Your Teaching People To Mistreat You

Episode 10 Business Cousins Podcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

One there it is. Hey every family, welcome to the business cousins podcast where we think business and family do mix.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Absolutely. How y'all doing today? Welcome back. Welcome back.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

I'm excited.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Me too.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Most folks will make it past episode 10. Um, today, shout out to Tasha for another amazing topic. Uh, we got some bad news. You're teaching people to mistreat you. Yes, you're teaching people how to do you wrong and keep doing it.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

So business and in life.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Oh, what's what's the what's it? Am I the drama? Yes. But we're gonna show you how we've dealt that with it in our lives and businesses and how to fix it. Uh, so I'm Bruce Hill, your better questions coach, helping you grow your business by teaching to ask better questions. And this is my amazing cousin.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Yes, I'm Tasha Cooper. Ware. See you on Found HLS Collective, Healthy Lifestyle Collective. We help you do what you're supposed to do, even though you know what you're supposed to do.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Your intro gets better every time.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

And this is episode 10, y'all. We made it.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Wait, I'm hey, okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

What is the sound effect?

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Oh, do we ever okay? We're growing as we're going. Yeah, we gotta get the sound effects in here. Yes, we see hockeys, share video. I will have to fool around with it.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

It's on the media, it's media assets. Media assets.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Listen, we're just having fun while we're doing it, y'all.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Um, when we see each other, it's it's it's like, oh, this is my friend, my cousin friend.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

I did get in trouble for that once. I was like, yeah, that's my friend, Tasha. And they was like, Who's Tasha? I was like, Oh, that's my cousin.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

They're like, Oh both.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

It's both. It's both. Yeah, no, listen, we I realized maybe we've talked about this another episode. I don't know how people do this hundred episodes in because I'm starting repeating myself, but I don't think hiring family is the problem, right? You hire people uh to handle money that have been uh history of stealing, right? You you can't have your crash out uh auntie or your crash out uh brother to do customer service. Like, what do you think is gonna happen? So it's tough to take responsibility for these things, but at some point you have to say, Man, what decisions did I make that put the business in this situation? So, how did you come up with this with this title, with this um topic?

SPEAKER_00 2:31

You know, I think I see it in people's relationships often in their personal relationships. So it was an assessment of okay, how much are you really giving? How much am I really giving to my business? I had an amazing brunch this weekend. Um, for the lady for Women's History Month, it was called just not another lady's brunch. Shout out to the 60 women that showed up. Yeah, it was it was a really big one.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

And okay, I want to hear about that, but keep going.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Yes, so in going through that process and seeing who showed up for me and who who did not, even though Save the Dates went out back in December, like it was very eye-opening to the people, how I treat them and how I show up, but how it shows back up in business and in friendship. So that's where that topic was like that's that kind of we can we can talk about that, the overextending ourselves and the boundaries in place and not in place, or not in place, mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So I think it's the silent agreements, you know. You think you have the support, and support looks different for everybody.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

True. So I think that's a big one for me. So let's talk about boundaries in place. One big one is late invoices, all right. Oh if you're running a business, especially if it's a service-based business, you've probably dealt with a late invoice before. How do you handle that? What kind of conversations are we having?

SPEAKER_00 4:02

So, what I've learned by not putting up those boundaries is I put clear timelines and late fees.

SPEAKER_02 4:09

Oh, and my yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

If I'm working with a vendor who has to pay my invoice, um, I've learned that I need to put that in and I need to keep very good communication in writing as far as when it's gonna be delivered, how it's gonna be delivered. Um, as long as it's a writing, I haven't had too much trouble after the trouble I did have. And it's literally the late fee. Oh, it's coming. And it's like, well, it was supposed to be a 30-day net. We're at 39 days. So putting those things in place and in writing, and both sides have acknowledged it. And before it's due, re-acknowledge it, like those things have to happen. I do a good job of paying people on time. Oh, I have oh, I've done payroll for 20 years and I like it to stay on schedule so people can stay on schedule, their bills stay on schedule, and then their lives can stay on schedule as well.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

I want to interject here. Sure. I have an invoice that I need to pay. It's late. Um, I had a problem or am having a problem with LinkedIn. They charged me for a job posting. I didn't post a job posting. Okay, so I'm working and disputing that. Um the first thing I did was I called the people. I know I was like, hey, this is what's happening. I don't have a timeline to resolution. This is what's going on, and they were so appreciative. They was like, Thank you. We didn't have to track you down, we had to email you, right? We know what's going on. We can give us an update on Monday. Absolutely. Um, I I love to pay people early, that's one of my favorite things. And they'll call you, like, hey, can you take care of this invoice? I was like, Yeah, I did yesterday. And they're like, Oh, thanks.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

