Shed Geek Podcast
The Shed Geek Podcast offers an in depth analysis of the ever growing and robust Shed Industry. Listeners will experience a variety of guests who identify or specialize in particular niche areas of the Shed Industry. You will be engaged as you hear amateur and professional personalities discuss topics such as: Shed hauling, sales, marketing, Rent to Own, shed history, shed faith, and much more. Host Shannon Latham is a self proclaimed "Shed Geek" who attempts to take you through discussions that are as exciting as the industry itself. Listeners of this podcast include those who play a role directly or indirectly with the Shed Industry itself.
Shed Geek Podcast
Beyond Spreadsheets: Streamlining Your Shed Business
The shed industry stands at a pivotal moment where traditional operations meet modern technology challenges. In this insightful conversation with Tristan from Customer Aligned Logistics, we dive deep into how their CAL system is revolutionizing order management for shed and steel building businesses.
Having evolved from a farm delivery company to a specialized shed industry solution provider, Tristan brings a unique perspective on combining practical business know-how with technological innovation. What truly stands out is CAL's completely rebuilt interface designed specifically for shed businesses – creating a clean, streamlined experience that eliminates unnecessary complications and focuses only on what matters.
The heart of our discussion centers around CAL's three distinct product tiers (Transaction Hub, CAL Central, and CAL Complete), each tailored to different business needs rather than revenue brackets. This approach fundamentally changes how shed businesses can adopt technology, allowing them to start small with essential tools and scale up as needed. For steel building dealers in particular, the Transaction Hub solves a specific pain point by simplifying the process of moving from configurator designs to contracts.
Perhaps most valuable for industry veterans is our candid conversation about succession planning. Many shed business owners approaching retirement age need to consider how their operations will transfer to the next generation or potential buyers. Implementing the right systems today creates tangible business value that extends beyond current ownership.
Whether you're looking to modernize your operations, improve your sales process, or prepare your business for future transitions, this episode offers practical insights from someone who truly understands the unique challenges of the shed industry. Connect with Tristan at calcanhelp.com to continue the conversation about your business needs.
For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.
To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.
To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.
This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Shed Pro
Digital Shed Builder
Calculated Business Services
iFAB
NewFound Solutions
Solar Blaster
Welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek Podcast. And here we are just knocking them out today. Three podcasts we're on two out of three and excited for this conversation. Always, always, always, a welcome guest, someone I enjoy talking to just as much off the air as I do on the air, and you guys may know him. He's world-renowned, or you know what. If not, he's at least kind of our friend and always pleasant to speak with. So, Tristan, what do you do, man? Tell the people about who you are and what you do.
Tristan:Yeah, well, Shannon, thank you for having me back on the podcast. We really enjoy our relationship and it's been like five years now.
Tristan:So the Customer Aligned Logistics has a product called CAL, and CAL is basically, you know, think of CAL as like a good friend, somebody just kind of, you know, want to help you, you know, change the motor in your truck or give you a ride to the airport or, you know, just kind of make your life a little simpler, but, you know, always there for you.
Tristan:And that's what we call the product CAL. And so, we created some new products, Shannon, and we wanted to just kind of, you know, share them in industry a little bit, and of course, you're, you know, a valuable marketing partner and you use one of our products, but also with Shag Geek Rentals. But also we advertise on your podcast because we recognize that if you want to get information out, you know, the Shag Geek podcast is a great way to share your, share your vision with, with your potential clients and what you're doing, and, and so we've got a few new products that I just wanted to, you know, hop back on with you and walk through some of the things that we've been working on in the last few months.
Shannon:Excellent. Well, I appreciate the kind words. We'll get the check in the mail and uh, yeah, always, always appreciate, you know, uh, the you know, appreciate the kindness that you bring, and I think it's probably as much your, as I say to the last guest, your ministry and just the way that you approach people is just as important a lot of times in business as the business itself. So, I can't say any more kind things about you as well, too, and appreciate those kind words. So, tell me what are some of the new things? I'm curious because I'm a shed geek and you do so many things. It's not even just the shed world. You do so many things, but I don't know how it pertains to sheds. So, you have the floor, sir. I'm curious.
Tristan:Well, that's great. So, we've been hanging around for four or five years, we've been in logistics for 25 years, right. And then about a year ago, almost to the day, we sold our organic farm and home delivery company and so we were delivering fruits and vegetables since 1998, you know, collaboration, like I just love that, right. So, I'm always serving on committees or at the county meetings or in the farm world, and I just happened to stumble into this marketplace through Dave Ramsey, of all things right. Just, you know, we were in a mastermind group and one of my co-masterminders, or whatever we called ourselves back then, was in the shed business, you know. And so, we kept in touch over the years.
Tristan:And then when, when I started this new software company, because we recognized, during the pandemic, people needed, you know, efficient tools, and so we were, we were, you know, selling to like bagel companies and meal delivery companies, because we were in the food space, and then I ended up talking to my friend Mike and, boom, you know, he's like, can you help me? I'm like, I mean, you deliver a box, a box of food, you deliver a box on a trailer, and that's. That's close enough, you know. And it's not close enough at all, Shannon. It is not close enough at all, you know somebody says can you help?
Tristan:me, I'm like, absolutely. And so we started pivoting towards sheds and we went to that first shed expo, like five years ago, and it was in Grand Rapids that year, and there were a few people that were willing to work with us at that point because we were kind of new to the marketplace and we weren't very I say sheddy, we weren't very, you know, we were, we could do it and we had some good tools, but it was still pretty clunky, right and so. So, then we know we have, you know, several clients now, and then last year we committed to rebuilding the interface to make it very shed specific, very sales specific, and so we spent a whole year retooling this. So now it's super clean and crisp and it's only the tools you need to see. And so a lot of the software has a bunch of extra stuff attached to it that doesn't really apply to you, but it comes with the platform you're on and you know, and so, like you know, people start clicking on things they shouldn't click on and end up over here and over there, and you're like, you know, I'm like, ah, so we took away, you know, all that extra stuff that wasn't really pertinent for a salesperson to see or need or an office person, and we just made it really clean. And you know I like really good tools and you know, the better the tools designed to do the job is supposed to do, you know it's worth it. But it has to be appropriately scaled right, it has to make sense for your business and so like.
Tristan:So, we have a farm, and we grew vegetables for years, right, and so I sold my distribution company, essentially, and I still have my farm, I still have my equipment, Shannon. So last year we sat under the walnut tree, and we watched the sunset over the Cascades. I'm like this is really nice 25 years. I never looked up at that time because I'm here, am I watering, weeding, looking for germination, you know, planting something? Who had time to sit under the walnut tree and actually watch the sunset? Right and so. But this year we decided to do a garden, right.
Tristan:So now I'm going from 10 acres of vegetables to a 40 by 60- foot plot, right, I have the same equipment to do. You know, 100 acres, really. So, it takes longer for me to swap implements than to use them to drop pick up the rototiller, pick up the spader, pick up the mower again, you know like it just takes more time to actually swap it than to use it, but it's still fun to get back in that tractor and drive, you know. So, like I, I work the soil more than I probably should because I've got the tool on and I don't want to swap it again, right? So really, I just need a nice Troy built rototiller at this point, you know, but you know so. So, so I'm not scaled any longer for a 40 by 60- foot garden, right, and our software.
