Analog Leader
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Analog Leader
Trenton Nelson: Your Employees Are Your Customers
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Trenton shares how he manages customer-facing teams, including a call center of roughly 75 employees, and why he believes leaders must treat their employees like customers if they expect those employees to take care of the real customers.
From knowing what matters in an employee’s personal life to helping frontline leaders balance relationship and accountability, this conversation is a practical look at the analog skills every new manager needs.
To learn more, visit: https://analogleader.com/
This employee reached out and and he was upset because his dog had passed away. When he reached out and told me that, I immediately knew the importance of that, right? Like I knew that that dog had gone through so much with with him and things that happened in his life and how important it was. And so Sunday came around and Monday was work, and I reached out and I said, Welcome to Analog Leader Podcast.
SPEAKER_02Our guest today is Trenton Nelson. Trenton, tell us about yourself.
SPEAKER_00Well, about me. So obviously, my name's uh Trenton Nelson. Uh I'm the director of customer experience for a company called Rocky Mountain ATV. It's an e-commerce company uh based out of uh central Utah Payson. So uh been with them for almost 10 years now. It's been a little bit, which is good. It's a great company to be with, and uh I've really enjoyed it so far.
SPEAKER_02That's awesome. So we were talking uh before you came on the air here about all the different aspects of the business. Tell tell me a little bit more about that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um there's a it's always it's there's a lot going on there. The cool thing about the the business, I will say, is that it's a uh it's a it's like a town within a business, right? We do everything, which is awesome, and I really love being there because of that. But um my direct role is any customer facing. So uh I I've manage a call center, I've got about 75 employees, and then I have retail locations. So I have a retail store there in Payson. One out Winchester, Kentucky, uh help out the dealerships. I have a travel team on the East Coast and the West Coast. Um, I got a back-end order processing team and do some of the marketing program stuff like that. But yeah, there's a lot a lot going on. It's always different every day, which is good.
SPEAKER_02So uh making the customer happy is probably one of the biggest things that you have to do all the time.
SPEAKER_00It's huge, yeah. I mean, it it's the base of our business, right? Like we all of our stuff is e-commerce and online, so customer focused and making sure that their experience is good from the call center side, but then also making sure that like the website side and and the flow on the website, and you know, it's quick and easy to check out and and getting them taken care of is a big piece of it. But um, yeah, I mean our daily focus is you know, what can we do to make our customers happy, whether it's uh interacting with customers or not. But a big piece of it is obviously that customer interaction and and making it feel like it's uh seamless and and and we we understand the importance of that for sure.
SPEAKER_02Right. So a customer has a choice, they get their parts from you, they get their products from you, or they get them somewhere else.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, then there's there's lots of choices, right? Like there's big retailers, the Amazon's one that we we constantly battle with, and and a couple other uh big companies out there, but yeah, they they have a choice, so we've got to make the choice easy for them.
SPEAKER_02So as customers come and go through your through your location, what is the general experience that you want them to get? What do you want them to say about Rocky Mountain ATV?
SPEAKER_00I really am looking for them to enjoy the the people. Like I they can like you said, they can buy a part anywhere, right? The minimum expectation for a customer is that they can go somewhere, purchase the part, leave, and then put it on their machine or whatever it may be. What they're not expecting is that that customer interaction, that human interaction, that is second to none, right? Like if a customer calls in and they they need a handlebars because they're bent or whatever it may be, they bent those handlebars for a reason. They didn't just bent on their own, right? So being curious and understanding, you know, did you crash? Are you okay? Is your son okay? What's going on? And and that type of conversation is what takes us to the next level and really what we're pushing for.
SPEAKER_02So that is where it really comes into you've got to make sure that you maintain a certain culture throughout your organization where the associates that report to you, that that do the actual work, feel like they are a part of something.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I think that's a big part. I mean, we talk about a lot of times the customer interaction, and and I just brought up like, okay, if they come in and something happened, ask and then be curious about it. Um but I think that that same mentality is a leadership mentality, right? Like uh my employees are my customers and they're the ones that I take care of and they take care of our customers, and if I don't take care of them, I can't expect them to do the same for me, right? Like, and at the end of the day, the customers are important. So when an employee comes to me and they've asked him how their day was, in passing, like, oh, it's okay. Same curiosity, right? That same interaction is like, oh, why is it okay? What's going on? What's why is it not great? And ask them about their weekend or their family or whatever it may be. Yeah, it trickles all the way to the customer. And so we've got to make sure that we we carry that through for sure.
SPEAKER_02I love that you said your employee is your customer. I you know, I I've I've tried to t tell that to people in different ways. I think that when an associate feels like they're important, then they feel like, not just a customer, but they feel like I really have a stake in this company. Oh, for sure. And when you treat someone that way as a customer, as your customer, tell me what are the main motivations that come to your mind as far as how do you how do you connect with a person that way?
SPEAKER_00Man, that's a loaded, my mind's going crazy, it's a loaded gun. But um I think I'm genuinely a curious person. Um and and I I feel like it rubs off, and so I really want that to be like I want people to talk to me and know it's not just gonna be like a superficial, quick interaction, right? Like I'm genuinely there because I want to be successful and I want people around me to be successful. Um and I'm there all day. I enjoy what I do, and I want them to feel the same way. So um when I have that interaction, I am curious about them. I do want to know how their day's going. And if they if they say their day, their weekend wasn't great or they had something going on, I don't know why. And I don't know what's important to them because at the end of the day, what's important to them is why they're here, right? Like we as leaders are are creating this culture and this environment to make people feel invited, and someone's dog might be their motivation, right? Like that might be the reason they're at work so they can go and hang out with their dog. And if I don't understand that, then we're on completely different pages. And so even though that might not be important to me, really interacting with them and understanding that is what creates a great culture and and willingness to have that conversation and not just be rushed. Obviously, there's times where you're busy and and you're running, but if you don't have time, then circling back up to that conversation and and helping them understand it's meaningful and helping them understand that you know I do want to know about you and what's going on is is huge. It also, like I think a lot of people think having that conversation with their their direct employee, right? Like I I've got four levels under me. Um, and anytime I'm talking to my employee about their employee, I always will pull them up and look at their picture and make sure I know exactly who they are. So when I'm passing later on a reference, I can have that same conversation. And like, hey, I heard about this. Is everything going on or is everything okay? And call them by name. It just makes a huge difference, right? Like they I want them to know that they're comfortable with me and I'm comfortable with them all the way up and all the way down.