And there you have it.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

I love that feeling. I love that feeling. Uh, but if it ever runs into a situation for whatever reason, you can't pay invoice on time. I'm I'm praying all good things in abundance in your life and business. Oh, it's never issue. Hypothetically, call them and tell them, don't chase you down. Yes, please go back person.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

There's always a one-off, though. Like, I think you're allowed some grace when it's not a habit and when it's not your reputation, because your reputation will precede you.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

You know what? That probably actually does help a lot. Because Bruce, he's you know, we know he's gonna take over.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

That's a good point in an explanation, but I have worked with other people where it's every pay period, it's late. Every time, yes, I no longer work with them, obviously. I was just about to ask you, but I know the things that I I did with my clients because they do, you know, I have them all automatic payments and stuff happens, cars get hacked. I understand. As long as you're communicating with me, but let's be clear: I have had some clients, their invoices were not paid, it did not go through, they said they're gonna pay, and then they turn around and ask me for more services.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

Where's where's the where's the media? We need a womp womp womp.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

I know that was a new one, and I had to say, well, yes, you have no programming because you owe an invoice. Yes, it's blank. No, I did not preemptively do the work. Actually, I did, but I can hide it. Nice, but I didn't hide it this time, I actually just didn't do the work. I said because I knew yes, I'm like in the event, you know. So I think that some of that can fall under undercharging as well. I think that this is sometimes let's talk about it, you know, like you set your price, but when you start lowering it and making concessions, people become ungracious.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

You know, I have never no problem with someone who paid the premium price. I've only had problems with people that pay the discount price.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

Same.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

I um perfect example. I'm doing a workshop tomorrow, um, Saturday, March 21st in Atlanta. If let's see, how can you get on the email list? Let's make this simple go to weeklywebinar.info, weeklywebinar.info not dot com. And there's a calendar of events on there. So if you're in Atlanta, come pop in, have fun. So it was$25. And I was like, you know, I'm gonna do a buy one, get one. I was playing around with some features in eventbrite, and someone texts me this like, hey, this is your link isn't working. So what's going on? This uh eventbrite shows it as$15. Uh, what is it?$12.75, right? But when I click on it, it says$25. And I was like, Yeah, it's two for one. So two times$1270. I said, Why are we having this conversation? And I just raised the price immediately. I'm like, I'm never having this conversation.$25. Yes, I'm a professional corporate trainer, so training starting a thousand dollars per hour. I'm just doing, I'd like to give back. I really do. I like to help out. Uh, and I was like, Yup, guess what? You ruined it for everyone.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

Yeah, you know, it's interesting. What my clients did earlier, she's like, he's like, I'm convinced. Um, most people either do drugs or are literate. And I was like, Whoa, that's a crazy take. Crazy might not be wrong, but it might not be wrong because reading is fundamental. Like, did you read that it was buy to get one? People don't read, but I do feel like when you get to a certain price bracket, people absolutely read it because they want to know what am I paying for? What did I invest in? And then when I send them their diet and their detox, they read it and they have questions. And if they don't read it, they don't feel bad when I say, Hey, did you read it?

SPEAKER_01 10:12

That but that's that's uh what's the quote? He said, When people pay, they pay attention. If you pay your money, you're like, Man, I gotta get my money's worth out of this. Let me fuck, let me read this plan, let me read this this uh this meal, bruh. Let me do this exercise, and and then guess what? They get results. Yes, but the folks that are always going for a discount, they want the shortcut, and you success doesn't have a shortcut.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

No, no, especially in my industry, there is no shortcut to making you well. If I had a man, I would say if I had a magic skinny wand, I'd be a billionaire already.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

That's uh one of my favorite quotes. Shout out to Roy Red of Bybu Exit. Thanks for joining us, boss. If you're looking to acquire a business, that's your consultant of choice. Shout out to Roy Redd. Um, I think one of my favorite speakers, he said, if if knowledge was the answer, everyone would be skinny, rich, and happy.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

You got to do the work, and people that are willing to invest themselves are also willing to do the work. There's a correlation there.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Exactly. So, how do you feel about having the hard conversations when you do feel mistreated?

