Big Talk About Small Business
Hosted by Mark Zweig and Eric Howerton. Our Mission is to inspire, empower, and equip entrepreneurs with the knowledge and insights they need to succeed in their ventures. Through engaging conversations with industry experts, seasoned entrepreneurs, and thought leaders, we aim to provide valuable strategies, actionable advice, and real-world experiences that will enable our listeners to navigate the challenges, seize the opportunities, and build thriving businesses.
Big Talk About Small Business
Quick Talk Special: The Best of Matt Lewis
Get ready for an insights-packed Quick Talk from Episode 53 with Matt Lewis!
Discover the art of balancing business acumen with genuine care as Matt Lewis of Lewis Automotive Group shares his insights with us. Tune in to learn how prioritizing employee well-being can transform customer experiences and drive success. Matt offers a fresh perspective on managing activities over results, drawing analogies from the sports world to illustrate the power of consistent, positive actions. Get inspired by his innovative approach to challenges, such as offering guaranteed pay to employees during a company move, which underscores his commitment to a supportive work environment.
In our conversation, Matt opens up about the mental toughness required to scale a business and succeed in both business and athletic pursuits. With a knack for psychology in sales, he emphasizes the importance of trust and rapport, and the mindset shift needed to not depend on a single sale. We also shed light on the multifaceted roles small business owners juggle, from HR duties to janitorial tasks, and the resilience needed to excel. Whether you're an entrepreneur or simply fascinated by business, this episode promises a treasure trove of wisdom and inspiration from one of the brightest minds in the field.
Big talk about small business I love it Got one of my favorite business people here with me today, Someone I can't say enough good about. Every time I talk with him I learn something new and I have a tremendous respect for this guy and his name is Matt Lewis of Lewis Automotive Group.
Speaker 2:Man, I'm really excited to be on this show and just talk business. It's fun. Anytime you know, we can just sit down and talk about what's going on in Northwest Arkansas. How are we progressing business-wise? And I always gain something too, every time you and I talk. I've stole this from John Maxwell a long time ago and he's got a famous quote. It says people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Famous quote it says people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And one of the ways to do that is show them how you're invested on making them successful. Internal customer Internal customer If you don't take care of that employee first, how do you expect them to take care of your external customer, which is your actual customer?
Speaker 1:You know, he said something very interesting and the subtlety of it wasn't lost on me and that is managing the activities versus the results, because you get the results if you do the activities right.
Speaker 2:You really do. You know, and if we're talking sports analogies too, they're focusing on positive yardage, they're focusing on the time of possession, and the scoreboard is just a reflection of those activities. When we looked at that downtime of a week, we said we can hire a moving company to help us and everybody can just have extra PTO time, right? Or let's look at the amount we were going to spend there and why don't I offer to my employees let's just guarantee their pay based upon their last 90 days worth of average pay, and they can help us move. That's progressive.
Speaker 2:It's more than just you and I've had this conversation, but it's more than just selling cars, absolutely, um, you know, since we've moved and I'm sure we'll get into that, but since we've moved, you know our scale of employee level we're right now sitting just below 240. I think it was 237. As far as employees go, it's a big payroll brother it is. It is, you know, it's kind of like there could be a big reward there, but you also have a big responsibility, um, you know. So our business is scaling and it's exciting, you know it's. It's put us in some some challenging areas as well, which is good. You know, every once in a while you got to get a little uncomfortable.
Speaker 1:You push yourself, you all, I mean between your athletic pursuits and your business pursuits. You are a guy who's constantly going for more and I love that about you. So much of it is mental. It's like you know. At the same time, back on selling, I was always taught like you don't need any one sale. If you think you need that sale, you may want that sale, but you don't need it. If they're not going to be the one, somebody else is going to be. That's right. You've got to have that mentality. If that one doesn't work out, somebody else is going to come through the door and the next one is that's so important.
Speaker 1:It's a psychological game now.
Speaker 2:Somebody won't give you the green light until they answer those questions. You already hit them. Do I know you, do I like you and can I trust you? So, mentally, every customer will ask those three questions before they feel confident to go forward with you.
Speaker 1:Look, I've never been a big fan of the Ford Edge. I'll be honest with you, matt. But that car sitting there in that showroom with that light on it and that beautiful blue color I looked at that. I said you know what that thing looks, really cool. Can I see myself driving that? You know what I?
Speaker 2:mean Small business. Let me tell you what happens here because I've been there is you're wearing all the hats Right. You're the advertising person, you're HR, you're payroll, you're the inspector, you're QC, you're in charge of hiring, firing motivated, you're the janitor, the bill collector, bill collector.
Speaker 2:You're all of it sure. So what I encourage people to do and this sounds crazy, but you'll get a multiplier here you got to step back. Yeah, you got to step back. Whatever it is, you need to step back and, even if it's just for an afternoon free of distractions, put a podcast on and start listening it. Don't do it in your business. If you want to go on a hike, if you want to go out to the lake, whatever- you want to do Because you'll be interrupted.
Speaker 1:Otherwise You'll be interrupted.
Speaker 2:Plus all this stuff surrounds you and you're thinking about what do I got to do next? You've got some of my most valuable time is if I step back and I get around those people.
Speaker 1:Eric and I were talking about this last week. It's just the discipline that any business owner needs to take. Discipline is so, so critical. It is lacking in the majority of companies, I'm afraid to say, because the people that run them aren't disciplined.
Speaker 2:The good news for y'all that do want to be consistent and disciplined it's easier to win.
Speaker 1:It is Make the odds stacked in your favor. Big talk about small business. I love it.