Tristan:Really, when I think about it, we now are the opposite. We can do a 60, 80, 100- acre farm. We can handle 20, 30, 40, 100 dealers, but one of the things that I've discovered is that nobody really serving the steel industry as well. So, we have these three tools. We have the hub, the transaction hub, CAL Central and CAL Complete, and so these are the three new products that we've been working with and they're just, they're not based on your revenue, they're based on the tools you need. So, if you just need a Troy built rototiller, you know, the transaction hub probably is perfect for you. Or but if you need maybe a little bit more, say you need inventory, then the CAL Central works, and if you need a full-blown system, then the CAL Complete product works right.
Tristan:And then we have the integration in the RTO industry, where there's like a dozen of them now, and so we have an RTO hub product to just for contract origination, not for like contract management. It exports into RTO smart or it exports into RTO pro or your own head. Now solution, it just helps you get a contract from your dealers. You know a digital contract, so you have to wait for snail mail or fax or you know, but basically those are the ways you get them. You know and we, and we just made that easier to do, and so we have these four products in industry that serve the industry and because we're connected to Shed Pro and IdeaRoom, we also have that engine.
Tristan:So if you just need to be able to create a contract because, say, you're a dealer selling just steel buildings, all you really need to do is to get your hash mark, your building ID from your Shedpro or IdeaRoom email and drop it in our system and then it creates a customer and then you can walk it through to your RTO partner and you know and place the order there.
Tristan:And so we inadvertently created a really nice, you know steel product that doesn't have a lot of extra stuff in it, because you really just need to get a drawing and a contract signed, and then we have a little bit of order management in there, just to you know, so you can cancel orders, modify orders. But you know, for the most part, all those guys want to do when they're dealers is just really, you know, let me get my drawing, make sure it's correct, and then let me send the contract to the RTO company or finance. And so, we're really excited about this product because it's going to make it easier for dealers to actually, you know, you know, sell their building. So, a manufacturer with 100 dealers or 200 dealers, you know, this part would be great for them.
Tristan:So, I'm excited about that one in particular
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Shannon:No, I love it. I was writing down so many things here as you're talking, Metaphor came up. I love the metaphor and the way that you break down the you know, the different systems and the uses, Because one thing that we found with I will I will go on record here deep enough to say you know, I think we're a bit of a tech adverse, you know, you know industry as a whole, so that is a bit what makes us different. Maybe some of that is the plane community, but maybe some of that's even just the conservative nature. You know, I was laughing. I really don't want to get on politics, but I will use this, I'll use this metaphor just because I think it's simple enough for people to grasp. I was laughing because, you know, you always hear the Republican Party is called the party of no Right. No, no no, no nothing new.
Shannon:No, nothing new, right, and, and you know that, that conservative nature of us, I think about how that spills over and how it's relatable and things like our neck of the world, especially in the tech world, and how it's relatable and things like our neck of the world, especially in the tech world. And I wrote up this nice little I don't know what you'd call it just this little segment in Shed Sales Professionals the other day where I was talking about, oh me, and you just talked about this before you got on here Zoom, oh no, where's the settings to this Safari? And then here's the browser and the user interface and happens is, you know, like I? I think back to my, my in-laws, and I remember we were talking about getting a computer and they were like why would anyone ever have a computer in their home? That doesn't make any sense.
Shannon:And then it turned into the internet. It was like why would anyone want the internet? And now it's ai and it's like, oh no, that's the worst thing ever. And maybe one of these things really are going to be the worst thing ever, I don't know. But now today, like my mother-in-law he's like I got to put it in we're playing solitaire on this old computer every day because he just loves it for some reason. And I think we're resistant to change in that conservative and that's where I'm drawing the metaphor like you did, as the party of no, we're resistant to change, we're resistant to anything new, we're resistant to anything that can help and we often even criticize it because we don't understand it. And you're in the tech space, right, you're in the tech space and how it meets this world and it's like you know as a farmer.
Shannon:Yes, yes, you, you, but you use that, that farming, like application to say wait a minute, I can use technology mixed with this farming and agricultural world to benefit and scale and do more. And that's really the same thing we're talking about here, the most simple, you know, just place right just from our base. We're just talking about trying to create systems and processes to help you be have more time, be more successful and scale in ways that you can't do as one individual in a 24 hour period. Is that fair?
Tristan:It's fair for sure, and you know technology is. You know whether it's a car or a gun, or you know a cement mixer, like all those things could be used for evil.
Tristan:You know, technology can be used for evil, but it can be used for a ton of good, right, I mean. And so, it depends on how you apply the technology. We want to take tools in the industry that help you actually do your job better, and one of the things about our tools that's really helpful.
Tristan:So, take my story right. I'm like almost 60. A lot of the shed companies, steel companies they're not too far away from my age. You know mom and dad started this, or are they taking it over from their parents or whatever. But so, there's another transition coming, there's a succession coming in the next 10 or 15 years in the shed industry, because this is going to have to either be sold or it's going to have to be taken over by the next generation.
Tristan:So, you know, we have nine children. They all worked in the business, they all worked on the farm. Children they all worked in the business, they all worked on the farm. They all paid for their own cars. They all got their Roths set up. You know, because we believed in paying our kids and so we had one or two that were going to lean into our business a little bit. Right, because we knew their skill sets. They worked with us. But there were several that were not built, you know, created by God to be farmers and or wholesale. You know food buyers and distributors right, that this was not going to be farmers and or wholesale. You know food buyers and distributors, right, that this was not going to be their skill set. And so, we just want our children to launch into their world. Right, the farm was a part of it. You know their parents, what they did growing up, was a part of their story, but it wasn't going to be the end of their story, and so we just released them to whatever their passions were, and we've got them all over the place, you know, but there was one or two that leaned in right.
Tristan:And then, particularly, we had one daughter who married a firefighter. And one day and this is me being a collaborator one day the firefighter extinguisher testing guy shows up at my farm and says you know, it's time to do your annual inspection on your fire extinguisher. And he's, you know, he's in his 70s, he can barely walk right. He's like, yeah, what do you do with your business? One day, and you go well, I gotta sell it to somebody, but I want somebody to take care of it. And so, I said, well, well, I'll have my daughter call you right. And so, the one daughter who probably could take over my company, whose husband's a firefighter, you know. I said, do you want to buy this business? And she, she looked at it and they're in the space. They understand extinguishers, they understand relationships. They've been a people business. It's a recurring model. Every month they go to the big mills and every year they go to the small companies.
Tristan:And so, when she and her husband agreed to buy that business from that older gentleman. It was gone, like my chance to sell to a child or bring a child on was gone. So, then I had to pivot. But what I had to do to get ready to move was I had to change my name from Classic Family Farms five years ago to Box of Good. I had to begin to set my company up so that it wasn't tied to me any longer, so I could potentially move it to another family member potentially, or to another buyer.
Tristan:And we had a large company want to buy us and I just didn't feel right about selling to a private equity firm for lack of a better word. Right, because we're a small family business. I mean. Also, I didn't want to work for that company, right, and that's how that game works Usually you sell, but then you run it for them, and I wanted to, you know, do something different. And so, I ended up selling it to two other close friends in the community that were in a similar space, who worked on our software.