SPEAKER_02So that's incredibly perceptive to realize that there's different motivations for everybody who's there. One person might be single and has a dog, and that's as you said, that that dog is the most important thing in their life. You may have a father there that has three kids that are involved in baseball or something like that. And if you don't know what the motivation is for them to be in in your workspace, then it's hard for you to motivate them to the ends that they're looking for, correct?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I think yeah, I mean that's it, you're right. It is, you've you've got to help motivate them to the end. But you also have to know it's important. And so here's a great example. Um I had an employee that a couple weeks ago his dog had passed away. And this employee, his dog is his it's his child. I have three boys and they all play baseball. It's funny you brought that up because that's my life. I have no life outside of baseball, and I see my wife at 10 o'clock every night, basically. But um, this employee reached out and and he was upset because his dog had passed away. And I I am an animal person, but I'm not that type of an animal person. I have a dog and I love my dog, but it's not my world. But this dog is his world, right? And so um, knowing and having those conversations, interactions with him, when he reached out and told me that, I immediately knew the importance of that, right? Like I knew that that dog had gone through so much with him and things that happened in his life and how important it was. And so um I sent him a box of crumble and was like, hey, I'm super sorry. And then he called me and he was super upset. But Sunday came around and Monday was work, and I reached out and I said, Hey, do you want to take tomorrow off? Do you just like take a day, relax? I know everything's going on with your dog, this just happened. And and that, he came in the next day and was upset in my office and crying, just thankful. And I think that type of an interaction, like, if I didn't know him and take the time to understand really what's important in his life, I could have never had that interaction with him. But by having those passive conversations, really talking to him, um, it's helped me know, like, again, this is important in your life. And when these things happen that might not be that big of a deal to me, it's a huge deal to you. And so I can have those conversations and understand what each person is looking for and what's important.
SPEAKER_02So very few people are living their dream at work. Very few people are doing the job that they wanted to do their entire life. You know, when they were 12 years old, they didn't look back and say, I really want to work for a part store. Sure. It's not it's not their dream. Yeah. Uh so to get in and learn those kinds of things. I mean, I'm really curious, how did you know about the dog? How did you know about the relationship that this person had and why it was so important to them?
SPEAKER_00Aaron Ross Powell Again, it's those little conversations, right? Like I um Mondays, half of my day is talking to people. And I and it's it sounds ridiculous, and I and I push all my leaders to do this too, but Mondays, the first part of our days is walking around and hey, how's your weekend? What's going on? How are you? And I make all my rounds on Mondays because a lot happens over the weekend and we don't really know what's going on. Um, and I will literally like schedule the time to have those conversations because again, like if I don't take the time to make myself understand what's going on, then I won't know. And and that situation specifically was all these passive conversations leading up to it, right? Like I knew on the weekends he'd take his dog out, or on the weekends he'd do whatever, and and that dog was so important to him. Um, and it was all a buildup. So when I knew that that happened, man, he doesn't have that companion that he's had all these weekends. I know how important it is. And so again, it's it's making the time to do it. And of course, Monday mornings, I it's our busiest day. I mean, everyone rides all week and all weekend, they break stuff and they want to buy it Monday so they have it for falling weekend, right? Like it's our busiest day. But it's also so important to me to have those conversations that even though I have a stack of work I've got to get to, I want to do that first because that sets the tone for the entire week. Sure.
SPEAKER_02You know, so that's I think that's a real good idea to have a plan to do that. I I Monday works great for you. You know, I think that everyone that employs people, that supervises people, manages them, whatever you want to call it, I think if they have a plan to make sure that they're making that kind of connection, that's when it happens. If we don't make a plan for something, it's not gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it won't happen. You're I mean you're gonna get caught up in the day-to-day, right? Like we are all so busy, we've got so much going on. But my number one asset a thousand percent is my employees. Like, I there is no question. And and you think of it monetarily, but also just people. You know what I mean? Like, I really care about people, and it's great that I work for the company I do because any conversation I have all the way up is always like, how's this gonna affect our employees? How is this gonna impact them? Is it negative? What can we do to make sure it's not a negative impact on our employees? So that is refreshing. And I know some people don't have those environments because I've been in places that we don't have those environments, so I really feel for those people, but even in that environment where I I didn't have that leadership to allow me to do that, I could be the change. You know, I could be the person that, okay, well, let's think about the people and let's have those conversations. But you're right, like you can get so caught up in the day-to-day and you can get so caught up in just being busy. Like I could be in my office and close my door all day long if I really needed to.
SPEAKER_02Sure.
SPEAKER_00And I and I'd still have stuff to do. Um, but again, like you've gotta, you've gotta prioritize things, and people are so, so important. And so making the time for that is huge. And and like another example, so I have bi-weekly meetings with my leadership set up. We have those meetings maybe once every couple months, right? Like we really don't have them a lot, but they know that this time is set aside for you. And if you want this time with me, we can sit down, we can talk about whatever you want to talk about. And if I have things to talk about, we'll have that meeting. But I also interact with them so often that a lot of times that comes up and they're like, Oh, I don't have anything. We've talked about this, or we've we've we interact enough that like I we don't have that meeting. But it's important for me to for them to know that they have this specific time with me, one-on-one, uninterrupted, no matter what, if they want it, and it's an option. So again, just making the time for those interactions and those conversations to ensure that you understand your employees 100%.
SPEAKER_02So you you've talked about several things that are really important, and I want to kind of focus on a couple of them. Uh you said that your people are your most important asset. Uh there's a lot of companies that say that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02There's very few that that live it. Yeah. What's the difference between it sounds like you really truly believe it and live it and show your people that they're the most important asset that Rocky Mountain ATV has. Yeah. Uh tell me about that.
