what sets you apart, makes you irreplaceable, and has customers lining up at your door. My name is Michael Barberrita from Next Step CFO. I know what you're thinking. Sounds great, Michael, But how do I find my position of market dominance? Well, that's exactly why we've created our game changing impleitation program called Next Step to Market Dominance. In just ninety days, we'll guide you step by step to. A position of market dominance by uncovering your unique strengths that competitors can't touch, by crafting a message that resonates deeply with your ideal customer, by building a strategy that turns you into the go to expert in your field.

35:07 Now this is in theory. These are battle tested strategies that have helped businesses like yours double, triple and quadruple their revenue. Don't let another quarter go by struggling to standout. It's time to dominate your market. Period. Go to NEXTSTEPCFO dot net, forward slash contact, fill out the form and in the message section put the word dominate or call us at seven eight. One three two six three A two two. That's next STEPCFO, dot net, forward slash contact or call us at seven eight one three two six three A two two. Well, welcome back to powerful business strategies. And let's look at another industry where cosmic complaints create huge opportunities, and that's the auto repair industry.

35:56 And great and Michael, before we get deep into that, let's take just a quick question. So it's interesting, right, So, reflecting on a number of the insights that you've shared so far, one of the things that business owners are noticing, both the ones that are listening, and you know, we've discussed this even just in our roundtables, this idea of guarantees, Michael, Right, So a lot of business owners, they are concerned, nervous, let's call it what it is, maybe even fearful to make strong guarantees. How do business owners protect themselves and maybe gain more confidence in making guarantees. Well, that's a great question. You know, first of all, virtually all guarantees come with conditions.

36:40 Ye you know, for example, guarantees in the personal training industry must come with the condition that the customer does you know, the exercises. So I think that number one, they come with conditions and that eases the mind of the business owner a little bit, you know, that can help ease the mind. The other thing is you have to believe in your product. You have to believe de boutly that your product or service is going to work. And that's really the key. You know, a lot of business owners aren't really sure if their product or service is going to work all the time and or most of the time the vast majority of the time, and that and that produces fear.

37:27 So you have to get over that one. First. You have to really believe in your product or service then that you can deliver it with the promises that you make. And so I think when you have that kind of conviction about your product and then you have the conditions that come with it, depending upon the product or service that you have, that reduces the fear tremendously. Very helpful. Thank you, no problem. So talking about here the auto repeer industry and those common complaints again is I don't know if I'm being sold something I don't need. I never know how long it'll take, the price keeps changing. Well, you know, let me show you how one auto repair shop converted these complaints into a position of market dominance. So they created what they call the Total Transparency System. And this addresses the problem is that I don't know if I'm if what I'm being sold is something I need. And so what they did is they had and by the way, I wanted to point something else out. All of these systems that I'm talking about, like the Total Transparency System and all these these names that these business owners have come up with, they should trademark these names.

38:54 I don't believe any of them have been trademarked. And you know, when you come up with a name like total Transparency System and you put it out there and you repeat that same process with that name over and over again, that builds value in your company. That's proprietary to you. If you get a trademark for that name, and that builds value. That builds value in a company. When you have a trademark that like let's say Total Transparency System, that you've used over and over again, that a customer is familiar with, that solves a problem. Man, that's a valuable trademark. So you need you need. One of the things that I've noticed about a lot of these business owners that when I talk about this systems and the names that they have through a system is I don't believe any of them are trademarked, and so they really, they really should go out and trademark those.

40:01 And if there's any business owners listening that has an actual system that they can name, even if that system is identical to your competitors, you have a name for it, and therefore you could build value with that trademark. But in the case of the auto repair, they created what they call the total Transparency system to address these I don't know if I'm being sold something I don't need. And they had video inspections, real time updates, they had all this photo documentation to show that the customer really needed it and so, and then there was a digital vehicle health record that they kept for the customer to show the history of the repairs and that would help help the customer understand that there was something that was needed, whether the vehicle has gone forty thousand miles, fifty thousand miles, whatever it is. But they didn't just show problems. They created an education system because they had a problem explanation video, they had repair priority guides, they had future maintenance forecasts.

41:15 These are things that they would forecast as problems that will come up or that maintenance issues that come up in the future. And then they always had cost saving options associated with all those recommendations, and then of course they had a list of prevention plans to prevent or defer those repairs from being done. And their average repair order increased by sixty percent because customers trusted their recommendations. And in addition to that other complaint, the I never know how long it'll take issue, they developed what they called the time respect Promise, another opportunity to trademark. So here they would promise upfront completion times and when they didn't deliver, they would take ten percent off the price to pay for the extra time that they took and holding the waiting customer and you know, paying for that time that the customer had to wait. They also had status updates that they would provide by the by their iPhone.