Tristan:But I had to put in play the plan five years before in case my children didn't want to do it, right? So, I changed the name of our company, and I rebranded and today it's still known as Classic Family Farms. You can't get rid of it because you spent all these years building it, but it's box of good, right. And so, when they took it over because we built these systems also they didn't show up for 30 days after the sale, and I didn't either, but the employees that I had trained and the software we had built kept going. They just because they were busy running their other companies, and all of a sudden, you know, they got a new company. But they were. They didn't have to be on the ground.
Tristan:And so, building the right systems, putting in play you know a name, change the systems, and then, you know, finding the right buyer for the right, the right you know person to buy our company. It all worked. And so, we are there. In the shed industry, there's always somebody who needs to begin to exit, and if you're 50, think about it now, and if you're 60, definitely think about it now. But what are you going to hand off to your children or the next buyer? And so that's why I'm in this space today. In many ways is because I understood the logistics, but I've lived this story myself, and so, if they're really wise, they won't do what I did, which was, you know, start a new startup when you're 55.
Shannon:I understand, I get it, I do, I promise.
Tristan:I love this space, you know, and it it's serving people, but helping them actually think through succession planning, Like. I would just love to do that, Like. And so, when you sign up with CAL as a product, we want to just help you, you know, create the best system possible, centralize your products, your processes and then, at some point, make it easier to hand off to a child who gets it, you know, or to another buyer because your systems are working Right. And so that's what we would love to do with our products is help you streamline, centralize your processes with your existing network. Right, you and I talked about it, Shannon, you know, CAL is probably one of the tools out there that actually is open to multiple integrations.
Tristan:I mean, we have a SmartPay and JMag and ShedGeek Rentals and EasyPay Buildings and RTO Pro Integration and a Smart RTO Smart Integration, and then we have, you know, shed pro and an idea room. If you're not on our partner list, just ask. You know, the only reason we have these partners is because our clients wanted to keep their existing network. They wanted to work with people they worked with for 20 years or 30 years or 10 years, and we were saying, yeah, we will bring in your partners. You know we'll be happily add your network to our system so you can maintain your relationships and the way you do business. We'll just make it online and so that's been super rewarding. And now we're one of the few companies really Shannon out there in this order management space that's connected to multiple configurators, connected to multiple RTO partners and has that order management piece in the middle, and I wouldn't want it any other way.
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Tristan:I wouldn't want to do it because you know, in your industry, in the shed industry, right, In this industry we're in. Or steel, whatever, there are just different products, there are different processes. You know, I have RTO companies who tell me that the way that somebody does their down payments is not right and you have to do a CRA. This way, I just tell them we just help you create your contract. You know, in the end you're going to get sued and so your attorney is going to represent you. So, if your attorney says CRA is the way to go, then you do that. And if your says greater initial payments is the way to go, you do that. We don't really, we just want to help you do your contract right.
Tristan:I don't have to, you know, argue with anybody about anything, because we're building your network with your contracts. You know for your product you want to serve, and so I'm super excited about where we are as a company, right.
Shannon:Makes yeah, makes absolute perfect sense. And me and you just have so much in common. You know, like that I just find out, even through these, through these calls that are amazing, like, like you know, my daughter married a firefighter too. So, you know, it's like, it's so funny whenever I find out these, these, uh, just these, these fun little tidbits and things like that. One of the things you talked about was box of good and classic family farms and talking about branding and just how important that is and like that's something that's just been a staple for us. Like you know, we've tried to create a brand that, like you, has been built on collaboration. You know, and like and like.
Shannon:Look, we were, I like to tell people we were collaborating in the shed industry when it wasn't cool. Right, you know what I mean. Like we were doing it when it wasn't cool. We were, we were, we were recognizing competition holds its special place and competition is such a good thing because what it does, it keeps us all honest and makes us better, because when someone comes out with a product I've been, I've been asked for years and trust. Look, we're in year five now of the podcast. We've got over 300 episodes out here of content. You know it's all free content for people to just listen to and hopefully it's helpful, whether it's storytelling or whether we get into the weeds and start showing you demos of you know what I'm saying Of like your product and the back end of how things operate, so people understand it more.
Shannon:But the point is like we want to collaborate for success. Competition helps to keep us in line and but there's a way to do it Right. There's a way to compete and I think you can compete with integrity. I think you can compete with you know, and it's really hard when you get into the world of business, because some people say, well, it's just business, it's just business is always kind of unique to me because I'm like it's never just business, ever really, because, like, this is served as like, like, like.
Shannon:Like I don't put my company in a box, my Jesus in a box and then my life in a box or my, my family in a box, like they all intertwine so much that it's inseparable and I don't really know how to do that. Uh, and then? So, then you just have to, and I know people understand this message because I've had so many conversations that I'll never turn into podcasts that they tell me. You know how do I navigate through this, what do I do about this relationship? And I'm like, well, we all deal with that.
Shannon:You know one lead with, with the Lord first, and mine, you know pray, ask for discernment and you know listen. So that's always the first answer, obedience, you know. But the second is, you know like, maybe, approach business different. The cool thing about being a conservative industry is that like we should be able to come together and have conversation that is like easy and it doesn't have to be like even if it's difficult. We encourage, on Shed Sales Professionals page as an example, all the time Healthy debate, good, constructive criticism that helps make us better. Always welcome, always welcome. A little different.
Tristan:What you're talking about is the golden rule in some ways, right, or just weights. Sometimes that will talk about just weights, right. If you come to the table and you, you know, if you're just trying to win, you know that's not going to necessarily be the best approach long-term, right. And so, you want to be able to equitably, you know balance that relationship. So, in some ways I want you to be even more successful in our conversation, like I want to help you get to your next plateau. I'll also benefit from this relationship. But really my goal is for you to be a better Shannon. Yeah, right.
Shannon:Yeah.
Tristan:You know, and so, and if we can't come together then it's OK. It's just not meant to be a relationship and I'm at peace with that. Right, it's not every shed manufacturer or every wholesale shed buyer, distributor is going to be a cow customer, is going to be a CAL customer. But whether they sign up or not, if I can leave that conversation healthier, potentially better, offered some advice or potentially even glean something to help make my product better, it's okay, it's still a win. So, if you come holding it loosely right like this may go somewhere, it may not go somewhere, but it's still better for the moment, it's a win.
Tristan:Last night, at our Bible study, I've been, I facilitate. I don't lead, I facilitate. You know, I draw out conversations. We're in Acts 2, right, the Holy Spirit is now descended upon the apostles and 120 believers. And you know Jesus, the last thing he said before he leaves, you know, basically just share the gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the outer ends of the world, right, and so now we're seeing in the first century church, the Holy Spirit being released to these believers. Right, and Peter delivers this amazing sermon.
Tristan:You know, but when I was talking to my, my group last night, I'm like you know, really, Jerusalem for us today is church, because there are people who come because of grandma or a wife or their children go to YouTube there, but they're not really believers, but they're there every Sunday because it's what they do. And I said let's just start praying for Jerusalem as our church and beginning to just have their ears opened up so they can actually hear the truth that they've been listening to for maybe even decades but have never committed to Jesus. You know, and they're just like also is like oh whoa, you're right, you know, because then we can go into our communities and then we can go outside the state and we can go wherever, right. But really, people are coming every Sunday to church who haven't really committed their lives to Jesus yet, you know. So why not just you know, work on, you know, those people that are up on elbows with and you know, and so it was so powerful in many ways for those people to start thinking about evangelism in a positive way and also in a non-scary way, right, because it's like.