SPEAKER_00So I touched on it a little bit. Obviously, making time is a big one, right? Like making sure they have time for you, you have time for them, and you have those interactions and it's it's personal. But I think transparency and communication is a big part of it. Um, and one thing I promise to my leaders, every time I hire a leader, I always have a one-on-one with them. We have a conversation, we kind of talk about expectations and what's going on. Um, and when I look at an asset, an asset is important in both sides, the positives and the negatives, right? Um, and so that asset, whether it's doing a great thing and you got to tell, hey, this is awesome, you're doing great maintaining that great thing, or it's struggling and having those tough conversations. And so my leaders and my employees, I don't want anyone wondering where they're at. Like, I don't want anyone to guess. Like, I have you ever, you know I've worked for a company where you come in after a week's vacation and you're just like, is everything okay? Right? Like, I've been gone for a week and like I just don't know how I feel. I hate that. I absolutely hate that. And I don't want anyone to feel like that. And so a big part of that asset is maintaining that asset, right? And so um, and I say assets, I don't want to look at these people as things. They're obviously people, but they're an asset, and and I want to maintain that. And so the positive conversations happen constantly and the negative conversations happen constantly. And so I really push my leadership team as a whole that when something happens negatively, that you have to have that conversation, you've got to have that conversation now, right? And I want your your employees to all know that like if something is wrong, it's going to be said. It's not like something's gonna happen wrong and they have to guess, like, am I in trouble or am I not in trouble? They should feel comfortable enough to come to you and say, hey, is everything okay? Or it shouldn't even get to that point. You as a leader should go and have that conversation immediately, right? Like, and they should know exactly where they fall with you. Um, I had an employee that I took over from an apartment, and this employee, for the first like six months, he just would stop at my office and kind of like, hey, what's going on? And I could feel that he was like worried, you know? I could feel that he had that thought, and I tried to like just I I'm pretty transparent. So I tried to just be transparent with him and get past it, but he couldn't, he couldn't get past it, and he was just so worried. Uh and so I finally sat him down and I said, Hey, I want you to know that where you are with me, you're gonna know at all times. You're never gonna have to guess, like, am I doing things right? Am I doing things wrong? If you're doing something wrong, I'm gonna have a conversation with you. And we're gonna have lots of conversations about what you're doing right. But you never should come in my office and think, like, am I in trouble? Or is everything? Because if you are in trouble, I would have that conversation already. And if you're not, then everything's fine. And so after having that, you could feel, and and he's been with me for like three years now, but now you can just feel he's like so so much more relieved, and he's not, doesn't feel like he has to walk on eggshells or whatever it may be. So yeah, I think uh when you look at assets, you maintain them, right? And you gotta maintain them in both ways, and and that transparency and that conversation is so so important so that your employees don't have to feel like they don't know where they're at or what's going on, and and then that personal connection makes it easier, right? Like when you go into those tough conversations or whatever, and you know that their dog's important or whatever, you can have that conversation and lead into whatever you've got to fix and then circle back to it. And it's not just like a disciplinary conversation, it's an actual conversation that's building. They're motivated, they feel good leaving it, they don't feel like they're just you know slapped on the the back of the hand and then walked out the door. So but that it's I've noticed having those conversations. Obviously, when you first become a leader, it takes time to learn that, right? And really get good at it. But um, doing it for a while and understanding that I I can have any difficult conversation with anybody. I'm I'm not scared of it because I I know that the expectation's there for both of us, right? Like I know that I'm gonna hold them accountable and they're gonna hold me accountable 100%.
SPEAKER_02So there's two sides to that coin, right?
SPEAKER_00Oh, there's absolutely two sides, yeah. Yeah, part of that conversation I have too that's funny is um I always tell them, I say, if I ever put you in a situation that makes you feel uncomfortable or where you have to protect your family or choose to cover me, you pick your family all day long. But on the flip side, I'm gonna do the same thing. So if you ever do anything that puts me in a tough situation, and I've got to pick either, you know, watching out for you as an employee or providing for my family and keeping my job, I'm gonna pick my family. And I want both of us to understand that. And so it creates that level of accountability on both sides. And you know, I they should be able to hold me accountable. If I'm doing something wrong, tell me. If you're not comfortable or something's going on, tell me. And I've I've had a lot of those conversations that I've learned from. And I think that's what helped me get better as a leader, right? Is I gotta tell my employees, yeah, you can have that conversation with me and we can work through this. And I it helps me too. Like I'm still learning every day. So that's that's good as well.
SPEAKER_02Excellent. So you've talked a lot about how you how you do that. I want to know what is the motivation to truly believe that your people are your greatest asset? I I can see from the things you've talked about that it that they are. Where does that come from? How why how do you how did you come to the point that you said without these people, we can't survive?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um, I don't think any business can survive without people. You know what I mean? Like they're they're so, so important. I I also think that it's just kind of bred into me. I I had a couple good I had a couple of really bad leaders uh through my experience, and I had a couple really, really good leaders, right? Like we've all we've all seen the good and the bad for sure. Sure. Um but uh I I I think I've learned to love what I do to watch people progress. Like that's my by far my favorite thing working for any company ever, is having someone come in that maybe doesn't know what they want to do with life or they might be struggling and going through things, and then seeing them a couple years later like move up in the company or even leave the company. You know what I mean? Like I've had employees come in that are looking for something for a couple years and they're great people. And they'll work for me for six months or a year or a year and a half, and then they finish school and they go off to do whatever it is they want to do. Like, I absolutely love doing that. One of my um, I think like the the click in my mind was I had an employee uh that would walk to work every day, and he just like he'd gone through some stuff. I think he had some uh substance abuse problems or whatever, and and we gave him a chance, and I saw he would walk to work every single day, and he'd come in and he'd be sweaty, and then he'd walk home, and a couple times I'd give him a ride if I could or whatever. But um this guy, after about a year and a half, he did really, really well. And I promoted him into a team lead, and then I left the company, and uh a couple years later I saw he was like managing the site. Um, and that for me is so cool. It is like it was like the coolest feeling, even just like seeing him walking to work and then eventually he bought a car a couple months later because he had consistent income, and then he was like trying to buy a house, and like he would come to me, hey, I'm I want to buy a house, give me some advice, and talking through that kind of stuff. Um, but like that for me is so rewarding. And and I think building that into your employees too, right? Like, I think businesses, a lot of them get bitter when people leave. I think it's a good thing. I want people to leave and talk about how great of an experience they had because I realize it's not for everybody. I realize people are gonna come in and they're gonna go, and it's turnover's not not a bad thing unless it's terrible, right? Turnover can be a good thing, especially in a call center environment, right? Like nobody wants to work on the phones forever. Nobody, and I don't if if someone tells me that they're lying, and that's totally fine. And so if we can have a good employee for you know a year or two years, and then they progress and they move up in the company, they're a better better asset for our company, or they do something better for themselves, I I'm shaking their hand, giving them a hug on the way out, and telling them congrats. You know what I mean? Like that is so, so rewarding to me. So part of it's maybe built into me, but I think it's also seeing leaders like that that have helped me see like, hey, this is really cool, and then wanting to be that same sort of influence on employees.
SPEAKER_02Aaron Powell I think the most successful organizations that I've been associated with have treated their employees that way and said that the most important asset that I have is the is the hourly associate. They pr they fulfill the promise of our company.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02That's the case in your situation for sure. Absolutely. So someone comes to your site to buy a part, there's an hourly associate that's going to deliver every step of the process to them.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_02So if that if that hourly associate does well, then your company does well.