SPEAKER_01 11:27

I that's a great one. So I've been in sales for 20 years now, and sales puts you against three common human fears: it's fear of judgment, um, fear of rejection, and then um the fear of uncertainty. What's gonna happen? And so you do that long enough, what at a high enough level, those conversations become easier. Uh, where I'm just saying hey, listen, you owe this money, please pay it. And what's really funny, a lot of the people I've worked with, I've I've kind of weeded out the balance. Oh, I'm so sorry. I was in Italy. It's like, okay, we'll talk about that later. Um, when you get a second, you know, and they just missed it. Uh, so you don't have to feel bad. This is permission, you don't have to feel bad asking for money. People owe you if you did the work, they should pay you. Period.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Indeed. I I do um also I believe some of it is in my systems. The systems that I use, I like the automatic payments, like you know what's supposed to come out, as opposed to having to wait for them to pay the invoice.

SPEAKER_01 12:35

So I'm building that out right now on my CRP because this chasing people down is that's silly.

SPEAKER_00 12:41

It's finally, it costs you for whatever your hourly rate is, the amount of time that you have to send that email that could automatically go out.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

But that's so that's exactly what we mean when we say you're teaching people to mistreat you, you go, oh, these invoices is like, but you don't have automatic reminder set up, Bruce. Natasha has her set up. Make sure you get yours set up, okay? Right? And you don't have um a monthly due date, like, hey, on the 15th, I know this is gonna come out. You're making it more difficult for people to pay you, and how else is that showing up in your business?

SPEAKER_00 13:14

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

You're teaching people how to treat you, whether that's to treat you well or to mistreat you.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

I think another example of that that I have to teach trainers is timeliness. If you if I let my client be five minutes late, then they're always gonna be five, ten minutes late.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

How you do anything is how you do everything, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

And I have to teach them if you're late as a trainer, you're not giving them, you're charging upwards of a hundred dollars an hour. You're gonna give those minutes back in money, and usually look at me crazy. I'm like, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

So that's good.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

Like, I especially for my 5 a.m. Right. I had some trainers. I'm like, look, you chose to work at 5 a.m. I need you to not have this client waiting here at 510.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

Oh, they was keeping the clients waiting.

SPEAKER_00 14:01

No, oh yes, oh my goodness. I that's why I had to fire so many, usually from oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Hey, pardon the interruption. I just uh shout out to Roy. He just sent this to his list and they hopped on. If you're just hopping on, this is the Business Cousins Podcast. My name's Bruce. This is my amazing cousin Tasha. Uh, we believe that family and business can mix. So today's conversation is are you treating people, excuse me, are you teaching people to mistreat you? Are you teaching people to mistreat you? And we're looking at how that shows up in our life and business. Thanks for being here. Tell a friend to tell a friend, subscribe to the YouTube channel. Um, so if you're talking about setting up reminders or setting up um standards operating procedures, that seems to be a theme with you. Where else can we train our clients to treat us well, to engage with us well?

SPEAKER_00 14:56

I would say definitely in your processes, as far as what are they looking for in their journey and what are their expectations and outcomes, and set those expectations as soon as possible. So that they're not treating as though you owe them more than what they paid for.

SPEAKER_02 15:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

So I'm sure in your industry, you may start off in sales training, and then before you know it, you're like, wait a minute, we're all in a whole nother ballgame of helping you with your marketing, but kind of setting those boundaries in place because there are other things that we can teach that may not only be in one workshop, one webinar, or one training session. So setting those boundaries and expectations on the earlier side, I think has helped me have my clients treat me better, and I'm treating them better because I know their journey and where they should go.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

That's obvious out loud, but I'm glad you said it out loud. Because I'm dealing with the situation now with a client has never paid on time. Ever.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

Oh, ever.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

And now, like the scope of work, we call it in the consulting room, we call it scope creep. So there is one task we're supposed to be doing, but then there's system issues that have to be resolved, and there's compliance issues that have to be resolved. So you're right, I'm doing more work than I outlined in the original agreement.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

And there you have it.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

Okay, so let's talk about hard conversations. How do we let a client know, like, yo, you owe some extra money?