Tristan:These are people I know, you know, and in the end they're not going to be converts to Shannon or Tristan, lord knows one. Tristan's plenty for this world, we don't need any more of me, but we need more of others. We need their skill sets, their passions, their personalities to come into the fold, so then they can share the gospel to other people, but make their lives better.
Shannon:Have you ever just had a moment that God really spoke to you on something that's like a prayer or something that you've really been waiting to get an answer on for a long time?
Shannon:yeah you're gonna find this interesting. But the conversation that me and you just had really, really, really tapped into something for me that I was like, wow, I, I, I have an idea, I have thought and I have like, just beyond that, like a, I kind of got goosebumps right now about like this yeah, I really appreciate you. That's, that's. We'll just have to talk about that off air. But you know, you're talking about something earlier, about the new generations in tech. And there's a passage in the Bible that says you know, there came a generation that did not know God or the works of God. Talking about you know, in Israel came a generation that did not know God or the works of God, talking about you know, in Israel and like, you know, and Moses promised to, you know, to for them to receive the promised land, and the reality is that's kind of, if we draw that metaphor to that tech side, like we have 400 plus playing community members who call in on our landline, you know, like every week, and listen to an episode of the podcast. They take their time, they stand out there on the phone and they, they, they're willing to consume content, uh, to try and better their self right, uh, to try and better their self for their craft and honestly, I don't understand why when people don't I mean, I get my hands on everything in the shed industry that I can to try and understand it more, because I even did this whenever I was just in sales.
Shannon:All the time when I, when I worked as a sales manager, whatever it was you know what I'm saying Like I was always like I want to know that. That that collaboration, the reason I say it was I was doing it before. It was cool. I used to go sit down and talk to my competition and be like y'all got some really cool buildings, like I wish we had these buildings. This is awesome.
Shannon:Like you know, what's your experience? That was natural. That wasn't difficult work or targeted. That was. Did I learn through it? Yes, of course. But you know, and that's one thing I've always appreciated about you is like your approach to business is really, really, really like saturated in your love for God and, like you know, you've always used that as a catalyst, you know, as a starting point. So, for me, just to give you like I've always appreciated that, but let's get into the weeds a little bit. Like what tell me, you know, break down a little bit more of the transaction because this is the newest piece to Cal, so break that down in whatever detail is necessary.
Tristan:Okay, perfect.
Tristan:Well, let me just you know, like we shared earlier, you know, we kind of stumbled into this industry, you know, with all the tools to serve in this industry, but fully not understanding the industry and sometimes being from the outside is actually it's another perspective that comes Right.
Tristan:And so now we've got inside information because we've worked with some really great manufacturers, wholesale shed buyers, you know RTO companies, and so we understand how they think. And then now we're folding in our experiences and so, after that three or four year education, we finally felt like we understood what they really wanted or what the marketplace was asking for, and so we ended up creating these products. And so the Transaction Hub, initially, when we were designing it, was designed to be a tool for smaller manufacturers who wanted to wade into technology. Because you know, you can, you know there's no inventory here, but you can create a manual building, you can go and type in, you know, 8x12, garden shed, you know red trim, blue siding, black roof, and then you could, you know, put a serial number on and sell it right, and then you can attach it to your rto partner hello.
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Tristan:And so, we just, you know, begin to think okay, how can we make it easier for people to wade into technology? And then you can upgrade to our CAL Central product. And essentially then you get customer information, you get inventory at various lots, and if you're a shed company, you need inventory as kind of a base component to your building. But if you're not and this is where the product distinction became really clear to us is that in the steel industry in particular, those guys are always selling virtual buildings. They are always drawing something, creating an idea room or shed pro building and then selling it, and then their job's kind of finished, right, it gets handed off to manufacturer. And so we inadvertently, you know, knowing that was out there, because we have, we have dealers who sell steel buildings and carport manufacturers, but we, we said, whoa, we just created a really nice, clean product for a dealer to log into their idea room or shed pro and walk an order through the system and have some limited exposure to it. And so, if you don't mind, I'll just share this new screen and people can just see how crisp it is, and so I will.
Tristan:I'm going to try my zoom, my zoom etiquette here, and see what's happening Entire screen. This one here, perfect. And then I will pop over to this product. Can you see this, Shannon?
Shannon:Yep, yep, I've got it.
Tristan:So, look at over here, Shannon, this is like super clean, like there's nothing here other than what you need, right? And so as a manufacturer of a Carports, you could create you know multiple stores and users here so you can sign up your whole inventory here and then everybody comes to this dashboard right here where they start their orders. And the dashboard is really nice because it tells you what you've been working on. It tells you any quotes you've got in the system. It tells you know where the status of these orders are and not everybody uses the statuses, but if a company does, they're here and you know. At any moment you can just click on this and go right back to that order and you can work on it if you want to, or if it was a quote. And so now this screen here is super clean. We used to have two screens for this and now we just have one screen, so we have the building details here.
Tristan:What kind of deal it is. Here's a bill, so it's a custom order. What payments were taken? Is it a? This? Here's a bill. That's what's a custom order. You know what payments were taken. You know what RTL company is it going to go to, potentially. You want to see the rent to own agreement it's right here. You want to see an actual invoice it's right here.
Tristan:And so, at this point here, if you're a dealer, this is everything you need to know about that deal, and then if you need to do some checkout again or you can cancel the order and start over. But all you really need to do is a little bit of order management, and so this tool is simple. For that, it doesn't require a bunch of delivery information, a bunch of inventory information and extra tools that are like stacking up down here on this sidebar, because that's just not your world. And so, what's really nice about this is, when you start, in your dashboard, you can create a quote or create an order super simple. Or you could actually go to Idea Room or Shed Pro here and you can click on this import design and then you can pick the configurator if you have multiple. So, if you were actually, you were selling carports and sheds and you had a configurator for both, you could do that. But you just grab your configurator, and you just import in the design link from your email and it will automatically start this checkout and create the customer for you. It is really simple to do that.
Tristan:Or you can go right back up to the configurator right here and then you can start the checkout so you can use your idea room or shed pro tools all day long and bring that order in when it's finalized, or you can start in CAL and you can do that if you want to. Then, of course, if you were like a shed manufacturer or a shed you know selling sheds you can go through here and you can do a serial number, the price of the building, the style of the building, size, color, and you can upload any photos if you wanted to Like. If you got a repo on the lot yesterday Shannon, you appreciate this about the AR2 industry If you had a repo, come back on your lot and somebody said I want to buy that building right now, you could just come right here and type in those specs and start a contract. You know and be on your way. I mean super simple to do um, and so you can.