SPEAKER_00It feeds all the way up. And so we have uh like for the call center, we'll do classes, right? And we'll do classes of five to ten people or whatever, and they go through a class and it's a it's pretty pretty estrenuous. It's like two or three weeks of like literal classroom, and then we do a couple weeks on the phone because I I really want them to feel supported the whole way through. I don't want to just throw them into something. Um but at the end of every call center class before they're about to like really hit the phones, uh, I tell my my uh call center trainer, I'm like, hey, just schedule like an hour with me. Let me come in for like an hour and talk to these guys. And of course, I'm talking to them about like, hey, you're gonna feel overwhelmed. I'm trying to just reassure them. You know, I I don't want you to feel like we're cracking a whip because you're gonna make mistakes, and that's totally fine. I want you to make mistakes because we're gonna learn from them, and I just calm them down. But the last thing I leave with is I always tell them, like, use your resources. And and I think everyone thinks of resources as like a computer or a book or something physical, right? But my big thing is like I'm a resource. I don't generate revenue for this company. I'm not talking to these customers. I'm not the one that's like having that interaction. I'm the one here to support you and to make your job easier and to make it easier for the customer. So come talk to me. I'm just a resource, your trainer's a resource, your team leads a resource, the call center manager is a resource, all these people are resources for you. And if you're just sitting down doing your job and dealing with what sucks, what's a bad process, or what isn't working for the customer, you're not using your resources. And so, like, we are literally here for you. And and and by having that conversation, um I think it helps them understand the importance of what they have in the company and that they can bring stuff up. Like the best ideas I get, hands down, to make our company better are always from front entry line employees. They're always from entry-level employees because they are talking to these guys every single day and they're having those interactions. And so they know what they like and what they dislike and what needs to change. Uh, and so I always tell them, like, you should get if you have an idea, you get one of two answers. The first answer is awesome, that's a great idea, let's try it. Or the second answer is we got to do it because of these situations. Manipulations, you know, think of it a little differently and let's try to come up with a different solution. But I like like where you're going. And I'm telling you, I have those conversations weekly, and it that it keeps my task list high. I've always got stuff to work on. But it's that's why our company is so good. Like a 100% that's why our company is so good, because our front entry-level employees are not scared to tell us what we're doing right or what we're doing wrong. Of course we hear it from the customer, but a lot of times those are tough, bad interactions, which does happen, right? Like no custom company's perfect. But when the employee has an idea, nine times out of ten, it's usually a good idea and something's going on, and we've got to listen to them. So that's that's a a huge piece of them feeling heard for sure.
SPEAKER_02They're in the trenches doing the job everywhere.
SPEAKER_00They're doing it. I'm not, they are.
SPEAKER_02So here you are at the top tier of the of the company. You said you had four levels that that report to you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it depends on the where where they are or the organization, but yeah.
SPEAKER_02So you said something that I think is just genius. You don't produce a dime for the company. No. You don't you don't do anything that generates income for the company. No, I don't, yeah. There are other people who prov they they provide the the money that the company thrives on.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_02So as a resource to those four levels of people, you must do your job supporting them so that they can do the job for the customers, right?
SPEAKER_00Like that's it's a full circle. It's it's it's not just me, it's not just them. Like we work together, but like I said, they're a huge, huge resource. And like if I'm if I'm using that asset to just take phone calls, that's a waste of a of an asset. You know what I mean? They have way more than the ability to just take phone calls. And so, and and I think again, maybe that's why our employees like it and why we don't have as much turnover. Like they they do I think they genuinely feel hurt. And and I think a lot of them feel like they can stop on my office and talk to me and tell me what's going on, and even though they don't report directly to me and they've got a couple levels between, I always want them to feel like that. And it's not only for customer feedback, but I know I've got leaders that need feedback too, and maybe they don't feel comfortable talking to their direct leader or or uh their their superior above that leader. And so having a conversation with me makes it to where I can kind of fill all those gaps. Sure.
SPEAKER_02So let's talk specifically about the call center associates. Yeah. You've how many people do you have in your call center?
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell We've got, depending on the time of year, we're what coming into summer, just finish up spring, so we're pretty full right now. I think about about 75 in there-ish that are taking phone calls.
SPEAKER_02And then of the 75 people that are in there, how many of them are leaders, uh, frontline leaders?
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell I've got seven that manage teams that are like front entry-level employees. Um, and then I've got a call center manager that manages all of those team leads.
SPEAKER_02Aaron Powell Okay, so you've got a call center manager, you've got the team leads underneath that call center manager, and then you've got the hourly associates who actually answer the phones. Yep.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_02So 75 people in a in a place like that in today's economy with a with an unemployment rate of 4.25% right now in Utah County, how do you keep those people?
SPEAKER_00I think everything we talked about leads into it. I think that's part of it, um, right? Like making them feel heard. But you I also have to cater to my environment. So um I have experience in call centers in the past, and some of my call centers have been uh employees that are in their you know late 20s and 30s and and they're a little more mature and have some stability in their lives. Um and so catering to them and understanding what's going to really motivate them and keep them in the day-to-day. Um in where I'm at now, it's unique because I've got probably 20 of those are like kids still in high school that are working part-time, that love the industry, or maybe don't love the industry. They just want a job, right? And it it's a good fit for them. And then the rest of them might be in their 30s-ish, all the way up to 60s. I got, you know, people that have been, you know, around for a while that are actually on the phones and they love it. And I've got I got a couple employees that have worked for us on the phones for like 10 years, and they just absolutely love working on the phones. Um, but as far as like keeping people motivated, I think I think a big piece of it is again making sure that your leaders, my my team leads that are over them individually are having the same conversations, right? Like I really push them every and theirs is daily. Every day they go around, have a quick conversation with their whole team, see how their night was, see what they did. And it's not like, hey, you did this wrong or this has to be fixed. I don't even want you to talk about that. I don't your first interaction with your employee has nothing to do with their performance. Your first interaction with your employee is, hey, how was your night? What did you guys do? Did you guys hang out? And not only having that conversation, but knowing their families, right? Like you need to talk to their, talk about their spouse by name, talk about their kids by name. If you talk to them yesterday and they're going to a baseball game today, hey, how'd the game go for Johnny last night? Like that type of interaction is huge, and so I really push that on my employees. Um and then again the transparency, but we do different stuff throughout the week and days to try to make it entertaining and fun. Um, I'm not the most creative person. I'm not like one to lie about that and tell you, like, oh, I come with all these games. Not at all. My team leads and my call center manager are awesome. Like, I'll I'll tell them, hey, it feels boring, let's do something. What do you guys want to do? And they'll come up with some game or activity, or maybe we'll just do like a barbecue outside and have everybody come out and hang out for the day. But again, I I I'm not creative, that's not my thing. Um, and which is fine, but I really empower my team leads and my management to like, hey, if you feel like things are still, if you feel like we need something a little different, or like even if we're just busy and everyone's like overwhelmed and exhausted, do something. So I that was like two weeks ago. Uh we were just having, well, actually it wasn't two weeks ago, it was around Easter. So a few weeks ago, but it's like our busiest week, right? And everyone's overwhelmed. Um, and so I told my team, like, let's do something. So we went out and bought a whole bunch of candy bars and snacks and energy drinks, and they put all these games together and and ran some activities through the week for the entire site. Um, just to get everyone engaged and and having a good time. They were on a barbecue in the middle of the day, and we came in one morning and donuts for everybody. It's just something to make them excited to get there and and feel like they're they're cared about because there are weeks where it's tough and we're just grinding to get through the week because it's so busy. And so being there with them and and having those conversations. But when you have those weeks and it's busy and it feels like that, I also want to be involved. I want them to know that I like I'm I I understand how you feel. I'm grinding, I'm here as well. So there's times that we're busy, I'll take phone calls, I'll jump on the phone and grab some calls and try to help out the queue or whatever, like whatever I we can do to help. But we're again, we're all in it together, right? And and I want them to feel like that. I don't want them to feel like I sit in my office and do nothing whenever they're out there super busy. That's that's awful. And so when they're busy, I want them to know that I'm right there with them, and so are all their leaders along with it, and we're we're trying to grind to make it better.