42:29 They had loaner vehicles options and then mobile service options as well, and they had express service lanes for people who really had to be faster, and they even added customer convenience options like pick up and delivery they actually picked up the vehicle and they had virtual consultations to accommodate it. When they picked up the vehicle, they had a mobile payment option so that you could you don't have to be there when you're paid, and then they had after hours drop off service. They also had weekend service, and their customer attention was eighty five percent because they made yeah, they made auto repair convenient and trustworthy. And so that's the the auto repair industry. Let me quickly look at another example. This is the real estate industry with these complaints dominate. I never know what's really happening with my transaction. That's a common complaint that customers have in the real estate market. My agent disappears after the sale, and I'm not sure if I'm getting the best price.

43:47 So a real estate group created daily updates online progress tracking document, They documented explanation videos. They put together a whole timeline with dates a specific days, forecasting out what the process would look like. And then for the post sale, they developed lifetime real Estate care where they had annual market updates they provided so if you sold, if they sold a house for you, they would continuously update the market value of that house for you. They also had property value monitoring improvement recommendations, investment opportunities that they would offer, and they converted price concerns with their value assurance program.

44:38 And so they had a market. Analysis of videos, they had pricing strategy meetings, negotiation planning, and a price guarantee system. Once again, there's been a lot of is if you heard this show today, you heard a lot of risk reversals and their average listening sold for an average of five percent more than because they turned common frustrations into systematic solutions. And so with that, I'd like to turn it back over to Chucky. Are there any compliments today? Chucky? Yes, there are so business complements segments. We know that this continues to resonate with business owners coast to coast.

45:20 So there are four compliments that we have today. We'll start with Angela Divine. She is the founder and branding photographer of the Divine Group and Michael get This. They are a full service brand agency that connects captivating visuals with intentional messaging, and we really resonated with their headline we empower purposeful small businesses by crafting authentic marketing strategies that reflect your values and amplify your impact. That phrase amplify your impact is absolutely resonant, So kudos to Angela and team. The second business owner that we want to spotlights as part of business compliments is Aslon Hallier, the director of I REP Junk Removal and they're based in Texas and Michael, get this headline from Aslon, I recycle everything possible, to be a hero and to help save the world.

46:28 Is that remarkable? That right? So you can learn more. About Aslon and team at IREP Junk Removal dot com. And by the way back to Angela, you can learn more about her at the Divinegroup dot co. The third business owner spotlight is Jaden Lyndner, the owner of University Made Services LLC. And this is inspiring. Jaden is a graduate of the Florida Gulf Coast University Entrepreneurship Program and the team is licensed and ensured in Made Cleaning Services. And Michael, I think you might appreciate this headline.

47:11 Hashtag don't settle for mess sot of a play on don't settle for less? Right, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. You can learn more about Jada at Universitymaidservice dot com. And then last business owner the spotlight and today's segment is Colin Kelly He is a president of Radical Estate Services. They're based in Pennsylvania and they offer environmental friendly junk removal services that prioritize recycling. In addition to that, they provide opportunities to donate your furniture to the less fortunate. So let me see if I can say that really quickly, to donate your furniture to the less fortunate?

47:55 How about that? So, look, Collins, this vision statement is really motivational. Here's what he says. I truly care about legacy overcurrency. You can learn more about calling a Radical Estate Services dot com. So with that, Michael, I'll toss it back over to you. Excellent, Thank you, Chokey. So let me give you a five step formula five identifying and solving customer complaints in your industry. So step one is complaint collection. Listen for these common phrases. Number one I hate when number two why can't they just three? The worst part is four I never know and five I wish they would. And step two is you have to prioritize them. So the rank the complaints based on frequency, emotional impact, the cost to the customer, the competitive opportunity, and the solution feasibility. And then Step three solution development.

48:54 Create systems that number one solve the core problem, are easy to implement, can be guaranteed, create value, and build trust. And step four is service packaging. So build solutions into standard services, build solutions into premium packages, VIP programs, guarantee systems, look for risk reversals and loyalty rewards. And step five is market positioning. Communicate your solutions through problem acknowledgment, solution explanation, value demonstration, results, guarantees, customer testimonials, and utilizing the conversion formula. Remember, identify the problem the customer has and doesn't want along with your unique solution, and you will have a powerful message that sells and that your competition isn't doing. To get a copy of the book Powerful Business Strategies, simply go to our website. NEXTSTEPCFO dot net. It's totally complementary.

50:00 Until next Monday at noon Eastern time for Chucky Obio. My name is Michael Barberita. And remember, don't keep doing what your competition is doing. You have been listening to Powerful Business Strategies finding out that everything you ever learned about growing your business is wrong. Tune in next week and every week at noon Eastern time on W four CY Radio with your host Michael Barbarita of NeXTSTEP CFO and moderator Chucky Obio.