Tristan:You can even do existing inventory this way if you wanted to, so you wouldn't even have to. You know, um have this the inventory product. But if you want an inventory, we have the CAL central product and that adds in, you know, inventory on different and things like that. But if you just really want to be able to create a product like this, that's super easy to do and the customer is super simple too. You're already going to write this information down first name, last name, email, phone number, delivery address or you're already going to create that super easy. So, you know, you just do that, and it tracks all the way through the system if you do that. And so, I'll go back here to the orders. And so now you can view your orders in a couple of ways. You can view them as a list order, you can sort them to processing or draft, and so if you just want to grab an order and walk it back to the checkout, what's a good one for that. I'll just grab this one right here. You know, here I can just modify this building. So, this one I want to make a change to it. I modify it, it'll open back up in the checkout and then I can take it right back to, in this case, idea room for editing, or I could add a ramp to this. I could add a discount for, you know, a delivery fee or a discount, you know, a senior discount, military discount. I can switch between buy outright and rent to own and it will change the tax structure of that issue.
Tristan:And whatever RTO company you have, we have some clients who use four different RTO companies, and the reason why they use four different RTO companies is because they sell decks, carports, sheds and play sets and every RTO company has a different flavor and products they want to work with. And so you know, if you had multiple RTO companies you worked with, there'd be a drop down here and you'd select the right one for the right product at that moment and then you just walk this through this system. So, Shannon, I'm like I'm a big fan of clean, crisp tools, but in our world now you're not buying tools you don't need any longer, right? You're just going to pay for the suite of tools that make sense for your company. And if you need inventory, then just go to the CAL central product. And if you need a full blown order management system, you know, then you can go to the CAL complete product.
Tristan:You know, and so, and that's why you know, this collaboration stuff is so exciting, because if we didn't have idea room, if we didn't have Shed Geek Rentals right, if we didn't have JMAG or SmartPay, we wouldn't be able to take all these partners and pieces and learn from them and then now build a conduit to each of them to do a better job of serving the customer in front of the salesperson. Because without a sale, none of this matters. If we don't close a deal on a building of some sort, there's nothing for the manufacturer to do, there's nothing for the marketers to do. Right, we really need to get a really easy way to sell a building and for us, that order management, point of sale solution. Oh man, I love that. I love making processes simpler.
Tristan:And now you can do that. When you're on vacation, when you're traveling to a shed hall or bash in Oklahoma, you could log in and you could sell a building, check in on order from right there, because it's all Wi-Fi right and the next generation can use their phones, they can work from any place, they're not tied to paper, but even if you want to use paper, you can just upload it into our system and take a wet signature on an existing invoice that you've been using and add that to the system as well. So, we have ways for you to do it. Old school, new school, collaborate school, I don't care. We just want to help you transition. But you're going to have to transition if you want to grow your business and if you want to transition to the next generation, they're going to need different tools.
Tristan:And so for us, in addition to clean tools, it's really important to remember that we want your network to come into our system. We want you to keep those same relationships. You know we're not asking you to switch RTO companies. We're not asking you to switch configurators. I mean, if you want to, that's fine. We're not saying you can't. But if you really want to keep a certain relationship, you know we want you to keep that as well, and so we'll find a way to integrate it into our system. And then now we have those clients. You know, like we were talking about earlier, four or five RTO companies. That's complex to keep track of, but really, when you have a chicken coop or a play set or a shed, not all RTO companies play in those sandboxes.
Shannon:You know I wanted to. I cause I want to, I want to make sure we address the carport and the metal. So, I wrote this down so that I get back to that conversation. But I even wrote down the four different RTO companies because I really wanted to save this conversation for my next guest. And we're going to have it again with Nick Gerard, the, you know Nick is, if I understand it correctly, the first time we interviewed him.
Shannon:He has the official position of the general counsel for the NSRA, rebranded NSRA from the NSRA, you know, and Nick, you know, deals with a lot of these things. I know Ed has been, you know, a big part of the industry for so long. I just, you know, I always hear that he's retiring. You know, deals with a lot of these things. I know Ed has been, you know, a big part of the industry for so long. I just, you know, I always hear that he's retiring, you know, but he's still so present because he's so valuable to this industry. We actually have an interview with him at the NBSRA that we didn't get to air because there was so much like background noise and it's dreadful because it was like such a good interview and you guys are over here, unfortunately, but we keep getting Nick on, you know, to have a conversation about it and especially talk about RTO at a high level. But I've been thinking about this and I wanted to save this conversation with him because it was RTO specific. But this is a good example of how all of these things affect us. You know what I'm saying. Like the leg bones connected to the knee bone, right, like it's just, you can't make one move without having to think about how it's gonna affect something else, and this is a conversation I have for you. I'm curious about this with the four different RTO companies. Different ones have different flavors. They do certain things.
Shannon:What are your thoughts on a direct-to-consumer, rent-to to own approach? You know what. What I mean by that is like so many of the relationships are held with the. If you went to the bank and you got a loan you know just a, just a, just a private loan, put up collateral or whatever you go to the store and you say, hey, I've got, you know, up to $8,000 I can spend. You know what shed can I get? Most people don't care what bank you went to, because finance doesn't really have as much of a impact in the industry, as rent to own does. But like if someone came and said, hey, I was sitting here by XYZ rental company, can that salesperson then sell that shed?
Shannon:Or is this relationship in such a way that it's like, oh no, we're vertically integrated, we have to sell this, you know, this shed, or maybe the RTO company owns our, or maybe the RTO company owns our inventory, or maybe the RTO company has us on a contract or whatever it is. You know, would it be healthy for the John Q public to just be able to go shop where they want to shop, you know, if they're being sent there by the RTO provider who's already has the financing piece to that? Because your system would be able to help with that tremendously, because you can just let in any RTO company. It doesn't matter if you use 10 different RTO companies, you know, and it creates good, healthy competition too. So that's maybe the opposite of collaboration and maybe some bigger thoughts. I really want to get Nick's thoughts on it later today. I've asked everybody, but as a tech guy.
Tristan:I'm curious, you know yeah, um, well, you know, not every manufacturer, an rto company see the same way, they see it the same way, right. So not everything's a good fit, always right. And so for an rto company company to sort of take a blanket amount of money and give it to a pre-approved buyer, so to speak, like a line of credit, you know, what do you do about repos, potentially? What do you do about inventory? What do you do if they don't buy in your area, you know, and so like there's some geographic limitations. And then you know, maybe that manufacturer doesn't work with that RTO company for whatever reason, right. Or maybe the RTO company doesn't work with that manufacturer for whatever reason, you know.
Tristan:So, there would be some things to work out like that you probably could. You know, regionally develop, that you know. But in the end, you know, the RTO company has to be comfortable with the inventory that's being purchased, comfortable with the inventory that's being purchased. And that's one reason why the industry is kind of built like it is, because maybe they just don't want to have that kind of building where they can't pick it up, or maybe that community needs to have two payments down versus one payment down, or you know, and then you know, can it be?
Tristan:cash. So, I think that there's actually a place to play in that sandbox. You know, it's kind of like a home equity line of credit in some ways. And in our industry, the RTO industry, some RTO companies now that we work with, they want to buy a CAL product for selling shares because they have their own repos, they get them back and they need to place. Some Other people have just sold them back to the manufacturer and so they eliminate that step.
Tristan:But some people actually have to resell buildings. They pick up. And so now they're like well, we actually have to resell buildings, they pick up, you know. And so now they're like well, we need a CAL product to sell our contracts back to ourselves.