SPEAKER_02So it reminds me of a uh quote from Warren Buffett. He said, Treat your last employee like your finest customer. Yeah. And they will survive.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh not only survive, but they will enjoy their work, they'll they'll pass that feeling on to the to your customer.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh it sounds like that's exactly the kind of thing you look at.
SPEAKER_00It is, absolutely. I I I that's customer is the verbiage I use for like my whole team. Look, they're our customers. Just like we expect them to talk nice and have a positive tone and have great interactions with their customers, why are we held to something different? And so, like, even if you're having a bad day or I'm having a bad day, if if an employee comes in, let's switch it. Right? Like, we have to talk to them just like we're talking to a customer. So if I'm busy or whatever, I they can't come into me be annoyed. They can't feel like I'm trying to brush them off and get them out of my office. Sure. Right? Like they gotta feel like they're they're valued and they can have a quick conversation and we can move on. Of course, I get some employees now and then that take advantage of it, and I gotta be like, all right, well, I gotta go back to work now. But for the most part, everyone's pretty good.
SPEAKER_02So I'm really curious about every now and again, I'm sure you get people who call in that are unhappy. Uh they have a problem and it's your fault. It's the whoever they answers the phone, it's their fault that they have this problem. What do you do to prepare your frontline workers, the people who answer those phones for that type of a of a c customer? And how do you help them understand that this isn't about you? This is more about the customer.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's the same uh the same thought process as like valuing my employees and the whole dog kid situation, right? It really is that, but it's condensed into a five or ten-minute phone call. And so um again, you have to really listen to what's going on and understand where the customers, what's the underlying issue, right? So again, I so we we have I'm a baseball player, I played forever, right? And I had a I actually had an old employee that was a softball player, and she came up this analogy and she said, every call has a softball. Every call has this softball that's being lobbed to you, but you have to see it because there's a bunch of crap around it, and you can hit a home run, but you gotta catch the softball and you've got to hit it. And so again, somebody calls in and they're talking about how their kid wrecked over the weekend and they've got to buy parts for their kid's bike because it's wrecked. The softball is not getting them the product, the softball is not taking care of the bare minimum. The softball is, oh my gosh, your kid got in a wreck, is he okay? Is he feeling all right? And it's the same thing for escalated phone calls, right? Like there's an underlying problem, but you have to be able to talk to them and understand what's going on. So the big thing is the customer is mostly always right, right? Like there's some customers take advantage of it. But a lot of times there's validity to their concerns. And if we are so stubborn that we're not willing to listen to it or we're so process bound and stuck to like, well, this is what we do, this is the process, we're not gonna be successful. We we can't we can't be stuck to a process and fully expect customers to work with us. We've got to work around things. And so I actually had a situation last week where a customer was really upset and he didn't get an item when he was supposed to, and and the employees followed the process, and then he was so upset he escalated and he found my email and sent me an email. And so I called him personally and I just talked to him. We were on the phone for like 20 minutes, and he had some really, really good points. Like he was like, hey, this is not okay, like this process stinks and it really should be changed. Um and so after having a really good conversation with him, I immediately pulled every all my team leads, all my all my management, I said, Hey, here's a situation that happened. This is valid, and we've got to fix this and change this. And so I think having those conversations helps him understand, like, hey, we don't have to stick to one thing. And if a customer calls in and they're frustrated about something, we should listen to them, and if it's valid, let's let's fix it. Um and so when when those escalated calls come in, I want people to think creatively and I want them to understand, like, hey, we can be flexible and work with this customer and make sure that they're taken care of. And a process doesn't make it to where we can't help somebody, right? Um, a big thing I tell my employees when I go into the training classes, one thing I'll tell them is you should never ever leave feeling like you did somebody wrong. If you leave here and you feel like, man, we screwed this customer over, or we should have taken care of this customer, something's wrong with that situation. Because I've worked in those environments where you leave and you just have a pit in your stomach and you're just like, man, I did not take care of that customer and I should have done better, or like the company didn't allow me to do that. And so I'm like, if you ever leave feeling like that, you need to come have a conversation with me immediately. And we've got to figure out what's going on with it. So I think giving them that freedom to realize, like, hey, if there's a valid situation, let's take care of it. Of course, there's some customers that, you know, they got their product and they decided to use it and they don't like it and they want to send it back and they want us to pay for everything and get a used product, like that, those are different situations. But give again, giving them that flexibility and freedom to really listen to the customer and advocate for the customer and find reasons that we can help this customer, don't keep putting up brick walls about, oh, we can't help you because of this process. That's not an acceptable answer. If there's a valid situation or a valid reason, fix it and let's do something about it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So I'm really curious, the frontline leaders, the seven, the seven people that lead the call center associates, uh how do you teach them, what are the skills that you ask them to hone and use in order to deal with the associates who are actually on the phone?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um it's always a learning process. You know, I think a new leader comes in and you've got the leaders that are overly confident, that have a hard time like really getting themselves in the same level as as entry-level employees. My biggest thing is that whenever you move up, when someone gets promoted, you're not better than anybody. You just have a different job, right? Like I just have a different job title. I'm not, I I'm the same person, we're on the same level. I just have a different job title to make our company successful. Um, and so I I want my my front leaders to feel like that. I don't want them, I don't want anyone to ever feel like, man, they're a team leader, they're a supervisor, they're a manager, they're a director, and I they they're they're so much greater. No, we we are on the same level. And so we do a lot of different trainings. Uh I really push my call center manager to get involved, especially with documentation and and that kind of stuff, early because those are so important. You can burn bridges so quickly by having negative conversations whenever you're doing coachings and and all of that. And so we we really get involved and like we'll go through it, they'll do it with us, we'll do these documentation conversations. Same with the positive conversations, because the positive conversations can also go bad if you don't know how to do it, right? Sure. And so doing both and and showing them how to do it, but then shadowing and making sure that they're doing it the right way and giving feedback. Just like we listen to phone calls and QA our calls for our employees, we do the exact same thing for our team leads, right? So whenever they're taking phone calls, I want to know if it's are they you having good conversations, and whenever we're having documentation things, are they good? But the number one