SPEAKER_00 16:26

How do we bring that up? Right? How do you have that uncomfortable conversation? Right. So, in you know, I love my systems, I have all forms of communication with my clients set in place. I have their email, I have their phone number, I can reach them in my app. And then if I have to make the phone call, I do. But typically I go in the order operation, like they get the email, and then they may get a message in the app, and then they may get a non-automated message, and then finally I do send a phone call. And now my CRM, I do have my text message set up, so I can make it send from the business and not directly from me. And hopefully it doesn't get from a fifth.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

Hold on, hold on, hold on. Yes, not go past that. Okay, it's send from the business, not from you. Yes, hit the mic and right. Listen, if y'all don't come on here, watch this podcast, listen to this podcast, and then go do the same things you were doing yesterday, last week. If you learn from our mistakes and benefit from our success, you're going to accelerate your your growth in your business. This is a big one because a lot of us will text clients from our personal phone. That removes boundaries, it's difficult to track. No one on your team can like, oh, I talked to I talked to Bruce, I talked to Tasha. They don't know. Let's get a business system set up. I love that. I love that. How is that received by clients? Um, do they feel disconnected from you?

SPEAKER_00 17:57

Or no, actually, most of them are like, like you said, oh my gosh, thank you for reminding me. Oh, or they say, Oh, I saw the email. When I get back from Italy, I'm gonna take care of it. So, um, but I do like having the notes in place in the CRM because you can see the whole conversation. You can see you can see that they opened the email that said that they owed it. So you don't have to feel away when you send the text. You can see, and luckily I haven't had to go DM and find someone in my IG, but it's also noted it from my social and IG in the CRM. So if you have other employees who are doing the follow-ups for you, it can still have a professional line of communication because they can see it.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

I love it. That's a master class. We're trying to run a business. No hustles, no, no side hustles, no cash, no running a business. I love it. So, okay, we've got all the modes of communication. We're doing work for the client, they need a little extra. I don't talk to them about that upsell. How do we talk to or say, hey, I'm not gonna do that? Um, until I don't know. Walk us through it.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

So I have some built-in upsell because I have built-in nurturing again. After they sign on with me, they're going to get the email that says, Hey, did you drink your water today? The basic reminders, so that when they get the hey, did you know I have a restaurant ordering guide? Because that's clever. Yeah, so I have I have the upselling.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

So they're taking notes, you know. This is good as well.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

Yeah, so once they sign on for whatever product that they sign on for, I haven't already funneled out which direction they go for an upsale, downsale, or a share for a referral. And then from there, I can see where they are in their client journey that's gonna take three months, six months, nine months, or 12 months. Okay, let's re-engage via a phone call.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

So you don't even wait to offer additional services, you create a value add while they're already a client. Yes, that's good. Yes, that's good. Where's that a little? Where's that sound effect from?

SPEAKER_00 20:09

You need that applause, you want the action. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

Let's give it up for a business masterclass. So y'all, we're just having fun while we're doing it. So basically, the reason people are mistreating you and you're struggling in your business is because you haven't set the boundaries, you haven't set up the systems, and you haven't set the expectations. So guess what? You can fix it, you can do the opposite. Yes, set up the systems, set the boundaries, set up the expectations early. And so now we don't have to hear this. Oh, uh, running the business is is exhausting, or uh, I'm doing everything. We want to eliminate that. Yes, can we put it to zero? Maybe not, but we can get really close. Zero, uh zero incidents in 90 days, right?

SPEAKER_00 20:59

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

What's the word of wisdom you want to leave them with before we wrap up?

SPEAKER_00 21:03

Create your systems and try to stick with them so that you have the data to adjust them. And don't wing it.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

That's a hustler mentality.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

Yes, don't wing it, stay within your business, look at it, analyze it, grow from it. Know that what it is today is not what it's gonna be tomorrow, five years from now, 10 years from now. But one day at a time, you can have growth and win.

unknown 21:34

You can win.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

Okay, motivational speaker. I love it. I love it. That's I mean, that's that's big for me. Um, as I grow from Solar North to a business, that's been a big step for me is setting up here is a list of things I'm gonna do, here's the time I'm gonna do it, and having them sign it, right? I just what Do Google has it set up. I can just sign in Google. We don't even get fancy. Don't let money be an excuse. That's probably my advice for y'all. Don't let money be an excuse. That's it. So, um, listen, if you want to get alerted, if this was good, share with a friend. If you want to be alerted, say, hey, when's the next episode coming out? Visit askingbetterquestions.com, askingbetterquestions.com. Grab the better questions toolkit, and you can kind of peek into my brain on how we're helping you grow your business from a holistic. She handles the health and wellness, I handle the sales and operations, and we're gonna help you get there a little faster, a little smoother. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next week.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

See you next week.