Tristan:Because, you know, in one case the RTO company you know takes a repo building to a lot and then they use a different company for RTO and they sell that building and they're like wait a second, why wouldn't you give it back to me? Well, there's not a path back to him, right? Or this RTO company is like well, if I had your product, then they could log into my system and sell my building back to me and I can rent it out. So, it's really interesting that. So, is there a place to play, potentially, in a financing world where the building wasn't tied, maybe, to a repo or the language was in know in the contract that you know? The manufacturer will buy it back at a discount from us and we will refund you whatever price of the building so you can then sell it again. Well, here's the good thing in my mind.
Shannon:The good thing is the risk is on the rto company. If there's no repo network, it doesn't really matter right. All it really matters to the manufacturer, the salesperson, is that they get sale. They don't have to deal with it if it comes back. It's the you know the RTO company is already taking like the understanding of that risk and saying, well, it's not your problem, we'll deal with it. So, it doesn't matter if you have anything set up or not, we'll deal with it.
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Tristan:it'd be the customer then would have to figure out if the building met the RTO company's underwriting standards. You know, probably would be where the conversation would just have to go, but that can be figured out you know it could be like an on the fly thing where you get pre-approved and then maybe you get a list of manufacturers or region you can sell. I think that that's doable, Shannon.
Shannon:I feel like if the consumer is savvy enough to go to the RTO company first, Well, and I think that's the key, I think the key is that in most cases, they won't find the RTO company, the RTO company will find them right, and I think that just comes down to good marketing, right.
Tristan:So you know how to get in front of customers.
Tristan:The RTO company, much like the Shed company, has now a record in our world anyway, of the purchase, and so they could go back and market to somebody who had a building five years ago and if they were a good client they could say, oh, this person never missed a payment. We're going to extend them a voucher to go out and buy another building. You know, potentially right so they could do. You know, much like a Shed Company could do. You know, potentially right so they could do. You know much like a shed company could do. You know, just market to their client list of existing buyers and maybe just touch them every three to five years with an offer like that. So that would be really a valuable tool, Shannon, I think. I think that could open up the door to more, more sales and then it could also give us sort of the parameters at that point. You know, take it to these manufacturers or these dealers, you know, to use this coupon.
Shannon:Yeah.
Tristan:Yeah, yeah, I think that actually and I'm glad you brought that up, Shannon I think that's a really unique opportunity for marketing for RTO companies to maybe even generate more, you know better sales, you know.
Shannon:Well, you know, we've, we've talked about it and the one thing I, you know, I get is like, well, just like with the podcast, I've got a couple of friends here listening to this. Don't take this so personal, friends, don't take this so personal I got a couple that are like, you know, we tried this and I'm like, yeah, but I mean like we got told a podcast wouldn't work. We, you know, we got told marketing in this industry wouldn't work. We got told a lot of things wouldn't work. That we were able to break through the barrier on some things.
Shannon:So, I think sometimes it's just your systems and processes and working with people who have, like, the mindset to say like let's explore, you know, how does it benefit us? Not necessarily it really. To me it's more of a benefit of the industry as a whole. It's not just looking at our bottom line. It's like saying, because you know, like there's this conversation about the unhealthiness of premiums and different things that are being added to their rent-owned world because it's so competitive, that's like how do we scale that down and not have a race to the bottom?
Shannon:Like, even if it costs us, our bottom dollar, like to me that's the true mark of business is like you know, there's two schools of thoughts here. Help myself first, help the industry first, and like you're gonna have to put yourself maybe in one of those camps. And like we put ourself in the camp of like help the industry first, because if we help the industry we will be helped. We know that it's zigzag. Help other people get what they want, so you can get what you want. So, like we're service-based, how do we serve the most and then that benefits us in the end?
Tristan:So I think you couldn't do it any different anyway, Shannon, Like I don't think that you could actually not just serve the person in front of you.
Tristan:Like I just don't.
Tristan:I don't see that. That's even in your DNA, you know. Let's talk about the industry a little bit. You know, like during the pandemic, you know we had material surcharges through the roof like yeah print, you know, your brochures because the price has changed overnight. Right, you just had to sure. And then you know what happened at the beginning of this year with tariffs, surcharges. Nobody even knows what's going to happen in the next six months on price especially on the steel side.
Tristan:It's so unpredictable doors and windows you know the plastic, and so there's so unpredictable Doors and windows you know the plastic, and so there's just a ton of stuff going on in this world. And so now we're back to like a dynamic, you know industry where pricing is in flux and nobody can really forecast as easily as they used to because they don't know the prices. And so a system like CAL or any other system kind of in that order management makes it easier to absorb these order managements because your pricing can be just immediately updated. Right, if you change it in Shepro or IDA room, it automatically changes in CAL. If your RTO company needs to change their divisors, it automatically changes in CAL. Right, if you need to update an existing inventory, you can update that price in CAL. You could just add a material surcharge as a line item if you wanted to.
Tristan:That's so valuable Right there. But also think about our pricing structure. We sell a suite of tools, right? So we're $249, $399, $799, or maybe we're $499. And that's based on the tools you need, not on your revenue. You're not going to tip into a different revenue bucket if you sell one more shed because of a 40% price increase you had to pass on. If you didn't sell one more building, it doesn't matter, because our pricing is not based on revenue, because really, when it's a $2,000 shed or a $20,000 tiny home, that extra zero doesn't take any more data. What takes data actually is users, complexity, deliveries. Those are the things that take up the space in our systems, and so pricing on like a unit-based cost, you know, is actually, in my mind, the most equitable.
Tristan:I was so irritated at Visa that they took 3% on the next million dollars I sold. What did they do to grow my business to get that extra raise Right? And it was the same in the shed industry. You know you sold buildings 40% higher. Maybe you didn't sell any more buildings. You know you sold 40 buildings but you had to sell them for 40% more because price increases. All of a sudden, your revenue went up and everybody else's sales went up to you as well. You know your, your order management solution is based on. Revenue went up. Maybe you didn to sell more buildings. So when we talked to Kyle Summers you know a friend of yours and at JMAC, he said Tristan, if you can figure out how to price your product on units sold.
Shannon:Mm-hmm.
Tristan:Mm-hmm. And so if you sell it for, you know, $2,000 or $20,000, we just charge a $10 order management fee. That's $10. And we do all that stuff in the middle that you need and connect all your parts together for that Right. So we have a base, so many companies, especially when they're small.
Shannon:They, they, they, they desire that static pricing because you know, like, when scalability happens, they, they, they want to know that, like we're not going to pay the farm, right, I know. And it's, and it's a really big thought because there are some who even advertise with us who are like, oh, I adamantly reject that thought, and like some that like, oh, that's absolutely the way to go. And it's like how do we compromise and come to a solution on what that is? And I think the answer, at the end of the day, is you just have to do what's best for your customer. I think you have to listen, right, listen, because you've got to be able to take that advice and you've got to be able to allow for criticism and opinion, but at the end of the day, it's what is best for your customer, right?
Tristan:And that's my pricing model, because that's the kind of business owner I sort of am right.
Shannon:Yeah.