thing I push to them whenever they first become a leader is I want you to know your team. I want you to know their kids, I want you to know their spouses, their significant others. If they're high school kids, I want you to know what their hobbies are. I want you to know their best friends, I want you to know if they play sports, I want you to know what I want you to know as much as you can about them. Because again, that type of an interaction is really what's gonna make them feel valued and want to stick around, right? But that has gone sour on me before because then they feel like, oh, well, we're buddies and I can have this this conversation and how do I hold them accountable? So it then we come back to the shadowing, right? So I want you to know this person because I can I can tell them, hey, every morning go around and talk to everybody, see what their day was like last night and what their family's doing and and to get to know them. And they're pretty good at doing that. Like for the most part, a lot of them, that's that's pretty simple to do. Um, but then whenever they get really good at that, the hard part is the accountability side, right? And so that's where we have to get involved and help them understand, like, hey, you can have this great interaction and in this great relationship with this person while also having accountability. It's not one or the other. You can do both, and this is how you balance that, and showing them how to do that is is really important. And again, it makes the conversations easier, right? Like whenever you know, like they've got their kids at home and they're busy and they're late for the fifth time, and you gotta do whatever to hold them accountable to say, hey, look, I know your life's really busy. I feel for you. You know, I've got kids at home, my life's busy, I totally get it, but we also have these stipulations you gotta follow. So what can we do? Do we do we need to change your shift? Do we need to push you back a little bit? Do you need a longer lunch? And like that opens up that whole conversation that I think a lot of companies don't have because the employer or the employees aren't comfortable having that with a leader, right? Like, hey, this shift's just not working for me, right? Instead they just leave. And then, like, man, why are we having so many people leave our company? Why is everyone just not, you know what I mean? People are just no call, no showing, and then we don't have employees anymore. Well, they're obviously not comfortable enough to talk to you about something, and so that's a huge sign that something's going wrong. So make them comfortable, make them feel like they can say something so you can have those conversations because it does make those conversations easier for sure. Sure.
SPEAKER_02So you touched on a really important part. There's, you know, I worked for a company one time that said, as a supervisor, you don't want to get too close to your people because you may have to fire that person sometime. So they said, don't hang out with them after work, don't get to know uh you know what's important to them or that. Just treat them like an uh an employee and do everything very professional and above board. And I can kind of see some of the logic in that, but I think that that's that's kind of old world leading, and we've kind of gone, maybe even some in some cases too far to the I care about you as an individual and trying to make everything comfortable for them. And somewhere in the middle is this place where we've got to know our associates well, we've got to know what's important to them, but we also have to hold them accountable for bad behavior. I think that the best way that I can describe that is as a parent, you can't fire your children. No. There's days when you want to. You want to, for sure. There's days when you want to fire your children. Absolutely. But you can't fire your children. You still have to maintain order, discipline, performance, and love and respect and kindness and everything else.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I think there's kind of a there's kind of a similarity between the way we parent and the way we should lead at work.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I think there absolutely is. I think you're right. I and I think the parent analogy is a great one because you're right. Like, I love my kids, but I also want to be successful, and I'm gonna hold them accountable and I'm gonna push them to be great. Um, and sometimes those conversations are hard to have, and you've got to have those, but at the same time, it's necessary. And I think um there's still that line, right? Like, if I have an employee that they're a a uh a team lead and they're they're managing inch level employees, and they have like a best friend, I'm not gonna put them in that situation. You know what I mean? Like their friend gets hired on. I totally understand that. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna put you in that situation. And I and I agree, like if you're hanging out with this person every day, okay, maybe we're probably getting a little too close. Um, and so there is still that line, but it doesn't mean you can't get to know these people, you can't talk to them at work and ask about their family and all that kind of stuff. Because again, like if I if I were to ever leave Rocky Mountain, it would hurt my heart because I just like everybody there. You know what I mean? Like, I could probably get paid a little bit less or have a little SPTO or whatever, but I love the environment and I love the people. And so for me, like that's a huge part of the reason why I'm there, right? That that balance is so big. And if it was all transactional and I just showed up to work and did my job and left, I would, I could care less about leaving. You're not offering me another, you know, 10% or 5% of what I'm making, I'm leaving in a heartbeat because I'm gonna make more money and there's nothing tying me there. So you're right, it's it's a balance for sure, but I think that you know, don't interact with your employees too much and don't get to know them. That I I'm not a fan of that. I think that that human connection is huge. And and I know we've said it for years that like you spend more time at work than you spend at home, and it's true. It's a hundred percent true. And I think the companies that um have really good cultures, they understand that and they build and and value that for sure.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I went into a call center one time and I could not wrap my head around the idea that someone sat there with a headset, and for eight hours of their shift, they talked with people who were not happy about something or they needed something done, and they're trying to get they're trying to build a relationship with that person and accomplish a task through a headset and a and a terminal.
SPEAKER_00A very short amount of time, too. That's and the people don't understand, like that call center environment is hard. It is hard. And because not only that, like you have a short amount of time to build this relationship, do all these things successfully and and move on. But in that short amount of time, you not only have to like build all of that, but you also gotta understand the customer. Some customers don't want to have that interaction, some customers just want to get it done and move on, and you have to get those cues within the first 30 seconds, right? To make that successful. And then you that customer wants transactional, he he or she moves on, and then you got the next customer, and they're immediately screaming at you, and they are upset because their item didn't get there the day they wanted it, and they've got something going on, and you're gonna ruin their weekend. And there's validity to it, right? Like, I understand, I'm sorry that happened. Then that customer leaves, and the next customer is having the best day of their life, and they just bought a brand new bike and they're so excited to talk to you about it. And you have to just you gotta switch back to back through that all day, and then at the end of the day, you gotta wipe all of that and you go home to your family and and love them and care for them. And like people just don't understand. Like these call center employees, they are rugged and they go through a lot. And so, again, they are they're huge assets. They really, really are.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So yeah.
SPEAKER_02So that goes back to what we really want to talk about here on the analog podcast. We we believe that the human skills, the skills that you've mentioned a lot throughout the the conversation that we've had here, those human interactions that really make people feel like they are listened to, they are cared for, they're a part of the team, you know, they're important to the f well-being of the company. Those analog skills are the ones that I believe people s have a tendency to skip sometimes. People get promoted because they're really good at the work.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh you you have a call center associate that just really knocks it out of the park. So the next thing you do is you promote them to a supervisor, and they may not have those kind of skills. What do you do in that kind of a situation to what you've just promoted someone? What are the things that are important to you for that person to understand that their job now, as you said, you're not in the same job, your job has changed. What are the skills that you asked them to develop?
SPEAKER_00Um I think the big thing is understanding your employees and knowing that like your job now is to adapt to them. Their job is not to adapt to you. So just like we, just like you and the call center, if you were taking calls and you were adapting to every customer and every time they called and they were happy or mad or wanted to be transactional or didn't, or whatever it may be, that adaptability, that same experience flows for the employee, right? Like you have to be adaptable to them and you've got to understand how their mind works and what's going on. I've done um a few of like the color style trainings where you understand the personality traits. Um, and we have one internally that that I kind of put together and I've made, and I have every employee go through that. Every employee gets that training because at the end of the day, your job as a leader is to talk to your employee, build a relationship, and understand how their mind works. And at the end of the day, some of them might want it direct, and some of them might need it sandwiched and given to them and you know, positive, negative, positive, or however you want to approach it. But your job as a leader is to 100% understand all of your employees and know what they need and then go to them. So we do these trainings continuously. We typically do them every year, and some of them, some of my leaders have gone through them three or four times, but it's always good and it's fun. We make it interactive. But one of the activities do at the end of every single one of those trainings is I say, write down every one of your employees, and I want you to write down what how you think their mind works based on the color skill, and then I want you to write down how you would have a negative conversation with that employee. And I want you to understand different each one of them. And then what they do is at the end they go and talk to their manager and they say, Okay, here's my employees, here's how to approach each one of them. And that manager says, Yeah, that's a good idea, or that's not, or why would you do this, and really challenges them to talk through that. But that to them, I think, is really eye opening. And and part of the training we do at the very beginning is I have them all. Fill out a big form and they take their tests and they go to corners and they write on a board. Kind of, I have them do an assignment and they write on the board, and it's funny because some mindsets that are scattered, they're just their paper is everywhere and they're sharing it with everybody, and the whole team is all over the place, and like you can barely understand what's going on. Then on the opposite spectrum, you have a different group that's gotten together and they're very similar and they're very like task-oriented and their paper looks great and everything's perfect. Perfectly organized. Perfectly organized. And and that I think is pretty eye-opening to them. I think they realize, like, man, we are just, if we think differently, we we do things differently, and that's okay, but understanding that's important. Because if you go to that scatter brain person that's kind of all over the place and try to have a conversation with them, that's all these tasks and what they gotta do, you're missing the boat. And so you've got to understand them and you've got to meet them where they are. You we can't expect them to meet us just like a customer. We've got to figure out where they are, adapt to that, and then make it happen. So that's that's one of the first things we cover is you know, building relationships, having those conversations, but then okay, understand your people and understand you. Understand how you work and you adapt yourself to that.
SPEAKER_02Aaron Powell One of the biggest gaps I've seen in young leaders and new leaders, and pe especially people who are promoted, is that they immediately have the assumption that I should treat people the way I want to be treated. You know, that's the golden rule. Treat people the way you want to be treated. And I think that is so wrong because you need to treat people the way they want to be treated. And you don't know how they want to be treated unless you get to know them. So it's kind of a catch 22.
SPEAKER_00As a kid, that's what we're always told, right? Would you want that to happen to you? Well, no, I don't want that. So I get it, right? Like it's totally understandable to have that perspective going in, but you're right. As a leader, it's completely different. It's you have to understand your people and you've got to treat them how they want to be treated. You've got to know what's important to them, you've got to know how things need to go with them individually as a person. And we can't put them into categories. We can't assume that they're like anybody else or they're like me. Um because, like me personally, I'm a pretty direct person, right? Like if I have a problem, I'm gonna go talk to people and I'm gonna have conversations. Um, but I've got employees that I cannot do that with. You know what I mean? Like I've got to kind of slowly get there and hey, how's your weekend? What's going on? But then I have another employee that if I ask how their weekend is and what's going on, they're like, what do you want? Tell them what's going on. And so I know that employee, I got, hey, this is what's going on, and then we can have the small talk after. But they know that if we're gonna have a conversation or schedule something, they want to know what's up, how they gotta fix it, and what's gotta be done, and then we'll small talk and have a good conversation, but they don't want to kind of weasel to it, they want to get right to it. And so knowing that's really important because if I were to go to that employee and I were to like, hey, how was your weekend? What's going on? They would be like, I just want to talk about this. And they none of that would matter. None of that personal conversation would matter because they're just so focused on what they have to do and that task that I want them to complete. And so we can get that out of the way, and then we can have these other conversations. And they're way more meaningful at that point. But knowing how to approach that is so important.
SPEAKER_02I always tell people though, be careful with folks who say, I want it direct. I want to know, I want to hear exactly what's on your mind. Most of them do not.
SPEAKER_00A lot of them actually don't. Yes, I've learned that the hard way. Like, I just want to know exactly how it is. And they say that because they've told themselves that they're that person for a very long time, but they're in fact not. I've had that, I've had that exact same situation. As a young leader, they're like, I just want you to tell me. And I told them that it went bad. And what's going on here? Like, I thought this is how you wanted it. Come to find out they were not that at all.
SPEAKER_02So Yeah, so I think that gets down to that whole deal. Don't ever assume that people think the way you think. Yeah. I think as a young leader, that's one of the big mistakes that I made is that I thought everybody thought like I did. You know, they want the company to be successful, they want the job to be done correctly, they they had the same motivations that I did, and it's just not even close to true.
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell, Yeah. Again, it just it it boils down to what's important to them. You know what I mean? Like for me, I love the company, I love seeing us progress, I love like watching the big things happen. But most of my call center employees, they don't care. You know what I mean? Like they're there because they want to maybe it's a high school kid that's saving up money to buy a bike, or maybe it's a mom that's just trying to make it through day to day, week to week, and provide for her kids, or maybe it's you know someone else trying to buy a car. And unless I know that and know where they are, I can't assume that, hey, we want this company to be great. And I think that's the problem with a lot of companies is they they they expect their employees to be just as invested as they are in the company being successful. And though at the end of the day, that's what it all adds to. But there's steps to that, right? There's steps to getting them like what's important to them right now, because obviously everyone's everyone's working for a reason. We're not working because we want the company to be successful, we're working because uh we want to provide for our family, I want my kids to do whatever they want, I want to provide for my wife, I want whatever it may be, right? Sure. Um and so understanding that motivation then helps the company. But some companies I've I've seen it personally where they just, well, why don't they do it's in the best interest of the business? Why aren't they just going this extra mile because that's what's good for the business? But you've got to relate it to them. You've got to help them understand how it's gonna help them individually, and then it'll eventually help the business. But that alignment is so, so important.