Tristan:Some products. Like you know, we looked at doing HubSpot, but as soon as you tip into HubSpot's, like services, it starts to scale hard. Like you're saying, I can't quite afford that, right and so for us, you know, we thought, as a business owner, what kind of pricing would make me comfortable? Right, and a base plus a flat fee per order. You know, you just know your cost. You know, you just know right now how simple that's going to be it's.
Shannon:It's kind of similar to the conversation about you know, d2c direct to consumer, because you know, like you're using the spirit of uh competition to benefit the industry. They're here for the customer. Ultimately, I mean, what's going to happen is like you're not going to have the. You don't have to have like the loyalty. Such a way, like loyalty is a good thing. What I'm saying is like you don't have to have the loyalty in such a way that we only use one bank for the entire industry.
Shannon:Or like we only use RTO company or we only use one software. It creates competition that makes the rest of us go back and improve. And there look I, I. I know people like don't like that because you want to protect what you've built. So, I totally get that. You know you want to protect that, sit on it, own it and run that for a long time and like change disrupts that. Because it's kind of like I don't know we've got this thing but it's like you can't stop people from helping people. Like that's not a real and viable like opinion. You know.
Tristan:It's interesting, you know, like, I had like 12 people in my office when, back in 2012 or 13,. We were running this produce company doing a thousand deliveries, you know, a week, and when Facebook came online, people stopped calling. They wanted to do more themselves, and so we had to create the tools for them to shop online themselves and place the order themselves. And you know, and so all of a sudden, you know, now I'm down to three people running three times the volume in my office because the systems are doing the things that people no longer want to do. Nobody just called I mean, as much as I loved, you know, mike or Jim or whatever, you know there just wasn't anything for them to do in the office any longer because nobody wanted to use their phone. Right.
Tristan:And so, if you're not multi-tasking in our systems, you know, and we created cross training across the board, right. And so with CAL, you know, you can have somebody. You know, you know, literally, you know building buildings and also answering phones, potentially or walking orthosis, because if somebody gets sick need to have somebody step back up, and so now you can have people using the tool in different ways, and then you unlock these talents you never knew happened because they didn't have a tool to use. And all of a sudden you find out that guy shouldn't be building for you, he should be actually answering phones or placing orders, or you know what I mean. Like you, just wow, that kid is good at using these kinds of systems, but you don't know because you don't have the system in place for them to actually participate.
Shannon:It comes down to being the shepherd. You know, honestly, at the end of the day, Tristan, you know the way of the shepherd a book that I got suggested to that I should read from a shed manufacturer and like, yeah, just shepherding the flock and understanding them. You know, on this last podcast we talked about PI, the predictive, predictive index, you know, to use as a tool to understand personality and different things like that. And there's a whole psychology that goes into that. And, like you know, one of the most perfect examples before we end here today is is what happens to great performing salespeople. You know. You know what the number one thing is that happens to a great performing salespeople. You know what the number one thing is that happens to a great performing salesperson.
Shannon:Let's put them in charge because they know how to sell, but nothing says they know how to manage people right. They know how to sell and guess what happens? They usually keep selling because they want to sell, because they're good at it too, and people can't always learn the way they learn. They can't always have what it is they have, but it doesn't mean they're a people manager. And that's the trap we put ourself into, because we were like oh, they're good, go teach others. No one said they could teach, we just know they can sell. They might be a terrible teacher and they usually get put into a position that's not comfortable. So it's understanding your flock. You know it's being a shepherd that can do that, whatever those tools are to use it.
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Shannon:Before we go I just want to touch on this. You know we've got Monday show out now with Eric Olson and Jared Ledford over here at Dayton Barns doing the steel kings podcast and they're putting steel content out there and I'm so happy to know that, you know, and for people to acknowledge and just see the representation of, even though we're in the sheds and we're the Shed Geek podcast, right? You know we're one of the medias that are bringing you that content constantly. There's more to sheds oftentimes than just meets the eye and steel is, I mean. I know guys that got into selling sheds and they're now selling more steel than they are sheds, which is why some companies say we don't want you to sell those products because it's competing with the business of ours or it's taking your time and attention. And then there's others that are like how do we bring this into a circle together and learn how to work in all these areas? You've accomplished that with the product. You know that's part of your value proposition, right?
Tristan:the product. You know that's, that's part of your value proposition, right, we can do sheds, or we can do steel, or we can do shed steel gazebos, decks, car parts, you know. And so, depending on your model, we can serve you. Um, you know it's rewarding to help somebody, um, basically have a tool that helps them do their business right, and that's what we're excited about is like helping people do what they're passionate about, to do what they do really well.
Tristan:And, of course, this side of heaven, nothing's perfect right, we're always going to be tweaking Things, aren't going to be 100%, but, you know, stepping out into technology a little bit and making it easier for your team to do their job. I mean, we had one RTO company say Tristan, I'm interested in this particular manufacturer because I get one contract a month from this guy at a garage, basically a gas station, who sells a steel building every now and then and he has to call me every time because he doesn't do it often enough. If he just had your system he would never have to call me again, because it's the same process he logs in, gets his building, walks into the system. You know there's no paperwork for the guy to fill out at all, there's no, you know, signatures, no, back and forth. It's tied to a configurator, tied to his contract.
Tristan:He's like oh, my goodness, Tristan, the guys who do one or two buildings a month would benefit from having your system because it's just so simple to use. And I'm like, wow, you know what? I'm just glad I'm able to help you. You know, serve your team but also serve that person, because if it's easy for him to make a sale, he'll sell probably three or four. Now, right, because it. You know, he's like oh, I gotta do this to sell that building. I gotta do this and this and this. Now it's like, if it's just like five minutes, it's like, oh, he'll probably sell even more right, he'll.
Shannon:There's a whole conversation to have there. Uh, that opens up a can of worms of like, why is that guy selling if he's not engaged? But I'm gonna leave that conversation alone because we're gonna have to have you back on in the future for another time. Um, any, any shout outs, any thoughts, any, uh, just anything that you want to share today. You know it's exciting we're going into year five of the podcast. You know well over 300,. You know free shows that you can listen to and glean from and hopefully learn from. Uh, and you've been a part of a number of those and hopefully a part of a number more of those. I just appreciate, like, sometimes even the conversations we have that are non-shed talk, um, you know, talking about the grandbabies and just different things and uh, just by the way, on that second grandbaby on the way, that's super excited.
Shannon:I, I'm telling you, me and my wife are over the moon. We love to. We love being parents, right, and we love to be grandparents, like we enjoy it. It's something that we, you know. My wife is just the best grandmother. She really is the best. She, just she, she, she's the second mother to that, to that baby. I swear she just loves her to death. And she, she, really, she's got that gift. I don't, I don't know how to explain it.
Tristan:We have 10 and 11 is on the way, and I've had to tell my kids this generation, you know they don't want to tell you until they're sure like three months into it, Right, and then they don't want to. You can't tell anybody until they've told somebody on social media, right that?
Tristan:they're you know, and then if their friends announced before they do, they got to wait another two weeks so they can have the limelight, I'm like, whatever. I'm like, just don't tell me. Just don't tell me until I can tell somebody, please, because I just can't hold good news in like that.