SPEAKER_02So it sounds tedious, but you really have to do exactly what you just said. You've got to draw that line between the company's success and how that relates to the individual's success. I always say, help people get what they want out of life through the employment they have, and they'll they'll help you get the company wants.
SPEAKER_00And there's sometimes those alignments don't line up, right? Like there's sometimes maybe the company, and I feel like a lot of times the company's got to make an adjustment to really align with the employee, like, right? Like there's a lot of times we have all these, like, we want to do these great things, and we just want the employee to go the extra mile because we want them to go the extra mile. We want them to just put in way extra effort because that's gonna benefit the company. But if there's nothing there that's gonna help them, if they're there to buy a bike or provide for their family or whatever, that alignment's not gonna work, right? Like we're just asking to go the extra mile and do the extra job and not get compensated for it or whatever it may be. And so let's realign this. Let's make this better, let's come up with a a a bonus structure, let's come up with a comp plan, or let's come up with just give them a candy bar or a drink once a week if they do these things. Like things that small can really like all of a sudden shift that into alignment. So now, okay, we're all on the same page, and now we're all shooting for the same goal versus we're so disconnected and these guys don't want to put in the extra effort or extra work. Because sometimes I I get it. I've been there before where you're at a job that it's not really your thing, and you're just trying to get through day-to-day, or you're trying to buy this thing, or you're you're so focused on what's happening outside of work that at the end of the day, you don't care what happens to the company. But if you can make that alignment as a leader to where, oh, well, if I do these things, I get these extra benefits, yeah, I'm gonna do it. And then we're all aligned going forward. So most of the time I found it's the company. We've got to realign. We've got to figure out how we can make it relevant to the employee and how we can make it beneficial to where they want to do that. We can't just expect them to do extra things, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02So you know, I I I've I've learned a lot from you today. I really appreciate you being on the on the show and talking to us about the way that you deal with your associates at every level within the company. So now tell me if I wanted to, if I've got an ATV and I need another part for it or I need something done, how do we get a hold of you? How do we learn more about Rocky Mountain A TV?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, uh so Rocky Mountain ATV is one of the largest distributors in the US uh for parts and accessories. We do sell machines, but our bread and butter is parts and accessories. So ATV, UTV, street, um really anything uh related to off-road vehicles is what we do. Um we saw all the OEMs, we saw aftermarket accessories, we've got our own brands, all kinds of stuff. But you can see us at RockyMountainATV.com, Rocky MountainATVMC.com. Um, and we have a full website there. You can look through products, add profiles, all that kind of stuff. It's honestly it's awesome. We're uh usually two-day shipping anywhere in the US, some corners were three. We have a distribution facility here in Payson, one in Winchester, so we hit most of the U.S. within two days. So it's a great place to come. Mess up your bike on a Friday, Saturday, come order on Monday, you'll have it for the following weekend.
SPEAKER_02So one of the other things I'm really impressed with is uh uh it must be a great place to work. If I want to if I want to come to work for Rocky Mountain ATV, where do I go?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, if you go to our website at the very bottom, you'll see a careers link and you can apply through that. And again, the the coolest thing about Rocky Mountain, and I tell all my employees this that come in, we treat our employees really well, right? Christmas bonuses and gifts, all that kind of stuff. That's that's like standard there, which is not standard everywhere else. But there's so much opportunity in the company. My my biggest turnover is losing people internal to internal promotions, which is super cool. It also stinks because I'm constantly hiring, but we're always growing. And like, you want to come in and do welding, we have a whole welding group. Product development, website design, graphic design, like uh graphic printing. It's the coolest place because we do literally everything in there, and it's so fun to be a part of it and kind of see these different um aspects of the business and how they all come together. Um, and so if someone were to come in, I have a lot of employees that come in and they wear in the call center for six months or a year, a year and a half, and then something opens and they go into graphic design and then they find their passion for a business or a career that way, and they take off and are successful, and it's fun to kind of see them grow into that. But it's it's fun to be a part of because I think I've worked for a lot of companies where it's like, okay, you're in retail. So you can move up in retail, but you can move up into different things within retail or call centers, right? Like I've managed just call centers before. You can be in the call center, but you can be a team lead, and then you can move up to like a maybe a call center manager or whatever it may be. But the cool thing here is like there's so many aspects of the business that you can grow into, it makes it really, really fun to be a part of. So it's always it's always good to watch.
SPEAKER_02Well, that's awesome. That that that gives our listeners a good place to go if they want to find a good place to work or if they just need a part for an ATV.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02So before we close, if you could give one piece of advice to someone who was just promoted to a team leader position, they were an hourly associate, and they were just promoted into a position where they they had a group of twelve people that were going to report to them and they're gonna supervise those people. What's the one good piece of advice you'd give them at that moment?
SPEAKER_00Man, there's so much that you you could throw in there. Um I think my like mantra in life and in leadership has just been be curious. And I think it leads into a million different things. Like when you're curious, you don't follow the the uh the expectations as far as like this is what we do, right? The this is our policy, this is our procedure. What would happen if we changed that? You know, what would happen if we made things better or let me get curious about an employee, or let me get curious about different things. I think the willingness to constantly learn and push yourself to to really grow and be curious about what could happen is really, really big. And curiosity in your employees and curiosity in your customers always opens up discoveries of opportunity. It always does. Every time I think like, man, how does this process work? And I haven't looked at it in a while and I'm curious about it, and I look at it, a million things come up, right? Or I look at like employees and I'm curious about them, it always leads me to great conversations with employees and building relationships. And so um obviously there's all the leadership stuff we can get into, but if if a person is just curious, if you're just curious about the business or the employee or whatever, and you're genuine about it, man, it opens up a world of opportunity for you.
SPEAKER_02I think that's genius. The more curious you are, the more driven you are to learn. The more driven you are to learn, the more driven you are to always be constantly in that self-improvement realm.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And it creates it keeps things fun. Nobody wants to work in the same place forever and do the same thing. Be curious, find different ideas, opportunities, change processes, make them better, have your employees enjoy what they do. That's that's what makes working fun.
SPEAKER_02Well, that's awesome. I really appreciate your time. Thanks for being on the podcast.
SPEAKER_00I appreciate you guys inviting me. It's been great, so thank you.
SPEAKER_02That's been Analog Leader Podcast with our guest Trenton Nelson from Rocky Mountain ATV.