Shannon:I just don't want to like, you know, I was like just don't tell me until I can tell somebody please, because you know, yeah, I do, I totally get it. It was exciting for us. You know she told us on Easter she brought Cecilia out in a shirt that said promoted to big sister and I'm over here going well, that's a stupid shirt. Why did she get her that shirt? She's not a big sister. I was like why, that sure don't make any sense. So so look they're, they're a blessing.
Shannon:And like, honestly, you begin to get to a point in your life where you start to look at not what's ahead but what's behind. And you know that's, that's a really special place to be and it changes the way you do everything. I mean after Deanna's, you know cancer diagnosis and everything she went through and all the chemo and all of that. You know it just changes your mindset on the way you do business. It changes the mindset on the way that you you're around people. I mean really just friends, family, foes, all of it. You know you just your, your mindset begins to, you know, change. Getting to meet people in this industry like yourself and others that have just been such a bright light to us can't say enough good things about you. Appreciate, you, appreciate Kyle, for introducing us to you. I think initially at maybe one of the expos. So, you know, because that's been a good relationship that's developed out of this. So, any thoughts that you want to share just with the industry before we go.
Tristan:The industry. You know, as business owner to business owner, Shannon um and I'm talking to the shed owners right now and the steel owners you have to plan for the future. You have to look down the pipe and think when am I going to exit, because we're all going to exit. How am I going to set this up for the next generation or the next buyer? What processes can I put in place today to make it easier for my company to sell, to sell their buildings, manage the ordering process? You know, you just have to be a planner. And you know, when you're 60, you know you're probably a little behind the eight ball, you know, but sure, at 50, I would say, you know, start doing it. It's like you know what Dave Ramsey would say. You know, if you didn't, start early start now.
Tristan:you know it's time. You know it's time and I would love to be a part of those conversations. Even if you don't sign up for CAL, I'm happy to have a conversation about your next steps or how we could transition. You know, I was talking to one of my dealers before I got on the call this morning manufacturers, dealers and he's like Tristan, you just helped me go to the next step from a conversation we had.
Tristan:You know, and, and, and I just want to, you know I, that, for me, is so rewarding if I can just help you, you know, unlock a little bit more of what you need to do down the road. You know, that's like a pat on the back, right, like I'm happy to do that. You say serve somebody, yeah, yeah, how can I do that? How can I do like you know he gets the ball. I'm going to go for a walk, ready to go, you know, so for me, like I would be happy to, you know, even just have conversations with people who are thinking about the next steps, and even if it doesn't lead to a cow sale, I'm fine with that, because in the end you know, if you're not quite ready, that's okay.
Shannon:That's because you're a helper. You're a helper first, and helpers, you know, always help. They can't stop that. They can't help theirself. It's very true. Yeah, start planning today right.
Tristan:Start planning today for the exit strategy or the next thing you need to do in your business.
Shannon:How do they reach you? How do they have this conversation?
Tristan:Yeah, they can. You know, go to our website, which is just calcanhelp. com, and you can click on one of Shannon's links on the advertising pages and get there. You can call me if you want to. It's 425-359-3279. I almost always pick up and if I don't, I'll call you back through a voicemail. So yeah, but mostly, however, you want to engage email phone, I'm happy to do that. Schedule a demo on our website.
Shannon:You can do that too, so, but anyway, On that note, I want to say something that I've noticed here recently that we've been paying attention to. That we'll probably start to explore over the next several years. But on that advertising guys, I can't insist enough that you guys create you know any advertisers create a digital footprint so that you can kind of see where these leads are coming from. You know, we get in front of the same people every time and like, I'll look. And the other day I noticed, you know, one of my advertisers got 13 clicks on their website and I go to their website and I realized there's no way to track that and I'm like, hey guys, you're missing out on a on a great opportunity.
Shannon:So, it may not be that the people aren't listening, clicking, watching, wanting to know more information. It's maybe that you're not doing all that's necessary to gain, you know, that digital footprint, because this isn't like guesswork, it's like, hey, I can see someone went here, clicked here, spent this much time on and then wanted to know more about it. So, I just can't encourage people enough to one go sign up for that newsletter. We want to start creating some blogs and, Tristan, if you want to write some, anybody in the industry if you want to write some, put some stuff in there, stuff that's helpful to the industry. It doesn't even have to be like a sales approach, like I'm trying to sell you something.
Shannon:Here it's like, hey, this is information that sell you something. Here it's like, hey, this is information. That's what the podcast is. It's just information, you know, um. So, I, I wanted to point that out. Um, yeah, like I, I I love to see people go and like know where those leads came from and like we want to bring you business. That's why we do what we do. If you're paying money, we want to show you value.
Tristan:So um, it's super important, you know, knowing where your dollars got spent and how it returned to you. The reason why we're talking about the session planning today, even a little bit, is that you know people who click on my emails that I send out are 55 to 65 year old males. You know they are. You know, I mean, we just know that they're thinking about. You know how to make their operations more modern, potentially streamlined and probably thinking about their exit strategy. You know, and so we want to serve them.
Shannon:Well, you know, especially with this recent you know acquisition slash collaboration with Shed Hub that we've done to bring the e-commerce part into sort of our platform. You know like we've acquired so many more emails now you know like we're just you know we're, we're, we're seeing a network of five or 6,000 people. These emails go out to two, three times a week. So, you know they, they want to go places, learn more, know more and, like we want to be, you know, part of that media that brings it to them. We're the only one in this space right at the moment. I know that I'm sure there'll be more, but like we're, you know we're in that space and we want to, we want to help, we want to help you, we want to help the listeners, we want to help everybody because we, we want to serve too. So, I just can't say enough Thank you, thank you, thank you for being on here.
Shannon:They can go to calcanhelp. com. They can go. Click on the links If you've got a question. We'll get you in touch with anybody. We're happy to do that. I'm just thankful to have your friendship and to get to know you and excited to see you go in places.
Tristan:We're going to see you in September at the Shed Expo. We'll look forward to that. All right, Shannon, I'm going to let you go. Thank you for this time, though.
Shannon:I want to do one thing, because I always ask and, like I've had so many people say, I've even had a couple, and I'm driving this point home on purpose we're never going to stop saying that we love Jesus on the podcast. We're not going to do it for advertising dollars, we're not going to do it for marketing business, RTO business, finance business, Shed Hub business, I don't care what it is. We're never going to stop saying that. So, I'm just excited that one you love Jesus and you're an advertiser with us. So, I know you feel the same way and for that reason I'm going to ask you to pray if you don't mind, so that we can get out of here today.
Tristan:Absolutely, I'm happy to do that. All right, let's pray. Father, I want to thank you for relationships and the importance of relationships, lord and next generations and the industry as it transitions, as there's uncertainty, we just ask that you would just give the community wisdom, wisdom on you know, their next steps, on how to do pricing, how to serve their teams and how to serve the customer in front of them. And so we just thank you for these opportunities to serve people and, to you know, help them get the right buildings, help them have the right processes, help them, to you know, strengthen relationships in Jesus name, amen.
Shannon:Amen, appreciate you. We all got places to be and go, but it means a lot that you're on here and I'm wishing you nothing but continued success in 2025, Tristan.
Tristan:All right. Thank you so much, Shannon.
Shannon:Thank you, have a good day.
Tristan:Okay, bye, bye.